1980 VFW- CHICAGO, IL
8/16/1980

Finals:
1 Cavaliers and Madison Scouts 83.850
3 St. Croix Rivermen 69.500
4 Geneseo Knights 67.400
5 Saginaires 62.800
6 Alliance 58.000
7 Americanos 57.500
8 Pioneer 55.400
9 Norwood Park Imperials 47.350
10 Sundowners 46.650

18 corps competed in prelims

From Jim Fetty:

I marched in this 1980 show as a member of Madison and not the Imperials. It was a few days after DCI finals and the scores were laughable considering we had just beaten the Cavaliers by 10 points in Birmingham. I guess they had home field advantage.

From Bob Shreffler:

I think VFW only had corps for one more year after that, when Crossmen won in 1981. And I had always heard that the 1980 VFW was a joke. Did Madison march a full corps that night? They were famous earlier in the 70s for not really showing up after DCI. We (Cavaliers) almost beat them after DCI in 1975 in Loves Park - the year they won finals and we were 8th - because so few of them bothered to show up. In fact, Kilties did an exhibition that night instead of competing because so few came, and most of them couldn't stand up...

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

Jim and Bob, your observations may be colored by your PERCEPTIONS, not by facts. Did you SEE the other corps in competition that night, or were you just "assuming" that past performances held merit?

I judged the 1980 VFW Nationals on drums (field at Hansen Park, GE at night at Soldier Field). While I will admit that BOTH Madison and the Cavaliers looked "different" from earlier in the season, both were really working hard. The two drum lines did a great job and were close. I can't comment on the other captions.

If the judges are doing their jobs properly, EACH CONTEST PERFORMANCE has to be judged on it's merit. "What you see is what you judge .. NOT what they did last week!"

Why would you want anything other than that?

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

I wasn't even there. It's just hard to believe the Cavaliers closed a 10-point gap from DCI the previous week, when they hadn't been close to Madison all year.

As for judging - I applaud you for approaching it in that manner. But even you must agree that not everybody did. That's not a slap at judging. But like any other avocation, some are more qualified than others, and some are more altruistic than others.

And then there's Tony Schlecta...

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

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

Bob, unfortunately, you are correct. There are/ were some judges who had "personal agendas" at times.

You also mentioned Tony Schlecta, the head of the VFW Contest Committee. I suppose that, in his earlier days, he might have been a good person for that job. But, as his longevity, power and biases grew .. he became part of the problem and not the solution.

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

He was actually one of the first inductees into the Drum Corps Hall of Fame in the early 60s. They came to regret that decision pretty quickly!

And you have to wonder - if the veterans groups had bent on the rules changes the corps wanted, would there have been a need for DCI? I wonder if the corps would have been happy with even part of what they were wanting? Or was DCI inevitable, but maybe would have happened later?

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

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