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this "club med" drum corps vibe has to go

I have never associated drum corps to anything remotely resembling a "club med" environment. However, I would argue that having an entire college campus at your disposal, a cafeteria for every meal, and dorm rooms to sleep in is much, much more "luxurious" than The Academy's situation.

The Academy doesn't provide any housing or meals for "all days." So for some members that adds anywhere from an extra hour to two hours into your day commuting to and from, on top of a twelve hour rehearsal day. The extreme temperature has already been mentioned, and it is also of note, there really isn't much shade either at the Tempe Sports Complex. Like any other corps, they adapt and make the most of their situation.

On DCI.org I went to the "find events near you" tool. I set the maximum distance to 500 miles, entered in my Arizona zip code, and came up with 8 shows.

I then entered in a zip code from Indianapolis, the "Crossroads of America" which also happens to be the second home of Blue Stars, and the Scouts nearby in Bloomington this year. I set the same parameters: within 500 miles. Know how many shows came up?

FORTY SEVEN. That's almost six times as many shows!

So, I have two different words for The Academy's model: fiscal responsibility

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So you're comparing a corps that is LITERALLY in the smack dab middle of the majority of DCI's tour to a corps that is 1624 miles away from the Colts first show in Normal, IL? Lets do some very rough and ugly math.

If The Academy were to do The Colts' tour it would be an additional 2900 miles per vehicle. Figure 3 buses, 2 semi's, Staff bus/RV, plus usually some volunteer's vehicles, and the souvie truck. 1 semi @ 8 miles per gallon = 362 more gallons than The Colts would need. Average price of diesel @ Flying J's right now is around $2.95/gallon. 362 x 2.95 = $1067. For one truck. If they have to hire drivers rather than having Class A certified volunteers the price goes even higher. And it's roughly a 24 hour drive from Tempe to Normal, so they'd have to stop halfway and find housing/rehearsal site somewhere in Oklahoma which is even more cost.

# of DCI shows within 500 miles:

The Colts - 37

The Academy - 8

Please stop pretending that their geographical location is a non-issue.

Well Mr. Contra, we had similar posts back to back! Well done crunching those numbers. :laughing:

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And yet Colts put out a corps every single year that on average is more competitive than nearly 50% of all WC corps. Being able to manage the challening financial aspects of a full WC tour is something corps are capable of doing, every single year, at every level of World Class. It's not easy, but hey, it's drum corps, is ANY part of this activity easy?

write the Academy a check and that will help.

Also, how many Colts alumni are out there alive? How's that Native American Gaming Board thing working for thiose guys? Don't worry, we are working on copying that model here in AZ where Native American gaming outpaces Iowa. Give us some time...and if you like what Academy is doing to get further along in this activity, support the corps...buy a souvie, write a check. Or, keep your focus on what your favorite corps is/is not doing instead.

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Well Mr. Contra, we had similar posts back to back! Well done crunching those numbers. :laughing:

:)

I drove for Esperanza out of San Diego for years, I know your pain.

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With all due respect, DCI approved them and their touring model for World Class a few years ago. This is due, in part, to their geographic location. They do a full tour in July and all the way up to Finals. I see no issue with this. If there were 4 more corps in their region of the globe ... they could set up more shows and do more shows.

When you look at the Midwest you have how many corps and show sites within 8 hours distance of each other? And that's where the majority of the shows are. Then there is a South Swing ... then East Swing .. then back to the Midwest.

If a corps has no other corps around ... and can't hit the midwest start of the season because it would put them in the tank ... then I'm all for them staying home and using their time and resources wisely. Arizona is as far away from other corps as Alaska is .......... there's no place to play in their region, so they do these small shows with 4 or 5 other WC and OC corps that nobody cares about just to build a market for DCI in the SW region. I'd say they're doing drum corps a great service, considering they're hosting the majority of the shows down there.

The Blue Knights and Troopers are the only corps in the rocky mountain region and still manage to tour the whole summer. The closest corps to them are, respectively, the Academy in AZ and The colts in IA... and there are only a few shows a year in colorado/wyoming... 2 per year? same amount as in AZ.

DCI approved the tour and if the corps competing against them don't know by now how they tour, which I'm 99.9999999999% sure they do know, and don't complain about it... why do you have such a problem with it? Besides, where's you're complaint about Mandarins, PC, Cascades, Impulse, VK, SCV Cadets, BDB?

I guess my point is... get over it already! Every year there is someone who gets their *insert under garment of choice here* in a bunch and whines and complains about how Academy tours. If it's sooooooooooo advantageous for them, why aren't they undefeated? With all that R&R, shouldn't they be scoring in the mid 90s by now? I mean, with all that time away from tour, Chuck Norris doesn't even stand a chance!

And if June and July in AZ is your idea of "club med", I'd like to know what your version of Shangri-La is!

You know, I just realized I haven't used this once this season. Thank you for allowing me the chance...

deadhorse.gif

As i might have mentioned in my first post, DCI is trying to add corps which will add more competing groups at shows, thus making the shows more appealing, which in turn allows DCI and show promoters to increase the ticket prices and make more money. DCI isn't in the strongest financials right now and the biggest way to recover from that is to allow a larger number of shows with more corps at those shows. If corps were to take that tour model of the academy then the tour wouldn't start until July and a lot of shows would be cut out. Based off of this year's numbers it would eliminate 22 shows on the DCI tour.... and DCI isn't about to cut shows when they take pride in the fact that they are adding more and more shows every year.

It is a little hard to take seriously anyone who would call Tempe AZ in the summertime "club med." Weather has nothing to do with it? How much time have you spent outside in 115 degree heat?

I heard all this stuff 2 years ago about how they have an "unfair advantage" because they play less shows. The thing is, I ran the numbers for some corps that season and guess what, it turns out that scores increased MORE on average after playing shows than after merely practicing. I suspect game experience and feedback from judges has a lot to do with that.

My "club med" comment is referring to taking time away from the tour responsibilities, like performing almost every night, traveling, rehearsing a short day, you know... the rigors of an actual tour.

Again, my comments maybe directed at the academy, but it goes for these other corps that are "victims" of their current situation. A full tour with buses, fuel, food, and everything else runs $750K-1million. With tour fees not helping much you have to do a lot to get that money. And i know that Mr. Brace will be requesting another check from me, but i already contribute to my two teams in my rocky mountain backyard. I respect both organizations because they put up with all day schedules that are tough as well. As a previous poster had said about the academy, the Blue knights do the same thing! members fly out and house, drive to rehearsal with bag lunches and dinners, and then drive home. The troopers have a lot of hardships locking down rehearsal sites in wyoming for more than a week at a time and bus a lot during all days to and from rehearsal sites... sometimes housing and rehearsal fields... and not to mention the SNOW IN JUNE that happens every year... yet they still manage to produce a fully touring world class corps.

If it's a money issue to these organizations then maybe you should be in a different division until you are ready to tour full time. The Bluestars in 2004 and 2005 toured a full 35 show tour and managed to be very financially responsible. They moved to division 1 without any real issues. Also if money is the issue maybe the Academy, PC, etc. maybe should have attended seminars at the DCI meetings to increase sustainability. I know Troopers director put on one last year that highlighted the corps being in huge financial debt, folding, and coming back to a strong financial foundation.

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If it's a money issue to these organizations then maybe you should be in a different division until you are ready to tour full time. The Bluestars in 2004 and 2005 toured a full 35 show tour and managed to be very financially responsible. They moved to division 1 without any real issues. Also if money is the issue maybe the Academy, PC, etc. maybe should have attended seminars at the DCI meetings to increase sustainability. I know Troopers director put on one last year that highlighted the corps being in huge financial debt, folding, and coming back to a strong financial foundation.

...or maybe other corps should follow their lead and attend more local, regional competitions. I would rather have more corps in my region that tour nationally occasionally, than the reverse.

If it costs corps so much to zig-zag across the country, than why not minimizing touring so that newer corps can have an easier time with start-up costs?

There are advantages and disadvantages to having fewers shows. Please stop pretending that The Academy is getting is getting a pass.

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...or maybe other corps should follow their lead and attend more local, regional competitions. I would rather have more corps in my region that tour nationally occasionally, than the reverse.

If it costs corps so much to zig-zag across the country, than why not minimizing touring so that newer corps can have an easier time with start-up costs?

There are advantages and disadvantages to having fewers shows. Please stop pretending that The Academy is getting is getting a pass.

:laughing:

Thank you, that's exactly what I would have said. I remember being mad in 2007 when I found out they weren't doing a full tour, now that I understand why they don't, its no biggie to me. I'd rather see 30 WC corps doing half their tours locally and be financially secure, than 14 WC corps who do full tours and can barely stand their own because of debts.

Edited by mellowbugle
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Hmm, that does make a lot of sense. However, I disagree that the current touring model is unsustainable. I think the corps that tour successfully year after year prove that it can be done, and if done right can be done without being on the verge of financial ruin.

So far the "current touring model" has killed hundreds of corps...If we had that kind of success in WW2 we would be speaking German right now...

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For what its worth from "just a fan" - I'm not going to fault The Academy for the way they are handling their tour. In the 50+ years that I have been a fan, I have seen too many quality corps disappear because they could not find a way to keep afloat financially, and that has been a great loss and a true shame. As a young and talented corps, the Academy's practical and responsible approach is paying off in the development of a corps of undeniable potential and quality. I have no doubt that over the next few years (if they stay the course) they will not only be able to expand to a "full" national tour, but they will also be a corps that is a consistent WC finalist as well. No one really suffers because the youngster can't quite maneuver through a full-on tour today, but I believe all of us fans will suffer for sure if that youngster is not give the chance and encouragement to get up to speed with its older siblings in the activity.

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So far the "current touring model" has killed hundreds of corps...If we had that kind of success in WW2 we would be speaking German right now...

Has the 'current touring model' really done this? There are plenty of examples where the failures were due to poor management, and not the tour structure itself.

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