Boston Crusaders 2019

[craiga]

16 minutes ago, bluehull said:

So you know it all. Ya it was the Indian Ridge School ( in Davie, Fla)

The pickup truck was the 202 , a 10 wheel tractor rented from. J&B International in Burlington, Vermont. Pulling a 48 ft. Trailer,.it made 10 more trips over two years. I drove eight of them. I don't really know you, but you seem to say a lot. I'll be driving into Lawrence in a few days. Tell me more.

You guys actually already know each other!!!  :)

[DrumManTx]

I don’t think cheesy is necessarily bad.   If this show is “cheesy” it’s some hella nice cheese.  There have been other cheesy shows that are more like cheese out of a can which ain’t for me.  

I’m not sure I’d use that word to describe it but if it’s a cheese it’s like a valencay. 😎

And if you’re lactose intolerant oof.   I’m sorry.  😓

 

[LabMaster]

8 hours ago, queenanne_1536 said:

I don't think they are defensive - perhaps overzealous, but I don't see it as defensive. People clamoring about them knocking on the door of the top 3 need to remember three things:

1. It was a standstill video. Everyone sounds good standing still.

2. It's going to be a hell of a lot harder to move from 5th to 4th than it was to move from 12th to 6th, much less moving to 3rd.

3. Last year, they were not on the same playing field as the top 3. After SCV, they had my favorite show, but it was not, from a design or execution standpoint in the same league as the top 3.

I do love that Boston surged from 2016 to 2017. That stuff is so rare and so exciting. I also think they had fantastic shows in both 2017 and 2018. I also have no doubt the 2019 corps will be better than the 2018 corps, but you have to realize it takes years to break into that top 3. SCV started putting the right pieces in place in 2008 and didn't break the top 3 until 2017, even though they were 4th in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Bluecoats were 4th in 2006 and didn't break into the top 3 until 2010, then got knocked out immediately and didn't break back in until 2014. Cavaliers hit the skids in 2012, broke back into the top 4 in 2017, then fell to 6th last year. Crown broke into the top 4 in 2008 and didn't win until 2013. It's never ever ever ever smooth sailing. We are likely to see Boston drop a place or two before we see them break into the top 3. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards to take a giant leap forwards.

With that said, I loved what I heard and am really excited for this season. 

We are all excited for this season based on what we have seen improve over the previous three seasons (pre new staff and years 1 & 2 of new staff).  The staff has been pretty careful and realistic with the ir expectations and assessments of talent they have acquired since they arrived,  and now it appears they are at a baseline  where they are comfortable with and more aligned with what they had in previous situations.  Regarding your points:

1. Assuming you are referencing Concert in The Park;  Yes every corps sound good standing still.  But the audio there was not great since it was in downtown Boston at 5pm with a ton of street noise.  That wasn't a bari you heard it was a car honking LOL.  If you are referring to Spring Fling it was a small room with awful acoustincs and the volume overpowered voices in the brass.

2.  I believe it has been made clear many, many, many, times that it is harder to move to 4th and to 3rd.  But not impossible and I believe it has been done in the past by other corps.  And for sure many things come into play.

3.  Being on the a same playing field. I disagree that they are not.  The design team pedigree is on par with all others in the top tier.  They do know how to develop a show during the season.  And they were already knocking on the door of beating Crown.  I am not saying it a certainty but I am saying they certainly are capable.  More so this year than in the past.

As much as there is the difficulty of moving up from 5th, the move from 12 to 6 was also believed to be nearly impossible.  But it happened.  Based on what I have seen at ST and heard a few times now; the show is there.  The plan for development is also in place.  They finished the show a couple of days ago (despite the never ending rain).  They had a full dress run through for Community night last night and they have 2 full days rehearsals on the road to Detroit. They'll be ready.  Now on balance we do hear Cadets and Crown are doing well and that is great to hear.  We haven't heard much about Bloo though.  No matter.  My prediction for this year is that it will be one of the most competitive years we will have seen.  Oh yeah, and I'm going with BAC in 3rd when all is said and done.  The reasoning is that I believe there is caption & GE improvement overall.  Especially in brass, which IMO did not come across well in the  performances last week.  On the field and staged properly, the brass will show through.

[Barneveld]

22 minutes ago, craiga said:

You guys actually already know each other!!!  🙂

Indeed we do. But bluehull,s memory must be fading due to living up in the backwoods of Vermont or all that time at sea made him go crazy.

Such a twisted little rat I am. hahahaha

[Glenn426]

18 minutes ago, LabMaster said:

  The staff has been pretty careful and realistic with the ir expectations and assessments of talent they have acquired since they arrived,  and now it appears they are at a baseline  where they are comfortable with and more aligned with what they had in previous situations.  

 

This is a very important statement. 

It was clear to me and confirmed with some of the staff, that they where holding back design-wise on the corps the last two years. It was great and solid shows but in comparing the show to what we know the Potter/May/Townsend group can create, GE-wise the show was Vanilla. Same with the Hornline, This was not Peak Gino hornline. It was good, but not Cadets 2011 good. Colin it feels like got his guys from the beginning and has been letting it rip, same with the guard work, hence their Zingali last year.

Watching this year's show last night, it is obvious that they were holding back what they are capable of until they had the corps to support it. This corps can support it and I feel like they will increase the demand as the season goes. And watching the ending it begs for a new ending around ATL time to get a nice bump going into the last two weeks of the season. 

[Ediker]

There are plenty of recent placement jumps into the Top 3:

2010 Bluecoats: 6 --> 3

2011 Cadets: 5 --> 1

2012 Phantom: 5 --> 3

2014 Bluecoats: 5 --> 3

2015 Crown: 5 --> 2

2018 Bluecoats: 5 --> 3

[DrumManTx]

I guess the difference is higher than 5th is uncharted territory for Boston Crusaders.   Though their staff has the tools and have done so at other corps.  And doing it after being 12th only three seasons prior is pretty fast for a staff to gel.  

Edited June 18, 2019 by DrumManTx

[Ediker]

5 minutes ago, DrumManTx said:

 And doing it after being 12th only three seasons prior is pretty fast for a staff to gel.  

It is uncharted.  There is a contender mindset that may need to grow.  Imho, the staff has gelled.  Design identity may need some tweaking.  Have adopted a wait-and-see attitude regarding the Fee-fi-fo-fum thing.

[queenanne_1536]

5 hours ago, craiga said:

Keep it up.  As if Boston didn't need even more motivation....

Everyone is motivated. Everyone wants to be better. According to people on every single thread, every single is better this year. Everyone is going to move up. Not everyone's right. Boston might move up, they might not. People were saying they were going to medal on the 2018 BAC thread too. It didn't happen. It's not easy. Not when SCV and BD are very likely to claim two of those three spots.

[craiga]

21 minutes ago, queenanne_1536 said:

Everyone is motivated. Everyone wants to be better. According to people on every single thread, every single is better this year. Everyone is going to move up. Not everyone's right. Boston might move up, they might not. People were saying they were going to medal on the 2018 BAC thread too. It didn't happen. It's not easy. Not when SCV and BD are very likely to claim two of those three spots.

Enjoy the show.