The Competitive power of past champions

[Vuitton]

11 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

BD did have theirs...no titles from 87-93. 

That's not really a down cycle - they were top 5 every year and still considered a top tier corps. 

[Jeff Ream]

7 hours ago, Vuitton said:

That's not really a down cycle - they were top 5 every year and still considered a top tier corps. 

For them it’s down. 

[jjeffeory]

On 9/22/2023 at 11:04 PM, Yorkvillain said:

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. 

I enjoyed EVERY one of those shows more than any other era of their corps' history.

[Vuitton]

1 hour ago, jjeffeory said:

I enjoyed EVERY one of those shows more than any other era of their corps' history.

I enjoyed a lot of those shows, especially '87, '89, '90 and '91. 

They were still a top tier corps and they were still a corps no one took lightly. 

They will at some point have true down years where they are out of the top 5 and not considered a top corps or contender, but I'm not sure I'll live to see it.

[Tim K]

On 9/23/2023 at 10:50 AM, Vuitton said:

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.

I had heard some scuttlebutt regarding Cavies that fall, though I probably didn’t give it too much thought and if I look back on predictions for 2012, I would probably not had them lower than 5th. Now if you told me in September of 2011 that in the upcoming years the highest Cadets would place is 3rd, they would nearly implode, place as low as 9th, then begin to rise again, I would have disagreed and predicted at least another title during that time.

[greg_orangecounty]

On 9/22/2023 at 3:23 PM, Bob984 said:

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................

It's nice to be remembered and we were lucky to have made it on the field every year including 1972 once our founder resigned. 

[flugelswerebugels]

On 9/24/2023 at 3:37 PM, Tim K said:

I had heard some scuttlebutt regarding Cavies that fall, though I probably didn’t give it too much thought and if I look back on predictions for 2012, I would probably not had them lower than 5th. Now if you told me in September of 2011 that in the upcoming years the highest Cadets would place is 3rd, they would nearly implode, place as low as 9th, then begin to rise again, I would have disagreed and predicted at least another title during that time.

The Universe will end some day.

[84BDsop]

On 9/23/2023 at 3:08 PM, Jeff Ream said:

For them it’s down. 

And almost every other corps would kill to have  BD "down" year.

[OldSnareDrummer]

22 hours ago, flugelswerebugels said:

The Universe will end some day.

From today's headlines:

The formation of a new “supercontinent” could wipe out humans and all other mammals still alive in 250 million years, researchers have predicted.

We've still got a little time. It's not stopping my Bucket List from getting filled, though. Only 312 wishes to go. 

And I think BD's dynasty (not necessarily championships) will last as long as DCI does. 

[Vuitton]

I had a vision Vanguard is going to score a 94.7. We'll see if that holds up.

In 1992 at Drums on Parade in Madison, I had a vision Regiment was going to finish 8th (and they did) only BK and not Crossmen was in front of them in my vision.

At Stanford in 2018, I had a vision Vanguard was going to win and they did.

I don't take too much seriously on these because it's only happened twice with 1 1/2 of the vision being accurate. We'll see on 2024 Vanguard.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Vuitton