It’s only fair I come out from under my rock for Mandarins

[kdaddy]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

so he says staff was coming back. others say they weren't. interesting. looking at the Pulse guys posts, they didn't seem to indicate they were leaving

What else could "Was it only financially based ? Absolutely not." realistically mean?

[contraguard05]

1 hour ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

Here’s a radical idea, idk if it’s good, but it’s radical. We need to let the Open and All-Age corps vote. They are all members and all DCI. These corps tend to be restrained in their design, and the proposals I most agreed with at Januals came from Open Class corps. 

"All drum corps are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

Edited October 31, 2025 by contraguard05

[Slingerland]

55 minutes ago, kdaddy said:

What else could "Was it only financially based ? Absolutely not." realistically mean?

Staff wasn't happy with management (or the other way around)? That would be the logical conclusion. 

[OldCorpsGuy]

11 minutes ago, contraguard05 said:

"All drum corps are created equal, but some are more equal than others."

Didn’t DCI from its inception more or less say they only were really concerned about the Top 12 corps? Well that about all we have left. Thanks guys. 

[contraguard05]

6 minutes ago, Slingerland said:

Staff wasn't happy with management (or the other way around)? That would be the logical conclusion. 

Or a Cadets/Spirit level lawsuit is on the horizon from what happened with their old guard/percussion staff. I strongly doubt this is the case, but if we're just speculating, it's worth a mention.

[wolfgang]

4 minutes ago, OldCorpsGuy said:

Didn’t DCI from its inception more or less say they only were really concerned about the Top 12 corps? Well that about all we have left. Thanks guys. 

I recently asked about a NYC corps called St Rita's Brassmen who were not invited to be in the original 12 corps, but had they attended the first 2 DCI Championships in Whitewater, quite possibly would have made Finals. I believe they beat some Finalist corps in east coast shows. On the historical forum is interesting info.

In some ways, DCI was the G7 before there was a G7.

[OldCorpsGuy]

21 minutes ago, wolfgang said:

I recently asked about a NYC corps called St Rita's Brassmen who were not invited to be in the original 12 corps, but had they attended the first 2 DCI Championships in Whitewater, quite possibly would have made Finals. I believe they beat some Finalist corps in east coast shows. On the historical forum is interesting info.

In some ways, DCI was the G7 before there was a G7.

Try being the”other” corps from Illinois and coming in 10th at Whitewater two weeks before Finals and then coming in 16th…yeah, all corps are equal. 

[wolfgang]

1 minute ago, OldCorpsGuy said:

Try being the”other” corps from Illinois and coming in 10th at Whitewater two weeks before Finals and then coming in 16th…yeah, all corps are equal. 

Who is other? Des Plaines Vanguard? Black Knights?

[OldCorpsGuy]

4 minutes ago, wolfgang said:

Who is other? Des Plaines Vanguard? Black Knights?

Geneseo Knights, my old corps in 1983. 

[cixelsyd]

29 minutes ago, OldCorpsGuy said:

Didn’t DCI from its inception more or less say they only were really concerned about the Top 12 corps? 

No.

Paraphrasing, the first thing DCI ever said was that they were forming a private club.  The second thing they said was no, actually you can win your way into the club by coming to Whitewater and making the top 12 there.  Ever since, DCI has operated as a partial pyramid scheme, stringing corps along with an array of lures, chief among which is the prospect of full membership.