40 year dominance

[ThirdValvesAreForWimps]

If you want to beat the Blue Devils, practice until you get better than the Blue Devils.  It’s working for Santa Clara this year.

[Chief Guns]

1 hour ago, ThirdValvesAreForWimps said:

If you want to beat the Blue Devils, practice until you get better than the Blue Devils.  It’s working for Santa Clara this year.

Key words........This Year. If BD does end up taking silver, this will be 12 straight top two finishes! Consistency at it's best. And BD will have to be the favorite to win it all next year, and go undefeated while doing so. Last four corps to beat BD at finals, PR, Cadets, Crown, and Bloo didn't even medal the following season while BD didn't lose a show. I have said it before and i will say it again, it's one thing to get to the top of the mountain, it's a different story to consistently stay there. 

As a Cali resident born and raised, this year is phenomenal. SCV is back and DCI is better for it. My beloved Devils are just rolling along continuing to pile up unprecedented streaks to the likes we have never seen and may never see again. AND THE MANDARINS!!! Yes give me more Mandarins! Three Cali finalist!! Now we just need Pacific Crest to turn the corner and i think it's just a matter of time before that happens. DCI Finals can be in the east, as long as the finals trophy is coming back west to Concord or Santa Clara.  

GO SCV!!! DO IT UP DEVILS!!!

 

[Ghost]

3 hours ago, ThirdValvesAreForWimps said:

If you want to beat the Blue Devils, practice until you get better than the Blue Devils.  It’s working for Santa Clara this year.

Practice is important, but great staff who provide a great design, and great mm who can handle a well written show are probably more important.  The recent climb by SCV may have started when M. Gaines came on board.

 

[MikeRapp]

24 minutes ago, Ghost said:

Practice is important, but great staff who provide a great design, and great mm who can handle a well written show are probably more important.  The recent climb by SCV may have started when M. Gaines came on board.

 

It’s not just about working hard. Blue Stars work hard. Scouts work hard. Music City works hard. You aren’t gonna beat a corps that marches an average of three years older than you.

Just ain’t gonna happen.

It’s the one main fundamental weakness of the DCI concept. It is like having no salary cap in baseball. The Brewers could work their tails off but they can’t acquire the talent necessary to win world titles.

The hardest working, best trained AA team will get their ### handed to them by the Red Sox every single night.

Look at the history of the BD marching members. How many of then started with BD?

And how many of them aged out as BD rookies? It’s a huge number compared to almost every other DCI corps. You don’t go to Bd to learn how to march and play. You go there to win a guaranteed medal and age out.

Its a system that almost guarantees that the rich remain richer. In a seven week season it is physically impossible to get a largely high school aged corps anywhere near the level of ability and execution of a largely college aged corps. 

Edited August 4, 2018 by MikeRapp

[Bachstrad]

I do understand how we might see a "squeeze" (in general) exerted by DCI rules and trends on scoring and thus placement. Without morphing into a convincing facsimile of a particular style, your favorite corps may have faded, rather than excelled. I recall listening to a standstill in 2016, and thinking how I could easily mistake the corps for another particular well-known corps due to the similarity in style and music selection. I'm happy to say there are exceptions, such as Cadets, Cavaliers, Star, Phantom 2008 comes to mind, and Crown. I'm not completely thrilled with the direction my beloved western coast corps has taken, however, they, as have several others, made an excellent effort to combine a variety of elements (present and past) to produce/perform a product that makes me catch my breath, heart a beat wildly in the closer, give me those wonderful goosebumps, and bring me spontaneously to my feet. They have not won a championship for many years, but I still love them, and appreciate the shows they put on the field. 

[HockeyDad]

Why does everyone use the Brewers as their example of too small / poor / young to succeed. Quit picking on the Brew Crew ;)

Edited August 4, 2018 by HockeyDad

[Cappybara]

2 hours ago, MikeRapp said:

It’s not just about working hard. Blue Stars work hard. Scouts work hard. Music City works hard. You aren’t gonna beat a corps that marches an average of three years older than you.

Just ain’t gonna happen.

It’s the one main fundamental weakness of the DCI concept. It is like having no salary cap in baseball. The Brewers could work their tails off but they can’t acquire the talent necessary to win world titles.

The hardest working, best trained AA team will get their ### handed to them by the Red Sox every single night.

Look at the history of the BD marching members. How many of then started with BD?

And how many of them aged out as BD rookies? It’s a huge number compared to almost every other DCI corps. You don’t go to Bd to learn how to march and play. You go there to win a guaranteed medal and age out.

Its a system that almost guarantees that the rich remain richer. In a seven week season it is physically impossible to get a largely high school aged corps anywhere near the level of ability and execution of a largely college aged corps. 

Yep unfortunately there’s a few things at play that lead to a less than level playing field 

1. Corps with more money can often keep both staff and marchers happier on tour 

2. DCI’s judging system puts a big emphasis on the work of the designers and a little less so on the talent of the kids 

3. More complex designs cannot reach max potential without the most experienced marchers

4. The marchers pay to march with the corps. They don’t get paid. So a “salary cap” system just would never work (and it’s also why I think comparing drum corps to any sports league is nonsensical).

 

It is what it is, corps have still found a way to beat BD despite their consistency in staff and talent. I don’t have the latest numbers but the attendance numbers seem to be growing again. Drum corps seems to be thriving, even with BD at the top

[ShortAndFast]

43 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

Yep unfortunately there’s a few things at play that lead to a less than level playing field 

1. Corps with more money can often keep both staff and marchers happier on tour 

2. DCI’s judging system puts a big emphasis on the work of the designers and a little less so on the talent of the kids 

3. More complex designs cannot reach max potential without the most experienced marchers

4. The marchers pay to march with the corps. They don’t get paid. So a “salary cap” system just would never work (and it’s also why I think comparing drum corps to any sports league is nonsensical).

 

It is what it is, corps have still found a way to beat BD despite their consistency in staff and talent. I don’t have the latest numbers but the attendance numbers seem to be growing again. Drum corps seems to be thriving, even with BD at the top

I think this is the key point. This last decade+ of BD dominance has been good for the activity. I think that most corps see BD as an example to emulate, not as a "cheater" who is unfairly winning all the medals. BD's position in the activity has given them an easy-to-understand but hard-to-copy model:

Financial strength -> competent organization -> top-shelf staff/designers with long tenures -> oldest/most experienced/most talented performers -> high placements

Groups certainly can beat BD in any given year - SCV is going to do it this year. But nobody else has put together the combo that has given BD an average placement of 1.4 over the last decade. 

[Bluzes]

20 hours ago, Bluzes said:

21 hours ago, Jim Schehr said:

However a budget cap may allow for parity.

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.

Jim are you proposing Socialized Drum Corp your not becoming a big Snowflake are you? Will I need to funnel my thoughts next week when we meet? 

[flammaster]

Don't beat your kids up. Let them rest some times. instead of cramming for the test go see a movie before. You can practice practice practice and you might beat them but in the long run They win because they have fun and practice smart.