MADISON SCOUTS 2016

[Cappybara]

I'm usually not one to dwell on scores because it goes nowhere and this night is already done and in the books, but I'm trying to figure something out. On semis, BAC scored 85.525 and Scouts scored 85.263 which resulted in BAC moving to finals. Tonight, BAC scored 84.800. Seems fishy to me that they dropped that low but then again I might just be overthinking it and the performers got the finals performance nerves, anyone care to elaborate? With all of that being said, every single one of the corps, world and open class, did their best this season and it was fun to watch. Can't wait to see what 2017 has in store!

Pretty sure there's a drop in scores on finals night for 10-12 most years

[DrumManTx]

Pretty sure there's a drop in scores on finals night for 10-12 most years

Yup. Always happens. They don't have 13 or 26 other corps to worry about before they score the top 12. Boston, Academy, Crossmen, Blue Stars, Cadets all dropped a little tonight off the top of my head.

[gbass598]

2. They lost to a corps which also scored an 85, on the outside looking in by 3 tenths. That is so close you can't point to any single thing, show design or otherwise that cost them the three tenths.

I am not a big fan of the show this year (don't like JCS), but I liked the show in Massillon earlier in the week and thought for sure it was a top 12 show.

The Scouts need some adjustments to get back into the top 12, not a complete turnabout.

You can and it was technically visual that kept them out.

That being said, the entire program was less than stellar. Below standard musical design, very poor drill writing and very little effect. If you are going to do a sequal of a show almost 20 years old, you'd better make sure you do it better than that version.

[GUARDLING]

Just an interesting observation imo:

Scouts don't make finals yet there are enough people out there that find them still more interesting to talk about ( good or bad ) than others who made finals. THIS is a tribute to Scouts when there's plenty to talk about and when others continually struggle to have enough interest to stay on page one.

Think about it Scouts, it is a big accomplishment. Congrats. That is 40 plus years of excellence in DCI .

Edited August 14, 2016 by GUARDLING

[BigBadMadMan]

Funny you say that cause Madison fans i know always say the Scouts don't care about placements and scores. They are in it for the entertainment of fans. Guess they was wrong, or it's something they say when Madison is in finals and winning.

Case in point...this is a Scott Stewart mindset and one that has plagued the corps for years. It's a competitive activity so OF COURSE scores and placement matter, lest you end up folding and never competing again.

And your passive-aggressive sarcasm is duly noted. Thanks for that.

[BigBadMadMan]

Spot on. The Scouts Admin needs to tell that group of alums to sit down and shut up and let them run things

the way they need to for the future good of the organization. People on their staff like KC are super creative and inventive, and are

among the best at what they do....they need the freedom to unleash their ideas and be leaders of innovation again.

That's really difficult to do when they are hamstrung by the feelings of the alumni base.

And it might be good to ditch the "this is who we are" crap. I guarantee that in the 70s, there was no preaching about "staying true to our identity".

The preaching was "We're here to win". The identity, the swagger, the mystique, came from always shooting to be the best.

Being the crowd favorite was a byproduct, not the main goal.

Surprisingly, I agree with the second paragraph of your post. However, I think the first part is laughable. No one was restrained in creating an inferior product. Early on, I thought their show had a lot of potential, but it appears it was never realized. Let's not forget that they were beating Blue Knights early on...the same Blue Knights that ended up several places ahead.

Let's not pretend it was all show design, either. Year on year, show design is relatively on a standard level. It's more rare than it is the norm that a unique design stands out. Let's be honest for a second, the ENTIRE Top 12 is not all that strong. If 130 men can't perform well enough to be out several other coed corps ahead of them, well...like I have said previously, they aren't drawing the best.

Edited August 14, 2016 by BigBadMadMan

[BigBadMadMan]

It will be a difficult task to reconfigure and re orient the direction of the corps without female members...

Bullsheet. Do Cavies have female members? The Scouts are being failed by their leadership at the top and ability to recruit quality talent into the membership.

[Jluke897]

There were two main issues with the show this year.

1. The show design was iffy and it never fully developed as it could have.

2. They were simply just not as clean as the groups around them. They weren't even as clean as last years corps. This is no slight to the members, but just the truth. Hopefully next year they'll have a better product. All that being said the show was still entertaining as heck and I enjoyed!

[RedJazz1900]

How crazy that at the beginning of the season, Madison was ahead of BK by 2-3 points consistently. Just goes to show that continually tweaking and improving design elements throughout the summer is so crucial. I feel like Madison just kept what they had all summer and tried to clean it as best as they could.

With that said, the men of Madison are a fantastic group of performers and is a very talented Drum Corps.

[Cappybara]

I do hope they won't fire any staff. An 85 is good enough to make finals most years and this is the first year for the new staff. Consistency is needed and I'm sure their staff is capable of putting out high quality top 10 products.