Phantom - how long till they are considered 'elite'

[Western Burger]

Agreed.

[GMichael1230]

I think Phantom Regiment will someday indeed become an "elite" corps. Maybe by 1977 or 1978 the latest.

~G~

[Elmo Blatch]

I think Phantom Regiment will someday indeed become an "elite" corps. Maybe by 1977 or 1978 the latest.

~G~

I see another 1977-1979 standing for Phantom these next couple years too. :P

Elmo Blatch

[Einstein On The Beach]

I swear, Regiment is (and probably always will be) the Rodney Dangerfield of drum corps.

...you're kidding right>?

[uncle z]

for so long we had the Top3 - Cadets, BD, Cavaliers....

I would add SCV to that group for the following reason:

DCI Championship Titles

Blue Devils--11

Cadets--9

Cavaliers--7

SCV--6

It's pretty simple. If PR wins 5 more titles, I'd put them on par with SCV.

[chris ncsu]

As someone said above...I think Phantom and SCV are the only 2 not-usually-top-3 corps that I wouldn't be shocked to see in the top 3 or win it (yes, pleasantly surprised). But I still don't put them in the same league as Cadets/Cavies/BD simply based on number of titles won or their 30 year hit-and-miss history in the top 3. Phantom in the late 70s/early 80s and in late80s/mid90s -- yes. SCV in 70s and 80s -- yes. Now -- neither.

Edited February 28, 2007 by chris ncsu

[PR_ducky]

As someone said above...I think Phantom and SCV are the only 2 not-usually-top-3 corps that I wouldn't be shocked to see in the top 3 or win it (yes, pleasantly surprised). But I still don't put them in the same league as Cadets/Cavies/BD simply based on number of titles won or their 30 year hit-and-miss history in the top 3. Phantom in the late 70s/early 80s and in late80s/mid90s -- yes. SCV in 70s and 80s -- yes. Now -- neither.

Its all cyclical, none of these top corps stay down for long. I am of the opinion that since 03, Regiment is moving back into the top 3 area, and it will have to come at some other corps expense.

Will be interesting to see how this summer goes.

I expect excellent shows from all of the top 6 or 7 corps, but as they say, there is little room at the top.

[TomMoore]

Don't know if anyone posted this, but if I'm not mistaken Phantom and Blue Devils have made every DCI finals since 1974, and the only corps topping that achievement is SCV, which has made it since DCI's inception.

I remember seeing some statistics showing the average placement over the years and the number of top 3, 5 and 10 finishes this corps has had, and I remember being floored by it.

So if you allow yourself to add consistency of achievement to the discussion, and not focus solely on the number of titles won, I'd say the gang from Rockford is elite. Add popularity and the number of memorable shows to the mix....

[CrossmenAlumni]

Dude, that's the Bluecoat's unofficial title, everyone knows that.

If it is, they'll have to stand in line with a bunch of other corps who feel the same way. When you haven't won, you will have people who will inevitably feel slighted and disrespected. The Bluecoats hold no domination in that category, I can assure you. Maybe they should spend some time as a division 2 or 3 corps and then tell us all what it REALLY feels like to get little to no respect. If anyone deserves it, it's those corps! :)

[jake_the_hydra]

Phantom is elite . . if nothing else, they'e won a championship.

I don't yet consider Bluecoats in the same group that I do Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Cadets, SCV, and Phantom, but they're closer than anyone else, except maybe for Madison, who has two championships.

There's two ways that I think about the elite.

Historically- Blue Devils, Cadets, Cavaliers/SCV (that one's pretty much a tie in the DCI era, imo), Star, Madison, Phantom

My reasoning for this is obviously that Blue and Cadets have the most championships. SCV and Cavaliers I consider to be a tie because they almost have the same number of championships and SCV hasn't been out of finals (which the Cavaliers haven't) . . . I could see an argument for putting Cavaliers ahead because of all the VFW wins, etc, before the DCI era, but I'm not really thinking about that.

I put Star ahead of Madison and Phantom because of their ridiculous growth and consistency, their fantastic championship show, their championship-worthy second place show, influence on the activity, and bonus points for Brass Theatre and BLAST!

I put Madison ahead of Phantom primarily because 1- 2 championships instead of 1, both of which were outright, and 2- Madison seems to be a more historically quintessential drum corps to me than Phantom, especially pre-1998.

Recently- The Cavaliers, The Cadets, Blue Devils, SCV, Phantom, Bluecoats

( A note- I consider recently to be 2000-2007. If you move it back at least one year or even a few, then Blue Devils possibly switch with Cadets and SCV is definitively ahead of Phantom . . . but we'll discuss that)

The Cavaliers position is obvious. So is the Cadets- they have more championships since 2000 than anyone other than the Cavaliers. The Blue Devils have had very consistent top 3 placements since 2000, winning once and getting second in 2001 and 2002 . SCV had more competitive success than Phantom until 2005, so with the exception of that year (I don't hold 2006's placement against them, it's a great show), SCV has been more consistent until just recently. In any case, even if we're not counting 1999, their last championship was more recent than Phantom's, giving them the edge. As far as Bluecoats, they've come closer than anyone who is not the above to cracking the top 3.

It makes sense to me to think about things this way.