DCPI Season 22 Discussion

[Galen]

Happy show Sunday! It's our first and only Sunday event this season, and it's almost impossible to believe that in a week's time, corps members will be heading back to their normal lives and directors will start gearing up for another season.

The DCPI caravan rolls into its last week today as all classes of corps rejoin into one unified tour schedule for the last few regular season events of the year. With nearly all of the corps on tour selecting the LaCrosse WI event, we've had to break this up into 3 different show sites. World Class corps will compete at the University of Wisconson-LaCrosse's Haring Stadium, where the Cedar Cliff Crusaders return to action after being MIA for a few days.

Open Class corps will be marching at Century HS in Rochester MN, where Mercury will try to continue to surge forward after stopping Tokyo Tornadoes' winning streak in Platteville, and Class A corps competing at the tree fort that is Rochester College's stadium, where Hg will look to protect a narrowing margin over the rest of the field.

Finally, the corps returning from Denver will get to march at Creighton University's Morrison Stadium as a reward for the long drive from Denver to Omaha NE, where Abracadabra Academy will try to work some more magic and no fewer than 7 finalist contenders will square off.

[Galen]

Some really good results last night, as Ivory Brigade returned to the top of the standings in Omaha and Polaris Regiment triumphed at their home state in La Crosse after coming close to the top numerous times this season. Abracadabra Academy turned in an enchanting performance themselves, narrowly edging out Star of Hawaii in Omaha.

Today marks the last day of the regular season as well as the last day of split format events. The long and winding road to Minneapolis makes two last stops before the finals week events kick off. Sioux Falls SD will be splitting its event between Augustana College Stadium and Howard Wood Field. With several recent regular-season winners like Violet Knights and Quiksilver, corps that haven't made the top of the leaderboard like Nastalgia Vanguard, Buckeye Brass and California Knights will have one last chance to grab a show win before finals week, and corps like Kentucky Colonels, The Wranglers and Valley Vanguard hope to be able to claw their way into finals contention.

And in the State of 10,000 Lakes, Mankato MN's Blakeslee Field and Gustavus Adolphus College Stadium in St. Peter MN will host the last matchup between Polaris Regiment, Eruption, Avengers and Knights of Power, while the Scarlet Corps will try to solidify their places in the standings.

[hostrauser]

It's been a good season. A lot of close competition at the top. Even now you can make a case for ten or more corps in each division to take home the gold on Saturday night.

[Galen]

Definitely- and we all know what sort of surprises finals week can bring.

No events for today or tomorrow as the regular season has concluded and corps have two days to make their final preparations.

To give a little reminder on how the rules work for finals week, directors can make up to two caption changes for each round they advance. So if a corps advances from prelims to semis, they'd get up to 2 changes for that corps, and the the same story for finals.

Lineup times for all divisions will be posted tomorrow morning. In the meantime, due to the large number of corps in each division this year (a good problem to have, trust me), the top 20 corps from each division will advance to semis instead of the usual 17. This should open up the field a little bit, especially in World Class.

[StarOrg]

To give a little reminder on how the rules work for finals week, directors can make up to two caption changes for each round they advance. So if a corps advances from prelims to semis, they'd get up to 2 changes for that corps, and the the same story for finals.

Cool. I was just going to confirm this. 2 caption switch still give options without any "unrealistic" last minutes changes. I like the rule. Risk, reward as we all know making a change can sometimes have negative results. Been there done that so something to think about.

[Galen]

That's been the rule for several seasons now, and to clarify, it's still up to 3 caption changes until the start of the prelim rounds, which, as always, is 4 PM CST.

[Jhawk]

I'm sad my corps will be going as is into finals. I'll be out of town at a Convention starting today with no internet access.

[Galen]

Here are the lineup times for tomorrow's prelims! The lineups were derived from an average of each corps' 3 most recent scores.

World Class Feenicks 12:00 Idaho Regiment 12:17 The Sires 12:34 The Stud Bolts 12:51 Texas Trailblazers 1:08 Phantom Vanguard 1:25 Tri-State Troubadors 1:42 Midnight Vanguard 2:15 Dewsbury Regulars 2:32 Bluecoat Brigade 2:49 Harmonic 3:06 Black Bear Regiment 3:23 Red Coat Regiment 3:40 Black Beat NZ 3:57 Euphony Empire 4:30 Pride of Salem 4:47 Violet Knights 5:04 #1 Corps 5:21 The Knights 5:38 Eruption 5:55 Ohio Valley Thunder 6:12 The Patriots 6:45 Renegade Brigade 7:02 California Knights 7:19 Knights of Power 7:36 Circle City Sound 7:53 Avengers 8:10 Scarlet Armada 8:27 Buckeye Brass 9:00 Nastalgia Vanguard 9:17 Polaris Regiment 9:34 Quiksilver 9:51 Star of Jupiter 10:08 Ivory Brigade

10:25

Open Class INT 12:00 Phantom Vanguard Cadets 12:17 The Sires II 12:34 Idaho Cadets 12:51 Redcoat Regiment 1:08 Valley Vanguard 1:25 Harmonic Cadets 1:42 Canterbury Aftershocks 2:15 Spartan Vanguard 2:32 The Screws 2:49 Blue Coat Brigade 3:06 The Wranglers 3:23 Storm Troopers 3:40 The Thoroughbreds 3:57 Huddersfield Hundred 4:30 Scarlet Regiment 4:47 Euphony Vanguard 5:04 Dunder Mifflin Paper Carriers 5:21 Texas Zephyrs 5:38 Blue Ridge Brigade 5:55 Spirit of Indy 6:12 Tokyo Tornadoes 6:45 The Marauders 7:02 Buckeye Brass B 7:19 Knights of Sound 7:36 Les Blanc Chevaliers 7:53 Star of Hawaii 8:10 Nastalgia 8:27 Abracadabra Academy 9:00 Mercury 9:17

Class A Mirfield Lockmen 12:00 ERMISSION 12:17 Sires Cadets 12:34 Pacific Mountaineers 12:51 The Bolts 1:08 Mountain Magic 1:25 The Buckeroos 1:42 Green Devils 2:15 Red Regiment 2:32 Mountain Beats 2:49 Green Band 3:06 Euphony Cadets 3:23 Lake Erie Storm 3:40 Kentucky Colonels 3:57 Scarlet Cadets 4:30 Christchurch Crusaders 4:47 Cape Cod Regiment 5:04 River City Express 5:21 Swannanoa Silverstars 5:38 Lowell Lancers 5:55 Nastalgia Percussion Ensemble 6:12 Hoosier Regiment 6:45 Kaiju Corps 7:02 Buckeye Brass C 7:19 Knights of Note 7:36 Cross 7:53 Hg 8:10 Xothyme 8:27

[Galen]

Here we go, kids- its Prelims Day! A season of hard work culminates in a fantastic 3-day showcase of DCPI's finest talent, and based on how the season has gone, you can expect some fierce competition in each round.

All World Class events will be contested at the spectacular TCF Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. This venue will also host the Open Class and Class A finals.

Open Class corps will have their initial rounds of competitions at the National Sports Center stadium in Blaine, on the north side of the Twin Cities. While this is a grass field, it has been kept in impeccable shape. The tall sideline wall will give corps a sense of being in DeKalb with the extra height.

Class A corps will be making a little road trip up to St. Cloud State University's Husky Stadium. With a smooth artificial turf surface, an elevated grandstand right next to the field and a stellar view of the Mississippi River from the seats, this will make for a great venue for these corps to compete at.

[Galen]

Scores from prelims have just been posted. Congrats to all corps who have advanced to semifinals (top 20 in each division)! There were some nailbiters and more than a few broken hearts from corps who narrowly missed advancing to the next round, which should be filled with drama as we have a tie at the top in Class A to sort out along with a very slim margin from first to second in World Class between Quiksilver and last season's champs, Buckeye Brass. Which of the four Knights in World Class will lay claim to the Knight Sword? How will the two newest international corps that advanced to semis, Black Beat NZ and Huddersfield Hundred, fare in the next round? And of course, will the dreaded "Prelims Curse" strike again?

Finally, the caption change limits have now been updated, so directors who have advanced to semifinals can now implement their two changes for the next round.