There is a possibility that we could see some NEW faces in DCI finals .. and the return of some old faces ...

see the comment by Jerry Davidson below:

How many people are happy with the fact that Blue Star seems to be on track to make finals? I sure am. I was never a big Blue Star fan, but it's nice to see one of the oldies make a comeback. Wish it were Troopers also.
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The DCI "rankings" show the Blue Stars in 10th place right now. The Pacific Crest is in 12th place. Not far behind are Spirit, Crossmen and Madison!

So.. you never know!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

I really like to see some new faces, but it is especially pleasing for me to see a corps that was once a powerhouse but spent many years down, make a comeback to prominence. I like a lot of those other groups, but I am pulling for Stars and Troops to make it back in. Would be nice to see Madison back, but that doesn't seem likely, at least for a while.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Yes! Go Blue Stars and Troopers! And .. hang in there Madison!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

My son marched Tuba with the Blue Stars in 2006.
They made a big push in '06 to get back in finial's.
They hired a good staff , made management changes and purchased new equipment.
I think we'll see them in finial's this year.

Tubas! in a drum corps still sounds wierd!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Trumpets, too!

Trumpets I can handle, but Tubas in this context are just Contras in a different key. Even in my band we called the shoulder mounted bass instruments by the name Contra. No matter how they say it, it's still a contra. And a trumpet is technically a soprano voiced instrument, so we can keep that name too if they choose to.

But otherwise on a lighter note, Go Blues Stars! Go Troopers! and go Madison. Hopefully one or a couple of them make finals.

Gee, it would be nice to see a new winner besides one of the usual three suspects. Maybe it's time for a late season surge by Phantom or a surge and surprise win by Carolina. New faces are good! It just encourages those that work just as hard as the usual top three that they too can make it to the top. Might even be nice to see SC back up there again. The virtual monopoly by three corps hasn't really done a lot for the competitive aspirations of many corps, other than who is going to place from 4th thru 12th. The system needs to make it possible for, once again, on any given night the corps that performs the best, wins!

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Carolina is looking to be a serious "dark horse"

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Good, we could use a dark horse in there for a change.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Crown is hardly a dark horse anymore. Maybe last year.

After San Antonio, it looks like there will be at least one "new" face in finals, although it's actually a very old fact - the Blue Stars. They haven't made finals since 1979, but have always fielded a corps. And, in looking at the scores, the Troopers aren't that far out of it, so who knows?

It would be nice to see someone besides the Cavaliers (yes, I said it), the Blue Devils, or the Cadets win for once, although I don't see it happening. I was looking back through DCI's history, and nobody but those three has won since 1991 Star of Indiana. Yes, there were a couple of ties involving Phantom and Santa Clara, but one of those three have at least shared the title since then. And, if you look at all 36 years of DCI, only nine times has the title gone to someone besides them (5 SCV, 2 Madison, 1 Star, 1 Anaheim). Can't ANYONE else produce a winning corps?

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Prediction: 1) B.D. 2) Crown 3)Cavies.

I hope I'm wrong; I hope Crown finishes first. I think that the BD scoring gap is too wide for anyone to make up in the time allotted, tho, especially for Crown.

Go Crown! Go Blue Stars. Go Madison. Go Troopers!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Prediction
1. Blue Devils
2. Cavaliers
3. Phantom Regiment
4. Crown
5. Cadets


Dark Horse to make finals - Madison and Troopers slide into the top 15. Pioneer end up last again.

My predictions and opinions for what they are worth.

I know that all of this may go against popular thinking, but as I see it, Phantom is doing real well in the right captions and gaining in the ones they need work on, which will spill over into the GE captions. Crown possibly has peaked, just a hunch by how they reacted after they beat Cadets as well as how Cadets reacted. But would be nice to see them in the top 3. Cadets could slip if SC or Blue Coats has the time to make some minor changes and put on a surge, which would be nice. Would reinforce that the narratives won't fly and if there was an exposure to error caption like in the old days, they would be in 8th because of how much music time the narration takes up.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

I thought I read something on the Blue Devils site (I once gave them money and they keep sending me emails linked to their site), that Carolina finished ahead of Rockford in a contest in Mississippi or Alabama.

Based on scores it seems that Rockford and the Cadets are not improving that much.

Check out the latest Tennessee results. Looks like Phantom is making a move. They are only 7/100s of a point behind Cavaliers and about .7 ahead of Crown. Cadets look to be stalled and maybe destined for 5th or 6th. Looks like the fight is for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Some interesting stuff in the recaps. Phantom has a lot of areas where they are getting 1sts, and are scoring lower in visual than usual. Would like to see them have a good year and crack the top 3. Nice to see at least one new corps in that top bracket of 3. But, who knows? Strange things tend to happen at the quaters, and semis.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Jerry, in 2006, Phantom finished 2nd, only a hair from The Cavaliers.

Wow! Phantom is scoring firsts in brass, drumming and overall music (including GE). !! But are being dumped in VISUAL! They might move up into the top three permanently?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Yikes. Blue Devils score a 94.5 in Tennessee. And it is still 2 weeks until the Finals.

Will the winning DCI Championship score be 100?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

I marched 11 years and never got a 90. And we were 4th with Spirit in 1980, only 0.8 from the top spot.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

You guys sucked, that's why!

Just kiddin'!

Hey! MADISON is moving up! At the last show, they gained on Santa Clara, now just 5 points behind. If they keep that up, the will make finals!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

At Jacksonville, AL, last night, Teal Sound, an Open Class (old Div. II and III) corps, outscored the Madison Scouts, Spirit, Colts, and Pacific Crest, trailing only Santa Clara and The Cadets, in the contest.

Teal Sound has been beating World Class (old Div. I) corps all summer long.

Bill,

They relax the standards and the numbers are based on the respective class, NOT as a head to head competition. I assure you that if it were a head to head competition, Madison and all 'World Class" corps would score considerably ahead of Teal.

Same sort of relaxation of scores happened when drum corps had C and B class competitions in the 60s and 70s.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Jerry is correct. You can call it a "relaxation" of scores, but it is really a redefinition of the EXPECTATIONS you have for corps at various levels.

You simply don't EXPECT to see the same standards at various levels. AND, this allows a better experience for the members. (Under a single system, some corps would get scores of 10 or 15! Even ZERO!! Hardly a positive feeling!)

So ... a 90 isn't always "a 90"!!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Oh. Ok. Thanks.

I wouldn't know - I never got a 90. As Bill said, we sucked...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

well, I doubt THAT. But, the scoring system was different then too. Lots less emphasis on GE and Visual. NOBODY got 90s then.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Sorta like trying to compare baseball statistics from different eras. They don't compare very well because of a lot of differing factors in the various eras.

Toward the end of the season, as I recall, a score anywhere near the mid 80's was a darn good score, back then... if even that high.

Relaxing the tolerance to let the members have a feel good experience is the same as "easy school" vs "hard school". Only one prepares you for the real world and only one does not create false hopes. I never believed in it when I judged - and sometimes it was hard to keep a line on the sheet - thank God for the difficulty score. The same thoughts goes for sports where they don't keep score. What a joke.

What did you do in the Corps? drum

What years were you a Corps member? 61-69

While I understand John's point about reality, I fail to see the need to "bury" a small and inexperienced corps. Especially if in a separate class competition, giving them a "more humane" score is better for the kids. I think that most people understand that the scoring is done differently.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

I totally have to agree with "tolerance" factor when judging . I am the director of a winterguard that competes in "regional A' division. We will NEVER compete at the WGI level but my girls have the right to be judged at their ability as opposed to how they would fair against the big guns. The goal of my program is to develop the individual and group to their highest ability. Just because we will never go big time, does NOT make our program or my kids less worthy than any other group out there. We work just as hard at OUR level. I will now politely step off of my soap box.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 80-81

I'm certain the adults and older kids know that the levels are judged on different levels but it is a bad lesson for the kids. For instance in school 2 + 2 = 5. Wow! That was great - you were really close to getting that right is quite different than "you were wrong".

Kids are a lot smarter than most adults think. "No tolerance", properly explained by the staff/instructor/teacher is the same as correct (together) or wrong (not together). You can motivate kids to achieve perfection without the games if you take the time.

What did you do in the Corps? drum

What years were you a Corps member? 61-69

John T,

You have it wrong. 2 + 2 = 5 is correct for large values of 2 or small values of 5.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets 1959 to 1961 Imperials 1962 to 1966

Aside from my sarcastic remark above, I do agree with John T. If the judging and scoring is consistent the kids at the lower level who score lower have something to shoot for as they learn and progress. The differentiation in Class--A, B, C, etc--recognizes the less experienced groups by having a separate placement.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets 1959 to 1961 Imperials 1962 to 1966

As an old philosopher once said: "What is reality"?

After following the results of a lot the contests,
even though the Cavaliers squezzed by the Blue
Devils,its the Blue Devils 1st and everyone else
will be fighting for the other spots.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

From the quarterfinals, looks like Blue Stars are definitely in and will be making a challenge to be in the middle group, and Madison has a good shot and seems to have succeeded in step one toward the finals. I normally, in the old days, wouldn't have pulled for either corps, but I sure hope they make it this year. Everyone was writing Madison off early. You just have to congratulate them for getting it back together to put themselves in contention for a finalist spot. Keep your fingers crossed, it would be nice to see them back.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Jerry,

Agreed. I was quite surprised to see them in the top 12 after the season they've had, so congrats to them. And the Blue Stars are right back where they were the last time they made finals in 1979, so congrats to them too! Troopers were closer than usual as well, but they won't get into finals. Same for Spirit.

As for the top, they are still close enough in the first four to have some movement between now and Saturday night, but the gap between Crown and Cadets should keep Garfield out of the top 5 - when was the last time THAT happened? Unfortunately, Hopkins won't get the message, and will probably use next year's 75th anniversary to do something REALLY stupid. It's too bad they don't have a Don Warren in charge of that corps. When the Cavaliers fell badly with a horrible show in 1997, Don stepped in and said do a show the people will like for the 50th anniversary in 98 - and they did.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79