Best non-winners.....2nd, 3rd, and 4th

[BRASSO]

The 1980 Blue Devils deserved to win by 2-3 tenths over a very talented and entertaining 27th Lancers Drum Corps in 1980( and did so by such a margin in the end that season. )

[rancidrolla]

2013 Crown did win...

Oops, I meant 2012*

[Tim K]

Two second place shows that I always thought deserved first are 1979 Phantom and 1980 27th. Keep in mind that with 1980, the audio is not great, so it is hard to pick up the magic of the top four corps that year, but first through fourth were separated by less than a point, and given that the "tic" system was still in place in some categories, one mistake could have changed everything.

I still think SCV was robbed in 1987.

I would not necessarily change the results of 1988 and 1989, but 1988 SCV and 1989 Phantom are two of my favorite shows and two of the best shows in DCI hostory.

I am glad the 1990 Cavies is included in this year's Essentials DVD. I would have had both Cavies and Star ahead of Cadets.

Fast forward a bit, Crown really did have a shot in 2012 with one of their best and most creative shows. Not quite 2013 or 2014 as far as originality is concerned, but beautiful brass work and some creative marching and guard maneuvers.BD was formidable with one of their most creative and many believe innovative shows, but I still think if Crown did not have some nerves issues, which they did not have at semi's and should have placed first that evening, Crown's first title would have been in 2012.

Regarding 2014, I am not ready to say Bluecoats was the best second place show because I believe that Cadets, Bloo, SCV, and Crown were all pretty even in my opinion. In any given year any one of these shows could have won a title. However, I will say that Bloo had the best second place performance I think I've ever seen. I did not expect to see Bloo outscore Cadets, though a few snafus did make me wonder if we'd see a switch in placement, but Bloo's second caught me by surprise which again gives it a certain quality to me.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Tim K

[84BDsop]

87-88 SCV

89 Regiment

92 Cadets

and, of course, 84 BD (duh)

[Cappybara]

Oops, I meant 2012*

Ah okay that makes a lot more sense haha. I agree with you, Cadets 07 and Crown 12 had amazing hornlines and visual packages. I think Cadets 07 is one of the best openers I've ever listened to (minus the narration).

[ZachDrumCorps]

Bluecoats from this year, probably would have won on any other year, minus a select few. Phantom Regiment 2003 is an awesome show. Cavaliers 2003, also great. Star of Indiana 1993 is probably my favorite "loser" though. Hell, even the Cadets think they shouldn't have won.

[jjeffeory]

88 BD should have beaten Madison.

09 Crown should have beaten BD.

92 Cadets should have beaten the Cavies.

90 Star over the Cadets.

'92 Cadets was a great show, but listen to the mellophones. Not the best intonation. They took raw performers and made the most of them that year.

'90 Star is my all time favorite show, but it was third.

[burgerbob]

My biggest one is '07 Cadets. With or without narration it's probably my favorite Cadets show of this generation. Unreal performance quality too.

I'm torn over BD '08... but they really had a lackluster Finals show and Phantom didn't. I was there!

'93 of course... but Phantom is probably my favorite show that year.

in '09 I really liked Crown but there's no way they were on the same level as BD. Great show though, probably my last real favorite from Crown. I miss those uniforms.

2011 was a toss up. Cadets had a great show but the visual performance especially was not quite up to par. BD just didn't have the same edge as they usually do.

2012? Nope, BD solidly in first. Crown had a very difficult show, definitely. That's all I can say about that!

2013 BD was really great. I like Crown 2013 but it's really a toss up as to who should win- and of course the crowd wouldn't have it any other way.

[Yorkvillain]

Bluecoats from this year, probably would have won on any other year, minus a select few. Phantom Regiment 2003 is an awesome show. Cavaliers 2003, also great. Star of Indiana 1993 is probably my favorite "loser" though. Hell, even the Cadets think they shouldn't have won.

What?

[hostrauser]

If a year is not mentioned (1987-2014) that means I agree with the outcome.

1987: Santa Clara Vanguard was better in EVERY section except percussion, where they were almost equal. Two over-zealous percussion judges handed a title to The Cadets that they did not deserve, IMO.

1989: Phantom Regiment was better in EVERY section except percussion, where they were... okay, not great, but not enough of an anchor that it should have sunk the corps. Two over-zealous percussion judges handed a title to Vanguard that they did not deserve, IMO.

1993: Special exception. For a long time I thought Star was the better corps. But after watching each of the Top 3 shows LITERALLY over 100 times each, I'm now firmly convinced The Cadets were the right call. Star's visual program was ground-breaking. It was also very, very dirty. And the Cadets have a ton of effect.

1995: Blue Devils were undefeated all season, beating Cadets and Cavaliers with no problem. Then they got absolutely HAMMERED Finals week, for no apparent reason I can see. The Cavaliers' horn line was terrible (listen to those fracks in the closer!). When I auditioned for BD in 1998, there were vets (who won in 94, 96, and 97) who were STILL bitter about 95. Should have been DCI's first four-peat. No, actually wait, it shouldn't have, because...

1996: Phantom Regiment should have won outright.

1999: Santa Clara Vanguard should have won outright. This was my first finals I attended in person. Vanguard's Finals run remains--to this day--the most energetic, exciting performance I've ever seen from a drum corps. Blue Devils were cleaner, but Vanguard should have been AT LEAST 0.3 ahead of everyone else in both GE captions.

2000: All season I was rooting HARD for the Cavaliers to catch The Cadets. I cheered when it happened. Then I saw the video. Noooo, what had I done! Cavaliers were nowhere near The Cadets level.

2001: Ironic (considering what happens next year), but when I think of horrendous brass lines that won titles, I think Cavaliers. 92 (even though that year deserved to win), 95, 00, 01... Not a hornline in the bunch that deserved to be Top 5 in brass. Cadets were better here, too.

2004: I hate to seem like I'm picking on Cavaliers, but COME ON. Blue Devils had better brass, better percussion, better guard, better visual performance. WTF with those effect scores? Blue Devils should have won.

2009: Can't really provide a "logical" argument here. Blue Devils visual and percussion were awesome, and spit-shine clean. The brass book was a joke, but that's another story. I just felt this Crown show was REALLY special, from concept all the way through execution.