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2022 Daily Run Down


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July 6 Run-Down

It seems like there may have been more schedule changes from the original posting a few months back. Blue Devils C was not in competition last night while Gold was in competition so some of my preview comments our outdated, but today's analysis is anything but!

Let's start with World Class. Mandarins made a strong statement with a 3.650 point increase after a pretty long stretch of rehearsal days, directly defeating Blue Knights by 3.000 points. This puts the Mandarins pretty solidly in alignment with the corps' scores in 2019 at this time of the season. Given the relatively lower scores for other World Class scores this year when compared to 2019, Mandarins appear to be looking at a Top 10 placement again this year. Conversely, early scores suggest it may be a down year for Blue Knights with the corps more in the 10-12 range than its more recent experiences in the 6-9 range since 2014. All of this said with the important caveat of date and lack of head-to-head competition across regions. Blue Devils opened the spread over Santa Clara Vanguard a bit.

We learned a lot about Open Class competition with Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets starting their competitive seasons, and head-to-head with Gold to boot. Gold has never beat either corps head-to-head in Indianapolis. By just a 0.200 spread, Gold took the top position in the first match-up with Blue Devils B. Vanguard Cadets were a distant 4.500 points back in third place. This certainly suggests Blue Devils B, Gold, and Spartans as the early favorites in Open Class competition. Spartans won't see any of these corps head-to-head until the final week of the season so there will be a lot of room for subjective comparisons until that point!

Three shows tonight should provide some good fodder for analysis tomorrow, although the interest mostly lies across competitions and not within.

  • In Iowa, watch to see whether The Cavaliers reopen a spread with Blue Stars. The current of 1.250 points came in separate shows. This could be an important question for where the Top 6 line will end up.
  • Raiders debut in Delaware. 

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July 7 Run-Down

Big score increases for the World Class corps competing in Delaware: Jersey Surf (4.050); Boston Crusaders (3.400); and The Cadets (3.150). Spartans, on the other hand, saw the smallest increase of the night across all shows (0.450) and lost to Jersey Surf head-to-head for the first time. Raiders made its season debut at #27.

Elsewhere, Blue Stars stayed 1.250 points behind The Cavaliers. This is down from 2.300 points the last time the two corps were head-to-head.

Just one show in Indiana tonight. Phantom Regiment is scheduled to perform. Let's hope the members are well enough to do so.

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July 8 Run-Down

The main story is the return of Phantom Regiment to competition. The corps picked up just about where it left off back on July 1st. On that day, Phantom Regiment was 4.600 points ahead of Crossmen. Last night, Phantom Regiment was 3.600 points ahead of Crossmen. No big slip given what the corps' members have been through over the past week. Notably, Bluecoats' score went up considerably without rehearsal days while Crossmen and Music City saw more modest increases.

A full slate of shows is on the docket tonight and I'm excited to be attending the Camas, Washington show live and in person! That show will feature the season debuts for Troopers and Columbians. The Sacramento, California show welcomes Blue Devils C to the 2022 competition field. Open Class attention, however, will be on whether Gold can maintain its slight lead over Blue Devils B a second time. In Dubuque, Iowa, let's watch to see if Blue Stars continues to gain on The Cavaliers.

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July 9 Run-Down

I enjoyed the Camas, WA show from the top of the stadium, side 1 45 yard line. What a great town to go see a drum corps show! More on that in another thread later.

Camas - Troopers debuted at #17, a little under 4 points behind Blue Knights and 1.600 points behind The Academy. The spread with The Academy aligns with where things were in 2019 between the two corps at this time of the year and that held all the way through championships at about the same placements. The change here is how close the corps are to Blue Knights. It seems like a real situation where Blue Knights may be fighting for its finalist spot this year. The corps has never fallen below 11th since the Indy era began in 2009. Columbians also debuted at this show, 2.500 points and several placements higher than this time last competitive season. The very large Open Class corps performed to an appreciate nearly home town audience.

For what it's worth from my personal perspective... This is the right outcome for this show. Blue Knights have a much more complex and challenging show than The Academy or Troopers, but it's extremely dirty musically and visually, has some odd transition moments, and was the only show with technology problems on the night. The Academy show is very entertaining and was probably the crowd favorite. However, I am not sure how far it has to go in terms of growth over the season. Will it remain a cute and fun show or grow tired on multiple viewings? Troopers made a good first impression on the season and several shows under their belts will likely close the gap with The Academy. Of the three, it's definitely the show I am most interested in seeing again. Columbians are very large and loud. The visual demand is low - probably a good design choice with a shorter season. I was pleasantly surprised by the corps and enjoyed the performance.

Dubuque - With The Cavaliers sitting out this competition, we did not get any new information about the spread between them and Blue Stars. The latter corps popped a big number at 75.100 which also represents the biggest increase of any World Class corps at this particular show. Colt Cadets made an even larger gain of 3.800 points. The corps is outpacing its 2019 performance in both score (+8.200) and placement (+11) by quite a bit.

Sacramento - Blue Devils opened its spread over Santa Clara Vanguard by 0.150 points. Mandarins kept pace with the same gain as Blue Devils. Pacific Crest increased more but had not competed in a few more days. Vanguard Cadets made up over two points of its gap from Gold and Blue Devils B. Gold maintained its razor thin margin over Blue Devils B.

Lots of fun storylines to watch for this evening:

  • DeKalb, IL - This show depends on whether The Cavaliers are well enough to compete. If they are, then the Blue Stars/The Cavaliers match-up is the main story. Also keep an eye on whether Madison Scouts continue gaining on Colts. 
  • Lexington, SC - Boston Crusaders and Carolina Crown meet for the first time this season. Will Carolina Crown continue its undefeated season? How big of a gain will they see after a week off the competition field? How close will Boston Crusaders be? Are they a legitimate medal contender?  Heat Wave makes it season debut.
  • Renton, WA - This is a carbon copy of last night's Camas show. The main thing to watch for is how a second read affects Troopers. Do they immediately gain on The Academy?

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July 10 Run-Down

I'm on a very early flight from Portland, OR to San Jose, CA to get to the Stanford show so I'll post the July 10th run-down a few hours early.

Here were the storylines I mentioned in advance:

  • DeKalb, IL - This show depends on whether The Cavaliers are well enough to compete. If they are, then the Blue Stars/The Cavaliers match-up is the main story. Also keep an eye on whether Madison Scouts continue gaining on Colts. 
    • The Cavaliers did not compete. Madison Scouts gained ever so little on Colts, narrowing the gap by a quarter of a point.
  • Lexington, SC - Boston Crusaders and Carolina Crown meet for the first time this season. Will Carolina Crown continue its undefeated season? How big of a gain will they see after a week off the competition field? How close will Boston Crusaders be? Are they a legitimate medal contender?  Heat Wave makes it season debut.
    • Carolina Crown continued its unbeaten start to the season with Boston Crusaders behind by one full point. 
  • Renton, WA - This is a carbon copy of last night's Camas show. The main thing to watch for is how a second read affects Troopers. Do they immediately gain on The Academy?
    • Not only didn't Troopers gain on The Academy, they actually went down in score (-0.100) and fell back when that decrease is combined with the increase enjoyed by The Academy (+0.750). 

In other news, Carolina Crown's week off resulted in a 7.450 point increase. Lest that seem surprisingly large, Boston Crusaders increased by 6.900 in that same time frame, Bluecoats by 6.500, and The Cadets by 7.750. 

On the Open Class side of the ledger, River City Rhythm improved by 8.200 points in six days compared to Colt Cadets 5.950 points. This was enough to put River City Rhythm back on top in head-to-head competition. Heat Wave made its season debut at #27.

Tomorrow (Sunday) night is a big one with more corps in competition than any previous date this year. Ten of the current top 12 will be in action with the notable exceptions of Bluecoats and Blue Knights. I'll be at the DCI West pre-show BBQ wearing a green SCV t-shirt. If you're there, I'd love for you to say hi!

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July 11 Run-Down

It was a great time at DCI West and the Blue Devils and Santa Clara Vanguard organizations really know how to bring people together. My $70 ticket included a great seat and access to a pre-show catered BBQ outside the stadium. In addition to the great food, both corps performed standstill run-throughs for the supportive crowd. I had the good fortune to sit with some of the Blue Devils booster club officers. Several of these individuals are 70+ years old with connections to the corps dating back many decades. It was really great to see so many people giving so much to the activity and the current performers. Kudos to both organizations!

Our storylines were limited due to the rain out in Georgia and The Cavaliers continuing in exhibition. The Blue Devils expanded their lead over Santa Clara Vanguard and based on my live viewing, it does not seem like there is any chance of Santa Clara Vanguard catching up. BD's show is so far ahead right now. So that likely means most attention should be placed on the first Blue Devils - Carolina Crown match-up. That will come on July 19th in Broken Arrow, Oklahama. Both corps will be there along with Bluecoats, Boston Crusaders, and Santa Clara Vanguard - all of the current Top 5.

Mandarins are impressive! The growth of this corps over the past several seasons has been remarkable and the way they take the field now screams confidence and swagger. The show is well-designed and the BD/SCV crowd was there for it from the first hit. The 6th place positioning right now may be legit and not just a fluke of which corps are in competition on a given night. 

On the Open Class side, Blue Devils B defeated Gold for the first time this season. This should be a close race to Indy and I would not count out Vanguard Cadets. The corps is a bit back so far this year, but the show is clearly not done and they are gaining at a higher pace than the others. And that's just the California corps; there should be a fun race in Indiana when the corps meet up with the rest of the country.

There's just one show tonight. It continues the head-to-head match-ups for The Academy, Blue Knights, Troopers, and Columbians. 

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July 12 Run-Down

Just one show last night and it did bring the Troopers surge that I predicted in my Camas, WA run-down. Troopers gained 1.550 points on The Academy. 

Three shows on tap for this evening:

  • Boise, ID - Mandarins join the group that's been traveling through the Pacific Northwest together. The spread between Mandarins and Blue Knights will be something to watch. The corps met in Fresno on July 5th and Mandarins were ahead by 3.000 points. The spread has opened to 4.400 points in separate shows. Whether it closes down, stays about there, or opens up should reveal a little about the two corps' trajectories.
  • Atlanta, GA - Without Boston Crusaders in the mix, this show has four corps in four different blocks. Unlikely to see much happen here from a spreads standpoint.
  • Mankato, MN - In World Class, the competition between Colts and Madison Scouts has been tight all season long. Given that these are spots #13 and #14, both corps want the edge as they fight for a finalist position. In Open Class, Colt Cadets and River City Rhythm have been neck-and-neck as well, with each corps winning a few shows so far. 

 

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July 13 Run-Down

Let's see how I did yesterday:

  • Boise, ID - Mandarins join the group that's been traveling through the Pacific Northwest together. The spread between Mandarins and Blue Knights will be something to watch. The corps met in Fresno on July 5th and Mandarins were ahead by 3.000 points. The spread has opened to 4.400 points in separate shows. Whether it closes down, stays about there, or opens up should reveal a little about the two corps' trajectories.
    • Mandarins defeated Blue Knights by 3.900 points. It appears that things are closer to the across shows' analysis that when the two corps were together a little over a week ago. This is great news for Mandarins and troubling news for Blue Knights. Mandarins have never placed higher than 10th and Blue Knights have not placed lower than 11th since championships moved to Lucas Oil Stadium.
  • Atlanta, GA - Without Boston Crusaders in the mix, this show has four corps in four different blocks. Unlikely to see much happen here from a spreads standpoint.
    • Stayed about the same with a little bit of tightening between Carolina Crown and The Cadets and between Crossmen and Music City, but nothing to get too excited about.
  • Mankato, MN - In World Class, the competition between Colts and Madison Scouts has been tight all season long. Given that these are spots #13 and #14, both corps want the edge as they fight for a finalist position. In Open Class, Colt Cadets and River City Rhythm have been neck-and-neck as well, with each corps winning a few shows so far. 
    • Colts had a very strong showing relative to Madison Scouts with a gain in the spread of 1.450 points. River City Rhythm maintained its lead over Colt Cadets.

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July 14 Run-Down

Blue Stars now hold a 3-2 edge over Phantom Regiment in head-to-head match-ups. Phantom won the two shows prior to their COVID-related series of missed competitions so it seems reasonable to conclude that those limited days of rehearsals/performances had a negative impact on competitive placements (not to mention the effect of the illness on members' physical abilities). The question now is whether the corps can make up the lost ground. And whether the same thing happens to The Cavaliers.

Santa Clara Vanguard gained 0.550 points on Blue Devils, the first time they improved by a greater amount than Blue Devils since July 2nd.

Troopers took their first win over The Academy and increased the spread by by 1.200 points.

Just one show tonight and it will include the season debut of Louisiana Stars.

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