Date Posted:16:52:18 03/11/02 Mon Author: Al Karls Subject: 1966 Nationals
The 1966 Nationals issue was not with the Racine Scouts, but with Madison Scouts.
Madison Scouts took advantage of a loophole in the prelims rules. It stated that judging would cease when the first member exited the field, but timing to meet minimum time requirement would continue until the last member exited.
Madison wrote a prelim show wherein one bass drum player left the field early in the show, causing all execution judging to stop, artificially raising their execution scores accordingly. In effect, other units were judged for 4 minutes, Madison for 2. Because they were apparently undertime, they were assessed a 2 point penalty, which put them to 14th place, behind the Reveries. Racine Scouts were 12th and thus in the night show, and the Reveries 13th. Madison protested the penalty and argued that they followed the rules to the letter, and were not undertime.
The VFW, with little time between prelims and finals, tried to be fair. As Madison followed the letter--if not the spirit of--the rules, the VFW revoked the undertime penalty, which put Madison in the night show. But the VFW felt it would be unfair to drop the Racine Scouts from the night show, as they had legitimately earned a spot and had been announced in the finals. So the VFW allowed both to perform.
The argument I heard from the I.C. Reveries contingent that day was that since the Racine Scouts, in 12th, and the Madison Scouts, in 14th, were in the night show, the Reveries, in 13th, should be, too.
This anti-Racine Scout argument, which does not seem as logical as the argument promulgated on the day in question, apparently surfaced later.
