Crown. Royal.

Carolina Crown has made it to the mountaintop, winning the 2013 DCI World Championship. As such, they become the only corps to win at both the Open Class (Division II) and World Class levels, and they brought home their third consecutive Jim Ott brass trophy and the inaugural Tour of Champions Cup in the process.

I experienced the win sitting in a hotel room in Virginia on my way back from vacation. If you follow me on Twitter, you experienced my elation firsthand. I'm still damn proud of my favorite corps - wore a purple shirt to work today (sorry, no purple pants) - but I got most things out then. A few more things, though:

-This is actually the Crown show of the past several years with which I was the least familiar. In the average summer, I see Crown live two or three times, but with them starting their season out west this year, most of the normal shows here in the Carolinas didn't take place, so I only saw them at NightBEAT.

-I wrote back in February about how there hasn't truly been a championship that I fully claim - that is, my favorite team in a given sport that I care about winning one. While it's not a sports championship, Crown is my corps. This one is for me.

-And yet, the smaller percentage of drum corps fans in my immediate circles - smaller still who don't root for the same corps - doesn't give it quite the same punch. After the Ravens Super Bowl win, folks congratulated me on "my" team's victory. Granted, I wore purple then too, and was glad to see them win, but I'm an Eagles fan.

-My fellow Crown fans: We've been an immature impetuous lot for the past few years that the corps has been on the brink of a championship. No, we haven't been robbed. No, there hasn't been a conspiracy. Please, PLEASE never lose the passion, but now that Crown has tasted gold, act like you've been there before, because now you have.

-I still want the old uniforms back, but I think I can live with purple pants.