East Coast Bias?

[BRASSO]

1 minute ago, brassboy said:

And according to that Jersey Surf and Seattle Cascades have made some GREAT strides before even competing too! 

  And we could add the Couchmen to this list too.

[mjoakes]

Like @PopcornEater1963, I really want to see The Cavaliers scores higher than they are. It's not worth the frustration of trying to make sense of things west, east, midwest, however. San Antonio will come soon enough. Then Atlanta and Allentown. Then...

The new DCI Midwestern Championship in St. Louis almost helps. It's Sunday before San Antonio the following weekend. I think it has all the top groups except Vanguard. Would that be the first time BD, Crown, and Bloo will have appeared together?

[kkrepps]

Sometimes when people talk about score inflation what they may not think about is some events just go really well compared to others.  I was at the ECC last night. Boston was really that good. Bluecoats were exciting. All of them had exceptionally good shows. Maybe it was the heat followed by the cool breeze, the stadium and field, I don't know. It seemed there was a lot of intensity at this show. I don't think the scores were that inflated, I think it was just a really good event by comparison. It'll all wash when everyone's at the same place. 

[craiga]

7 hours ago, geluf said:

As an example, people used to talk about "West Coast Inflation".  Back in the early 2000s it was *sort of* true, but there was a reason for it.

In the early 2000s, BD and SCV on the West coast were on an island unto themselves.  No mid-tier competitors were on the west coast at that time.  Even BK was out of the top 12 the first few years of the 2000s, and everyone else was fighting to make Semi-Finals.

That meant that, early season, the gap between BD and SCV, and everyone else at those shows, was *massive*.  With no mid-tier group to help anchor the numbers, judges had to award spreads as best they could when jumping from one to the other.  And at shows where SCV or BD was there without the other, it was even more unwieldy.  You could see gaps of 10-15 points between BD/SCV and the next group down.

That wasn't the case out East/Mid-West.  There were more corps within the same competitive tiers, and a diverse amount spread throughout each tier, so spreads were easier to manage, generally, show-to-show.

Now, of course, it isn't really that way because the West coast has gained corps in the mid-tier of late (BK is back in finals, Academy usually knocks at the door, Mandarins have been threatening the past few years, etc.), so its not really "a thing" anymore.

But you still get shows where you're missing a competitive tier, and that can make numbers a little interesting.  Honestly it's best just to wait for the first major regional.  You can get an idea of where each corps falls as far as competitive tier before then, but not how they will shake out within those tiers until a head-to-head happens. 

Finally, an accurate description of historic West Coast inflation. 

[MusicManNJ]

9 hours ago, PopcornEater1963 said:

Crown just outscored SCV from last night. 

I’ve got eyes and ears. Head to head SCV is 1.5-2 points better. If not more. 

I should learn from prior experience not to look at scores until San Antonio. But of course I do. :-) 

 

Have you seen everyone in person? If not... then it is hard for you to make that determination. Flo, periscope, youtube videos or hand puppet reenactments do not do them justice so unless you have seen everyone live, regardless of your eyes and ears, there is no way to tell. I saw Crown live recently and the detail in the book and the nuance and creativity of some of the writing is lost watching it any other way. Watching drum corps on TV is like watching fireworks on TV... it is OK but not anywhere near the experience of being there. Let's see what happens in St. Louis with BD and the SA when they all come together. THAT is when we will all have a true reading.

[NakedEye]

6 minutes ago, MusicManNJ said:

Have you seen everyone in person? If not... then it is hard for you to make that determination. Flo, periscope, youtube videos or hand puppet reenactments do not do them justice so unless you have seen everyone live, 

I want HAND PUPPET REENACTMENTS to be a thing for every show!!! 

[Tim K]

9 hours ago, BlueStainGlass said:

Cadets, Jersey Surf, and Raiders probably find this amusing, Boston Crusaders, Spartans and perhaps 7th Regiment (south of Hartford tends to go New York, north of Hartford Boston) see no humor in this whatsoever.

[BRASSO]

 Inflation, deflation.... whatever some want to call it.... this has been the most exciting competition season in years, imo

 Fans for years have been saying they want to see more competition all across the DCI placement spectrum.. the upper tier, the middle, the lower.. Where the " same ol, same ol " Corps are being challenged like never before in recent years.

 Well, welcome to DCI 2018 !

 You want a challenger finally to the Blue Devils hegemony out in Calif ?.... check

 You want a new Challenger emerging  in the East ?.......... check

  You want a new DCI Finalist ?....................check

  You want a revitalized Georgia based Corps ?  check

  You want emerging, Texas based Corps ?...... check

  You want a challenger to BDB. SCV Cadets possibly emerging in Open Class ?..... check

        If you want the " same ol, same ol " in DCI placements, then I can understand your frustration. 2018 is not going to provide you that. So maybe you're a bit " deflated " with all this new and exciting competition we are witnessing in all DCI tier levels now.  But for the rest of us, this season is shaping up as one hellava great season, where nothing is guaranteed to any Corps in previous years for August. Heck, what happened here in June, come August might not look the same.

Edited July 2, 2018 by BRASSO

[2muchcoffeeman]

3 hours ago, mjoakes said:

The new DCI Midwestern Championship in St. Louis almost helps. It's Sunday before San Antonio the following weekend. I think it has all the top groups except Vanguard.

Neither SCV nor BK -- nor Troopers, for that matter -- will be at St. Louis.

Edited July 2, 2018 by 2muchcoffeeman

[LabMaster]

9 hours ago, PopcornEater1963 said:

The simple thesis is this. 

In 2018, the East coast contest are scoring high, the Midwest contests are scoring low, and the West Coast contests are scoring about right. And there's ample comparative evidence to make that claim. 

Evidence: Carolina Crown outscored Santa Clara Vanguard - If you have eyes and ears you know better. 
Evidence: Boston Crusaders are withing 0.15 of the Blue Devils - If you have eyes and ears you know better. 
Evidence: Cavaliers vs. BAC head to head has been all Cavaliers for over 5 years now ( look it up...because I did the other day)...and after beating them head to head a week ago, they now trail them in non head to head scoring. 

I totally get this is an inexact and regional science ( judging). 

My primary thesis was that instead of the traditional cry that the "West Coast is scoring high", in 2018 I believe the East Coast is scoring high. 

But it doesn't really matter...they all get on the same field eventually. 

How about maybe just maybe Boston is better today than they were last year ?  It seems you have a problem with the possibility that Boston is truly in same tier as these other corps.  Now that being said it is still very very early in the season with all corps at 5-6 of 30 shows.  Also these judges are national judges with no favor over regional corps.  The bias claim is baloney.  The first head to head show, a real head to head show will begin to sort things out.  But then there will be the usual claims of slotting.  For now sit back and enjoy and see who works hard makes the right show corrections and puts it together.