Tekneek

Starting in 2009, I suspect the show will end immediately when the rain starts, so I'm not sure how that gets scored. Once woodwinds get out there, it will really be interesting...

The self-serving nature and condescending attitude of that bunch has turned me off completely. When a man that can barely string together two coherent sentences has more "cred" with his proposals than Tim's proposals, there is something wrong. If their vision of drum corps is so wonderful, they should be willing to defend it and explain away all questions, doubts, and concerns. Instead, they shut their mouths because they know something is wrong with the cheese and hope that a lot of people don't catch a bad sniff of the rotten product they are serving up. I'm not saying that everything they do is wrong, but the way it is being implemented leaves a lot to be desired. Hopkins is not right just because he is George Hopkins. There needs to be an intellectual reason behind all of it that can be easily articulated to anybody with a question about it. Refusing to discuss it reveals a lot. They effectively are telling anybody that doesn't agree with their vision to hit the road and not look back. I wonder if that is truly the best position to take.

Maybe that gets to the real source of the problem. His proposals appeared to have much more thought and effort applied to them and were certainly written more intelligently than the rest. Compared to Tim's proposals, George's proposals look like something out of Flowers for Algernon.

Rather than get into that argument, how about the fact that he was the only one bringing it up? The insiders don't think there is a problem and seem to want more off-the-book elements in the activity, based on their actions.

At the end of the day, we know that the judging of amplification has never really been on the sheets. We know they had a chance to at least talk about that with Tim's proposals, but were extremely happy to avoid the discussion. Not only that, but they've added electronics without really indicating how this might impact judging. It is clear to me that it is no mistake that amplification is in a gray area. These people are intentionally making sure these new elements are as 'off the books' as they can make it, which is bad for the activity. If they are going out of their way to undermine and disrupt any honest attempt to adjudicate the activity, they might as well just get rid of the judges completely.

I'd give up on DCI first, because DCP offers forums that deal with more than just DCI.

To be like Hoppy, the proposals should be far less professionally written as well.

As a member of this "market", I am making my decision. When I walk away from DCI, I don't really care whether it gets bigger, smaller, survives, or dies. I will have washed my hands of it and left it to the rest of you. I don't pretend to think that my support will make a life or death difference for any particular corps or DCI itself, but they had better hope there aren't a lot of people doing the same thing as me or they will wonder what went wrong. Once I am out, I am more than likely out for good. Drum corps is not so big that I won't find a way to live without it.

I have it from someone that was there that Tim was blown off by all except a couple of people. I am not going public with the details because I do not have their permission and am not going to speak for them. I believe them before I believe the versions presented by a couple of people in this thread. Unless they are willing to detail their account of things that would be contrary to the original poster's claims (which goes well with what I was told), I won't give much credence to their claims.

You can get some of the always enjoyable pop and crackle from a wireless mic in the solo, or just breaking up completely.

Somebody tried to address that with some rules proposals, which the "instructors" killed before it could be debated at the board level. They don't want that dealt with. They want as much freedom and creativity off of the judging sheets as possible, apparently. DCI is going to be in a mess because they have implemented changes without any real accounting for them and instead of fixing that, they bring in more changes that will also have no clear accounting for them in the adjudication of the activity. Might as well just throw judging out completely.

Seriously. There has never been a better time lock in a pure definition of what drum corps is and stick to it, IMO.

I don't think anybody will do it. Have you seen any companies, in an industry where offshoring jobs is rampant, run a campaign about not joining that fad? Either no company like that exists, or they are afraid to draw attention to it since they worry that competitive factors will force them to join in someday and they will get roasted for it. I expect just as much from drum corps. If a corps does go out there and try to do it, they won't be officially promoting it as such. They will hope that word-of-mouth will pay off for them instead.

I wish you had a third option to choose all of the above. It is hard for me to determine which one I hate more.

This summer will be the first one that I have actually followed DCA activity. I'll let it be known that DCA is the last hope for me staying a current drum corps fan, because DCI has abandoned me.

I believe they find it easier to off-load the new horns than the old G bugles.

Do corps get paid for their placements in Championships Week? If so, I would love to put together an endowment that will pay the highest placing completely acoustic corps at least $1 more than DCI would pay them.

I know you guys need/want another person piling on like you need a hole in the head, but I just wanted to add that I am out. In case somebody involved intimately with DCI decides to come here and see how their concepts are playing out with the fans. I see how the really good proposals did not even get to come before the Board. They had the staff lackeys kill those off without much consideration. Drum corps has been headed in a bad direction and at least it means I won't have to worry about how to fit shows into my schedule this summer or find the money to subscribe to the online offerings. I will continue with my plan to buy the DVD sets I missed up to 2004 and check out completely. Have fun, bandos.

Wasn't the old rule that you could not be 22 by the time of Championships? Seems like 10 years ago you could never be 22 and be a legal member.

I remember those shows, but they just did not seem as cluttered to me. This may come down to personal opinion, so let's move to amplification. Who has pushed it further than The Cadets have? Carolina Crown can certainly give them a run for their money, but The Cadets have consistently used more amplification in their shows than most other corps, IMO. I'm not making a judgment on whether it 'worked' for their shows or not, but simply saying they have used it far more than anybody else. My opinion, and I think history backs me up, is that Hopkins will push the rules to a level that few will even try to match. History says The Cadets will use electronics throughout their show, as they have amplified voice, in order to hit everybody over the head with it as much as possible. That first show in June with electronics will be a nightmare.

It should fail simply because Hopkins has failed to make a reasonable argument for the removal.

Sure. I'm not saying that he is prepared to take a hardline stance on this. However, it is nice for this to be official and hopefully be given the discussion they deserve.

If this is all about education, what harm is there in teaching one of them how to run the sound board? If we really need a sound board in drum corps, let's teach a member how to do it like we do everything else.

Really? Are you telling me others have used amplification MORE than them? That would be required for them to not be at the extreme end of the scale. Who has used more props recently than the 2006 picnic table fiasco? Maybe I'm just not aware or not remembering the corps that have used both of those far more than The Cadets have. I would appreciate you pointing me to those shows.

At the very least the director endorses it by signing it. He is sponsoring it and I had only read the proposals on the DCI website before posting in each one here, not the entire threads. There's your explanation, big guy.