Legends Inactive 2023

[Terri Schehr]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

I think that was a one off for 2021. 

I was being sarcastic about Drum Corps Midwest.  I need to stop that. It doesn’t translate well on the interNUT. 

[Terri Schehr]

1 hour ago, rjohn76 said:

If you're talking the "Midwest Combine" from 2021, pretty sure that was just a one year deal to try and string together enough performance opportunities to make that year somewhat viable for the corps hitting the road.

If you're talking about the old DCM that ended in the late 2000's... If I'm not mistaken, the primary person in charge (Roman) resisted change that was necessary to keep the regional tour viable.  Basic things like having the ability to buy/sell tickets online, and other modern conveniences that pretty much every other business/activity were starting to utilize at the time.  I still remember having to call a number to get DCM tickets in advance all the way up to the very end.

With someone else running it that didn’t treat it like a mom-and-pop shop, it could have worked pretty well.  A lot of Div 2/3 corps died after DCM went away.

Edited November 19, 2022 by Terri Schehr

[IllianaLancerContra]

1 hour ago, rjohn76 said:

If you're talking the "Midwest Combine" from 2021, pretty sure that was just a one year deal to try and string together enough performance opportunities to make that year somewhat viable for the corps hitting the road.

If you're talking about the old DCM that ended in the late 2000's... If I'm not mistaken, the primary person in charge (Roman) resisted change that was necessary to keep the regional tour viable.  Basic things like having the ability to buy/sell tickets online, and other modern conveniences that pretty much every other business/activity were starting to utilize at the time.  I still remember having to call a number to get DCM tickets in advance all the way up to the very end.

The fact that DCI insisted on moving to a single 6-week tour vs two 2-3 week tours with a break in middle for local competition had the effect of removing the top Corps from DCM availability.  

[Terri Schehr]

1 minute ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

The fact that DCI insisted on moving to a single 6-week tour vs two 2-3 week tours with a break in middle for local competition had the effect of removing the top Corps from DCM availability.  

The big dog eats first. 

[Sutasaurus]

40 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

The big dog eats first. 

Tru dat!

[cixelsyd]

6 hours ago, craiga said:

Respectfully, I disagree with the point of view that holds that every time a drum corps goes inactive it is the fault of DCI.  When I was in BAC in 1980, there were FOUR other "World " class corps from our area.   The 27th Lancers, (who came in 2nd that year), Northstar, (top 12), Alliance, and the Defenders.   Within 5 years, all four had folded, and DCI had nothing to do with it.  Rather, it was sheer mismanagement.  In. Every. Single. Case.  The member max in those days was 128, nobody had month long spring training, and summer was comprised of a couple multiple week tours, instead of one big 65 day trip.  

To be accurate, the tours were lengthening in the final years of these corps.  There was a push to get all reigning top 25 to attend Whitewater for four straight years 1981 through 1984, a major tour rearrangement for Massachusetts corps.  During that period, three of the four corps you mention folded, and the other ran their buses into the ground, contributing to their folding soon after.

Quote

As stated above, most of this has to do with decision making by the individual corps. 

Suppose I built a road with a sharp cliffside curve, no lighting and no guardrail.  Some corps drive themselves over that cliff.  You could say it was their decision to drive there, but did the road really have nothing to do with it?

[Jeff Ream]

23 hours ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

Well, ####. Why hasn’t drum corps seriously considered regional associations to stop the bleeding? 

Open Class in many ways does stay regional until closer to finals. But isn't this the corps where the director begged for $100k to finish the season...just a few years ago?

[BlueStainGlass]

52 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

Open Class in many ways does stay regional until closer to finals. But isn't this the corps where the director begged for $100k to finish the season...just a few years ago?

This is literally how the Glassmen went under and I would be surprised to see them come back.  A little debt turns into a lot of debt and bingo halls don't pull like they used to for corps.  Id like to be wrong but they really need to bring someone in to take a look at costs.  Were they collecting all their dues or were they giving discounts? Can they find ways to cut down staff to lower staffing costs?  What is their revenue stream outside of the season?  

Legends also used to have a WGI group that did well in Open Class and they just folded it.  I guess that was really the beginning of the end when you don't really need to budget too much for a WGI group.

 

[MikeN]

On 11/18/2022 at 10:19 PM, Jeff Ream said:

Open Class in many ways does stay regional until closer to finals. But isn't this the corps where the director begged for $100k to finish the season...just a few years ago?

If your region is California or the upper Midwest.  Didn't work that way for Guardians or the other southern groups.

(and yes, that $100k thing left a bad taste in my mouth as well)

Mike