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1 hour ago, xandandl said:

Since you made this statement on two different threads for two different corps, I will repost my response to be fair to both corps.

To be honest. Jeff, there are some of us, and this is not bound to just my generation, yours, or the mms: no matter how great the instruction, show design, or practice hours and methods, we'll still have two left feet, triple teeth, weight, and an ungainly fluid motion of body.  I think in the past decade with designers wanting only Twiggy to fill the guard spots and musician roles, we've forgotten that various kids benefit from various levels of drum corps in different ways or corps. Could anyone take away the pride and entertainment witnessed by The Free Players? Or the camaraderie of the only child enjoying having 153 siblings for part of the year?  Or have you bought into the BD A philosophy that the only reason for drum corps is a piece of metal?

This is a pretty ridiculous and off-the-mark assertion.

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29 minutes ago, NakedEye said:

It is likely that, and I do remember when they only went to Finals every other year if that often, but, especially since this is so well coordinated between BD and SCV, I wonder if there is another contributing factor. Both these corps are, by design, largely minors, and with the current climate, is it worth the liability to consistently take them on a national tour? They really have nothing to gain by it and can provide a great educational environment to the younger kids during a compressed season, saving costs and minimizing exposure to risk in the process.

Not even that often. It really wasn't until around 2007 they regularly started attending.

With the current climate,  it probably makes sense to return to its mission of being a cadet corps.

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38 minutes ago, dcsnare93 said:

This is a pretty ridiculous and off-the-mark assertion.

More so the lines I've heard going around:

1."I guess the baby-sitting/daycare costs for BDC are really getting to them." (weak)

2. "You can't make a ton of money if the diner only fills with customers for a few minutes every night." (so-so)

3. "They bust their budget having to add crow-pie and Nighthawk stew to the menu after Aug. 12th."  (leads to nasty comeback lines about zebra-cakes and desert islands.)

Edited by xandandl
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1 hour ago, dcsnare93 said:

This is a pretty ridiculous and off-the-mark assertion.

I’d expect nothing less. I haven’t been a target for a while 

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2 hours ago, xandandl said:

Since you made this statement on two different threads for two different corps, I will repost my response to be fair to both corps.

To be honest. Jeff, there are some of us, and this is not bound to just my generation, yours, or the mms: no matter how great the instruction, show design, or practice hours and methods, we'll still have two left feet, triple teeth, weight, and an ungainly fluid motion of body.  I think in the past decade with designers wanting only Twiggy to fill the guard spots and musician roles, we've forgotten that various kids benefit from various levels of drum corps in different ways or corps. Could anyone take away the pride and entertainment witnessed by The Free Players? Or the camaraderie of the only child enjoying having 153 siblings for part of the year?  Or have you bought into the BD A philosophy that the only reason for drum corps is a piece of metal?

See my reply in the open class forum.   I’ll add this here:

 

i sat sat by two wonderful gentlemen this weekend at DCA that are on the board of other corps. Boards talk. This was not a surprise to me when it came out. And both thought the rationale was sound. It wouldn’t affect their corps in the slightest 

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2 hours ago, hostrauser said:

And I initially posted this in the other thread, but it fits better in this thread...

Talk to any Blue Devils A corps veteran and I think you will get the same response every time: "Winning is definitely cool, but it's not my best memory of marching Blue Devils."

Growing up in NorCal, I have personally talked to dozens, if not hundreds, of Blue Devils age-outs and got that response or some variation almost every time. It's one of the main reasons I chose to try out with the Blue Devils lo' those many moons ago.

True story. Someone I know marched Cadets in 99. Come in what 5th? Aged out in BD the following year...4th?? So had he reversed the years he could have had 2 rings. And doesn’t care that he has none. He had a great time both places and learned a lot 

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1 hour ago, NakedEye said:

It is likely that, and I do remember when they only went to Finals every other year if that often, but, especially since this is so well coordinated between BD and SCV, I wonder if there is another contributing factor. Both these corps are, by design, largely minors, and with the current climate, is it worth the liability to consistently take them on a national tour? They really have nothing to gain by it and can provide a great educational environment to the younger kids during a compressed season, saving costs and minimizing exposure to risk in the process.

I think the current elephant in the dci room is also a factor 

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2 hours ago, NakedEye said:

It is likely that, and I do remember when they only went to Finals every other year if that often, but, especially since this is so well coordinated between BD and SCV, I wonder if there is another contributing factor. Both these corps are, by design, largely minors, and with the current climate, is it worth the liability to consistently take them on a national tour? They really have nothing to gain by it and can provide a great educational environment to the younger kids during a compressed season, saving costs and minimizing exposure to risk in the process.

you said what i was trying to say on the other thread in a much more eloquent way than i did!  i absolutely believe it is more about what is best for the kids than anything else.

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