Hostrauser's 2022 DCI Power Rankings - Week 3 (7/18)

[greg_orangecounty]

22 minutes ago, brassboy said:

Both BDB and SCVC have won DCI Open Class multiple times and have bested many world class corps before. Not sure why being beaten by them should be that big of a blow compared to Gold. 

I'm speaking from my 1970's experience/mindset.  "World Class Corps" (all there was at the time) didn't compete against feeder corps, let alone lose to them.  I understand things are different now.  I meant no disrespect.

Ignore me. 

[JohnDF]

For me, So Cal begins south of Fairfield... Lol 😂

[Chief Guns]

47 minutes ago, JohnDF said:

For me, So Cal begins south of Fairfield... Lol 😂

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being a SoCal kid, until I left for the Navy in 1997, anything east of Las Vegas was considered east coast to me LMAO. 

[Liahona]

1 hour ago, JohnDF said:

For me, So Cal begins south of Fairfield... Lol 😂

I don't even know what this means...lol

[JohnDF]

7 hours ago, Liahona said:

I don't even know what this means...lol

It's just a joke. Just South of Fairfield starts the Bay Area (San Francisco).

The Bay Area is quite a bit different than the rest of Northern California, so I just throw them in with the South. Lol

[Newseditor44]

10 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

I can deal with Gold but getting beat by Blue Devils B and Santa Clara Cadets sounds much worse.  Ugh!

With all the band kids in Southern California I just don't understand why it can't field a Drum Corps that consistently makes finals.  It's been decades!  

I guess there's just too many other things to do here because of the weather.  That's all I can think of.

If you want to be a top 12 corps, you need to hire the right educators and design team to get you there. The biggest thing that separates the corps at the top vs the corps at the bottom is money. So Cal has never had a corps with the resources of an SCV or BD, and for years has lost the recruiting wars to the NoCal organizations. Even when VK had their bingo game they weren't able to keep up with the NoCal corps. Pacific Crest has built a strong organization, but again their financial resources and operating model don't allow them to be competitive at the top 12 level.  

[JohnDF]

11 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

With all the band kids in Southern California I just don't understand why it can't field a Drum Corps that consistently makes finals.

Kids leave to try to make a spot in one of the top corps.

Maybe it's their dream to march with a certain corps or they just want to win.

I come from a very small area in northern California and we have kids marching in several of the top corps.

They don't just try out for the Mandarins (our local corps), we've had kids in SCV, BD, Cavaliers, Crown, etc.

[Metalbinky]

1 hour ago, Newseditor44 said:

If you want to be a top 12 corps, you need to hire the right educators and design team to get you there. The biggest thing that separates the corps at the top vs the corps at the bottom is money. So Cal has never had a corps with the resources of an SCV or BD, and for years has lost the recruiting wars to the NoCal organizations. Even when VK had their bingo game they weren't able to keep up with the NoCal corps. Pacific Crest has built a strong organization, but again their financial resources and operating model don't allow them to be competitive at the top 12 level.  

I agree that design and staff play the biggest role in determing the competitive success of a corps.  

The loss of their creative director/designer and visual staff has PC in a somewhat rebuild phase.

It also hurts to lose veteran kids to the top corps every year. This will be an issue until the corps wins. 

I really don't think everyone at PC (top decision makers) puts the highest priority on winning, instead focusing on the long term viability of the corps. If by "operating model" you mean throwing money at proven designers and proven staff, you're very much on the money there.  But PC chose to give less credited designers and staff the nod this year and that's commendable as well.

 

[Tenoris4Jazz]

14 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said:

Pacific Crest is getting beat by Blue Devils B and Vanguard Cadets....!!??  😭

Considering BDB and SCVC have placed in the top 16 at semis before, that's not surprising.

[DrummerParent]

4 hours ago, Metalbinky said:

instead focusing on the long term viability of the corps.

That should always be first for any corps.  Of course there is a balance here too.  They shouldn’t “bet the farm” on a design or instructional staff but a level of competitive success helps also to shore up the long term viability.

 Case in point- Jersey Surf had arguably one of their best, if not best, seasons competitively in 2019.  Before Covid, 2020 was looking to be a banner year for them.  They had a solid drumline, a good and full brass section and a good size and pretty talented guard.  I’d say they could have finished above all open class and maybe even surprised a world class group or two.  But, Covid hit them really hard.  They’re doing pretty well with what they have but certainly lost a lot of momentum that 2019’s relative success brought them.  Hopefully they can catch that wave again.