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Season opening dates in TX


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The DCI schedule now says "Listed in reverse order of performance". That means Blue Stars appear first and BD last on Saturday, and BD appears first and Blue Stars last on Sunday. I will be at both shows, volunteering with Blue Stars. I am very happy Blue Stars will be the very first performance of the 2011 DCI season.

Cool! What a great way to kick-off 2011.

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This is true, but when there are shows like "Three C's" (Crown, Cadets, Cavaliers) from a year or two ago, or the YEA shows in early June, or other early season shows, there is MUCH more leeway: mostly because many corps either a) don't want to perform that early or b) don't want to travel that early. I suspect that if the four Texas corps wanted to host their own early season preview-type show, there would be nothing to stop them (I think that's what they're doing).

And really, there is no benefit for any of the Texas corps to go to these shows. Crossmen are not competitive when any of the Top 8, none of the other non-WC Texas corps are, and they'd still be playing to the same amount of people anyway because the bulk of the crowd would likely be watching groups in the lot. I think it is more beneficial for the Texas corps to host their own show that weekend, where they can use it as a recruiting tool and community PR.

true...but let's be honest...no one else wnated to schlep to Allentown a week before the rest of the tour got rolling either. Maybe had Bones still been up here it could have been the 4 C's.

Any why does scores have to be the SOLE benefit? Exposure would be huge for a corps in Texas that seems to be an afterthought in Texas. Hell they get better press in their old home turf than they do down there. That kind of exposure would be priceless, especially if they are better than the last few years

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BD should go first... I think they only thing they haven't proved in DCI is whether they can perform well when it is still sunny out :tongue:

I agree. I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I personally am cheering for the Blue Stars to win. WHAT, you say?? Simple....SOME of these corps are notoriously incomplete and frankly, horrendous in mid-June EVERY year, but they have been comforted by the fact that they don't see much competition in the early season. This shall prove for once and for all the "West Coast Inflation" theory has merit.

I look forward to a complete upheaval in these first two shows...particularly on the 2nd night when the Blue Stars get to go on in Blue Devils' annointed performance position. Some of these TOC corps directors might well get more than they bargained for, and yes, they actually will have to perform in the sun!

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I agree. I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I personally am cheering for the Blue Stars to win. WHAT, you say?? Simple....SOME of these corps are notoriously incomplete and frankly, horrendous in mid-June EVERY year, but they have been comforted by the fact that they don't see much competition in the early season. This shall prove for once and for all the "West Coast Inflation" theory has merit.

I look forward to a complete upheaval in these first two shows...particularly on the 2nd night when the Blue Stars get to go on in Blue Devils' annointed performance position. Some of these TOC corps directors might well get more than they bargained for, and yes, they actually will have to perform in the sun!

Yes, but some of these notoriously incomplete corps have probably stepped up their game in preparation for an early meetup.

We'll see. I **hope** it's interesting competitively.

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Any why does scores have to be the SOLE benefit? Exposure would be huge for a corps in Texas that seems to be an afterthought in Texas. Hell they get better press in their old home turf than they do down there. That kind of exposure would be priceless, especially if they are better than the last few years

I'm going to be real blunt here, and I apologize in advance for offending anyone.

There is not a lot of positive exposure to gain if you are a 17th place corps and the next "closest" corps is an 8th place corps: let alone the OC corps. Crossmen, Revo, etc will definitely look lacking by comparison, and would benefit little from that experience. Also, you're assuming they would be seen by the amount of fans who would be in the stadium for the Top 8: I would stipulate the crowd would be small, many fans would be in the lot watching big corps warm-up, and there wouldn't be a lot gained.

Conversely, those four corps, as has been established, will be at their OWN performance/preview. That will be a much less pressure gig, probably playing to a supportive crowd, and will get them good exposure.

Really, this is all moot: both the Top 8 and the local TX corps have their own performances this weekend. Both performances likely benefit both sets of corps. Everyone wins, and there's no need to complain about the lack of local corps at the other show, since the TX corps are at their own gig. Everyone wins (including fans, who have two options on what shows they want to go to)

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I'm going to be real blunt here, and I apologize in advance for offending anyone.

There is not a lot of positive exposure to gain if you are a 17th place corps and the next "closest" corps is an 8th place corps: let alone the OC corps. Crossmen, Revo, etc will definitely look lacking by comparison, and would benefit little from that experience. Also, you're assuming they would be seen by the amount of fans who would be in the stadium for the Top 8: I would stipulate the crowd would be small, many fans would be in the lot watching big corps warm-up, and there wouldn't be a lot gained.

Conversely, those four corps, as has been established, will be at their OWN performance/preview. That will be a much less pressure gig, probably playing to a supportive crowd, and will get them good exposure.

Really, this is all moot: both the Top 8 and the local TX corps have their own performances this weekend. Both performances likely benefit both sets of corps. Everyone wins, and there's no need to complain about the lack of local corps at the other show, since the TX corps are at their own gig. Everyone wins (including fans, who have two options on what shows they want to go to)

We'll disagree to a point. if your own state barely knows you, I see how being in those shows is bad, even if you do not score right in the mix. See, there was this little corps out of Jersey in the early 90's that benefitted greatly by being able to perform at shows along the NE corridor even tho they were Open Class ( ok D2/3 back then). In fact they built up quite a fan following over the years, and slowly but surely moved themselves up to World Class. You may have heard of them....the Jersey Surf.

so yes, Texas has it's own thing going. But let's be honest, they'd get more exposure at these shows than they will where they will be.And, this may offend, but it will show that there is a hell of a lot more to DCI than the top 8 corps score wise.

Edited by Jeff Ream
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We'll disagree to a point. if your own state barely knows you, I see how being in those shows is bad, even if you do not score right in the mix. See, there was this little corps out of Jersey in the early 90's that benefitted greatly by being able to perform at shows along the NE corridor even tho they were Open Class ( ok D2/3 back then). In fact they built up quite a fan following over the years, and slowly but surely moved themselves up to World Class. You may have heard of them....the Jersey Surf.

so yes, Texas has it's own thing going. But let's be honest, they'd get more exposure at these shows than they will where they will be.And, this may offend, but it will show that there is a hell of a lot more to DCI than the top 8 corps score wise.

I agree entirely. It's a shame when the "top acts" trump the home team. Perhaps it is, as you say, due to lack of equal exposure.

Furthermore, here's a thought...

No matter where, say, Phantom Regiment places, they will still be a "top act" that "draws the most money." A 13th place Phantom Regiment draws more fans to a show than a 7th place Jersey Surf. Plain and simple. So what's to say that after this season a corps falls out of the Top 8 and is retained because they have years of exposure to back them as a "top act." Without equal opportunity to gain a following, no corps has a shot at breaking into such status.

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I agree entirely. It's a shame when the "top acts" trump the home team. Perhaps it is, as you say, due to lack of equal exposure.

Furthermore, here's a thought...

No matter where, say, Phantom Regiment places, they will still be a "top act" that "draws the most money." A 13th place Phantom Regiment draws more fans to a show than a 7th place Jersey Surf. Plain and simple. So what's to say that after this season a corps falls out of the Top 8 and is retained because they have years of exposure to back them as a "top act." Without equal opportunity to gain a following, no corps has a shot at breaking into such status.

oh, I have no doubts the rules will change from year to year if need to be keep the top acts in the mix.

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Being a born and bred Texan, I'll add my own particular thoughts about this situation:

I've seen over the years that Texas band kids are often taught to adore the top acts. They are the reason there are hundreds of screaming, shrieking teenage girls every time the Cavies hit the field in Texas. But even if a band director tries to foster appreciation for all levels of drum corps and the rigors of competition, there's still the next problem:

Texas is not old-school drum corps territory. It has no connection to the origins of the activity, nor were there dozens/hundreds of small community drum corps here. That means that most Texas fans - especially those who came up through band programs in the 80s-90s - never had the chance to cheer on a local parade unit or smaller competitive unit. Instead, their exposure was through videos shown by their band directors of only top 12 corps (since that was what was available). There was no intent, clearly, to foster the adoration I mention. Directors were simply doing what they could to bring students into contact with drum corps.

I think this trend will eventually fade and students will be given more opportunities to gain exposure to, and appreciate, our local groups - and it may already be happening. This is an exciting time for drum corps in Texas. If our local groups can model their operations on other groups that have found stability (and growing success), there could be a day when a couple of Texas corps are battling it out for the title!

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I think we should all have a moment of silence on 18 June in Saginaw, TX for the soon-to-be DOA concept of "West Coast Inflation". What will the replacement whine be?

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