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2017 Open Class Championships - Aug 8


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7 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

But wasn't all of this true before 2008? The question under consideration was why have BDB and SCVC dominated in the past decade after not having done so before? My theory may not be correct, but it does account for the change.

I was out of the activity for a while, so I'm not sure when exactly it shifted, but I know back when I marched in the early 90s, a) we were paid for shows, and b) DCI membership was obtained if you made the top 25. Division II corps could be given a seat at the table if they did well enough, and they were making money either way so there wasn't as much incentive to jet upward and onward. So there was likely a better variety of stronger, smaller corps who were making it happen year after year without the end goal of going WC. That is decidedly no longer the case.

I was just a teenager then, so I can't say when all of that changed (if 2008 was the magic year). I can tell you two things: money DOES make a big difference, and it's definitely been a learning experience being on the admin side of things since getting involved again four years ago.

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On 8/9/2017 at 2:37 PM, Nuts4DC said:

Nope... this isn't MCs first time to Championships. They know the protocol, as it was reminded to ALL directors the night before at the directors meeting. I know because you can here the meeting from the stands. After  scores are announced and corps dismissed they have the opportunity to embrace and take photos. Once the announcement is made to clear the field, that is when the winning corps gets to take a personal moment on the field alone for photos and on a rare occasion play, depending on the corps. MC knew exactly what they were doing. SCVC was waiting for MC to leave..but they never did. 

Nuts4DC, I'm very sorry the situation upset you. But, I must say, while you are right about the protocol of when to leave the field, the field staff did not say to clear the field until after we had played the Tennessee Waltz. We then left accordingly. If by some chance we were still in the wrong, I will say on behalf of Music City, that we meant no malice, only to celebrate such a wonderful season for this corps by playing our corps song in dedication to Finis. From a baritone player in Music City's 2017 corps, with much respect.

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32 minutes ago, BassClefTristan said:

Nuts4DC, I'm very sorry the situation upset you. But, I must say, while you are right about the protocol of when to leave the field, the field staff did not say to clear the field until after we had played the Tennessee Waltz. We then left accordingly. If by some chance we were still in the wrong, I will say on behalf of Music City, that we meant no malice, only to celebrate such a wonderful season for this corps by playing our corps song in dedication to Finis. From a baritone player in Music City's 2017 corps, with much respect.

So glad to hear this as I was pretty sure that Music City would not have intentionally been disrespectful to the winning corps.  Nuts4DC, please check out this video from FloMarching about how the corps honored Finis:

http://www.flomarching.com/video/1242718-music-city-one-final-run-for-finis

And BassClefTristan, congratulations on a very powerful, emotional, moving and thrilling performance.  One of my favorite shows of the season.

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My roots in this activity don't go very deep, just two years, but FWIW I will say that I have specifically heard from veteran 7R staff that they have the utmost respect for Music City. They mentioned that they were a strong corps with good values.

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On 8/10/2017 at 8:45 PM, N.E. Brigand said:

But wasn't all of this true before 2008? The question under consideration was why have BDB and SCVC dominated in the past decade after not having done so before? My theory may not be correct, but it does account for the change.

I don't remember them coming out to championships every year before then.  When I marched in the late 90's and early 00's, we only saw SCVC finally come out to championship week in 1998, and I think they made it an "every other year" trip.    BDB didn't start making the trip until 2003 or 2004.   I'm not certain which.  But they didnt come to florida, or maryland, or buffalo, or any of the other eastern championships.

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On 8/10/2017 at 8:45 PM, N.E. Brigand said:

But wasn't all of this true before 2008? The question under consideration was why have BDB and SCVC dominated in the past decade after not having done so before? My theory may not be correct, but it does account for the change.

The answer is simple: They were funded by a strong financial program through their parent corps, and were thus able to survive the Great Recession. Several smaller, independent corps that relied on separate fundraising were no longer able to raise sufficient funds, and thus folded in the time between 2007 and 2012.

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Both BDB and SCVC operate as their own corps and are not feeder corps. Prior to 2008 they always made finals when they attended championships but were not always at the top. The more they won the easier it was to attract talent. At this point they are talented enough to be world class corps. But being in world class is not all about competitive results. It is about the ability to fund a national tour. Pioneer is a good example. They would have barely made open class finals from a competitive standpoint....but they are financially stable enough to offer their members a national tour. I am pretty sure that the reason they stay in open is that it would be financially impossible to fund two full time national touring corps. I know in the past DCI had a regional world class model that was used by Mandarins, Pacific Crest and the Academy prior to moving to full time touring world class corps. Under this option corps could stay local for most of the season and just jump on the tour for the last few weeks of the season. I wonder if they brought back this option if BDB and SCVC would make the move to world class.

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1 hour ago, Jeremy Denzer said:

Both BDB and SCVC operate as their own corps and are not feeder corps. Prior to 2008 they always made finals when they attended championships but were not always at the top. The more they won the easier it was to attract talent. At this point they are talented enough to be world class corps. But being in world class is not all about competitive results. It is about the ability to fund a national tour. Pioneer is a good example. They would have barely made open class finals from a competitive standpoint....but they are financially stable enough to offer their members a national tour. I am pretty sure that the reason they stay in open is that it would be financially impossible to fund two full time national touring corps. I know in the past DCI had a regional world class model that was used by Mandarins, Pacific Crest and the Academy prior to moving to full time touring world class corps. Under this option corps could stay local for most of the season and just jump on the tour for the last few weeks of the season. I wonder if they brought back this option if BDB and SCVC would make the move to world class.

I think by definition BDB and SCVC won't ever move up.  BDB defines their group as one for ages 14-19, and SCVC defines their program as "the primary training group for membership in our World Class ensemble"

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On the live blog of world prelims it was noted that both organizations have changed the primary mission of being a feeder program to that of being their own corps. 

 

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