Old Corps Guy Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 On 6/26/2019 at 4:17 AM, BigW said: I hope that's meant to be humorous. Have you been to the contest site and seen people in their 60's and 70's having trouble negotiating the stands? I have. It outright scared me. A lot of them could have been my Mom and Dad. A lot of the crowd makes me look like a kid and I'm 56. Have you had to sit with your family and try and figure out how to get Dad in the contest site and realize it's a no-go because his knees are shot and it's too dangerous? I have. It's a real and serious safety issue. I negotiated those steps personally last fall from top to bottom at another event and felt pretty nervous myself about taking a fall. My workplace pushes a minimum of three-point contact on any steps at all times. That is impossible at STA stadium. I personally think the School District has been lucky that someone hasn't went for a tumble and been sued. It's an easy fix and one that should be done. Aside from that- I'm not sure how to respond to the rest of the post. I'm not sure just where you're going with it and what agenda if any you're trying to pursue. You want to talk about DCA's issues and why I chose a Saturday with old friends instead of going to Milton, ask. I went last year, and the stands were packed with mostly locals and area people from Lewisburg who lost their contest a few years back. It was well attended. I'll phrase the question: Why should I go to a DCA show that's not Finals weekend unless it's daggone close, or I have family or friends in a corps...or I'm an alumni of the host corps? I've thought about this for the past several years and came to some conclusions. Food for thought. That being said, if you do have a friend or family in a corps, GO. They'll always remember you showed them some respect and support. If you're an alumni, certain shows are like Penn State Homecoming for you. For me, none of the above applies. This statement alone is one of the best reasons why Annapolis was such a great location. The access is so great for all involved. The curfew item was an issue, I know. So is the availability due to the Academy football schedule. Yes, I know I'm being a homer. Fran can back me up on that one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Old Corps Guy said: This statement alone is one of the best reasons why Annapolis was such a great location. The access is so great for all involved. The curfew item was an issue, I know. So is the availability due to the Academy football schedule. Yes, I know I'm being a homer. Fran can back me up on that one. My guess is expense also is a factor at Annapolis. Also, the stands looked rather empty for Prelims the 2 years I attended it. I believe people who attended Annapolis generally think it's by far the best venue DCA Championships ever had. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: when I heard the internet troll remark during the awards rant...err speech....my eyes popped out of my head. my phone started blowing up with texts from PEOPLE ON THE FIELD saying "did I just hear that right?". Oh yes you did. Wanna know why it got little coverage....how many people were actually there? You know.... if I hadn't actually heard it myself, I would have found that hard to believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 4 hours ago, KeithHall said: Maybe we should predict what corps will be gone next year. I hope none but........ Historically.... there's been a lot of fluidity in DCA and DCI. I'll readily state that Westshore's climb from 1973-4 to 1983 was in large part preying on corps who became unstable/folded/had bad seasons/had management issues. I know there were a few that didn't want to be the next victim to a 'buncha kids and farmers'. For some of the corps, whether we like it or not, this season's an opportunity to make moves up the ladder, have something to recruit with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 3 minutes ago, BigW said: My guess is expense also is a factor at Annapolis. Also, the stands looked rather empty for Prelims the 2 years I attended it. I believe people who attended Annapolis generally think it's by far the best venue DCA Championships ever had. The expense was/is a factor, from what I understand. I think 2013 was better attended. Even prelims. It certainly looked that way from the field, both days. From what I recall, DCA did a Groupon promotion that year. I'm guessing that helped. Honestly, just spitballin' here from the cheap seats, I'm not quite sure why the Groupon thing hasn't been used more often. Maybe there's a reason why it hasn't been replicated. But someone sitting in a seat at half price, or whatever, beats someone dressed up as an empty seat. But what my "homer" friend has said (I won't give up your name, sir!!! LOL)... Annapolis, even with some issues (a number of which could have easily been addressed for future years, IMO) , was unbeatable, in my opinion. And I'd say that even if I didn't live nearby. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Corps Guy Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) 34 minutes ago, BigW said: My guess is expense also is a factor at Annapolis. Also, the stands looked rather empty for Prelims the 2 years I attended it. I believe people who attended Annapolis generally think it's by far the best venue DCA Championships ever had. The only negative for me at Annapolis was my car got totaled on Prelims night when I was rear-ended by a Canadian in a rental car looking at her cell phone. I missed several of the early performing corps. Other than that, Annapolis was the best venue I had ever been to for a DCA show. Edited June 27, 2019 by Old Corps Guy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 4 minutes ago, Old Corps Guy said: The only negative for me at Annapolis was my car got totaled on Prelims night when I was rear-ended by a Canadian in a rental car looking at her cell phone. I missed several of the early performing corps. Other than that, Annapolis was the best venue I had ever been to for a DCA show. Wow, the one year my friend backed into my wagon but at least it was drivable. In terms of venues for a championship, definitely Annapolis for me, but I went to the DCI/DCA show in Chester a few years back, and the parking was a bit of a pain, and driving through Chester was a bit of an adventure, but it was a pretty daggone good venue for a contest. The only gripe there was the rather expensive seats in the prime seating area. I paid 45 for mine in the area just below those, and those top end seats were nowhere near filled. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadasmoothie Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 2 hours ago, BigW said: Wow, the one year my friend backed into my wagon but at least it was drivable. In terms of venues for a championship, definitely Annapolis for me, but I went to the DCI/DCA show in Chester a few years back, and the parking was a bit of a pain, and driving through Chester was a bit of an adventure, but it was a pretty daggone good venue for a contest. The only gripe there was the rather expensive seats in the prime seating area. I paid 45 for mine in the area just below those, and those top end seats were nowhere near filled. Just wanted to add my 2 cents - Loved Annapolis, in spite of the curfew problem. But I do really think the champs deserve their encore. If we could get past that issue, I'd be all in, assuming it works with the football sched. Wondered about Chester myself - Heard only great things about the actual stadium. Hadn't heard yet that parking was at all difficult (Gotta be easier than Billtown, though, right?). Don't get me wrong, Billtown did a bunch of things right, and will continue to improve other things. Honestly, I'm looking forward to going back in a couple months. But I don't see it as a viable long-term solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigW Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 26 minutes ago, grenadasmoothie said: Just wanted to add my 2 cents - Loved Annapolis, in spite of the curfew problem. But I do really think the champs deserve their encore. If we could get past that issue, I'd be all in, assuming it works with the football sched. Wondered about Chester myself - Heard only great things about the actual stadium. Hadn't heard yet that parking was at all difficult (Gotta be easier than Billtown, though, right?). Don't get me wrong, Billtown did a bunch of things right, and will continue to improve other things. Honestly, I'm looking forward to going back in a couple months. But I don't see it as a viable long-term solution. Well, at Chester, they'll try and con you into parking in privately owned lots for 10 a pop, which I didn't know any better about being the first time. The extra 10 at Williamsport for the closer parking places irked me. As for long term... Who knows. Hershey was viable years ago, it would work but given the rancor in the past and HERCO being HERCO, unlikely. I'll be at Hempfield. After that till I and E and Prelims, situational, very situational. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenadasmoothie Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 16 minutes ago, BigW said: Well, at Chester, they'll try and con you into parking in privately owned lots for 10 a pop, which I didn't know any better about being the first time. The extra 10 at Williamsport for the closer parking places irked me. As for long term... Who knows. Hershey was viable years ago, it would work but given the rancor in the past and HERCO being HERCO, unlikely. I'll be at Hempfield. After that till I and E and Prelims, situational, very situational. Yeah, Hershey was cool way back when. Don't know if HERCO's more reasonable than in the past. But these discussions about bigger stadia are getting a little ahead of where we are in the game at this point. Right now, we need to get more corps so we get more butts in the seats, so more corps are sustainable, so we get yet more butts in the seats, so, etc., etc. . I was having a discussion with my wife last night about that issue. We were talking about how growth actually makes it easier for already-existing organizations. Take WGI. We used to see South Shore Drill Team from Chicago, for example, at shows in the northeast pretty regularly. Now, because there are so many WGI participants EVERYWHERE, we don't, because they don't HAVE to travel like that anymore to compete against appropriate peers, until Dayton week. And I'm not even going to chime in on "The Labor Day Issue" - Way too many good points on both sides of that. Just anywhere but Rochester again. PLEASE! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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