C.Holland Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 It changes the nature of the game. Only corps locked in to the top 12 are granted the opportunity to "throw everything on the field." From the point of view of the member who has competitive ambitions, It changes the nature of the activity. It become less about competition on the field, and more about retiring from the activity with the highest-ranking corps jacket possible. The true game is not the performance on the field, but the contract won in November. Have you talked to many members these days? Very few chase that ring. You'll always have some who do. You'll always have some that march Open and move up. You'll always have some who march in a tenth place corps that goes to BD or Cadets. You'll always have some who march in either of those places and then go to Cavies or Blue Knights or Madison. But you don't have such a dramatic influx of turnover from 13-(random number) that leave those corps being a wasteland. Many find a place they like, and stay there. It may take them a season or two, but once they find the experience they love, they don't leave. The become invested in the corps and the family they've made. Even if you put all of them on Saturday, you may have many who switch because they don't want to play for a a crowd of 200 at 11am. they want to play for a crowd of 23000 at 8pm. At least now, if they perform on friday at 5pm, they've got a good crowd. Because you may not see them saturday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 I'm dubious. DCI has already demonstrated, by adding Thursday to the lineup when before it was only Friday and Saturday, that supply could be added without hurting the bottom line. I'll need more evidence before I assume adding some corps to a show that already is on the calendar will kill the golden goose. We're not talking about adding another date; we're talking about adding performers to a bill that already is on the schedule. Thursdays have been on the books for 30 years. They aren't new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2muchcoffeeman Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 (edited) I marched in 1981. We didn't perform on Thursday. But we did on Friday. And Saturday. That makes me a dinosaur. And while my memory is aging right along with the rest of me, I can assure you our first show of that week was Friday. Today, all corps perform on Thursday. You're right: The Thursday prelims contest has been in place for a long time now, but not forever; DCI at some point made the decision to "add supply," and it didn't undermine the economics of it. The evidence indicates the opposite -- that it helped out. Of course, adding a contest prior to finals is not the same thing as making a modification to finals itself. But I think it's at least reasonable to suggest that if you give people drum corps, they will buy tickets for drum corps -- and I'd say that would be especially true at the climax of the season when all competitors are at their peak. Edited May 26, 2016 by 2muchcoffeeman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 but if you have them all perform on Saturday, you'll likely lose many of those ticket buyers from thursday, and friday. Having trouble reconciling this with your previous statement. Now its everyone plays on thursday, no matter what. To potentially an empty stadium If the lower corps play to an empty stadium on Thursday, then it is evident that the people attending Thursday are there for the bigger/better corps anyway. So then what difference would it make if the lower corps get into the Saturday show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted May 26, 2016 Share Posted May 26, 2016 I marched in 1981. We didn't perform on Thursday. But we did on Friday. And Saturday. That makes me a dinosaur. And while my memory is aging right along with the rest of me, I can assure you our first show of that week was Friday. Today, all corps perform on Thursday. You're right: The Thursday prelims contest has been in place for a long time now, but not forever; DCI at some point made the decision to "add supply," and it didn't undermine the economics of it. The evidence indicates the opposite -- that it helped out. Of course, adding a contest prior to finals is not the same thing as making a modification to finals itself. But I think it's at least reasonable to suggest that if you give people drum corps, they will buy tickets for drum corps -- and I'd say that would be especially true at the climax of the season when all competitors are at their peak. Contrary to that pasted CorpsReps reference, DCI open class prelims took place over two days in 1981 (Thursday and Friday). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAZZER Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 Contrary to that pasted CorpsReps reference, DCI open class prelims took place over two days in 1981 (Thursday and Friday). correct http://www.fromthepressbox.com/1981seasonscores.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2muchcoffeeman Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 (edited) correct http://www.fromthepressbox.com/1981seasonscores.htm 50 corps. Woof. No wonder it was two days. That explains my memory of performing only on Friday. . . . however, the dates indicated for Prelims at the website behind the link are Aug. 21 and 22 -- a Friday and a Saturday. If Thursday had been involved, the date would have been Aug. 20. A mistake on the part of the website? I certainly don't recall any prelims being held on Aug. 22. For our part, we were in rehearsal all day. Edited May 27, 2016 by 2muchcoffeeman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 50 corps. Woof. No wonder it was two days. That explains my memory of performing only on Friday. . . . however, the dates indicated for Prelims at the website behind the link are Aug. 21 and 22 -- a Friday and a Saturday. If Thursday had been involved, the date would have been Aug. 20. A mistake on the part of the website? I certainly don't recall any prelims being held on Aug. 22. For our part, we were in rehearsal all day. When schools opened after Labor Day, it seemed like the weekend prior to Labor Day was when many local circuits had finals, DCI was a week earlier, probably the second or third week of August. When school schedules changed, DCI prelims and finals were held at an earlier date. If either prelims or finals was held as late as August 22nd, Labor Day could have been late that year, but in the 1970's that could have been the date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TourGogglesDaily Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 (edited) Definitely forseeing a switchup in that 19-25 place this year... Good stuff happening in some of these corps Edited May 28, 2016 by TourGogglesDaily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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