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Competing vs. Performing


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As many of you know, I took time this year to go to several competitions this past summer. I believe there may be an answer that "Both sides of Blue" can agree on as to why Blue Devils were the champions this year.  It is a simple "Competing vs. Performing" mentality.

In my opinion, The Bluecoats were the best performers this year.  The show they presented was performed better than any other show on the field and one of the best performances I have seen over my many years of participating/viewing the marching arts.  I stated it at the beginning of the season "I truly love this show" and many of you can go back and see my comments accordingly.

The Blue Devils are the masters at competing.  They do shows that are designed to win.  They go into every show to compete to be the best on the field at any given competition. Every one of their 19 championships can be traced back to a competitive edge they want over every other corps.

When you get down to it, this is a performance based competition.  But it is still a competition and there are winners and losers.  This is not an activity where everyone gets a trophy.

 

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After watching BD360 for 2019 I get the feeling it might be the opposite for BD. They really seem like they are simply out there performing and having fun with the knowledge that that they are totally prepared for what they are about to do. At least that is how it comes across to me.

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Well, since this activity is a competition that includes performance I would say that BD was better at BOTH. Being a good performer means doing it under pressure when it matters most and BD proves every year just about that they are the best at that.

I get a little tired of the whole BD writes to the sheets and writes shows to win. EVERYONE DOES THAT!!!! That and you diminish the kids that perfect the show and bring it to life with a level performance and professionalism that isn't baked into the design. The kids make that happen. Lot's of people paint portraits but it took DaVinci (the performer) to make it a masterpiece.

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When I said performance, I didn't say it was a clean performance.  There is a difference, and a substantial one at that.  The "Performance" is built in more than just a "Clean, Well Executed" show.  I agree, that Bluecoats probably peaked too early and lost a bit at the end.  However, the crowd reaction must always be considered as part of a "performance" and not just what was executed  on the field..  A "Competition" is something that is judged, scored or ranked and that is where Blue Devils beat The Bluecoats.  The Blue Devils competed at a higher level than The Bluecoats. 

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12 minutes ago, Old Corps Guy said:

When I said performance, I didn't say it was a clean performance.  There is a difference, and a substantial one at that.  The "Performance" is built in more than just a "Clean, Well Executed" show.  I agree, that Bluecoats probably peaked too early and lost a bit at the end.  However, the crowd reaction must always be considered as part of a "performance" and not just what was executed  on the field..  A "Competition" is something that is judged, scored or ranked and that is where Blue Devils beat The Bluecoats.  The Blue Devils competed at a higher level than The Bluecoats. 

The crowd reaction could very well have to do with the design, not necessarily the performance itself. If you asked the members of the Blue Devils to perform Bloo's show, the reaction would likely be the exact same

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3 hours ago, Old Corps Guy said:

As many of you know, I took time this year to go to several competitions this past summer. I believe there may be an answer that "Both sides of Blue" can agree on as to why Blue Devils were the champions this year.  It is a simple "Competing vs. Performing" mentality.

In my opinion, The Bluecoats were the best performers this year.  The show they presented was performed better than any other show on the field and one of the best performances I have seen over my many years of participating/viewing the marching arts.  I stated it at the beginning of the season "I truly love this show" and many of you can go back and see my comments accordingly.

The Blue Devils are the masters at competing.  They do shows that are designed to win.  They go into every show to compete to be the best on the field at any given competition. Every one of their 19 championships can be traced back to a competitive edge they want over every other corps.

When you get down to it, this is a performance based competition.  But it is still a competition and there are winners and losers.  This is not an activity where everyone gets a trophy.

 

What makes this new “rivalry” unique is that it is clear both corps are perfectly happy with this distinction.

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Where the scores were so close, and both corps had excellent runs and neither gave anything away, I don’t agree one was a stronger competitor and one was a stronger performer and that’s why BD won. You could have made that argument in the three Crown runner up years, 2009, 2012, and 2015. I think both Bloo and BD  had intriguing shows to watch. Bluecoats did an amazing job at bringing us back the the 60’s, but after seeing BD in Allentown and Indy, I saw the same show each night, but also felt each time I saw the show, it impacted me differently which did keep me on my toes. 

I’m also not sure Bluecoats marching members would make this distinction. I do enjoy random conversations at the airport after finals, perhaps the only plus of the day after finals. If you were wearing a a Bluecoats jacket, there’s a good chance at least one person said you were robbed, and they looked and spoke like they agreed. 

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I think both Bloo and BD were really REALLY good at performing and competing. Hence the .087 spread. From my perspective, BD was able to hang closer in GE than Bloo was able to in Visual. That was really the difference. 

The notion that BD is better at competing typically comes from the fact that they know how to CLEAN the heck out of a field show -- which is something everyone should be trying to do.  Some people will say BD knows how to program a winner. I don't look at it that way. I think BD is good at competitive balance in programming, but I think they are more concerned with artistic value and quality programming.  If you look at their shows from 2007 to now, every one of them is a work of art. Sure, some of them did not connect, but most did to some extent.  In recent years they have been one of the more fan friendly corps.  So they are obviously programming entertaining shows that also have competitive balance. 

Bloo and BD are both just incredible at programming, performing, and entertaining...each in their own unique way. 

Edited by jwillis35
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