Phantom Regiment FINALLY won a DCI championship clearcut. Looks like they were on a roll this week where they closed the gap each day and finally edged out BD by the closest margin in history that I am aware of. Congratulations to Phantom Regiments organization. It has been a long time in coming.
5 midwest corps in finals. Still the strongest overall area after all these years.


World Class Championship Finals
1 Phantom Regiment 98.125
2 Blue Devils 98.100
3 The Cavaliers 97.325
4 Carolina Crown 96.800
5 The Cadets 94.750
6 Bluecoats 93.175
7 Santa Clara Vanguard 93.025
8 Blue Stars 90.425
9 Blue Knights 88.250
10 Boston Crusaders 87.275
11 Glassmen 87.200
12 Madison Scouts 85.225

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

I wouldn't call 0.025 clearcut. With the subjective DCI judging it seems to me that one should round to the nearest whole number. That would make it a tie for Blue Devils and Phantom Regiment at 98 and Carolina and the Cavaliers tied for third at 97.

It is good to see the Cadets about 3 points below the winners maybe next year they'll shut up and play.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

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

Correction

I get six midwestern corps in the World Class Finals.

Phantom Regiment (Illinois)
Cavaliers (Illinois)
Blue Coats (Ohio)
Blue Stars (Wisconsin)
Glassman (Ohio)
Madison (Wisconsin)

I could throw in the Blue Knights from Colorado and make it seven. Denver is closer to Chicago than it is to the West Coast. The people I know who live there sometimes call it Des Moines by the Rockies.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

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

What is best for the activity happened.

If they were gonna give it to Phantom instead of Blue Devils, they might just as well have given it to the Cavies, instead of both of the others. The Cavies were white hot tonight, the best I had seen them all summer. Don Warren agreed. I've said it before... the '06 season, when B.D., Cavies and Phantom were all equals. Last year B.D. and Cadets were equal, with Cavies either tied with them or the slightest behind them. I still would have given it to the B.D. tonight, but, if not them, why not the Cavies, if it was based solely on tonight. They were fantastic tonight! Carolina was NOT the equal of any of them and deserved what they got... fourth. I agree with Cadets fifth. The best thing possible for the activity occurred by having Regiment win tonight, tho.
I sincerely believe that the judges were well aware of this too. If they aren't allowed to call a tie (which they aren't), why not do what's best for the activity. They did.

I believe that if a certain corps wins both quarters and semis, they should have to suck on finals night to lose their position, and the Devils did fine tonight. The hottest was the Cavies, for one night that is... tonight. They were incredibly crisp, clean, sharp, and full of energy.

All in all, there is a god watching over the welfare of drum corps and the best thing happened. Yes, there is a god, none of the big 3 took first place. The crowd was darned pleased about that too. Their collective voice was heard... by the drum corps god.

Cliff P., on the Cavies site, says, "I thought the Cavaliers were on tonite and Phantom and BD were a little more on last nite." I agree with him. I, too, was there. If you went by one night, THIS night only, I'll tell you who should have won the championship (you won't want to hear it)... based on toight only! Good for the activity it didn't happen that way, tho. Congrats to Phantom Regiment, the DCI judges choice!

I thought it has been the big four with Phantom being the fourth of the group.

When I get time I'll have to see what the Blue Devils site blog says.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

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

What I meant by clear cut is that they won it finally without a tie, unlike the last time they won. About rounding up numbers, that may be good on your taxes, but just doesn't cut it otherwise as an argument. Phantom is champion according to the numbers system currently in use at DCI. By looking at the recaps all year, it became apparent that PR had a good chance, was gain ground fast, and BD was very very strong in some captions, but were .8 down in drums and and somewhat less efficient in some of the other areas that Phantom was strong in. Both corps are sensational. I'm just glad somebody other than the usual three won.

Let give credit where it is due. Phantom won, no matter what the spread. It's like a walk-off home run in the 9th inning of the World Series. Their efforts should be acknowledged and appreciated whether they are our favorites or not.

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

As for the number, sorry I forgot Glassmen.

In reality, NONE of these corps are really from any particular region. The kids come from all over the country. Blue Devils and Santa Clara are the closest to having "California" corps because of their feeder systems. Cavaliers are basically made up of kids from Texas and their corps feeder system is bands from the south, not the Cavie Cadets like it used to be, Cadets have kids from every area, Phantom relies heavily on music majors from many different universities around the country, etc. etc. etc.

I think you get my point. You can only give these corps a geographical identity from where they have their home base or offices. It's totally different than it was when most of us marched, and even then most of the top corps had a percentage of members from other states.....unless of course you are from the 60s when 90% of any corps was from the immediate area that the corps was located.

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

Yes. Congrats to the Phantom Regiment! Great job, even if they do continue to slit throats!

Also, Jerry is right. NO corps have a real "community identity". The Cavaliers are from Rosemont ONLY because they have a major sponsor there and choose to use their town name. Same for all the corps.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

A tie for the championship is no longer allowed by DCI rules, period.

And yes... hail to the champs, Phantom Regiment; they were sensational!

in spite of the throat slitting.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

When I was looking at the breakdown of each Corps,
it looked like the only caption that they beat BD
in was horns,if I read it right.

Hey!I'll be honest with everyone I'm always glad to
someone else win,as long as it's not the Cavaliers.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

Rich: you are correct, Phantom was first in only one caption .. MUSIC.

But, they were "close enough" in the other captions to win.

The top corps were all very close.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Phantom was great and deserved to win. For those who attended the semi's they got to seee the Cavie alumni corps.....they were excellent.

What was not excellent was the Cavies conduct at the finals retreat. While entering the field to line up several members were making fun of the Blue Devils by doing some of the "line walking" and othe manuevers from their show.....also mocked Phantom by doing "stabbings". Very unusual and low class for the Cavies. I was sitting next to a Cavie alumni who was very embarrassed by the entire event. To give them credit, the Cavies did walk by Phantom on their way our of the stadium as a salute to the champions.....maybe they were just glad BD didn't win.

Bill,I guess the Cavaliers weren,t hot enough.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

Rich, this is on dci.org, right now:

Highlighted by the corps’ powerful “Samurai” program, Cavaliers director Bruno Zuccala was pleased with his group's finish to its 60th anniversary season. Zuccala said, “The guys had the performance of a lifetime tonight. There were some great drum corps out there and we are just very happy with the job they did today. This summer we grew day by day getting better and better as a drum corps, and finally we met the highpoint tonight so we’re happy about that.” (end of quote from DCI)

Don Warren said it, Bruno said it, I said it (right away), many said it... "The guys had the performance of a lifetime tonight." If the judges say they weren't the overall best corps out there on August 9, so be it. I accept that; no problem. THAT was the best The Cavaliers could possibly have been. They absolutely peaked on finals night and didn't take first, according to the judges. I'm happy with that, and so are lots of others. They were as good as any corps on that football field that one night (Saturday), period. Amen.

What happened is the best thing for the drum corps activity. Look at the last 5 years... the champions were: Cavaliers, Cadets, Cavaliers, Blue Devils, Phantom Regiment. That is darn good dispersal of the top spot... 4 different winners in the last 5 years. I keep saying it: this result is good for the activity, as a whole, Rich.

Bruno summed it up so well: "There were some great drum corps out there...." Not just 3 great ones either! The best quality of drum corps that I have ever witnessed, across the board, is 2008.

Tom,I also heard and read about what the Cavaliers
did during finals retreat.What really bothers me is
that people on the Cavaliers Main Forum are already
making excuses and trying to justify why they did
what they did.

That group of kid's who were part of this didn't
use their intelligence.The personal feelings that
one Corps has towards another Corps shouldn't be
exposed on the field,especially in front of
thousands of people.

I read that it wasn't just a few that did this but
2/3's of the Corps,but whatever the number that was
involved,shouldn't have happened under any
circumstances.It's not only a slap in the face for
the Blue Devils and Phamton Regiment but it also
put's a mark on DCI.And DCI sure can't afford to
have things like this happen.

It doesn't matter now that the Cavaliers walked by
PR to congratulate them.Maybe they were told to do
this after what happened.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963

Tom, regarding the behavior of the Cavies at the awards ceremony, when lining up, I saw that too. That is not the first time I've seen stuff like that, either. There does not seem to be any set decorum for that time of the evening's activities. Different corps do different things. Some corps stand stiff as boards, some mill around, some do silly things. Some color guards stand at attention, some mill around, some keep performing similar to what they do in their corps' show. Some corps stand at strict attention, some stand at ease. Did you notice that with some corps, some members do one thing and others do another... this is what the Cavies did. I see that type of thing each year at finals and it just seems that there is no set decorum. It could be that what those two Cavie kids did was in bad taste, especially since the Blue Devils were right next to them, I don't know... it depends.

Sometimes I think that the kids know each other, some times, and kid each other. It all confuses me... that one part of the evening's activities, yes. I've just come to accept it for what it is... a confusing moment in time. Whether the kids jibe each other in a mean way or in a joking way... I don't know. Tom, did you see the four Cavies who rolled on the ground, mimicking their own show, too. I did. That type of stuff happens each year at finals, with this or that corps. Maybe there ought to be a set decorum. I guess DCI chooses to not step in, so who knows. I do know that a fair amount of hugging went on between the Phantom kids and the Cavie kids when the Cavies marched in unison, as a corps, to congratulate them, after all was done. I think they know each other pretty well, in some cases. In fact, it kind of often happens that kids marched together in the past, but are in different corps the next year. I wasn't embarrassed, but I am confused by it all, for sure.

Cavies were awesome at finals. I don't stay for the post show BS, so I have no idea what incident you are talking about, but what the man said is fact. They had no reason to feel bad after that performance. It was a great show to experience.

I agree, wholeheartedly, Jim. Weren't they all fantastic... I mean all 12... I really mean it! I'm not just saying it to be nice. Fabulous drum and bugle corps... all 12, with the 12th being the Madison Scouts. Their show was fantastic and they played it to the hilt on Saturday night. Yes, cudos to all 12 corps on Saturday night... the best show I have ever seen, by far!

Bill,you said in one of your earlier post's on this
thread that if the judges were going to give it to
PR instead of BD,they might as well give it to the
Cavaliers instead of the other two,because the
Cavaliers were white hot,and my reply was,I guess
they weren't hot enough,and I meant not hot enough
to win,because they didn't.This also includes BD as
well.

What did you do in the Corps? French Horn

What years were you a Corps member? 1957 thru 1963