1979 Blue Devils versus Phantom Regiment

[felixh]

This was really not so much about Blue Devils as it was the judging community and/or DCI administration. No question, Blue Devils had a great year. My issue, I don't believe the General Effect score received that night was appropriate for the show performed. There is no logical sense to any of the scores received in either of the GE sub-captions.

Even in '76 when BD clearly was the best corps out there, the GE spread between 1st and 2nd was only .6. Up until 1979, the largest spread in GE was 1.1 in 1973 and the Troopers GE score was 2nd, NOT 4th!

Rocketman - no dis intended

ampssuck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

After reading all the posts on this thread, at the risk of alienating fellow Blue Devil alumni, I have to partially agree with Rocketman. As far as 1978 is concerned, I am still in awe that PR did not walk away with the big prize that evening. They were by far the best sounding and marching corps that year hands down. From the blaring Firebird Intro to the classy exit and reentry......I was convinced having seeing them for the first time at a show somewhere in the South in 78 that they were the DCI Champs in waiting.

As far as 79 is concerned, we literally sweated and worked our behinds off with the Blue Devils that year and desreved everything that came to us. It was no easy trek by any stretch of the imagination. Chicago III Suite was hardly rehashed as Rocketman states. It was totally reworked and a much cleaner version. I hate to brag, but we were at our peak at Birmingham and we knew we had won when we left the field. A few months earlier we had lost one show to SCV and even lost horns to the Spirit of Atlanta at a show in Iowa....being the Class corps that we were and still are, we applauded the Spirit hornline as they left retreat.

For the record, the off-the-line PR did in 1979 is one of my all-time favorites...the intensity from the first note was a complete eye-opener for me and made me feel that we really had to work our butts off to regain the footing BD lost in 1978.

[dckid80]

I don't even need to look at the recaps on this one my friend.

27's horn line execution was horrible in 1980. I'll bet they gave up 2 points to BD.

Game over.

As far as the Phantom thing goes, they marched as well as anyone from 77-80 but no corps could hold a candle to the BD horn line in 1980.

Does PR have a case for 78 and 79, absolutely but not 80 no way.

Also, you have to remember that this was the beginning of what many people claimed were the unemotional and machine-like Devs. I disagree completely. They were so fluid and controlled that you really had to pay attention to catch the nuances in everything they did.

Except, of course, BD and SCV!

How does that work? I guess they were just that far ahead of everyone else, and we cornpones in the Mid-west were just too dumb to see it. NOT!

2-7 should have won in 80, hands down!

Rocketman - Amoeba Booster

ampssuck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Edited February 14, 2005 by dckid80

[felixh]

I don't even need to look at the recaps on this one my friend.

27's horn line execution was horrible in 1980.  I'll bet they gave up 2 points to BD. 

Game over.

As far as the Phantom thing goes, they marched as well as anyone from 77-80 but no corps could hold a candle to the BD horn line in 1980.

Does PR have a case for 78 and 79, absolutely but not 80 no way.

Also, you have to remember that this was the beginning of what many people claimed were the unemotional and machine-like Devs.  I disagree completely.  They were so fluid and controlled that you really had to pay attention to catch the nuances in everything they did.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As you can see in other threads I have posted on, I am not the biggest fan of BD 1980, however I totally respect your opinion. On the same token, I can not agree with PR having a case against BD 79.....78 definitely, but not 79. We placed 3rd the year before in Denver and had no laurels to rest on. We got beat in horns in 79 in some show in Iowa by the Spirit of Atlanta, and also lost to SCV earlier in the year as well....the rest of tour was spent practicing tirelessly to regain our crown...by the time we marched off the field after our performance Finals night in Birmingham, not only did we know we, we also know we earned it "hands down"

[dckid80]

It's interesting Felix, to me BD '80 was the apex of the old school of DCI.

I have posted quite a bit over on the BD Forums the last 4 years and many of the FMM's think that '82 was a better show.

I think a lot of this discussion comes down to emotion.

Phantom had the heartbreak of '78 and used that to motivate themselves in '79 and I think the audience picked up on that.

I still think that BD was the better corps in '79 just that Phantom may have been a little closer than you realize.

By the way, I saw AK at CYO Nats in '78 and was completely in awe.

Edited February 14, 2005 by dckid80

[felixh]

It's interesting Felix, to me BD '80 was the apex of the old school of DCI.

I have posted quite a bit over on the BD Forums the last 4 years and many of the FMM's think that '82 was a better show.

I think a lot of this discussion comes down to emotion.

Phantom had the heartbreak of '78 and used that to motivate themselves in '79 and I think the audience picked up on that.

I still think that BD was the better corps in '79 just that Phantom may have been a little closer than you realize.

By the way, I saw AK at CYO Nats in '78 and was completely in awe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Although I do not share your enthusiam for 80 BD, by no means am I saying they were mediocre by any stretch...they definitely were a powerhouse. Many of my friends from AK that did not march in 79 aged out in 1980 with BD and they have all my respect. I must admit that "Suerte De Los Tontos" was better in 1980 than 79, but that may be emotion as you say. As far as Phantom 79, I loved the intensity of their opener and how it hit you like a ton of bricks. The point spread was too much for me to even consider any type of conspiracy theory...not so in 78 though.....by the way, the civility in these discussions is killing me....LOL! Thanks for the great response and for allowing me to ponder your post....keep it coming my friend.

ps...AK in 78 was a pretty rocky tour...some members did not finish the tour....77 I feel we should of placed a little higher,...but I am not willing to write a thread on it....you do it buddy and let's see what happens....LOL!

[dckid80]

I agree with you completely about '80 La Suerte. The french horns and sops were simply outrageous.

I don't care how rocky your tour was in '78, the mystique and class were still there.

[felixh]

I agree with you completely about '80 La Suerte.  The french horns and sops were simply outrageous.

I don't care how rocky your tour was in '78, the mystique and class were still there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thank you wholeheartedly my friend. Whenever I think of the 78 season it is kind of sad to see a powerhouse dwindle into the shadows. But you are 100% correct, because no matter what was happening behind the scenes we never lost our military mystique.......we never lost the class....by the way when you have a lull in your activity please check out xkingsmen.com....there is talk of reviving the old Kingsmen and some pretty interesteing dialogue between fellow alumni...all are welcome so enjoy..........come on dckid80....do a Kingsmen thread....LOL!

[boswell666]

Mike I generally agree with you 99.9% of the time. How do you explain 1977 then? Clearly BD was off thier game that night. To me, they won that show because of the season they had, not the performance that evening.

Rocketman - not a sore loser

I dont think that you're not a sore loser it's not the first time you been talking about 1977 Rocketmen. And how do you know that we were off the game that night, you guys came very close at prelim but we came stronger at finals. Sorry if you never get a ring ain't my fault.

most be a nightmare for you for the last 28 years

[felixh]

Mike I generally agree with you 99.9% of the time. How do you explain 1977 then? Clearly BD was off thier game that night. To me, they won that show because of the season they had, not the performance that evening.

Rocketman - not a sore loser

I dont think that you're not a sore loser it's not the first time you been talking about 1977 Rocketmen. And how do you know that we were off the game that night, you guys came very close at prelim but we came stronger at finals. Sorry if you never get a ring ain't my fault.

most be a nightmare for you for the last  28 years

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Rocketman I think you have a case for 1978. IMO you guys got #@!$ed. But I think PR missed the mark in 1977 in Denver. The huge build of Channel One Suite alone was untouchable by any corps at finals,....prelims maybe,...but the time between prelims and finals is a lifetime. Finals night IMO remains unpredictable bwteen the top three.

[LancerLegend]

I don't even need to look at the recaps on this one my friend.

27's horn line execution was horrible in 1980.  I'll bet they gave up 2 points to BD. Game over.

The truth be told - it was not our horn spread that "lost it" for us, but rather the opinion of the very same judge from Allentown to Birmingham that judged us in VA (visual analysis).

If you can find the recaps, I think you'll see we had an 8.0 in VA in Allentown and it dropped significantly at finals. The crime here, IMO, is that visually - there was no comparison to what 27th was doing compared to BD. If there were problems in execution, then is was the field judge's job to take care of that.

Being a staff member that year, I can tell you that our game plan was simple. We "knew" we had the GE part of the show, visually, we were confident that we could be very close, we knew we would be humbled by BD's horns, and we "knew" we were going to crumble BD's in drums. The critical area was between drums and horns was their respective spreads. We did exactly as we expected, but there were some things we could not control, and that was the the impact we had on one VA judge from Allentown to Birmingham.

Regretfully, Guard was not a separate and inclusive mark like it is today. HAd that been the case in 1980, well.......we'll never know. BD won, and a tip of my hat to them. I would just once like to hear that we made them work for it.