Cavaliers just miss current reigning corps champs

Members of the Cavaliers drum and bugle corps returned home to Rosemont Sunday, one day after nearly pulling off a major upset at the Drum Corps International world championships in Indianapolis.

The Cavaliers, with their innovative program called "Mad World," narrowly placed second to the heavily favored Blue Devils of Concord, Calif., who capped their second straight undefeated season by winning the world title and 14th overall championship.

The only other Illinois corps in the world class division was the Phantom Regiment of Rockford. They finished in sixth place, up from ninth last year. Notably, the Phantom Regiment was the only corps that kept the Blue Devils from sweeping all captions, by taking first place in percussion.

Indianapolis was the last stop in a two-month long competitive season, which saw the 150-member Cavaliers performing in 30 shows across the country.

However, it appears they peaked at the right time. During the remaining weeks of the season, when they alternated for second or third place with the Bluecoats of Canton, Ohio, the Cavaliers secured second place all three nights of the championships.

"The corps picked up tremendously over the last month," says Director Adolph DeGrauwe. "After we left Texas, when we were rated in fifth by some organizations, we started to pick up momentum. The guys worked so hard, that, at the championships, we were the only ones who were really competitive with the Blue Devils."

At Saturday night's finals, the Blue Devils scored 98.9 out of a possible 100, while the Cavaliers scored 97.75. They had come to within .7 of the Blue Devils at Friday's semifinals.

"We nailed everything on Saturday," said Dan Flynn, a 2007 Fremd High School graduate from Barrington who plays mellophone. "Everyone had the best show of the season that night."

For Flynn, Saturday's finals marked the last time he would march with the Cavaliers, after having "aged out" at 21.

But he said he would never forget the excitement that started when the crowd gave them a standing ovation as they were introduced on the field.

"Right from the start, it seemed like everyone in that stadium was pulling for us," Flynn said. "Here we were, we had come from the middle of the pack, to nearly pull off the upset."

On Sunday, the members dispersed back to their home cities, where more than one-third of them will pick up nearly immediately with their respective high school or college marching band program, DeGrauwe said.

However, earning DCI's silver medal - after one of the most competitive seasons in the history of the activity - will stay with them.

"Going into the season, we wanted to design a program that was exciting and entertaining and that the crowd would like," DeGrauwe added, "and we delivered on all three counts."