Top 12...Is It Already Set?

[Dave_G]

I won't say it's set until we have shows with the full panel. That's not to say that those that are currently in the top 12 aren't ahead of the rest of the pack right now though.

[MisterA]

lets look at the last 5 years. how many finals have Glassmen missed and how many have Madison? Lets look at this year who has won the head-to-heads more. If anyone is to not make it by statistics its going to be Madison. But as of right now i believe top 12 is set.

edit- even before the season you put Glassmen out of finals so you obviously have some beef with them.

Please don't think my opinion of their shows or placement have anything to do with a beef with them. I really enjoy the Glassmen. I have every one of the CD's they have released, alot of their tour dvd/videos, and usually enjoy their shows. I didn't like their performance in Normal very well this year. However, the next night in Madison, I thought it was very good. And personally I think if finals were tomorrow, they should probably be a lock on 11th or 12th spot.

Personally I think Scouts are a lock for top 12 at this point. And 10th or higher wouldn't completely surprise me. I think Glassmen are going to be somewhere between 11th and 13th this year. I think Blue Knights and Colts are also in that 11th-13th range. Although I haven't been excited at what I have seen of the Blue Knights show this year, and I usually absolutely love them.

My main thought is that Glassmen to me are looking like probably 12th this year, but if the Colts are extremely close come the end of the season, I would give the edge to the Colts, in the make up call from last year. Nothing against the Glassmen. And in my preseason, my thoughts were exactly that, if the Scouts and Colts were to make finals this year, who would be left out, Troopers by a mile, and Glassmen by just a bit.

[BigPapiBass5]

Please don't think my opinion of their shows or placement have anything to do with a beef with them. I really enjoy the Glassmen. I have every one of the CD's they have released, alot of their tour dvd/videos, and usually enjoy their shows. I didn't like their performance in Normal very well this year. However, the next night in Madison, I thought it was very good. And personally I think if finals were tomorrow, they should probably be a lock on 11th or 12th spot.

Personally I think Scouts are a lock for top 12 at this point. And 10th or higher wouldn't completely surprise me. I think Glassmen are going to be somewhere between 11th and 13th this year. I think Blue Knights and Colts are also in that 11th-13th range. Although I haven't been excited at what I have seen of the Blue Knights show this year, and I usually absolutely love them.

My main thought is that Glassmen to me are looking like probably 12th this year, but if the Colts are extremely close come the end of the season, I would give the edge to the Colts, in the make up call from last year. Nothing against the Glassmen. And in my preseason, my thoughts were exactly that, if the Scouts and Colts were to make finals this year, who would be left out, Troopers by a mile, and Glassmen by just a bit.

Troopers spot is wide open right now. Watching their VOD they are nowhere near a locked in spot for finals

[MisterA]

Troopers spot is wide open right now. Watching their VOD they are nowhere near a locked in spot for finals

That's what I said, I think Troopers are going to be lucky to make semis at this point. I would give their spot to Madison Scouts at this point. That would leave Glassmen and Colts fighting over the 12th spot, and if it is close between them the edge would go to Colts with last years judging fiasco, whether or not it is deserved.

[Bob984]

Alot of people will tell you the top 12 were set before the first show in June. Others will argue that you can't compare scores across the board. Others will say that these scores so far mean nothing, as there isn't even a full judging panel. You will hear much about the head to head competition.

My guess is that 11 of the 12 are set as you have them. I think the only corps that could have a worry would be Glassmen. And the corps they would have to worry about.. the Colts. Colts were robbed last year by what should have been a 17th place Troopers. At this point I would not put Colts above Glassmen, however, I think their show might have a little more potential by August to improve than Glassmen. And to be honest, I have the feeling if they were even within a point of Glassmen at the end of the season, they would probably end up with that last finals spot.

Agreed 100%. I believe Glassmen are being overscored right now, especially in brass and music effect. There are major arrangement problems with this show, and the quality of brass sound, especially intonation and blend, is not good. It concerns me that only a few judges have recognized this thusfar. They do have an adequate visual package, a competent guard, and decent percussion. All I know is they are getting a gift in brass and music effect thusfar, and I don't know how long that can last.

I believe Colts have a stronger musical package, and the visual package can hang with them, too. Right now, rough early season execution is keeping them a bit behind, but I do believe they have a better show.....they will have to execute, though, to get the nod. I actually believe more than one brass section not in the top 12 could defeat Glassmen in that caption this year, as well as music effect. Glassmen's guard, visual, and drumline will keep them in the hunt, though, and brass and music effect judging are the most questionable captions, and judges tend not to spread as much there, even when earned.

GB

[megadrive]

Not necessarily, but if I had to put money on who would make finals, it would be this 12.

[corpsband]

The only spot I see changing is maybe the 12th spot. Otherwise this seems pretty much set. BUT that's not to say it won't be exciting. Lots of corps are very bunched this season and there could be a *lot* of movement inside that 12.

[Carolina09Spirit]

Not that this has a lot to do with the topic...but I think over the years that Glassmen have been given somewhat of an advantage just because of name recognition. I will agree that over the years, Glassmen have been consistent in their performances. However, I think the corps who have got overlooked is Spirit. Not only do the fans overlook them, but I think sometimes the judges do as well. I will admit that they had an off year last season. The last time they made finals was 2007, which in this competitive day and time isn't too bad for a corps like Spirit anyway, considering they're always fighting for the 10-12th spot. This brings me back to another topic I seen about Historically good corps making the top 12 just out of name recognition. don't get me wrong, I'm not taking anything away from Glassmen, or any other top 12 corps, but I think sometimes the "lower caliber" corps as people call it, get overlooked sometimes.

As for the original topic...I don't think anything is set.

Here's an example: We're halfway through the MLB season @ the All-Star break. The top 2 teams as of right now are the NY Yankees, and Boston Red Sox. Everyone knows that the ML season lasts a long time, and all kinds of factors go into the outcome of the season. Who knows, either team could have a huge injury, or just some bad luck, and the standings could change instantly. The same goes for DCI. I agree that usually a corps doesn't just fall off the charts instantly, but over the years some corps have been known to get on hot streaks, and it wouldn't surprise me if one did this year. I just don't like to automatically say that these corps are going to be placed here...I feel like I'm taking something away from the other potential top 12 corps.

[oldbandguy]

Alot of people will tell you the top 12 were set before the first show in June.

Colts were robbed last year by what should have been a 17th place Troopers.

Thanks for the laugh. I needed that.

[TerriTroop]

Well, I expected the "Troop is out" kind of response to this show long ago. It's a hard show and it's far off of the Troopers' beaten path. The kids are going to struggle with it for a while longer. The holes are slowly going to fill in as the newer folks jump in at performances and then we'll see how things go. I'm just going to sit back and watch to see what happens. I think the doors are still wide open in the 10th-15th range.