N.E. Brigand Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Scores and Awards: 8. 88.330 - White Sabers (Best Honor Guard) UPDATE: Best Honor Guard award added I know White Sabers have won this particular award before, but I was surprised on this occasion. Mind you, I didn't look closely at each honor guard, but I happened to be looking at Sabers' just as they approached the front of the field and began to make their turn to the corner--and the member holding the American flag nearly dropped it. Twice. It clearly slipped from his hands, sliding so that it was obviously lower than the other flags. Now, I don't know the intricacies of the flag code, but this was plain even to me. And the T&P judge was looking right at them when that happened. So I guess that all the other honor guards had even bigger problems. BTW - Did they announce what was the faction that won the Best Showmanship from MBI? Just curious. They did, and the audience laughed riotously, and he pranced forward to accept it. (Personally I was rooting for Govies' tuba soloist.) I NEVER thought I would say this but Cabs got jobbed! A shocking admission. And I agree, although I haven't seen the recaps yet. There are good reasons why MBI beat them legitimately. We are all homers to some extent. And that blinds us to many details. Personally I thought high brass would be the VERY LAST caption that MBI would win. I am rather shocked, actually. Visual I could understand. The Cabs have never been known for being particularly adventurous in visual design. But MBI has had some of the best visual shows for the last 5 years or so. But hey, I'm looking forward to the recaps . . . Congrats to C2 and the Bucs!!! Good post. I'm actually homer for no corps, but that doesn't make your observation (that I bolded) untrue of me. My weakness is a desire for change and a love of the underdog. Which means that until I actually saw MBI perform yesterday, somewhere deep down, I was rooting for them to do well. Also, I don't like to displease people, which means that if I find myself sitting next to family or friends of a Minnesota Brass member (last night) or a White Sabers member (tonight) or a huge Caballeros fan (also tonight), that as they look over my shoulder at my notebook and ask what I think is going to happen, I will probably tend to be nicer towards their corps than I otherwise might be. Which can make for some pretty interesting psychological dynamics! To take the present example: the MBI parents last night were very nervous about the show. After seeing AtlantaCV perform, they were very impressed and told me that they thought CV was at least as good as MBI had been at their previous competition. Not to worry, I replied: CV was likely to score at Prelims just about what MBI had scored two weeks ago. But then they saw Kidsgrove, and the MBI mother told me she had just texted her son that Kidsgrove was "scary good", and I began to wonder if MBI might be having an off year. On the other hand, maybe the parents were deliberately dampening their own expectations, so they wouldn't be disappointed. But my doubts about MBI vanished when they made that fabulous entrance. That was so good, I was taken by a sudden euphoria with the possibility that they could win it all. (Remember, prior to Prelims, I'd seen no DCA performance this year live, and precious few even on video. Thanks, Tresona.) But as the show progressed, I found it less and less interesting, being very scattered in execution, albeit it was as innovative as I would find Bucs' program a half-hour later. I felt that MBI would be lucky to move up from fourth in Prelims and would have to clean up incredibly well to improve Sunday. Which I don't think they did. But again: I don't have an anti-MBI bias. I even bought two of their tee shirts before Finals started today. Weird, huh? Any guess on crowd size? In the lower level, where I was seated, by about five corps from the end of the evening, it appeared to be almost full, with just scattered empty seats, from endzone to endzone, with a very few people sitting in the corner sections. One of the empty seats was right next to me, which was helpful, because the "calzones" the stadium sells are huge, and I needed somewhere to put my plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Having praised several people for exposing their predictions, expectations, and/or hopes in the face of possible ridicule and unavoidable reality, I ought to share my own guesses made before the judges spoke and history was written. Just above, I note in reply to Ron H. some biases I hold: not for particular corps, but for underdogs and for change. Another bias is for numerical records to be broken, even though I know the scores, particularly from year to year, mean nothing. (Although--darn it!--those numbers ought to mean something. Otherwise why have them at all?) Even so, I do try to temper my expectations. So late Saturday I said that it was only somewhat likely that eight corps could break 90. Based on the regular season scores by Fusion Core, Kidsgrove Scouts, White Sabers, and Atlanta CV, that had seemed highly likely just a week ago, but then Sabers stalled in Prelims. However, I had no inkling, even after watching tonight's shows, that only six corps would have 90 in Finals! Fusion Core was a point worse on Sunday than on Saturday? And more than four points worse than last year? Really?! I just can't see it. Similarly I had firmly pulled back on my hopes that Govenaires could earn their best score ever, or even their best Finalist score ever. But no way could I conceive, having seen their performance tonight, that it would be scored lower than last night. It almost seems that DCA's judges, like DCI's judges, were deliberately holding back--but not until tonight! In any case, this is how I thought it would work out (keeping to just one decimal place): Open Class 1. 98.2 Reading Buccaneers 2. 96.8 Cadets2 3. 96.5 Caballeros 4. 95.0 Minnesota Brass 5. 93.8 Kidsgrove Scouts 6. 93.2 AtlantaCV 7. 92.0 Fusion Core 8. 89.9 White Sabers 9. 87.4 Sunrisers 10. 85.5 Hurricanes Class A 1. 84.0 Govenaires 2. 81.0 Alliance 3. 75.0 Kilties 4. 73.5 Cincinnati Tradition I did fine through the first three Class A corps, and then it all fell apart. Oh, well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) All interesting thoughts so far on this thread ... and very civil! (hope it stays that way) I didn't expect to watch finals, but was able to and glad I did ... all the shows looked crisper to me with the exception of Fusion and Scouts ... I'm in agreement with the placements in all but the Cabs finish ... IMO, their overall performance should have kept them in third ... C2 still had the most pleasing show to me ... they looked and sounded very confident from start to finish ... very happy for the strong finish by the Hurcs ... the August "restructuring" of their show paid off and vaulted them into finals ... Anyway ... another one in the books ... corps already planning 2016 shows and scheduling auditions ... it would be nice if the majority of the corps kept the majority of their current membership to allow for synergy and growth into the future ... full scale rehearsals rather scattering to the four winds would be advisable ... maybe some fall parades and Ockoberfest exhibitions to keep the juices flowing - along with an appearance or two at an I&E show over the winter ... Keep 'em together ... let 'em keep playing ... Edited September 7, 2015 by ajlisko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) There are good reasons why MBI beat them legitimately. We are all homers to some extent. And that blinds us to many details. Personally I thought high brass would be the VERY LAST caption that MBI would win. I am rather shocked,actually. Visual I could understand. The Cabs have never been known for being particularly adventurous in visual design. But MBI has had some of the best visual shows for the last 5 years or so. But hey, I'm looking forward to the recaps.. Congrats to C2 and the Bucs!!! Man, I swear some folks must have been looking at a different show. I thought Minnesota might have taken the brass trophy right after their performance and said so on this thread. But the main reason their brass sounded so good is that their drill simply DOES NOT MOVE! They literally stand motionless for almost half of their program. Running some steamers from a pole and having folks run around in clown costumes does not equate to dynamic visual design. Edited September 7, 2015 by VOReason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) Sorry...double post. Edited September 7, 2015 by VOReason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOReason Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 BTW, Fusion and CV were ON FIRE! I thought that both of them would overtake Kidsgrove. Ended up being half right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mithy Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 With respect to Carolina Gold and any other 11th place finishes, I think it is really dumb to have the 11th place corps get to go on finals. Either have a cut-off or don't. What do you tell 12th place? You can play during intermission? That's like having 13th place play before DCI retreat.After missing finals by 0.2 it was amazing to get to perform one more time, stress free, under the lights. That was the performance of my life. There was a palpable energy and joy on that field, that I am so grateful I had the chance to feel. You can think what you want about the practice, but it means a lot to the 11th place corps. I don't think we could have ended the season on a better note. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Kudos to you and Gold for feeling that way ... ONE MORE TIME, as the saying would go from years ago ... everyone (well most everyone) would want that chance to perform in front of a finals' crowd ... :-) After missing finals by 0.2 it was amazing to get to perform one more time, stress free, under the lights. That was the performance of my life. There was a palpable energy and joy on that field, that I am so grateful I had the chance to feel. You can think what you want about the practice, but it means a lot to the 11th place corps. I don't think we could have ended the season on a better note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeDz Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Kudos to you and Gold for feeling that way ... ONE MORE TIME, as the saying would go from years ago ... everyone (well most everyone) would want that chance to perform in front of a finals' crowd ... :-) Excellent post, Andy...... If Gold did not WANT to perform, we would have easily detected that. As one of the ten voting members, appearing in exhibition (when an exhibition corps was needed to fill before the retreat), they EARNED the right to perform..... although NOT with a score..... Further, their performance enhanced the show.... this winter, they will reap some more benefits..... perhaps a new member or two who saw them for the first time via Fan Network........ you never know. Joe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Excellent post, Andy...... If Gold did not WANT to perform, we would have easily detected that. As one of the ten voting members, appearing in exhibition (when an exhibition corps was needed to fill before the retreat), they EARNED the right to perform..... although NOT with a score..... Further, their performance enhanced the show.... this winter, they will reap some more benefits..... perhaps a new member or two who saw them for the first time via Fan Network........ you never know. Joe Although I have never thought the 11th place corps should perform , I'm glad they did last night. For me and i'm sure many others it made it certainly look like they should have beaten a corps or 2 and worthy of a finals position. There have been years when the 11th place corps performed with only 12 or 13 in prelims,,,kinda silly, let them all in or no non finalists perform. JMO Again glad they did though last night...lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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