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You May Take The Field in Exhibition


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My kids learned a lot about the activity (and life) marching in an OC corps then later WC.  I was glad that the smaller corps were accessible to them.

The community has already responded with more kilobytes than this post deserves.  We really need a troll button on DCP.

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1 hour ago, oldbandguy said:

If you don't find the fight for the 12th spot to be of competitive interest...you're probably just not a fan of drum corps.  I'm even intrigued and anticipating the fight for who gets to be seen on the big screen on Friday night of championships.

Yes. Exactly. This is where the competition resides. It’s not so much with the elites.It’s why Open Class and SoundSport are so vital to the activity’s future. 

Edited by drumcorpsfever
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36 minutes ago, Incognito365 said:

This is about the most stupid thing I've ever seen posted on here...and I've seen a LOT...

Now, do I truly believe that severing the “G4,5,6,7” would be in the best interests of DCI?  Not really. There was a time that the “G7” thought otherwise.  But how many corps really have the economic resources to keep up with the top of food chain?  Run a national tour? Look at DCI’s schedule outside of their showcase events , some shows with as few 4 competing corps AND 1 CORPS IN OPEN CLASS.  How many times have you been to show and hear the score announcements for Open Class to be: “In first place with a score of xxx” and there is only ONE Open Class corps in “competition”. 

Fortunately we have seen re-growth of open class and SoundSport teams. As I’ve mentioned, that’s the opportunity. The issue is if DCI begins pricing those other start-ups right out of business. 

Edited by drumcorpsfever
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10 minutes ago, drumcorpsfever said:

Now, do I truly believe that severing the “G4,5,6,7” would be in the best interests of DCI?  Not really. There was a time that the “G7” thought otherwise.  But how many corps really have the economic resources to keep up with the top of food chain?  Run a national tour? Look at DCI’s schedule outside of their showcase events , some shows with as few 4 competing corps AND 1 CORPS IN OPEN CLASS.  How many times have you been to show and hear the score announcements for Open Class to be: “In first place with a score of xxx” and there is only ONE Open Class corps in “competition”. 

Fortunately we have seen re-growth of open class and SoundSport teams. As I’ve mentioned, that’s the opportunity. The issue is if DCI begins pricing those other start-ups right out of business. 

So because some corps have been able to keep up financially they should be punished and put in as exhibition corps? Do you know how quickly those corps would become defunct because the kids want the competition? Thanks, but no thanks.

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The idea of exhibitions perhaps is a challenge. I wound wonder about the attendance. It's like Ice Champion tours. Folks in the US like to see competitions. But the understanding that the top 6 are different than the next 6, and they are different than the next 6 makes some sense. Alas, do the corps think this or deep down, do all believe that ONE day it is possible to claim a championship trophy? 

Think about Open Class. Some years ago, the scoring was changed to create a system that would be more about the performers and would work in a scale that would have groups go home with a reasonable score and evaluation. As it turned, out the Open Class corps themselves chose to be evaluated on the same scale as the top groups in the country.  Today, as an example,  the Blue Devils Open Class Corps is judged against their World Class Corps. Why?

Looking across the activity, does it make sense that corps with a $.6M budget compete against those with a $2M budget? No. But we do. 

The long and short of it, we should be looking to new alternatives but the draw of the fraternity holds everyone under one umbrella.

 

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Every November we hear about the 300, 400+ kids that show up at “x” corps, and then are fed the narrative that the activity is so popular.  Is it, really? It’s popular for the handful of corps that can attract such a high volume of attendees.  Unfortunately, the majority of those kids that are turned away NEVER experience drum corps on the field. And, please, let’s not go with the “experience” part of a kid attending a camp.  It’s more about a money-making opportunity for the corps than it is for the kids. I’m not begrudging the money-making opportunity,  it’s just the way it is. Good for the corps with big off-season turnouts. 

Consider:  How many MORE kids would attend camps IF they did not have to commit an entire summer, travel long distances for camps, and pay so much to participate?

The reality is, there are limited “community” corps. But if the top 4,5,6,7.did not feel so compelled to spend their way to a medal, then perhaps the activity would be healthier and allow for greater organic growth in the areas so badly needed.

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I think the underlying frustration I read in to the original post is that the same 4 corps stay at the top.  I don't think many would argue that the top 3 have been near impossible to break in to regardless of what is brought to the table by other corps.  However, winning begets winning by talent, support, staff, judging, etc.  The top soccer youth soccer teams usually remain that way due to the talent they attract.  The financial question is an interesting one - do we go back to divisions?  Do we change scoring to be more technical?  What about a bracket system?  I think there are some scores that leave people scratching their heads - regardless of the corps.  I think any competition is better than no competition!  Open class is a whole different beast!  

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2 hours ago, drumcorpsfever said:

Yes. Exactly. This is where the competition resides. It’s not so much with the elites.It’s why Open Class and SoundSport are so vital to the activity’s future. 

There is only one corps that’s gone undefeated (so far) this season.

The tip 3 are all within a point of each other, and there are some interesting spreads in the recaps.

I’m sorry that your favorite corps isn’t winning, but that’s life.

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