N.E. Brigand Posted August 4, 2016 Author Share Posted August 4, 2016 Whatever you've read about the Raiders, is not a swan song. They did some restructuring to ensure their existence for many years to come and have their eyes set on moving up the ranks. The membership morale is better than its ever been, and the staff are gelling like it never has before. That corps is laying the groundwork to grow and be more successful than they ever have been. This is good to hear. The public story is often quite different from the private one (although I hadn't heard anything about turmoil at Raiders this year in the first place). Raiders last year and this year are performing at fewer competitions than in any year since the mid-1990s. That could be an indication of financial challenges, or, contrarily, it could be a sign of sensible financial planning. Scorewise, with 60.65 at Ft. Wayne, which was 10.50 pts. behind Blue Devils B, the current Open Class leader, Raiders are slightly ahead of where they were last year at one week before O.C. Finals (when their score was 58.80 and they were 12.40 pts. behind BDB, who themselves were lagging a little behind of SCVC). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 I think the reasoning to the number of competitions is cost versus return. The OC shows on the east are way up in CT or NH. And they aren't on the same weekend. If there was a show on the way up and on the way back from these it might be justified to go up that far. But OC shows don't have any payout so it doesn't make sense. I don't know the details there. I'm not admin. But I would guess it's costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Scorewise, with 60.65 at Ft. Wayne, which was 10.50 pts. behind Blue Devils B, the current Open Class leader, Raiders are slightly ahead of where they were last year at one week before O.C. Finals (when their score was 58.80 and they were 12.40 pts. behind BDB, who themselves were lagging a little behind of SCVC). I got curious about how their performance stacks up against their history. Looking back over the past 15 years to see how Raiders had done in Open Class championships revealed the following results. (I have combined Div. II and III for 2001-2007.) 2001 -- 8th (of 38) and 9.30 pts. from 1st 2002 -- 20th (of 40) and 19.70 pts. from 1st 2003 -- 13th (of 33) and 13.20 pts. from 1st 2004 -- 16th (of 28) and 16.675 pts. from 1st 2005 -- 10th (of 29) and 8.475 pts. from 1st 2006 -- 12th (of 28) and 15.125 pts. from 1st 2007 -- 8th (of 21) and 11.75 pts. from 1st 2008 -- 9th (of 23) and 10.575 from 1st 2009 -- 6th (of 19) and 7.25 pts. from 1st 2010 -- 5th (of 16) and 8.40 pts. from 1st 2011 -- 10th (of 16) and 14.10 pts. from 1st 2012 -- 10th (of 14) and 13.25 pts. from 1st 2013 -- 9th (of 13) and 11.20 pts. from 1st 2014 -- 9th (of 14) and 13.55 pts. from 1st 2015 -- 11th (of 14) and 17.625 pts. from 1st So 2009-2010 were high-water years for Raiders, and then the bottom dropped out for a while, although they've managed to make Finals each year since. At the moment, they sit in 11th place (of 16) and 11.65 pts. from 1st. Can they move up at least one placement from last year? Can they cut that gap to less than 11 pts.? Those would be two modest but attainable goals, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 You need to remember that 01 through 08 they were division 3. And won division 3 in 05. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Yeah, I deliberately lumped Div. II and III together, since that's how it is now: this list just shows their placement and score relative to the Div. II / O.C. leader. I mean, if there were a Div. III now, depending on where you decided to put the cut-off, for all I know, Raiders could be in first now! (How was a corps' classification in Div. II vs. Div. III determined? Was it by choice? Number of members? Or something else?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Holland Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 It was 60 members and under for div 3 (originally class A-60) and 61 up to 128 members for div 2. (Class A) many times div 2 corps had nearly full corps. You didn't have a choice which you where put in. It was based on numbers. As corps folded or moved up these classes had very few eventually and merged into open class to save their ability to compete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Next two days are big. The two shows tomorrow are used for seeding correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Next two days are big. The two shows tomorrow are used for seeding correct? Last year the Prelims order was based on the average of each corps' two highest scores earned in the ten-day period culminating with (last year's equivalent of) tomorrow's performance. I'll make a list of those scores later this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 (edited) As of August 5: 1. 76.200 Blue Devils B (8/5 Muscatine, IA) [+3.900 8/3] 2. 75.250 Vanguard Cadets (8/5 Muscatine, IA) [+3.850 8/3] 3. 72.175 Spartans (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+3.625 8/2] 4. 71.550 Legends (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+2.800 8/2] 5. 68.00 Genesis (8/3 Dixon, IL) [+0.50 8/2] 6. 67.850 7th Regiment (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+2.650 8/2] 7. 67.525 Music City (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+1.775 8/2] 8. 67.125 Gold (8/5 Muscatine, IA) [+3.725 8/3] 9. 66.525 Louisiana Stars (8/5 Muscatine, IA) [+2.625 8/3] 10. 64.400 Guardians (8/5 Muscatine, IA) [+2.600 7/26] 11. 63.300 Raiders (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+2.650 8/2] 12. 61.725 Southwind (7/30 Atlanta, GA) [+2.675 7/28] Season Complete (at #9 of 25) 13. 60.375 Colt Cadets (8/5 Muscatine, IA) [+3.975 8/2] 14. 60.10 Shadow (8/3 Dixon, IL) [-0.30 8/2] 15. 58.975 Impulse (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+0.575 8/3]16. 57.10 Columbians (7/9 Denver, CO) [+2.10 7/7] Season Complete (at #3 of 20) 17. 56.40 Golden Empire (7/17 Belllfower, CA) [+0.90 7/16] Season Complete (at #9 of 23) 18. 56.30 River City Rhythm (7/30 Farmington, MN) [+5.80 7/16] 19. 53.35 Watchmen (7/17 Bellflower, CA) [+1.05 7/16] Season Complete (at #12 of 23) 20. 52.30 Heat Wave (7/30 Atlanta, GA) [-1.05 7/29] Season Complete (at #19 of 25) 21. 49.80 Battalion (7/7 Ogden, UT) [+1.70 7/6] Season Complete (at #10 of 19) 22. 48.025 Stentors (8/5 Johnsonburg, PA) [+0.525 8/2] 23. 47.15 Thunder (7/9 Sacramento, CA) [+0.60 7/8] Season Complete (at #13 of 20) 24. 46.85 Blue Devils C (7/17 Bellflower, CA) [+1.65 7/16] Season Complete (at #20 of 23) 25. 41.75 Incognito (7/17 Bellflower, CA) [+0.95 7/16] Season Complete (at #23 of 23) Next shows: Avon Lake and Oregon on August 6. All thirteen corps who competed tonight saw their scores go up, in most cases by quite a bit (with Colt Cadets showing the biggest improvement). This is probably due to Friday's shows having a full panel of judges; presumably this will be true Saturday also. In which case, if the Prelims seeding is based--as was the case last year--on the average of each corps' two highest scores since Thursday of last week, then Genesis, River City Rhythm, and Shadow may have erred in not competing tonight. Their averages all don't get the eight-judge boost afforded the other corps. In any case, I can't wait to attend the Avon Lake show in less than eighteen hours! Edited August 6, 2016 by N.E. Brigand 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.E. Brigand Posted August 6, 2016 Author Share Posted August 6, 2016 (edited) Here are the top two scores for each corps since the O.C. tour began on July 27. If O.C. uses the same formula as last year, the average of these two scores will determine Prelims seeding. 76.200 + 72.300 -- Blue Devils B (8/5 Muscatine & 8/3 Dixon) 75.250 + 71.400 -- Vanguard Cadets (8/5 Muscatine & 8/3 Dixon) 72.175 + 68.550 -- Spartans (8/5 Johnsonburg & 8/2 Ft. Wayne) 71.550 + 68.750 -- Legends (8/5 Johnsonburg & 8/2 Ft. Wayne) 68.000 + 67.500 -- Genesis (8/3 Dixon & 8/2 Macomb) 67.850 + 65.200 -- 7th Regiment (8/5 Johnsonburg & 8/2 Ft. Wayne) 67.525 + 65.750 -- Music City (8/5 Johnsonburg & 8/2 Ft. Wayne) 67.125 + 63.400 -- Gold (8/5 Muscatine & 8/3 Dixon) 66.525 + 63.900 -- Louisiana Stars (8/5 Muscatine & 8/3 Dixon) 64.400 + __.___ -- Guardians (8/5 Muscatine) 63.300 + 60.650 -- Raiders (8/5 Johnsonburg & 8/2 Ft. Wayne) 60.400 + 60.100 -- Shadow (8/2 Macomb & 8/3 Dixon) 60.375 + 57.350 -- Colt Cadets (8/5 Muscatine & 7/31 Waukesha) 58.975 + 58.750 -- Impulse (8/5 Johnsonburg & 7/31 Waukesha) 56.300 + __.___ -- River City Rhythm (7/30 Farmington) 48.025 + 47.050 -- Stentors (8/5 Johnsonburg & 8/2 Ft. Wayne) Of course, all corps are due to receive another score this evening, and in most cases it will probably be higher, so this could all change. Edited August 7, 2016 by N.E. Brigand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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