dccorpsfan Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 (edited) So, there's a lot of discussion about the current state of drum and bugle corps; much of it on how DCI is running the activity. This gets me wondering: What if Drum Corps International was never created? What if those corps directors decided to continue to compete in VFW, AL, CYO, ect. sanctioned events? Note: insert "it" between "if" and "never" Thank you. Edited July 2, 2007 by dccorpsfan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darklordsmiley Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 So, there's a lot of discussion about the current state of drum and bugle corps; much of it on how DCI is running the activity. This gets me wondering:What if Drum Corps International was never created? What if those corps directors decided to continue to compete in VFW, AL, CYO, ect. sanctioned events? TEH WORLD WUD EXPLODE!!!1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Drum corps would probably be a lot more local and community-based in nature...but eventually, someone would have come up with national or at least semi-national touring. Also, considering how long DCA has been around...they could have been running both circuits if DCI had never came to pass. :) Fun "what if". /cue woe-is-me people who will say drum corps would have died totally if not for DCI. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccorpsfan Posted July 2, 2007 Author Share Posted July 2, 2007 Drum corps would probably be a lot more local and community-based in nature...but eventually, someone would have come up with national or at least semi-national touring.Also, considering how long DCA has been around...they could have been running both circuits if DCI had never came to pass. :) Fun "what if". /cue woe-is-me people who will say drum corps would have died totally if not for DCI. :P Hehe, true; and I never thought of that (DCA taking over both junior and senior corps). It would be cool if drum corps was more of a local thing. I love the entire activity, but it just seems like it's lightyears away, you know? Like it's this thing that's so wonderful that I can't even touch it. I'd just like to see more of it near me (and more corps would be nice, too) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Problem is a lot of the AL and VFW Posts that sponsored corps either can no longer afford it or the Posts themselves no longer exists. Both AL and VFW hit their peak in membership and ability to support extra things like DC and sports teams after WWII. Since then the membership numbers have been declining. Same idea with the church sponsored corps where the church is in the inner city as inner cities have been going downhill since the suburbs opened up in the 1950s or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankBeMe Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Problem is a lot of the AL and VFW Posts that sponsored corps either can no longer afford it or the Posts themselves no longer exists. Both AL and VFW hit their peak in membership and ability to support extra things like DC and sports teams after WWII. Since then the membership numbers have been declining. Same idea with the church sponsored corps where the church is in the inner city as inner cities have been going downhill since the suburbs opened up in the 1950s or so. That is true. Sponsoring a corps got too expensive. Just looking at the pay scales for VFW finals back when I was marching, I never saw it go past $1200 or so for winning, and around four or five hundred dollars for 12th. Legion was even less for winning. So if that's all they paid out at their championships, just think what the individual posts and churches gave to their corps. If DCI wouldn't have happened....it would have eventually just because of the build up of frustration toward the VFW and Legion and their rules, which many thought took away from any creativity in shows. For example with VFW, you had to stay between 128 and 132 beats per minute which was actually it's own individual caption called "Cadence" and was worth 10 points, same as the inspection caption (Legion just treated inspection more or less as a penelty as they had no caption just for that). If they had waited a few years it might have different in some ways. There were some director changes by 1980 of the original corps who started DCI. For example Scott Stewart in Madison. He would have had a part in creating DCI instead of just being annoyed by it. There's just so many possibilities that anything could have happened. But most likely, a DCI type organization would have eventually been created, just not identical to what was created. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walter Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 So, there's a lot of discussion about the current state of drum and bugle corps; much of it on how DCI is running the activity. This gets me wondering:What if Drum Corps International was never created? What if those corps directors decided to continue to compete in VFW, AL, CYO, ect. sanctioned events? Note: insert "it" between "if" and "never" Thank you. This is something that we will never know. Funny, how such a small word, could mean so much. B) What if....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 So, there's a lot of discussion about the current state of drum and bugle corps; much of it on how DCI is running the activity. This gets me wondering:What if Drum Corps International was never created? What if those corps directors decided to continue to compete in VFW, AL, CYO, ect. sanctioned events? Note: insert "it" between "if" and "never" Thank you. Well, the CYO Nats had these corps in the last show on corpsreps...1984...5 of them were DCI finalists. Cadets Scouts Suncoast Cavies 2-7 Xmen Skyriders Bayonne Genesco IMO drum corps would have faded away to a smattering of small units, not at all close to what it is today. VFW/AL/CYO....these organizations were pulling away from drum corps for years. Times and society changed. The local urban parish lost it's "pull" within the community, as did the PAL. VFW and AL members were getting older and fewer in number...their kids aged out without younger vets to take their place with their own kids...and costs of fuel, insurance, unis, etc....went higher and higher...with inflation in the 18% range during the later 70's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dccorpsfan Posted July 2, 2007 Author Share Posted July 2, 2007 Hmm...listening to all this kind of makes you grateful for DCI, doesn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bawker Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 Hmm...listening to all this kind of makes you grateful for DCI, doesn't it? Perhaps, perhaps not. If DCI ends up being just marching bands and the like on down the road (note the new DCI.org webpage...the "about DCI" section fails to even mention instrumentation now, it just presents DCI as a marketing concept, making the kids and fans just $$$$, no more) then who knows. While DCI is certainly beneficial in many regards to some junior corps, it may not ultimately be what drum corps...as an overall activity...needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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