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When Judges Go Bad: Who Really Should Have Won


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50 minutes ago, chris ncsu said:

I meant that they should have tied in 1992. 

ok - gotcha! Don't disagree - it's similar to Crown 09 IMO where Cadets were just skyrocketing each night of finals week and the scoring didn't quite keep up

I LOVED Cavaliers 92 also though - particularly the drum side of things

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I’m gonna dive a little deeper into my personal biases here with my personal fav, then who I thought shoulda won:

 

83- Garfield x2 

84- Garfield x2

85- Garfield x2

86- Garfield (totally uneven show but freaking loved On The Waterfront), BD rightful (dominant) champion

87- SCV (favorite opener/single chart in DCI history w their Russian Xmas Music...my god), but Garfield deserved to win overall

88- SCV (it’s my favorite drum corps show ever...not the cleanest, but it’s my pick if I have to choose one), Scouts FTW (so effing polished, so effing emotional and aggressive...I don’t care if it was “just the closer”- I disagree fwiw, love Concerto -  but that closer was 5 minutes and it was epic in every sense of the word)

89-oof....uh, Regiment was my favorite (w Cadets’ Les Mis a close second), but SCV earned it and deserved it

90-Cavaliers/SCV (tie for me on my favorite), Star shoulda won

91-SCV/Star (tie for me on my favorite), Star the clear champ

92-Crossmen (Puma all day and night), Cadets shoulda won but I’m cool w Cavs winning

93-oof part 2....Star was my favorite by far, but Cadets were a worthy champion. Either would’ve been worthy.

94-Cadets my fav, BD kicked everyone’s ###

95-Cadets x2 (shoulda won)

96-Regiment x2

97-SCV my fav (LOVED Fog City Sketches), Cadets shoulda won (but no problems w BD winning...killer drumline)

98-Blue Knights x2 😉 (sorry, couldn’t help myself)....but really SCV x2

99-SCV x2 (loved Cavies’ musical book though)

00- loved BD’s Hermann show....Cadets shoulda won outright 

01- Cadets+Farandole=$, probably Cavies to win (but my least favorite from them during this run)

02- Cavies x2

03- BD x2

04- SCV/Cavies (tie for my favorite...Vanguard for the music book, Cavs for the visual book), Cavies the worthy champ

05- Cadets x2

06- Regiment/Cavies (tie for favorite....loved Bloo too), Cavies the worthy champ again

07- BD x2

08- Regiment, as for who shoulda won....ehhh.....*shrug*

(2009/2010/2012 are pretty fuzzy for me)

11- Cadets x2

13- SCV (second fav show of all time....just everything a drum corps show should be....also Cadets were fire this year), Crown the worthy champs (Impossible, you say?)

14- Bloo (just based on the ending alone), but cmon...BD the most dominant corps ever this year

15- BK (freaking love “Fly to Paradise” closer), BD the rightful champs (again)

16- Bloo x2 

17- SCV, and I lovelovelove Ouroboros but BD the rightful champ (######....really loved that show though)

18- SCV x2

19- BK (I adored this show, no homer...ok a little homer), BD the rightful champ once more

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1977:  I know Blue Devils had stomach flu in Denver after leading all year, but to judge the performances of that night only, I give the nod to Phantom Regiment.  (Or Bridgemen... but why they were written off in 1977, 1978, 1980... that is a topic for another thread, or book.)

1986:  SCV

1988:  On that night only, SCV.  Would not have objected to BD winning, though.  Not sure Madison should even have been 3rd.

1989:  PR.  In my alternate universe, superior brass sections actually get their deserved point spreads.

1990:  Star of Indiana

1993:  Not sure.  Just suggesting that on finals night, the title discussion should include three corps.

1995:  Madison Scouts

1996:  break tie in favor of PR.  Anywhere else but Orlando, it was Blue Devils by a mile.  What happened at the end?

1999:  break tie in favor of BD

2000:  break tie in favor of Cavaliers

2012:  Carolina Crown

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To go back even further...

1972 - No doubt, the Kingsmen win was fully earned. Wouldn't change a thing. 

1973 - Same with SCV. The most innovative show of the time. 

1974 -  Kingsmen by a nose over SCV

1975 -  Tough to argue against Madison 

1976 -  BD was well above the pack

1977 -  BD was just ahead of the pack

1978 -  Phantom got majorly hosed. The end of SCV/Bottle Dance was a disaster. 

1979 - No problem with BD

1980 - 27th Lancers in the second biggest hosing to date

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I am going to be a contrarian, both to myself and to the general consensus of this board.

First to myself, and the 1980 championships. The Blue Devils' redo of its remarkable championship and record-scoring 1979 show was tepid in comparison; this was to be the Lancers' year! But nerves got to 27th, and the finals night performance was robotic, rote. IF ... the millions of "ifs" in the history of drum corps ... the judges had realized it, just possibly The Bridgemen won the night. And I was no fan of Bayonne, at the time. (Read my thoughts on it, here.)

As for 1989, I cry a little every time I watch both Vanguard and Phantom. Kind of like watching the Blue teams at the top of this year's leaderboard. All four shows are championship caliber, if only. Vanguard's revival of "Phantom" was, as has been said here, a "monster." And to me, so far superior to the year before, there is simply no comparison. The dramatic through-line was clearer, and certainly the performance was at a higher level. So then to Phantom, and the signature Dvorak: It has always seemed to me that the luxuriousness of the production, and the music, came to a dead stop three-quarters of the way through, for a drum break. It killed the forward motion of the finale that followed. That has, for me, been the difference in the two.

Kingsmen, 1974. Please.

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