bluehull Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Mandarins made the greatest one year upswing of any corps. They put a corps on the field that should have placed higher. Nevertheless, they are a new presence on the field both size wise and performance wise. If they continue as they have, we are looking at a new kid on the block 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Mandarins made the greatest one year upswing of any corps. Huh ? I loved the Mandarins show this season (selected them as one of my top 5 for another thread ). But lets not go overboard here. Mandarins moved up 1 placement position from 2014 to 2015 ( 21st to 20th ). Madison moved up 3 placement positions ( 11th to 8th ). Heck, even Vanguard Cadets moved up more placement positions than did the Mandarins ( 18th to 16th ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) I think it is crazy that no one is talking about The Cadets in this thread. The odds that they won't have a very different and much more compelling show design next year are 0%. And they will have top five talent every year regardless. The Cadets will medal next year, you can almost write it down in ink (no pun intended). The corps most likely to feel their heat is probably Bluecoats. Because I won't bet against Crown or Blue Devils in terms of show design or talent. I am hoping Vanguard makes a move. I just think they have to play more music and do less running around while not playing. It seemed like a huge portion of this years show had no one playing a brass instrument. They have, and will always have, great musicianship. Cavaliers have to move up, because they probably cannot move down. Sad, but true. I wish Acadmy could retain top talent. It would be great to have a contender in Phoenix. They seem to know what they want to do from a direction standpoint, sort of a more modern version of Phantom. Thought they would make finals this year. It's great to see so many corps scoring in th 90s. That is a sign of the true health of th activity. Edited August 15, 2015 by MikeRapp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) It's great to see so many corps scoring in th 90s. That is a sign of the true health of th activity. I never believed that the numbers of Corps in any given year scoring in the 90's was a " sign of the true health of the activity ". I tend to believe that the numbers of growth in the numbers of marching participants in the activity is a much better sign of the true health of the activity. Oh well, each person is entitled to their own assessment as to what signifies the true health of the activity... and if its the number of Corps scoring in the 90's is that for you, thats cool too. Edited August 16, 2015 by BRASSO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) I never believed that the numbers of Corps in any given year scoring in the 90's was a " sign of the true health of the activity ". I tend to believe that the numbers of growth in the numbers of marching participants in the activity is a much better sign of the true health of the activity. Oh well, each person is entitled to their own assessment as to what signifies the true health of the activity... and if its the number of Corps scoring in the 90's is that for you, thats cool too. Exactly. Twenty corps, each scoring 85 or better, but with only 30-40 members, wouldn't bode at all well for the activity. At least...I wouldn't think it would. Edited August 16, 2015 by HornTeacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TboneBtonegirl Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Troopers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmc5682 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Blue Devils had a young corps this year and should really be pumped to finally win their third Gold Medal in a row in 2016, which is really one thing two other corps have done that BD has failed to do. I know that there are tons of fans out there who are sick of BD winning, but if they have a great program full of vets performing said great program,they will be tough to beat next year. Being from the bay area, and being the proud uncle of a former BD guard member, I do not suffer from BD burn out when it comes to them taking the Gold Medal. I hope Scott Chandler and Jay Murphy can come up with another brilliant idea. One last stat, BD tends to do well in the 6th year of a decade, 1976 Gold Medal,1986 Gold Medal,1996 Gold Medal (shared with Phantom Regiment), 2006 Bronze Medal, 2016 ?. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Blue Devils had a young corps this year and should really be pumped to finally win their third Gold Medal in a row in 2016, which is really one thing two other corps have done that BD has failed to do. I know that there are tons of fans out there who are sick of BD winning, but if they have a great program full of vets performing said great program,they will be tough to beat next year. Being from the bay area, and being the proud uncle of a former BD guard member, I do not suffer from BD burn out when it comes to them taking the Gold Medal. I hope Scott Chandler and Jay Murphy can come up with another brilliant idea. One last stat, BD tends to do well in the 6th year of a decade, 1976 Gold Medal,1986 Gold Medal,1996 Gold Medal (shared with Phantom Regiment), 2006 Bronze Medal, 2016 ?. BD is the only corps that treats the guard like actors on a stage, and they recruit and train kids for years as professional dancers and actors. Some corps are catching them in musical performance but none are able to match them in guard scores. There's just no easy way to do what they do without serious talent and experience. Their guard approach doesn't translate well to the audience, because let's face it you're sitting half a football field away. But they execute their guard concepts for the judges, who are on the field and watching from 15 yards away. I personally have enormous respect for them because they have built their entire organization the right way. But it is not good for the activity to have any one corps dominate the way they are. The next four corps are all doing their thing in unique ways, but until the judges see different guard approaches as equal to BD's, I don't expect them to fall beyond the Silver position any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snare_guy_83 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I personally have enormous respect for them because they have built their entire organization the right way. But it is not good for the activity to have any one corps dominate the way they are. The next four corps are all doing their thing in unique ways, but until the judges see different guard approaches as equal to BD's, I don't expect them to fall beyond the Silver position any time soon. I agree with you. It seems BD has become more of a Theatre Troupe with the musicians moving (I know I will get blasted for this) but it has one them gold the past 2 years. Crown did something similar this season with a focal guard member telling a story and they got silver. Is this a trend now? Probably too early to tell but if a corps wins 2016 with an "acting" production it might be hard to deny. I personally find the musical innovations/technicality of Bluecoats and Vanguard to be more exciting. Just my opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRapp Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I agree with you. It seems BD has become more of a Theatre Troupe with the musicians moving (I know I will get blasted for this) but it has one them gold the past 2 years. Crown did something similar this season with a focal guard member telling a story and they got silver. Is this a trend now? Probably too early to tell but if a corps wins 2016 with an "acting" production it might be hard to deny. I personally find the musical innovations/technicality of Bluecoats and Vanguard to be more exciting. Just my opinion. I love what BD does. No one out-plays them. It's not as if they are cheating musicianship to get theatrics. But they are winning because of how they design and execute guard, and you cannot just go out and do what they do with first and second year talent that has no professional training. It is exciting to see so many other corps try to compete with different and unique approaches. It's fun to watch these shows evolve over the season. There is no question BD is pushing competition forward across the board. Just want to see some other approaches rewarded. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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