DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 16, 2019 Author Share Posted July 16, 2019 (edited) July 15 Run-Down Well, that got interesting. Blue Devils edged Santa Clara Vanguard by the tiniest of margins (0.050) after a long break between match-ups with a score that tied Bluecoats for the #1 ranking. Bluecoats head into the first match-up of all three corps undefeated and despite the very close scores, Bluecoats have defeated Santa Clara Vanguard in each meeting so they have to be the favorite. The Cadets made a big jump putting themselves into a discussion for a placement as high as #7 based on the margin with Blue Knights, however let us keep in mind that this also represents the possibility that Blue Knights will finish higher than The Cadets for the first time ever. And here we are. The Top 6 all together for the first time. Edited July 16, 2019 by DrumCorpsRadio 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 July 16 Run-Down The Bluecoats come out on top and maintain an undefeated season while Blue Devils increased its lead over Santa Clara Vanguard by 0.625. Carolina Crown extended its lead over Boston Crusaders as well in the 4-5 spots. Blue Stars gained ground on The Cadets, mostly due to a decrease in scoring for The Cadets and The Cavaliers remain on an island in 6th place. Carolina Crown did not compete in this show last year so we can't do a perfect Top 6 comparison from year to year. However, a few items of note on spreads: This year's #2 corps (Blue Devils) is further from #1 (Bluecoats) at 0.650 points than last year's #2 corps (Blue Devils) was from #1 (Santa Clara Vanguard) at 0.550 points. This year's #3 corps (Santa Clara Vanguard) is closer to #2 (Blue Devils) at 0.675 points than last year's #3 corps (Bluecoats) was from #2 (Blue Devils) at 0.725 points. This year's #5 corps (Boston Crusaders) is closer to #1 (Bluecoats) at 3.225 points than last year's #5 corps (The Cavaliers) was from #1 (Santa Clara Vanguard) at 4.225 points. This year's #6 corps (The Cavaliers) is significantly further from #5 (Boston Crusaders) at 1.800 points than last year's #6 corps (Boston Crusaders) was from #5 (The Cavaliers) at 0.150. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSnareDrummer Posted July 17, 2019 Share Posted July 17, 2019 As a former hockey coach, I love stats. Good stuff, DCR. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 19, 2019 Author Share Posted July 19, 2019 (edited) July 18 Run-Down There were some notable changes in rankings based on head-to-head competitions. The Cadets beat Blue Knights by 0.100 and moved into the #7 spot, a narrow lead by an important psychological one after Blue Knights beat The Cadets for the first time ever. Crossmen regained a lead over Mandarins with a pretty healthy margin of 0.800. In the rankings this moves Crossmen up all the way to #9 but past results suggest this is really #10 once Blue Stars are back in competition. The Academy made a large point gain as well and moved ahead of Colts by 1.150. A great night for Genesis (+3.050) combined with a rough night for Jersey Surf (-1.650) led to the two corps switching positions. The Open Class corps on the West Coast were coming back from nearly a week without scores for most and nearly three weeks for Watchmen. The only corps not to see 2+ point increases were Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets. Last year, these shows were not scored due to heat-related changes to times and formats. Edited July 19, 2019 by DrumCorpsRadio 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 July 19 Run-Down Bluecoats maintain the undefeated season heading into the first regional in San Antonio although Blue Devils narrowed the gap to 0.300 points. Blue Stars made a large jump and beat The Cadets. This is reported to be the first time since 1980. On the West Coast, scores jumped significantly for Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets. The two corps finish their seasons tonight. It's the night we've been waiting for. 39 corps are in competition tonight including all 22 World Class corps head-to-head at the DCI Southwestern Championship. Some things to watch: DCI New Hampshire - Goffstown, NH Heat Wave, Legends, and Southwind come into the show without a score since July 14. 7th Regiment and Spartans have not competed since July 2 and 1 respectively. Les Stentors makes its 2019 debut and returns to competition after taking off the 2018 season. This show provides some good head-to-head competition between the Northeast and South with potential Open Class medalist implications. Gold Showcase - Vista, CA Due to the change in focus for the 2019 season, this competition marks the end of the season for Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets as well as Blue Devils C and Incognito. It will be interesting to see how high the perennial Open Class medalists can score and how long it takes for other Open Class corps to catch up on their way to Indianapolis. Most notably, Gold will break away from its California brethren and try to improve upon last year's bronze medal. DCI Southwestern Championship - San Antonio, TX Bluecoats faces its biggest challenge so far tonight as the corps performs before Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard while defending its undefeated season. While the 1-3 positions have been stable the past week, spreads are tight and anything can happen. The 4-6 spots have not budged since Carolina Crown came out of the rehearsal part of the southern tour swing ahead of Boston Crusaders. However, the same cannot be said for the next grouping. Blue Knights and The Cadets traded victories this week and Blue Stars came out ahead of The Cadets just last night suggesting that the 7-9 grouping can go in any direction tonight. Blue Stars have the best draw in performance order. A 7th place finish would be the highest for Blue Stars since the corps returned to World Class competition while a 9th place finish would be the lowest for The Cadets. Crossmen and Mandarins have traded the lead in the fight for 10th place. Crossmen have been as high as 10th only once in the Lucas Oil Stadium era while Mandarins were in that spot just last year. After flirting with rankings outside the Top 12 early in the season, Phantom Regiment has staked out the #12 spot and looks to gain on the 10-11 corps. The corps just outside the Top 12 (Spirit of Atlanta, The Academy, Colts) need to close the gap some in San Antonio to make a fight of it heading into the future regionals. A similar battle may emerge for the last broadcast spot as Pacific Crest, Madison Scouts, and Troopers make their case. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopcornEater1963 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 5 hours ago, DrumCorpsRadio said: The 4-6 spots have not budged since Carolina Crown came out of the rehearsal part of the southern tour swing ahead of Boston Crusaders. Spots haven't budged for sure. But Cavaliers have cut Boston's initial two-point lead down to 0.925 head to head over a three night run. They have momentum as a pursuer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 July 20 Run-Down The night we were all waiting for! I'll do a more detailed year over year comparison post in a bit but first I'll do a quick summary of the night here. DCI New Hampshire - Goffstown, NH Spartans came out guns blazing with a 11.150 point increase over its last competition on July 1. Spartans and Legends are now in the Open Class #2 and #3 spots among corps heading to Indy. Les Stentors returned to the field of competition after a yearlong hiatus. Gold Showcase - Vista, CA Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets went out with strong scores placing them #16 and #17 among all corps and #1 and #2 in Open Class on their last night of competition. Their scores were high enough to have been in medal contention at last year's Open Class championship so these two corps' names will likely remain high on the ranking list even as they stop competing. DCI Southwestern Championship - San Antonio, TX Bluecoats continues to find a way to win, maintaining an undefeated season by a 0.200 point margin. Placements stayed the same all the way through the top 6 although Boston Crusaders narrowed the spread with Carolina Crown to just 0.350 points. Blue Knights and Blue Stars proved their victories over The Cadets were real. If these placements hold through finals, we will see historic finishes for Blue Stars and The Cadets -- on opposite ends of the experience spectrum as Blue Stars would have its highest finish since returning to World Class and The Cadets its lowest placement ever since first joining the finalist ranks. Mandarins bested Crossmen by 0.300 points and Phantom Regiment earned the #12 spot with a pretty good lead over Spirit of Atlanta. Madison Scouts are down in 17th place which would rank the lowest finish for that corps. There were very large score increases down at the bottom of World Class with Genesis breaking 70 and coming out ahead of Music City and Jersey Surf. Despite a nearly 4-point increase, Seattle Cascades remain several points back at the bottom of the World Class standings. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 (edited) San Antonio Analysis The Medalists Since the mid-season analysis one week earlier, Blue Devils passed Santa Clara Vanguard to move into the silver medal spot. No medalist positions changed from San Antonio to finals in 2017 or 2018. That said, the spread from 1st to 2nd in 2019 is just 0.200 compared to 1.350 in 2018 and 0.475 in 2017. Third place is closer to first place in 2019 at 0.738 points than in 2018 (1.650) or 2017 (0.925) as well. Despite the tightness of the Top 3, the 4th place corps is further away from medalist position this year (1.612) than 2018 (0.587) or 2017 (1.150). Conclusion? For an undefeated corps, Bluecoats sure has its work cut out to maintain that lead for the remainder of the season with both Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard hot on its heels. Based on trends in previous years and wider spreads to 4th place this year, it seems unlikely that Carolina Crown or Boston Crusaders will penetrate the Top 3. The Top 6 No changes at all in the 4th-6th spots since the mid-season analysis. No corps moved out of this grouping in 2018 or 2017 from mid-season to San Antonio or from San Antonio to finals although there has been movement within the group in each of those years. Carolina Crown leads Boston Crusaders by just 0.350 points for the #4 spot, the tightest in the past three seasons at this point (1.675 in 2018 and 1.025 in 2017). The Cavaliers narrowed the gap to 5th place from two points at mid-season to just 1.013 points in San Antonio. The Top 12 If the current Top 12 holds, the corps will be the same for two years in a row. There were no changes in the make-up of the Top 12 from San Antonio to finals in 2018. In 2017, Madison Scouts moved up from 13th to take the last finalist spot from Mandarins. From mid-season to San Antonio this year, there was some minor movement within the groupings of three (7-9 and 10-12). The spread from 1st to 12th right now is 10.600 points compared to 11.475 in 2018 and 11.775 in 2017. There has been some commentary about the overall strength of the Top 12 and the tighter spreads suggest that to be the case. Bad news for corps trying to break into finals, though, as the spread from 13th to 12th is larger this year (1.738) than in 2018 (1.125) or 2017 (0.300). Largest Changes from 2018 (San Antonio to San Anton) +6 - Gold (26th to 20th) +6 - Shadow (43rd to 37th) -6 - Guardians (30th to 36th) +5 - Southwind (34th to 29th) +5 - River City Rhythm (39th to 34th) 4 with +4 (Blue Devils B, Golden Empire, Vessel, Incognito) and 2 with -4 (Troopers, Music City) The Battles Here are the tightest spreads in the 2019 Top 15: 0.200 points - #1 Bluecoats over #2 Blue Devils -- How exciting to have the closest spread at the top! 0.300 points - #10 Mandarins over #11 Crossmen -- The corps have traded wins so this makes sense. 0.325 points - #7 Blue Knights over #8 Blue Stars -- Bad news for The Cadets to see these two corps battling it out for 7th place. 0.350 points - #4 Carolina Crown over #5 Boston Crusaders -- These corps have also had some back and forth throughout the season. 0.538 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Would generate a lot of excitement to see this stay tight. Here were the tightest spreads in the 2018 Top 15 and what happened: 0.163 points - #5 The Cavaliers over #6 Boston Crusaders -- Boston moved into #5 by finals. 0.187 points - #8 Blue Knights over #9 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars moved into #8 by finals. 0.288 points - #9 Blue Stars over #10 Phantom Regiment -- Blue Stars moved up and Phantom Regiment moved down. 0.300 points - #2 Blue Devils over #3 Bluecoats -- Held. 0.363 points - #14 Spirit of Atlanta over #15 Colts -- Both corps moved up over #13 The Academy. And for 2017: 0.200 points - #10 Crossmen over #11 Blue Stars -- Blue Stars moved into #10 by finals. 0.300 points - #12 Mandarins over #13 Madison Scouts -- Madison Scouts moved into #12 by finals. 0.450 points - #2 Santa Clara Vanguard over #3 Carolina Crown -- Held. 0.475 points - #1 Blue Devils over #2 Santa Clara Vanguard -- Held. 0.600 points - #6 Boston Crusaders over #7 The Cadets -- Held. Edited July 22, 2019 by DrumCorpsRadio 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 July 21 Run-Down No shows this year but there was one show last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumCorpsRadio Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 July 22 Run-Down Troopers made a significant move coming out of San Antonio. With a 2.637 point increase, Troopers passed Madison Scouts in head-to-head competition moving them into 19th place overall and 17th place in World Class. There were no other head-to-head placement changes. In the Top 6, The Cavaliers had a good night with a 1.100 point increase, bringing the gap to Carolina Crown down to under a point. Blue Knights was the only Top 12 corps to lose ground with a -1.000 point change. The Cadets gained on Blue Stars while Mandarins gained on The Cadets. And Spirit of Atlanta is pushing into home show regional narrowing the gap to the #12 spot to 0.700 points. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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