Bob984 Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Many have spoken about the Blue Devils competitive dominance, taking their 21st DCI title this past season. What is also interesting, however, is what the other former champions have done as well. Ten Corps have won one or more DCI (World Class) Championships: Blue Devils, Cadets, SCV, Cavaliers, Phantom, Madison, Anaheim Kingsmen, Star of Indiana, Bluecoats, Carolina Crown. Eight of these corps as still competing (I am including SCV's announced return). Anaheim is the only corps that officially "folded"....after winning the first championship, and being competitve the next two seasons, they termporarily went inactive....they tried coming back and finished as high as 13th (1977) but packed it in after the 1986 season. Star, although stopping their competitive ventures after finishing 2nd in 1993, went "pro", first with Brass Theater, and then eventually morphing again into "BLAST" (and also a spinoff show "Shockwave".) They were still active as of 2019 and then COVID hit the world. I have not seen any info regarding a return, or if it is over for good with them. What has been amazing is the overall success of the remaining 8 Champions competing. As late as 2017, all 8 of the champions made finals. Although Madison has fallen out of finals in recent years, there is a substantial possibility that they return, and it is not unreasonable to say that it may be difficult to knock any of the remaining former champions out of finals. Seven of the eight made finals in 2022, and 6 did in 2023, with SCV not knocked out of finals, but taking a year off to clear up financial woes. Ouf of the 10 former champions, only Madison and Anaheim ever had non-finalist seasons after being crowned champion. It remains to be seen if the competitive endurance of the past champions remains strong. I would bet that it does.....at least for quite a bit longer................ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 Everything is cyclical. I'm waiting for the time when the Blue Devils have a down cycle. Every other corps mentioned has had a down cycle ( Madison, Cadets, SCV, Cavaliers, Regiment, Bluecoats, Crown), or has had a slow rise to the top ( Crown, Bluecoats, SCV, Regiment). Something is due to happen soon, imho. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cainan Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 5 minutes ago, jjeffeory said: Everything is cyclical. I'm waiting for the time when the Blue Devils have a down cycle. Every other corps mentioned has had a down cycle ( Madison, Cadets, SCV, Cavaliers, Regiment, Bluecoats, Crown), or has had a slow rise to the top ( Crown, Bluecoats, SCV, Regiment). Something is due to happen soon, imho. I suspect you'll be waiting a good long while... 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 (edited) 49 minutes ago, Cainan said: I suspect you'll be waiting a good long while... ? Long while? It's been a long while... Maybe, maybe not... People (staff) get old and die. People move on. People get other opportunities. Sometimes people grow up in California and move to the UK. Anything can, will, and does happen. I'm just trying to add to the discussion. I don't think they'll drop out of finals. Noone ever thought that SCV would take a year off. Noone would have thought the Cavaliers would be in 9th place. Noone thought that Cadets would have a down several years. Noone thought that Madison would actually drop out of finals. No one thought DCA would die. Here we are.... Edited September 22, 2023 by jjeffeory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob984 Posted September 22, 2023 Author Share Posted September 22, 2023 34 minutes ago, jjeffeory said: Everything is cyclical. I'm waiting for the time when the Blue Devils have a down cycle. Every other corps mentioned has had a down cycle ( Madison, Cadets, SCV, Cavaliers, Regiment, Bluecoats, Crown), or has had a slow rise to the top ( Crown, Bluecoats, SCV, Regiment). Something is due to happen soon, imho. I was mainly referring to the prior champions' ability to remain among the top 12 finalists in the world, and they have done that quite well. In 2017, 7 of the top 9 corps were past champions, and all 8 remaining past champions were in finals.....yeah, it's 6 years ago, but one season since then did not happen due to COVID, and one was an exhibition. I think your "bar/definition" for a "down cycle' is much more miniscule.............you mention BD, but the combination of two things keep them rocking year after year.......(1) more veterans from other finalists as well as other top 20 corps go to the Blue Devils than to any other corps. (2) They have a competent veteran staff that they have been able to maintain If Madison rebounds back into finals, it then becomes very likely that all 8 prior champions are in finals.....quite dominant as a group........ 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted September 22, 2023 Share Posted September 22, 2023 1 minute ago, Bob984 said: I was mainly referring to the prior champions' ability to remain among the top 12 finalists in the world, and they have done that quite well. In 2017, 7 of the top 9 corps were past champions, and all 8 remaining past champions were in finals.....yeah, it's 6 years ago, but one season since then did not happen due to COVID, and one was an exhibition. I think your "bar/definition" for a "down cycle' is much more miniscule.............you mention BD, but the combination of two things keep them rocking year after year.......(1) more veterans from other finalists as well as other top 20 corps go to the Blue Devils than to any other corps. (2) They have a competent veteran staff that they have been able to maintain If Madison rebounds back into finals, it then becomes very likely that all 8 prior champions are in finals.....quite dominant as a group........ Ah, ok. Well true, and I do hope that Madison gets back into finals soon. It is quite impressive that these remaining corps have been that dominant. I still think about how Regiment almost dropped out before COVID-19, and how that would be psychologically tragic to this line of thought, but they turned it around thank goodness. I still think about how BD has just been gangbusters since their inception and continues to be so dominant though. They can't maintain that level forever, but I think they'll always be in finals (as long as there's a DCI), which supports your assertion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 3 hours ago, jjeffeory said: Everything is cyclical. I'm waiting for the time when the Blue Devils have a down cycle. Every other corps mentioned has had a down cycle ( Madison, Cadets, SCV, Cavaliers, Regiment, Bluecoats, Crown), or has had a slow rise to the top ( Crown, Bluecoats, SCV, Regiment). Something is due to happen soon, imho. I’m not expecting Blue Devils to have a down cycle any time soon, though that’s not to say they will win next year. Though it’s back a ways, Blue Devils did have some 4th and 5th place finishes. What is true about a blue Devils in 1976 when they won their first title to today is they understand how judging works. In 1976, being clean is what mattered and if you watch that show, it is precise and exact. Today it’s about design and they know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkvillain Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 4 hours ago, jjeffeory said: I'm waiting for the time when the Blue Devils have a down cycle. 1987-93 is about as close as you will ever get for that to happen - and I wouldn’t even consider that a “down” cycle. I enjoyed most if not all of their shows in that time frame. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 4 hours ago, jjeffeory said: ? Long while? It's been a long while... Maybe, maybe not... People (staff) get old and die. People move on. People get other opportunities. Sometimes people grow up in California and move to the UK. Anything can, will, and does happen. I'm just trying to add to the discussion. I don't think they'll drop out of finals. Noone ever thought that SCV would take a year off. Noone would have thought the Cavaliers would be in 9th place. Noone thought that Cadets would have a down several years. Noone thought that Madison would actually drop out of finals. No one thought DCA would die. Here we are.... BD did have theirs...no titles from 87-93. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vuitton Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 12 hours ago, Tim K said: I’m not expecting Blue Devils to have a down cycle any time soon, though that’s not to say they will win next year. I'm not expecting the Blue Devils to have a down cycle any time soon, but in September 2011 I would have said the same thing about the Cavaliers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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