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MisterA

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MisterA last won the day on January 24 2014

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  1. Bounce sheets are good, but this Tap-A-Drop is amazing. Hopefully someone else here on DCP has tried it and will speak up on how great it is. I personally love the citrus scent the best, but my wife really loves mint scent. And the bottles are about the size of a small bottle of valve oil, so easily carried without taking much space. I think the product is manufactured in house, and the company is based in Ohio. I still suggest bargain thrift shopping and tossing clothes at the end of the season. But Tap-A-Drop might possibly salvage a few items you want to save.
  2. That is why I mentioned it for next years tour. That gives you 8 months to purchase the sale items prior to the tour. Also for those people who are leery purchasing used clothing, now is a great time of year to purchase summer clearance items at chain stores for next summer, as many stores have 50-80% off sales this time of year. One great product which can help during the summer is Tap-A-Drop. It comes in about a one ounce bottle, and you can put a couple of drops on a cotton ball or dryer sheet in the bag of clothing, even on tour. It is great on all sorts of odors. Pet, cigarette, extremely ripe clothing etc. It comes in 6 different scents, and can be ordered online at www.nilodor.com It is about $6-8 a bottle but one drop freshens up to 1000 cubic feet, and a bottle can sometimes last 6 months to a year.
  3. Some great suggestions here about removing odors, but something you might want to consider for next year marchers. Most towns or towns close by will have thrift stores, whether it be Salvation Army, Goodwill, church run organizations, etc. Many of these stores will have half price sales, bag sales, quarter days, etc. Find out when those sales are, and plan on going and buying multiple items in the required sizes. I know people that have come out with an entire summer wardrobe for less than $20. It is pretty easy to pitch 12-20 items when you don't have but a couple of dollars(or less) invested in each item.
  4. No sampling or pre-recorded vocals/instrumentation. We pay big money to watch live performances, not to listen to prerecorded Britney, Frank Sinatra, or lines from Peanuts or It's A Wonderful Life. We can watch or listen to those anytime. Heck why not just hire Chuck Mangione or Herb Alpert to record a whole show, and a corps could perform as background artists. I think Colts and Madison Scouts proved how badly these effects/canned music can ruin a decent show this season, as have Cadets and other corps in the past.
  5. Colts have an awesome hornline and drumline this year, probably both in their top 3 ever. However everyone in the top 18 this year have amazing hornlines. So in a year where they have one of their best hornlines and drumlines, they could still drop 2-3 places at semifinals this year. Colts biggest problem right now is a dreadful show design. 'The last 4 years or so, the Colts just haven't had the best designed shows, which is the reason they aren't even close to making top 12 anymore. And Corps they used to beat, like Mandarins, Academy, Blue Devils B, and Vanguard Cadets are all improving by stepping up their game, where as Colts seem to be starting to slip. I am wondering if they are starting to see a drop in numbers at auditions. I sure hope they can return to designing fantastic shows like the ones when they were making finals on a consistent basis. It almost seems like about the time Blue Stars returned to the top 12, Colts have only managed to make finals once since then, after having made it 7 of 9 years in the 90s-early 2000s.
  6. I think Madison has a great show this year. It may have some issues here and there, but nothing that can't be fixed by August. Some fantastic musical moments and drill, and still early in the season. There is a chance they might not make finals, as that whole grouping between 10-17 is amazing this year, but that speaks to the high quality of corps shows and performances these days. It would be cool to see Mandarins make finals for the first time, and Spirit is making a nice stride towards returning as well, which means that two corps between Crossmen, Blue Stars and Madison would have to drop out. I wouldn't count Madison Scouts out of the mix yet, and wish the best for them this competitive season, but even if they don't make finals I will definitely be enjoying this show and seeing what changes they pull out over the next month.
  7. The Academy has a great show this year, as they have had for the last few years now. It would be cool to see them make finals, but everyone in that 10-16 grouping is fantastic this year. It is always hard to enter the top 12 every year, but then when you also have corps like Mandarins and Spirit really emerging, it makes it even tougher now. But regardless of placement, I am really going to enjoy watching Academy over the next month and half to see how they improve their already great production.
  8. I don't think anything is set for sure yet, some corps haven't even had their first competition. Judging from what I have seen live or on Flo or Youtube, I would say the top 9 are probably a lock to make finals, with SCV, BD, Cavaliers, Bluecoats, Crown, Boston, Blue Knights, Phantom, and Cadets, not necessarily in that order. I think Crossmen, Blue Stars, Madison Scouts, Mandarins, Academy, and Spirit are probably fighting for the last 3 spots in finals. I would say Mandarins and Spirit are the most improved from last year, but everyone in this grouping is fantastic.
  9. It does seem that so many corps have gone "inactive" for the one season, but then never return. And other than Magic of Orlando, who was successful their first year back(but still ended up folding again several years later) , most corps end up disappointed in recruitment, and are only a shell of what they used to be. In the last 20 years, we have had returns from Velvet Knights, Emerald Knights/Nite Express, Troopers, and several others, and unfortunately they never quite hit the level that they were at before they folded. Once a corps goes inactive, it is so hard for potential members to commit, as they are always a little unsure of how things are going to go. It is really sad to see a corps fold after a great years performance with 110-150 kids, and then try to return a year or 5 later with 30-50 kids. And while we would all love to see Teal and Glassmen return to the field, many would probably be disappointed when they aren't immediately up to their previous level.
  10. I suppose it could be possible the threats came from one of these 9 women, or a spouse or friend of one of them. I am almost sure Hopkins posted about that on DCP, but then everything about it disappeared pretty quickly, and I don't recall seeing anything else brought up the rest of the year. Could it be he figured out who the threats were coming from, and realized if he pressed charges this would all blow up in his face then?
  11. I put the ifs in there on purpose. My children are older than corps age now, and didn't march when they were of age. My wife and I have always encouraged our children to follow their dreams, and even if it would have been my dream for my children to march SCV, it would be up to them who they would have marched with if they would have marched at all, which they didn't. And for this I was primarily talking if they were 17 or older, which is what most of the members of Cadets, and other top corps is. Again, I would prefer my children not to march Cadets, but that has been for the last 15 years I haven't been that impressed with the organization and their direction. I respect their right to do their style of shows their way, but really prefer the style and class of SCV. That also isn't to say I wouldn't be excited to see them march any of the other 23 WC corps, or 20 OC corps, whatever their choice and music level would be.
  12. I will wait until reading the article tomorrow and see if it clears up anything, and then I will get back to you. But first off the title of the article being Cadets history of Alleged Sexual Abuse makes it sound like there were multiple offenders, instead of listing George Hopkins, ED of the Cadets as being the offender. But after that, these question I have may be answered tomorrow. And what wouldn't get answered, I wouldn't want the reporter to do a follow up interview with the women, since they have been through enough already. Now that their story is out, it should be a good time for them to start healing. As for a healthy skepticism, I wouldn't say it was a healthy skepticism. Probably more unhealthy. All I know is a few years ago I read about him receiving death threats during the summer tour(can't remember why or what was going on at that time-maybe a G7 thing?) so I wouldn't say it would be completely impossible for a group of people that hates him to do something to get him completely out of Cadets, YEA and DCI. We've had two other directors pushed out in the last 5 years, one which has been addressed here already a few times, and one I saw mentioned where the director was pushed out and a married couple was brought in to replace him. Again rumors, and I do not know all the facts there in either case. But maybe some of that should be investigated as well.
  13. To be honest, if my kids were marching, I would have never had them join Cadets or Cadets 2(unless it was their ultimate dream corps, and then I would still try to talk them out of it) even before all of this. While the Cadets had amazing talent, I had never been impressed with Hopkins at all. But if this article came out, and Hopkins was still there, and my child was marching there, I would definitely try to get them to leave the corps. I would probably pull my financing from them and if they decided to march anyway by raising their own money I would still do everything I could to convince them not to march there. And again with the articles there is supposed to be another huge one tomorrow, so I am not looking forward to reading it, but am hoping it does clear up a couple of the questions I still have.
  14. Jeff, you start by saying "here's the problems with your post" and then say that, several of us on here know some of them. So how is that a problem with my post? I do not personally know them, or their stories. I don't know you personally to know that you know them. I do take into consideration the people, including you, that have mentioned on this board, that some of these women mentioned these things to other people decades ago. I only know an article that I read that looks bad. Very bad. But there were parts of the article that didn't add up. Nothing against the alleged victims, just things that were written that seemed to have an agenda. Again most of the questions I have regard more of the way the article was written than what these women had to say. I agree it seems highly suspicious that 9 different women all had similar experiences. But if I were on a jury, and the evidence provided was just the Inquirer article, and then the weird YEA post stating their side of it, I couldn't say 100% without a doubt is George guilty of everything. Even though I strongly dislike him, disagree with SO many decisions he has made over the last 10-12 years, and personally think he is an egocentric horses caboose. On the other part, I don't disagree that George has pretty much made himself the face of YEA. He is a dictator, and wanted total control. I agree and get that. Same thing with Cadets, he was definitely the face of Cadets. And I completely agree if something went wrong, he blamed others, and took credit for every success Cadets had. That being said, I do not agree that he WAS the Cadets, or WAS YEA. To state that would completely discredit the thousands of young men and women that performed their butts off every year in all the organizations under that umbrella. George didn't win 10 championships, the kids on the field did. He may have tried to take the credit, and some of it he deserves for leading them, but like any good leader(which he clearly was not), he wanted the fame and glory for himself, instead of raving about the thousands of AMAZINGLY talented performers(and staff) he worked with over the years.
  15. Yes I did read the Inquirer article. But just because something is in print, doesn't make it true. I am very much looking forward to seeing the follow up article tomorrow. Maybe it will clear up a few more things. When I read the Inquirer article, some things just didn't make sense. I think it was the way the article was written. I would hate to think 9 women would just make up stories like that, but then knowing how hated George Hopkins is from thousands, it could be a possibility that someone wanted him out and got this group of women together. And a lot of the posters on this thread make me question it even more. Within an hour or two of this thread starting, I saw everyone saying he is guilty, fire him, fire the BoD, fire people involved in YEA, have DCI force Cadets out of competition, have Cadets take a year or two off to rebuild, question DCI and possibly fire staff for what may have been floating around at the January meetings, etc. All of this from just one article, without many facts. I wish that any of these women within the statue of limitations would file charges against George Hopkins. The lawsuit should have nothing to do with Cadets organization, or with YEA, since it doesn't sound like any of these young women reported it to either organization. There is no way an organization can respond or react to something they probably have no knowledge of, and I did not see any mention of a single one of these women contacting anyone in the organization to complain against George Hopkins(until a couple of months ago) All I know is the article itself left some holes and unanswered questions. And I have always been taught that someone is innocent until proven guilty. Several people have sent me personal messages on here, and a couple to my facebook page as well about my post. I appreciated the one person who agreed with me about the article seeming incomplete on a couple of issues, and I respect the others who felt I was wrong in my opinion. I was accused of blaming the victims, not believing the victims, being a friend of Hopkins, and a few other things. First off I am not blaming the victims. I know what I think I would have done had I been in any of those situations mentioned in the article. But unless it actually happens to you, and you are faced with needing the job for income, wanting to march another year with the organization, or any of the other scenarios, you don't actually know what you would actually do until the moment it happens to you. So whether or not we think the victims did the right thing by not coming forward sooner, it was THEIR right thing to do for them for whatever reasons they had. And it isn't that I don't believe the victims, but I have seen secondhand how sometimes a reported crime never happened, and it has ruined someones life before finding out it never happened. Not saying that is the case here by any means, but again it has happened. So while I do not believe Hopkins is innocent, I just can't say 100% for sure he is guilty, until I hear more information and details. I think one of the things that concerns me, and this is probably the way the Inquirer handled it more than the victims stories, is the fact that many of them claimed they didn't come forward because they didn't want to hurt the organization. While I can understand that, the headlines I saw first on Facebook leading to the article was The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps, A History Of Alleged Sexual Abuse. As far as I have heard so far, it is just George Hopkins who has been accused, not the organization as a whole, or even multiple people in the organization. Shouldn't the article have been titled George Hopkins, longtime director of Cadets D&BC accused of Sexual Abuse? Again best wishes to Cadets, Cadets 2, and YEA as they struggle to sort out all the details as they approach the summer DCI/DCA schedule. And may all the alleged victims get all the love and support they need from family and friends.
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