fsubone Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I find a bit of humor in this thread. Just imagine if this was geared towards one of the corps at the bottom of world class; I can just imagine the responses... "Don't be hating on those poor kids." "Way to put down a corps that's already down and out." "Another cheap shot." What's the difference between being critical of a corps at the very top of world class vs. one at the very bottom? Fire away ladies and gents. I think some of it is the perception of the top v. bottom. As a related note, it's kind of like what we've seen lately with the Occupy movement, you're supposed to try and take shots at the top instead of shots at the bottom. Making critiques at a corps like the Blue Devils and Cadets I think it meant to be okay because they are at the top, and usually have the most exposure. How many people can honestly say that they watched Pioneer or Jersey Surf at every show they were at? Probably far less than watched BD or Cadets or Cavaliers at every show. I think that extra exposure has a big play in the amount of critiquing or "hatred" directed at these corps. And being some of the most storied and successful programs means a large amount of alums and fans, many of whom like having their opinions heard. At lot of it comes down to the underdog story though. Everyone loves an underdog, whether in sports, movies, or drum corps. No one wants to see the little guy get beat down on all of the time, but people seem to love seeing the top dog get upset, or finally taken down. It's kind of weird to see, but that's the way the world works. Life is a competition, and someone will always do better than someone else, but we're not really allowed to acknowledge it much. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I reply to this interesting thread for two reasons: 1) If I didn't... some would suspect that I had been absconded into the "extraordinary rendition" program and was in a basement somewhere in the Ukraine (sorry Jeff....I'm not). NOTE: Another profound post comes from my friend FSUBONE who in his own way describes the perceptions (real or imagined) that are pervasive in and out of the competing DCI community......."these guys don't wear their dominant position well". I know this is a real perception and it's clear that it flavors many BD responses evidenced by the almost immediate departure into the G7 discussion. In short, for many, there simply can't be a separation of show/performance and atmosphere surrounding BD....it sticks to them like an unfair odor. The only way out is to remove the thing that makes it so....their winning ways! I thought you were in a holiday stupor, but here you are. I hope that my post wasn't taken the wrong way. I was just hoping to shed some light into why some people have "problems" with the Blue Devils. Like I said, I've competed against them for years, have many friends march there, past and present, and have nothing but the utmost respect for those guys. But when you see the rings all of the time, and the chanting of years, it makes it seem some times that winning is the only goal year in and year out, and I believe that's what gets a little annoying for some folks. Yes, I know that it's because they do what they do so well that it just looks easy, but I'm just commenting from a perspective of a competing member, and good friend to many Devils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller30 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 2007 - High GE, High Visual, High Music, High Brass, High Percussion 2008 - High GE, High Visual, High Guard, High Brass 2009 - High GE, High Visual, High Guard, High Percussion 2010 - Everything except Percussion 2011 - High Visual, High Guard, High Music (tie) Judges don't just hand them that, they earn it. Whether their shows are crowd pleasing or not, they're good. And if that's not your cup of tea, fine, don't trash them though. End Rant. lol Pretty sure they didn't win visual in 2011. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumcorpsdrummerman2012 Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) I'm just wondering why there are so many very conflicting opinions on the Blue Devils. Give your opinion, good or bad, on the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils are a great drum corps. One of the greatest in the world - regardless of what anyone thinks. Many of those that hate them (notice I didn't say "all"), only hate them out of jealousy - which is quite sad. Edited December 31, 2011 by drumcorpsdrummerman2012 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) read that mission statement to those corps who folded..hundreds..and many from that era.....yes they would say they were lied to. Dont get me wrong I am not saying the G7 directors are or should be followed as a matter of fact I can honestly say through personal dealings with 1 of them that a horrible person would only begin to describe them BUT I do believe as many did that initially DCI was NOT about ALL.Ones view of the past can always be looked at through rose colored glasses and certainly with selective memory...on either side. This thread has been hijacked. It has now drifted away from a question on the Blue Devils, and into a revisionist history filled with misinformation. For the record, not a single Founder of DCI suggested as a proposal that a dozen Corps be killed off as they ( direct quote from powerpoint G7 proposal ) " provide no real service ". Yes, the Founders of DCI operated to some degree from a perspective self interest and self preservation measures, but that is entirely different than officially calling for a proposal to eliminate from DCI membership approx 2 dozen Corps. It is not " selective memory " to state that the Founders of DCI wanted to eliminate 2 dozen Drum Corps.In my view it would be "faulty mermory" or " no memory at all " as perhaps the person with such views was not present at the time of the DCI Founding to have any memory at what the Founders believed in, and as a result, attributes what the founders of DCI believed to what the G7 architects believed in. The reality however is there is no relationship at all between what the Founders of DCI believed in re. DCI membership qualification and what the architects of the G7 were proposing for Corps retention membership in DCI. Now.... back to the topic on " what do posters think of the Blue Devils ? "..... Edited December 31, 2011 by BRASSO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) This thread has been hijacked. It has now drifted away from a question on the Blue Devils, and into a revisionist history filled with misinformation. For the record, not a single Founder of DCI suggested as a proposal that a dozen Corps be killed off as they ( direct quote from powerpoint G7 proposal ) " provide no real service ". Yes, the Founders of DCI operated to some degree from a perspective self interest and self preservation measures, but that is entirely different than officially calling for a proposal to eliminate from DCI membership approx 2 dozen Corps. It is not " selective memory " to state that the Founders of DCI wanted to eliminate 2 dozen Drum Corps.In my view it would be "faulty mermory" or " no memory at all " as perhaps the person with such views was not present at the time of the DCI Founding to have any memory at what the Founders believed in, and as a result, attributes what the founders of DCI believed to what the G7 architects believed in. The reality however is there is no relationship at all between what the Founders of DCI believed in re. DCI membership qualification and what the architects of the G7 were proposing for Corps retention membership in DCI. Now.... back to the topic on " what do posters think of the Blue Devils ? "..... well it was back on topic now that it went off again...all I will say is I was there also and many of the top new DCI corps at the time werent interested in the local corps at all. so you can take of it what you want. My guess would be if this forum exsisted back in72 there would be alot of hell raising.......now back to BD...lol PS: of course back then it wasnt suggested to kill off other corps..could you imagine if it were BUT it was clear that would happen and many knew that Edited December 31, 2011 by GUARDLING Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GREENBLUE Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 For myself, there is no hate towards the Blue Devil organization or its members. I believe them to be one of the most talented, consistent organizations in DCI. BUT, I find my contempt to be more towards how the judges have been rewarding the recent show designs in terms of effect, design and marching difficulty scores. I have absolutley no issue with the performance scores, but am still trying to figure out how park n blows, sitting on chairs and follow the leader drill is more difficult than 250+ of well executed, well designed drill sets. The same with general effect, when the crowd awards a show with polite golf claps and token standing ovations(I stand outta respect and admiration of the performers) how is that show rewarded higher then shows that receive 3 standing o's throughgout the perfomance and keeps the crowd on their feet till the very end. I know some of you are going to say its jealousy that feeds this crowd reaction, but I believe if the Blue Devils designed shows that appealed to the masses, we would once again see more fan support for the organization. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bad Bari Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 This is for Big Bad Bari: For the record, I love the BD on-field quality. I adore their high execution and agree that they have earned and deserve each and every title. So, for me, my beef is a Gibbs issue not a BD issue. Stu... I marched with Dave Gibbs, One thing I can tell you is that without specific knowledge of someones motives for anything they do. It is impossible to understand what was going on in their heads when they did said thing... There have been things in DC that I have not been particularly fond of, but I am not willing to taint my experience by allowing my negative feelings toward a particular event, overshadow my love for the whole! How do I do this... I am careful not to call out anyone in DC Leadership Positions by name on these boards, at least not in a negative manner. Why? Because it will help cultivate respect for and within each organization if we were all to handle ourselves in such a manner. There are things I complain about... and I have not always been super nice to everyone on these boards... But I do show respect, hope that respect is well grounded within each and every one of these organizations and do my best to lead by example in this regard. I have seen some people go so far as to complain about not being shown enough appreciation by their corps and or the others on these boards for their volunteer work. This is not only pathetic, but being a volunteer should be something personal between the volunteer and the corps. No one else even needs to know... Know what I mean? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koburd Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Aside from all the G7 subplot going on here, I thought some of your views were very good and eye-opening. I suppose I shouldn't have used the word hate in this thread though. I personally love the Blue Devils and would love to some day be part of that great organization. Hearing the opinions of the "older" guys sure has helped. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 (edited) Have you ever had a conversation with the guy about your point of view? I am sure he would listen very attentively and politely, before even more politely expressing a need to get back to working on actually running a program, one of the best in the world at serving youth in a particular niche, from just out of diapers until just out of college. I tried to seek his council. I saw him in the lot and politely, yes politely asked him if he would be able to answer something for me. He stopped, smiled, and said that he would do his best. I politely, yes politely asked him to square the DCI Mission Statement concerning a cooperative fraternity of its member drum corps with the G7 proposal to eliminate all support for half the corps within DCI. He got stone faced, turned and walked away without responding. If you really want your opinion to matter to him... I can suggest you do one of the following: a) Donate a significant amount of money to the organization b) Create an organization that does a better job at doing what they do Until, it is a pretty one-sided argument. And that is the reason it is completely futile for most people to attempt a conversation with him. Edited December 31, 2011 by Stu 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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