At what point do corps accept their fate?

[chaddyt]

Yeah, but that was the exception, not the rule. We may never again see a late surge like that.

Isn't that kind of the point though?

What if they went in to finals weekend thinking that "there's never been a late season surge like we would need to win championships, soooo...."

[THEdevilYOUknow]

I would ask the 2008 Phantom Regiment at what point they accepted their fate.

Also, not a 1st place corps, but 2012 Crossmen

[JKT90]

Good question...not sure how it is today, but when I marched we never discussed scores. I'm sure the staff probably did, but it was never discussed with the corps...what was discussed, was keep pushing and we'll be where we need to come Saturday night, and we were. Today with social media members may follow it more closely...but if I were on staff I would encourage them to pay no attention to it, focus on performing your show the best you can until you have nothing left to give.

[Ghost]

Do you think Cadets has accepted they will place 2nd and now just focus on being the best they can be? Do you think Crown realises they won't retain their championship title?

Corps like the Cadets don't get to where they have been since the early 80's by accepting that they might not win. The staff and instructors will never allow "oh well guys, we gave it a good shot this year" type thoughts to happen. Sure, the experienced MM know from there previous years of what is probably going to happen and they talk among themselves of what's taking place, but the DCI mm are first and foremost performers. The shot of the PR contra at the end of their 08 finals performance is felt like many mm no matter where they feel they will end up.

[N.E. Brigand]

Not even when Longshanks's torturer is drawing out their viscera.

[C.Holland]

I believe come finals day, you just do it. You accept you cannot control what those dorks in polos will say and you go for (insert motivation).

[2muchcoffeeman]

People love to say that on this board but that was not the case when I marched. Scores mattered

Recall one time, after a show, a mighty ball-out from the staff with sheets in their hand, in front of everyone in the parking lot…we knew all the spreads by the end of that one

Of course they matter. The question is, how much. In my experience, they don't matter to the degree that a corps rolls over and "accepts its fate," as the OP asked. Every member wants to do as well as possible, and the scores are the system that has been set up to measure that. So any corps that tells its members that it wants to help them be as successful as possible, and then downplays scores as irrelevant, is lying to them. As with everything in life, it's a matter of degree. Obsessing over scores isn't healthy; neither is giving up on them. Acquiring a healthy approach to scores is just another of the life lessons this activity can teach.

(And I remember a night after a show when the score didn't go our way, our DM marched us out of the stadium to some remote location, and we played the angriest standstill of our lives, just to ourselves. In that moment, the score was a big thing to us. And in that moment, we dealt with it put the score behind us).

Edited August 1, 2014 by 2muchcoffeeman

[DCI-86]

All this is true. But take Cadets new ending. Was it done because it is the right ending for the show and always planned or because they thought "sh@t, our GE scores are getting beat so we need more GE. I know, let's put some huge tarps in'

[hostrauser]

Not even when Longshanks's torturer is drawing out their viscera.

Did you really just drop a "Braveheart" reference?

[philipmartin]

Check the videos of retreat from 1987 (on youtube) and ask SCV when they accepted their fate? Also, if you read the comments on the 1980's Drum and Bugle Corps page, there are people who marched 89 Phantom who have yet to accept their fate.