huskerman15 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 You forgot the Royals :( ...and the Cornhuskers :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( But GREAT post, Nikk. That really puts a season into perspective. GO BIG RED!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShortAndFast Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 Well, we all would like to see some new blood at the top, and I think you're right to identify staff retention as one of the components that "climbing" corps need to focus on. At the same time, we need to remember that while some corps (Blue Devils, SCV) have pretty much been great since DCI was founded, other members of the top 5 came along rather later. In 1982, I doubt anyone was sitting around complaining about the unbeatable Garfield Cadets, but they were to win 5 of the next 8 years. In 1989, I don't remember anyone talking about being unable to compete with Star of Indiana, but they were at the very top of the activity for the next 4 years. In 1999, nobody was complaining about the Cavaliers' dominance, but they won 4 of the next 5. While there are a lot of advantages (staff, budget, recruitment, fundraising, etc.) that the Cavaliers, Blue Devils and Cadets enjoy today, I think it's a mistake to think that they cannot be challenged. It's obvious that Madison has completely turned their program around from where they were 3 years ago. It's obvious that Phantom has put a lot of the pieces in place to challenge for a championship. It's obvious that corps like the Bluecoats and Crown are consistently doing a lot of very good things, and may put together a team and a show that gets them to the next level. The activity has changed in the past. It will change again in the future. Who knows, in 2015, maybe we'll all be sitting here whining about Carolina Crown's five-peat and asking why BD and Cadets can't get their shot at the top! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 WARNING: The following post will likely upset some people. Read with caution."Iron rusts from disuse; water loses its purity from stagnation... even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." -Leonardo da Vinci Stagnation is defined broadly as "a state of inactivity in which nothing grows or changes." I suggest to you that DCI has undergone a period of stagnation for several years, and may just now be snapping out of it. From 1997 until 2004, four corps have rotated amongst the vaunted DCI "elite" of the top three. Although we don't normally speak in such terms, the top three are the three corps with the best chance to win the title. We used to talk about the top 5 or even the top 6 in such a way, but it has been a long time since someone running in 4th place all year could vault every corps ahead of them and contend seriously for the title. So, for a period of 8 years, 4 corps have dominated the talk of DCI: The Cavaliers (4 titles in that span), the Blue Devils (3 titles in that span), the Cadets (1 title in that span), and the Santa Clara Vanguard (1 title in that span). Meanwhile, in 5th place -which once used to be considered elite- we have seen a revolving door of corps including the Madison Scounts, the Glassmen, the Boston Crusaders, and the Phantom Regiment. There was one blip on the map that suggested things might change in 2003, when Regiment and SCV flip-flopped for 4th and 5th place, but the very next year, it was business as usual. Meanwhile, competition has heated up in other segments of the DCI echelons. Competition for a Finalist spot has become fierce. Competition for 6th place status has become a catfight, and overall, more corps are putting on solid performances across the board. "Agitate! Agitate! Ought to be the motto of every reformer. Agitation is the opposite of stagnation - the one is life, the other death. " -Ernestine L. Rose And still, I have felt some sort of stagnation, and I know I am not alone. I don't expect this to please fans of any one of those "top 4" corps. Of course they are going to want to continue to see the Status Quo. There are, in fact, some people who would probably prefer that their particular corps stayed in the top 2/3/4 forever, and to H-E-double hockey sticks with the state of the activity. Hey, I know the feeling. I am a Yankees fan. The Yankees have the most championships of any baseball team, in fact, they have the most championships of any major sports franchise (26). And they are universally reviled by most non-Yankee fans. Most of those revilers will tell you it's because ol' George Steinbrenner buys his teams talent and spends money to buy players...and they will conveniently forget that money is not all it takes to buy a title. They will conveniently forget that Steinbrenner has only been owner for 8-9 of those titles, and the rest came before him. They will conveniently forget that when the Yankees won the title in 1996, 1998, and 1999 they were not the highest payrolls in baseball. No, the real reason most people hate the Yankees is because they win. A lot. Because they beat your team's butt on a regular basis, especially if you are a Red Sox fan (and no, one golden year does not reverse the trend). In many ways, the Cadets and the Blue Devils are the Yankees of DCI, and that is the main reason why a lot of people hate them. But I will get to that in a moment. So this year, it looks like there will be a new face in the top 4, perhaps two new faces in the top 5, and possibly...just possibly, three new faces in the top 6. Of course, this has to happen at someone's expense, and this year, it seems as if it is happening at the expense of the Santa Clara Vanguard, who happen to be one of my favourite corps. And I have already begun to hear the rumblings..."it's not fair, SCV has already gone through a down period, it's time for another corps!" This might be true...it isn't fair for SCV to go through another down period, maybe they don' deserve that...but as Clint Eastwood once said in his best movie: "Deserve ain't got nothing to do with it." Nor am I suggesting that I would like to see BD, Cavaliers, or Cadets fall just for the heck of it. Those organizations have shown the model it takes to be consistent, and like the real estate motto of "location, location, location," it consists of only one word: "staff, staff, staff." Those three corps are as successful as they are because they employ AND RETAIN(and isn't that the hardest part) the best staff. This is no different than baseball....good baseball teams employ and retain the best players...inconsistent baseball teams (like the former Expos, and the Marlins) employ the best players, but then fail to retain them. The Cavies, Devils, and Cadets know the formula to winning and being consistent, and they retain as much of their staff as they can, because they know that a competent and happy staff = top three corps. However...other corps have begun to catch on. They understand what it takes now, and though it is a slow process, they are making strides. From 1992 until this year, Regiment has employed the following as their drill designer: John Brazale, Tony Hall, Steve Hegemeir, Greg Cesario, Garret Decker, Brian Hildreth, Tony Hall (again), Leon May, Johnny Sanchez, and now Jamey Thompson. That's 10 changes in 13 years. Quick trivia question: What has been Regiment's weak spot the last decade or so? You got it....Visual. But Pat Seidling understands this. Sal Salas understands this. They understand that a staff/creative team is like a garden. You must tend to it, you must water it, and sometimes, painfully, you must weed it. A lot of weeding has gone on in both of these organizations, and it has been painful to many people involved. But look now! The flowers are in bloom, and the garden looks beautiful. More and more corps are catching on to this...in essence, the top three/four corps have shown what it takes to be at the highest level, and have become their own worst enemy. Any falls out of the top 3/4 WON'T be necessarily because Cavies, BD, or Cadets have a bad year, or bad staff changes in the offseason....but because the playing field is being leveled. "The greatest enemy of progress is not stagnation, but false progress. " -Sydney J. Harris Now, each of those corps above have had their one bad year...Cavaliers fell to 7th in 1997. Cadets fell to 7th in 1991. Blue Devils fell to 5th in 1991. But these were anomalies. In each case, the fall of these corps allowed another corps an opporunity: In 1997, the Cavaliers falling to 7th allowed Crossmen to finish in the top 6 again. In 1991, Devils and Cadets falling allowed for three Midwestern corps to finish 1-2-3. And each case, the corps involved bounced back and recovered stronger than ever. Don't weep for the Santa Clara Vanguard. They are a strong, proud organization. They are feeling the effects of staff turnover, something that is common in today's "free agent" DCI landscape. But they will bounce back. If you haven't read it, you should read Lee's story of the 1993 Vanguard sometime. By 1997, the corps was in contention for a title again. Regiment's down years appear to be over. Madison's down years are definitely over. But it will take some shuffling of the corps ahead of them to break the stagnation we have seen and experience for almost a decade. "That which stagnates dies." -Unkown At some point....unthinkable though it may be...Cavaliers, Cadets, or Blue Devils will fall out of the top five. And fans of those corps will weep and hate and pout and rail against the system. But none of those corps is going away for the long term. All the "sure things" in my life have failed at some point: Cisco stock plumetted. The Yankees blew a 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox. The FSU Seminoles fell out of the top 10. My long-time girlfriend and I broke up. And after each of the events above -some which obviously affected me more than others- I picked myself up and moved on. Life goes on. So what is the point of this post? I don't know....perhaps a warning? Everyone wants change....until that change affects their corps. Everyone wants new faces in the top 3/4/5....unless one of the new faces replaces your favourite corps. It's the same everywhere...but it's coming. The stagnation of the top 3 is coming to an end soon, perhaps not this year, but soon. We might as well prepare for it now, and though we can be sad that our corps may be caught up in it, we can rejoice to know that motion = life, and that the activity will be enhanced because of it. I now return you to your regularly scheduled anti-everything DCI has become rants. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> well said. now...a question in reverse...what can be done to get those perptually stuck between 7-14 to move up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newseditor44 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 That hurts... :( ^_^ <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The truth hurts... even if it comes from the bite of a tick. b**bs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjchar72 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 "And in first place, with a score of 98.4, the 2006 DCI World Champions, THE BLUECOATS!!!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 "And in first place, with a score of 98.4, the 2006 DCI World Champions, THE BLUECOATS!!!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsar Nikk Posted July 21, 2005 Author Share Posted July 21, 2005 well said. now...a question in reverse...what can be done to get those perptually stuck between 7-14 to move up? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Consistency...lower tour fees.....quality staff....innovative show designs...patience....retention... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumby5647 Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 I think the lesson/moral/theme of this thread could be summed up by saying; Dear Blue Devils, Cavlaiers, Cadets: Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phansouth Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 To the tune of "Irish Washerwoman"....or thereabouts...Well, we got up at six and we practiced all day Then we went to the show and we came in last place Then we got on the bus, didn't get any sleep... So we had another beer! (Chorus) Oh we had another beer, and we all got stinkin' drunk! Doesn't matter what we do, 'cause we know we're going to get &*$#-ed! So we'll drink until we puke, 'cause we're one big bloomin' corps, And we'll have to settle for sh1te, like we did the year before. (Chorus) Well, we had a good show, but they opened the spread, Then we talked to some judges who %$#@-ed with our heads But the Cavies were #*^&-ed 'cause their semi was dead So we had another beer.... (Chorus) Well, the Devils don't march but they're winning GE And Cadets show is weird, or maybe it's me...? Star just might win 'cause they've got lots of bread (sorry guys!) But Cavies might win 'cause they give good head! (really sorry guys!) Well, we'll never quit trying, we'll never give up! We've got God on our side... (And more importantly Dan Farrell) So just when you think that you can't take no more Remember, you paid a thousand bucks just to march this *$%@-ing corps! (Ok, remember....this was written in the middle of a competitive summer, so no one should take offense at what was written back then, it was all in fun). <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That was nastier than I remembered. I think because I was always too busy laughing after the Cadets comment to hear the rest of it. (Okay readers, keep in mind this is mid-season '92. "To Tame the Perilous Skies" was not flying very high until Quarterfinals.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phansouth Posted July 21, 2005 Share Posted July 21, 2005 And the Devils really didn't march much that year, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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