40 year dominance

[GUARDLING]

5 minutes ago, Bluzes said:

Your preaching to the choir scores don't madder and BD winning doesn't madder change this to a music festival and I would come. The headliners at these festivals are the BDs, who cares. Everything has a measure one way or another and some are always found wanting.

I agree

[Jim Schehr]

19 minutes ago, Bluzes said:

Makes sense not only a cap but revenue sharing with funds over the cap. Would shuffle corps in & out of the top twelve. Would also challenge the staffs so their peer rating isn't predicated on fishing only where the smartest and most talented schools of fish swim each year.

It was only a thought. Doubt seriously if it would ever be considered. 

[MikeRapp]

3 hours ago, queenanne_1536 said:

Ha, I'm not sure if we agree :) I guess it depends on the level of budget you have. If BD had Madison's budget, I absolutely believe we would see quite a rapid decline in placement, due to loss of staff alone. Loss of staff leads to loss of talent and so on and so forth.

No the level has never been the same, and I doubt it will ever be. Back when I marched in the mid- to late-80s most people in my corps were local, or at least a state or two away. Not so these days. Within the top talent there are a lot of musicians and dancers that want to work with the best instructional staff. Take that staff away and everything would suffer severely.

There are many good reasons Blue Devils has a significantly larger budget than Madison. The most important is, they have spent money and time building their organization.

DCI isn’t a franchise. It’s not pro sports. You can’t enforce salary caps, player transfer rules, etc. DCI is, by definition, simply the combination of its disparate members. Everything they do, including judging criterion, members have agreed to. Madison isn’t being treated unfairly. They are subject to the same limitations that all corps operate under.

There is no doubt that DCI scoring is an imperfect system. But it’s the best of all the others. So long as shows are judged in the manner they are judged, you will see more experienced, accomplished marching members choosing to join corps that have more resources and higher expectations. IMHO the only way to beat BD at their game is to make the activity larger, because that means there is more money, more highly trained educators, more people at shows, more merch sales, and more notoriety.

Expanding the notion of what a dci show is has already dramatically expanded the field of world class competitors. Look at Music City, Mandarins, Academy, these are all corps that have benefitted from a broader interpretation of what a successful show is. The more successful corps, the more shows and the more money there is for everyone.

If the current trend continues, touring expenses should go down because corps won’t have to go from one coast to the other to put together a significantly sized tour. Heck we might even have true regional championships, and then some real drama at nationals.

Edited August 3, 2018 by MikeRapp

[GUARDLING]

5 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

yThere are many good reasons Blue Devils has a significantly larger budget than Madison. The most important is, they have spent money and time building their organization.

DCI isn’t a franchise. It’s not pro sports. You can’t enforce salary caps, player transfer rules, etc. DCI is, by definition, simply the combination of its disparate members. Everything they do, including judging criterion, members have agreed to. Madison isn’t being treated unfairly. They are subject to the same limitations that all corps operate under.

There is no doubt that DCI scoring is an imperfect system. But it’s the best of all the others. So long as shows are judged in the manner they are judged, you will see more experienced, accomplished marching members choosing to join corps that have more resources and higher expectations. IMHO the only way to beat BD at their game is to make the activity larger, because that means there is more money, more highly trained educators, more people at shows, more merch sales, and more notoriety.

 

3

2

So true. There has also been many many great staff people at some of these lower level corps ( and ran for the doors in a year ). It also has to do with how they are run. IT DOES hold several back in so many ways

Edited August 3, 2018 by GUARDLING

[MikeRapp]

3 minutes ago, GUARDLING said:

So true. There has also been many many great staff people at some of these lower level corps ( and ran for the doors in a year ). It also has to do with how they are run. IT DOES hold several back in so many ways

If and when DCI has significant media rights fees, then we can actually discuss this topic I’m a meaningful way. Things seem to be slowly moving in that direction, with Flo. Unfortunately, Flo has such limited resources that even hard core followers feel they are getting a poor product for the money. 

Live entertainment of ALL types has changed almost fully in the last decade. I’m in nashville, and music has suffered from all of those changes. Pro sports is no longer a live experience, it’s almost entirely about media rights and merchandise.

[GUARDLING]

7 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

If and when DCI has significant media rights fees, then we can actually discuss this topic I’m a meaningful way. Things seem to be slowly moving in that direction, with Flo. Unfortunately, Flo has such limited resources that even hard core followers feel they are getting a poor product for the money. 

Live entertainment of ALL types has changed almost fully in the last decade. I’m in nashville, and music has suffered from all of those changes. Pro sports is no longer a live experience, it’s almost entirely about media rights and merchandise.

agree.

Not on subject but look at iconic brick and mortar stores compared to the past because of technology. I'm all for throw it all out there BUT still love my local mom and pop shops and love those old NY iconic stores. Different times

[Bluzes]

22 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

great staff people

The great staff people came from SKY, CABS, BUCS that's who taught us. When that changed so did drum corps in many ways good & bad. They didn't need much smoke blown their way to do their job. No pats on the back or buddies on internet forums. Great Truck Drivers bring the food to my table but I don't farmers going crazy with praise .

[GUARDLING]

17 minutes ago, Bluzes said:

The great staff people came from SKY, CABS, BUCS that's who taught us. When that changed so did drum corps in many ways good & bad. They didn't need much smoke blown their way to do their job. No pats on the back or buddies on internet forums. Great Truck Drivers bring the food to my table but I don't farmers going crazy with praise .

1

Whats funny ( maybe not so much ) those with longevity in the activity did it alone or with very few people. Guard for instances, No matter what our strengths were we had to learn and do it all. We had no choice. Now things are so specialized it takes an army. Maybe those still from another era that are still successful it is because there wasn't a choice nor a huge staff to help. A head staff person was lucky they had an assistant.

The good staff doesn't need the smoke blown their way to do their job as you say ( If I got it..lol ) they don't need it, it shows in the results.

Great staff DID come from the places you say

Edited August 3, 2018 by GUARDLING

[flammaster]

I have a red set of drums...

[luv4corps]

2 hours ago, seen-it-all said:

Oh, if it were only that simple.

It reminds me of the classic Steve Martin comedy bit called, "How to be a millionaire and never pay taxes."
Step one, get a million dollars. 

Well of course there is more to it, lots more, but you can have the 'lots more' and if you still don't have good, consistent teaching, the corps will not be in the elite or 'on the way up' category.