The most CONTROVERSIAL second place show ever…

[boxingfred]

1980- I thought for sure the 27th Lancers won prelims. The Blue Devils were amazing. I remember the guy in the stands holding a sign predicting a 90.?? Score. At finals, I thought Bridgemen won. Back then, a show like The Bridgemen or Spirit was in the realm of possibilities of winning.

 

Tied- 2007 Cadets should have won at the Boo Bowl/ Hash line gate. The judges got spooked by the boos and gave it to the home state team. I told all the idiots around me booing," your corps will be doing this soon.

Edited October 7, 2025 by boxingfred

[perc2100]

I agree that a show that lost by slightly more than half a point is  likely not the most controversial second place finish in the activity's history.  I'd think 1987 would be a MAJOR controversial finish, where the Championship was seemingly decided by a perfect percussion score that put Cadets on top by only .1 overall.  Or maybe something like 1988 with the "random dry" shenanigans that gave Madison a very fortuitous performance slot in Finals with Scouts ending .2 over SCV.

1993 was an interesting .1 Champ-winning spread too, though I felt the crowd in Jackson was going for Cadets to beat Star, so it might've been 'controversial' if the two flip-flopped; though I also think the majority of the crowd respected the quality of design and execution of both corps, even if they didn't personally like one (Star) or the other (if I'm being honest, likely also Star).

[Jeff Ream]

20 hours ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

That word is screw-job. 

i dunno. i keep hearing 27 did better at prelims than finals.

[Jeff Ream]

18 hours ago, OldCorpsGuy said:

Ive heard some wild rumors about 78 DCI Finals that I’d love to hear more about. 
BUT….the ultimate screw job of all time would be the 1989 DCA finals…..

you're referring to 10th and 11th place i assume?

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, OldCorpsGuy said:

I’m talking about DCA finals not DCI. Although both had their fair share of controversy. As an 89 Sunriser I’m still bitter about the outcome of DCA in 1989. 

see...i'd be more mad about 88 than 89. Bush was better in 89, Sun was much better in 88 IMO. as a competitor, i saw both in 89, including finals, and 88 as a fan. while the tie breaker used was..well...used, a second tie would not have been good.

 

then there's 90, but i'm ( mostly, ok kinda sorta) over that

[Jeff Ream]

4 hours ago, Tim K said:

Where less than a point separated first and fourth, they were in contention, bit I agree that had the summer of 1980 had not taken such a tragic turn, they would have been a contender. After placing 4th in 79, lots of people predicted 1980 might be their year. 

the recap has been broken down here before....each of the 4 had one caption that wasn't top 3/4. math did the rest.

[Jeff Ream]

3 hours ago, boxingfred said:

1980- I thought for sure the 27th Lancers won prelims. The Blue Devils were amazing. I remember the guy in the stands holding a sign predicting a 90.?? Score. At finals, I thought Bridgemen won. Back then, a show like The Bridgemen or Spirit was in the realm of possibilities of winning.

 

Tied- 2007 Cadets should have won at the Boo Bowl/ Hash line gate. The judges got spooked by the boos and gave it to the home state team. I told all the idiots around me booing," your corps will be doing this soon.

performance caption judges realized the GE stuff got in the way of the performance level stuff.

[Slingerland]

19 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

i dunno. i keep hearing 27 did better at prelims than finals.

They did. The same show (essentially, except for the drum solo) killed at Birmingham in '79,, but on Finals night in '80, it just didn't land as well as BD.

Not putting salt into anything, but my sense was that 27th had a great 1970s style show, and BD showed up with a horn sound that was already on a different level from what else was out there.

[OldCorpsGuy]

2 hours ago, Jeff Ream said:

you're referring to 10th and 11th place i assume?

No the “tie” between Sun and Bush. 

[OldCorpsGuy]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

see...i'd be more mad about 88 than 89. Bush was better in 89, Sun was much better in 88 IMO. as a competitor, i saw both in 89, including finals, and 88 as a fan. while the tie breaker used was..well...used, a second tie would not have been good.

 

then there's 90, but i'm ( mostly, ok kinda sorta) over that

Bush was NOT better than we were Finals night.