Leaderboard

No, given the circumstances I think DCI definitely made the right choice. Since the offending portion wasn't a self-contained chunk of the show like ESOM was, I think it'd be too awkward to have either video and no audio or audio and a black screen. Having to edit out part of a show is going to be a lose-lose proposition no matter what. Looking at the big picture, I think it probably is worth putting aside that chunk of the show in order to have the finished product be as smooth as possible for the fans, so that if they don't know anything's missing, it'll seem perfectly normal. It just sucks on a personal level to have part of my show be gone, but you're right - thank god it was such a small piece! Besides, it's not like I lost anything to do with me personally: I was hiding on the back sideline the whole time

There are a lot of people that would be interested in performing at Semi's 'one and done' with the Bridgemen that are not interested in our current schedule. We also have a number of people that perform with us some years but not others. I'm sure nearly all of our current members would be exited to have the opportunity to perform at Semi's. So, our current corps would serve as the base upon which we would build a bigger corps for a Semi's performance. If we had that opportunity, the first thing we'd do is contact everyone that's been involved with the corps that we can - both the junior corps and the alumni corps. Given that the current hornline is in the mid-60's (hopefully 70 for next summer) and the drumline is nearly full (last year we marched 8 snare, 4 quad, 5 bass, plus cymbals plus a bunch in the bit, though we could still use more mallet players), I have no doubt that we could field above 100 brass (possibly well above) and a big drum line (at least full, oversized if we wanted to). The guard, as mentioned above, has indeed been shrinking but we're taking steps to reverse that. We have a new staff this year, most of last years members have returned, we have a bunch of new members and we're really pushing to recruit more. There's a big issue that never gets mentioned when it comes to alumni corps at semi's: time since the corps folded as a junior corps, and number of years the corps was active before it folded. 27th fielded a 13th place corps in its final year, 1986, and the alumni show was in '94, the corps had existed from '67 to '86. So, there was a large pool of alumni to draw from, many of whom could still play and could march and play at the same time. Star of Indiana existed for only 9 seasons as a junior corps, '85-'93, and the reunion was in 2010. Much smaller pool of alumni, much longer period inactive before the reunion. Fortunately, we had a lot of people that had never stopped playing (and the Star United crew provided a solid base to build on), so musically we were in good shape from the start. Marching, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. Worse, we had a significant number of alumni actively touring as instructors for junior corps - they learned their parts but missed much of the finals week rehearsal time. It quickly became apparent that marching a full field show was not an option - at least not at the level we would have considered acceptable (and many alumni, particularly in the hornline, couldn't commit to the rehearsal time necessary). The Cavaliers and Madison Scouts, of course, still have active junior corps and a huge base of alumni going back decades - having a base of recent age-outs helps enormously. For the Bridgemen, the time between going inactive and a potential semi's performance would be even longer than for Star ('84 being the last full corps, with smaller corps in '85 and '87). Also, most of the original members were street kids from Bayonne (where Star had a lot of college music majors, especially from Indiana University), so there's a much lower percentage of original members that still play, and an average age about a decade older. We have a huge advantage though: we already have an active alumni corps and have had several years to figure out how to march and play at the same time again. I can't imagine NOT doing a full field show at Semi's were we to be invited. Colorguard will be a challenge, though. I was amazed at the work our guard was doing at Star. A few of the members taught guards either in WGI or at High Schools, but most hadn't spun anything for 20+ years. Nearly all were bandaged at every rehearsal. Most were married, with kids, in many cases several kids. The level of fitness required for a 40+ or 50+ brass player to do an easy drill is entirely different from what is required from the guard. For those of you still marching a junior corps: think what'd be like for your Mom, or even your Grandmother, to try to do DCI style guardwork in her 50's, 30+ years after aging out. Again, having an active alumni corps will provide the base we build on, but for women that aged out in the 70's or early 80's and haven't spun since, coming back in 201? to do a full field show in the guard would be very difficult.

Pioneer's alumni is a part of the equation, but not as significant a part as you imply IMO. You mention the Blue Stars Alumni as being instrumental in their resurgence into World Class, and while Blue Stars have definitely benefited from consistent alumni and volunteer involvement along the way, there were HUGE changes in approach and administration that pushed that comeback into being. Pioneer will not recognize change until it happens from the top down.

I'd pay extra to see a Bridgemen performance at Semifinals. You can guarantee it would be entertaining.

This...I think...is the crux of the issue. I suspect if Bridgemen did the DCI thing, they would put out a full corps similar to 27, Star, and the like that we have seen in the past. This is the event for alumni (and others) who want that once and done experience. The Bridgemen we currently enjoy are those who simply suffer from the enjoyment of performing...year after year. I wouldn't fault anyone for that...

Arrived in Scotland today!!!

Okay - I love the original concept of DCI, just hate the result. I could create a Thread "I love DCI, think it's the best thing since Buddha" and still get flamed. And btw this is a Corps Forum, not an exclusive DCI Forum. just so happens that Corps today are a part of DCI. And therein lies the problem; the Corps are NOT DCI as some like to claim. DCI has taken a life unto itself, IMO, the Corps are only a part of the Business scheme.

Nah. No one talked about that time when Paul Rennick went to SCV. Nothin' on DCP, that's for sure.

My original intent in creating this Thread was to express my Personal opinion. Did I expect Flames? Of course. Did I expect Personal attacks? Sure, this is DCP, that PVC loving Forum that relishes in Hatred. But the level of responses here, on farcebook, emails, etc. has blown me away. Here's my basic premise - like the Frankenstein story, the creator(s) had no idea of the Monster they created. However well intentioned their actions, it's gone far beyond their wildest dreams. Did DCI save Drum Corps, as so many of you believe? Of course, IF you accept that this current "Activity" is really "Drum Corps". I'm reminded of a statement from Viet Nam - "We had to destroy that Village in order to save it." This is, of course, only a Fossil's (long past Dinosaur) OPINION. I could be wrong, but...I don't believe I am. Cheers to you all, keep up the Discussion.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. When DCI took over the activity the other organizations gradually dropped away. DCI’s attitude was the same as evolution…only the strong should survive. Instead DCI could of emphasized regional competitions. DCI could have then used the competitive aspect to foster local rivalries to build a local and fanatic fan base. With that would have come local support and participation. Then they could have sent the best of each region to fight for the international title.

EDIT: I misread the post..... but leaving my dumb response in... #1 too lazy to look - what year? #3 Funny I see Bridgemen listed as coming in 3rd at Finals #5 what year was this? #6/#8 When did AL/VFW have any say in where the corps went other than the Nationals? VFW had Regions?

Is the firestorm over? Is it safe for the old Troll to come out from under the bridge? Interesting posts, folks. Nice to see those juices boiling. Just let me say that nothing I could ever say or do would be as disrespectful of DCI as the internal G7 uprising.

The problem is, to attract new fans and retain old ones; the activity has to be entertaining EVERY year. Some of the evolution within the activity was natural and didn’t change the activity fundamentally, guard’s migrating to dance and drill design, others were forced and changed the fundamentals of DC, the pit, amps and the addition of keyboards. Funny, but the natural changes really didn’t affect the cost of doing business, yet the forced changes have added significant costs to the activity. Ten years ago who in the activity would see the eventual need for corps to have a sound engineer on staff. DCI’s preoccupation with the national tour model and the forced changes led to the destruction of smaller local corps, which further eroded the fan base. If the DCI member corps were fully dependent on revenue from ticket sales, I guarantee many of these forced changes would be long gone and the activity would be better for it.

DC is a rather unique activity as it is a competitive activity, which is also a performance/entertainment medium. I’m so tired of the DC must evolve argument! Why? Let’s examine a couple of other competitive/entertainment mediums and see how much they have “evolved”. Broadway musicals combine great music and choreography, much like DC, to entertain. Broadway has changed very little in fifty years. A great Broadway show still relies on wonderful music, exciting choreography, and an interesting book (story). All of the major league sports have changed very little over the years. Baseball is basically the same game as it was 100 years ago, but we just witnessed one of the most entertaining World Series in the history of the sport. What few changes that have happened in basketball or football were either to protect player safety or to increase scoring, to make the games more entertaining. DC is the only activity that has made changes WITHOUT any consideration of its fans. In fact I submit most of the changes in DC were to benefit instructional staffs or the music instrument manufacture companies. Why? Because unlike Broadway or the major sports, DC does not depend on the income from its audience/fans to survive. If it did DC would have folded a long time ago. DC members are very dedicated people. It takes an incredible amount of commitment of time, money, work and most of all heart to march DC. Yet, how many of the thousands former members that have participated in the past forty plus years still attend DC shows. I think within the answer you’ll find the success of DC’s evolution.

2007 Coils "Equinox" is DCI.org Download of the Week

Can I request a show based off of the Star Wars Christmas Special? Instead of drum-speak, we get Wookie-speak!

Ohhhh the irony. Madison does a show about "9/11" ( ), SCV does a show about "666"( ) and Cadets do a show about 12.25 ( ) . Has the activity gone to a new trend with "numeric shows with strong (or subtle) religious/political undertones"? If so.............................I kinda like it .........but that's because I'm the kinda guy who likes controversial subjects.

Given that Alumni Corps performances at DCI Semi's and Allentown are the last performance in the show, there is no full retreat afterwards, and scores are available almost immediately online, there's really no reason why anyone in the audience would stay to watch the Alumni performance unless they wanted to. As you saw from the picture posted above, nearly everyone stays - and the crowd reaction speaks for itself. At DCI Semi's, when there isn't an Alumni corps, there is either dead time while waiting on the last couple of scores or there is a performance by an I&E ensemble. Without getting into the quality of these performances, they are designed for a small stage in a hotel conference room. They simply don't project in a stadium. Since you can barely hear them, most of the audience spends the time talking, which makes it even more difficult to hear the performance. All of the Alumni performances at DCI have been infinitely more entertaining than any of the I&E groups. As for Bridgemen at Semi's, if we are going to do it: the sooner the better - while original members are still capable of marching a field show. Personally, I'm more than happy (and very grateful) for the opportunity to perform annually at Allentown.

Can't do a funk show in this era where speed is everything. Stupid, but true.

Personally, I would hate it. But maybe that's just me...

To claim that Star alumni corps was not impeccably prepared is laughable. Nobody said you moved in together and had rigorous hell-weeks. Preparation is not necessarily about amount of time spent together. But, as with most Star activities, the program was detail-oriented and implemented masterfully. Learn to take a compliment, or at least recognize one.

In the last 28 posts I've only seen one reasonable question from you: "What's in it for the investor?" The rest have been flames, snarky, or silly. I've been in the investment game for nearly 30 years and manage over nine figures of OPM (other people's money) and a fairly sizable chunk of my own. Each investor is precisely different from all the others; each has a different motivation. Even those who simply say "make money" usually have a motivation well beyond that. What's in it for the investor? Who's to say until we know who the investor is? Some want losses. Some want bragging rights. Some want security. Some just want enough to do good for others. I can count on one hand the number of clients who want "the sure thing" or to hit a home run. I have several very substantial clients who just want to see the symphony - and classical music in general - survive in schools for their grandkids. Each investor will tell me what he wants, then I can decide if I'm able to provide it without risking my business or reputation in the process. Finding investment dollars is not at all hard, trust me. The hard part is finding out what motivates the investor and most hot shot money guys simply ignore asking because of their egos. So, Mr. Guardling, I understand you're interested in making an investment in the drum corps activity. Why? What would you like to see happen with your investment? What do you expect in return for your help? When you answer these I'll be able to tell you "what's in it for the investor". (Tapping my toe....and waiting). To your other point, I think you presume incorrectly about the motivations of most directors. I suggest you ask each: "Which would you rather have: a guaranteed income that represents 20% of your annual budget, or control of DCI?" I think you'd be surprised at the answer. (I'll wait for your answer about the return on your investment. And, sooner or later, you'll have to tell me how much you have to invest. )

Dang someone beat me too it! Great stadium!! Its a great stadium to watch shows from!

2012 Troopers. Steampunk... hmmmmm. I like. Copland's "The Heiress".

There are a ton of opportunities with a reality tv show. You can follow the rookie memember trying his hardest, but still having a rough time. At the same time follow members in corps pushing trying to make a point, trying to move up a position. While follow a corps admin staff... the logistics and all the #### that goes wrong on the admin side could probably hold interest. Follow someone at the DCI office who runs the shows. What goes into running a show. The key with a reality show is to highlight individuals. Hell look at Ice Road Truckers or something like that. Is driving a truck on the same highway everyday really that interesting??? No. But when you follow the individual stories of truck drivers and their daily struggles to make it or break it in the business... make the risk really come out. There are plenty of way to spin drum corps the way it is now to make it interesting as a reality TV show. The problem is, who is going to fund it. Is there anyone involved in the activity now who could front the money? Do we need to try harder to get people interested in our activity. I think more can be done... but the problem is having the money to do what needs to get done.

I don't know any serious person who would announce or share his intentions/actions on this board, but I know plenty of serious people who read the ideas on this board and use them to work behind the scenes. Of course, it's an unprovable point, but some posters are simply not going to get what they need to be convinced.

I'm exactly 40 kms from the U.S. border and I still don't have my DVD. You're across the pond, above Hadrian's wall and still got your DVD ahead of me. Maybe I should have them shipped to my relatives in Newcastle for them to then ship them to me?

May I suggest that those of you who are unhappy with DCI...put together a new Drum Corps organization and use your expertise in finance and business to run it the way you seem to think a drum corps organization should be run. Y Some of you have amazing ideas that I don't think DCI will do because, as I see it, "if it ain't broke...." Pages upon pages of brilliant ideas and yet you stil have done nothing but yack away like old ladies! DO SOMETHING!!!! Form the organization, talk the corps directors into coming on board and make this happen. If you start now you can be up and running by September 2012 and have your fisrt season in 2013. Stop talking and start doing! This post has become the "How many trumpet players does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

Indeed. So let me get this straight....DCI should give away their profit, and other "various concessions" (like rulemaking power) to Yamaha, er, a "private investor", just so that the corps can get their money earlier than they need it anyway? Locked into an experiment for 5 years? What private investor would be sufficiently naive to make such a deal with the corps? Top corps have a horrible track record for honoring such deals. They are best known for the ever-present threat of leaving circuits - not only do they threaten to do so with DCI, they showed they weren't bluffing with DCM....for that matter, DCI was created by corps deciding the best way to address dissatisfaction with existing event management was to quit/boycott and create their own events. We all know how the last 5-year lock-in worked out. The G7 wouldn't even allow DCI to stick to the 5-year plan that G7 directors voted for. Just a few months later, they abandoned all support of it, concocted their own proposal, and threatened to leave DCI if they didn't get their way. You haven't heard of "rain insurance"? What....give licensing away to Yamaha, er, a "private investor"? Insane. Better idea....include rain gear in your corps' merchandising line. I've seen corps make a killing at the booth just from being the only source of ponchos on site when an unexpected storm comes.

Yes, given time to prepare for that big "one time only" performance, I think any alumni corps would deliver a show just as good as previous alumni have done.

It won't prevent another G7 takeover attempt....in fact, it could make it easier.

Fixed it.

Good thing I probably won't be watching Cavies, Crown, and Madison anyway...

broken down and no A/C busses were a common theme even in 2010. And housing sites with poor, very poor practice fields a crap load of bugs, and one shower (per gender) for 80 members is a yearly tradition. Looking at you, Springfield, IN.

IT IS bad enough at the end of ALLENTOWN. I LIKE THE BRIDGEMEN BUT THE SHOW IS TOO LONG , too cheesy for 2012 , AND THE FIRE IS OUT, SORRY. PHANTOM CAVIES NLUE DEVILS THEN THE BRIDGEMEN ALUMNI ????? DONT DO IT. PLEASE..... If they want to compete and perform at big shows join DCA.

Definitely San Antonio - maybe Indy - Definitely NOT the TOC show in Houston.

Looks like I'll save my money for San Antonio this year. Not gonna spend it on another ToC show in Houston.

No thanks, none of that for me.

Following Santa Clara Vanguard's recent auditions in Texas, 28 total brass, percussion and guard were offered spots for the 2012 corps, while 50 were offered call-backs. Santa Clara's next audition camp will be in San Jose, CA on December 2-4.

WHY THANK YOU.. and people say there's no love on DCP

What do you mean by everything? Little League baseball, Pop Warner football, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and many other local youth activities survived. With local support and community involvement local drum corps could have survived. The argument is a moot point, DCI took the direction it did and an activity that once numbered in the multiple hundreds, now has less than forty with eight or nine super corps.

Lets help clear your mind about the 2011 season. Platinum did not have the 30 members that where required for tour they had 24 members. They are very much alive and planning for the 2012 and management has it under control for returning to the competitive field of action.

The idea that DCI is run by the corps, is false. In the beginning DCI was controlled by only the top corps. The smaller corps had no say in the decisions made by DCI. Since its inception DCI has made two critical and related errors. DCI ignored the needs of the smaller corps and its obsession with the national tour model. This led to the demise of all of the smaller corps and even a good number of the top ones. In fact, of the original top twelve DCI corps, eight no longer exist. It was suicide by inept management. By letting the smaller corps perish, DCI lost a feeder source for members, fans and show venues. Add to that DCI’s never ending need to evolve the activity by adding expensive and unnecessary instruments and electronic do dads, DCI continues to play a perverse game of Russian roulette. In reality DCI has never been interested in performing for the fans. In 1972 when I marched in the first DCI we were told to impress, not the fans, but the people sitting in “the box”. Play to the box; sell the show to the box, that’s what we were told by every instructor. Drills have never been designed to impress the fans, but the box. How many fans can actually sit high enough to see and appreciate all the fancy pictures and moves? I’d like to see a drill designed to impress the fans sitting in the third row from the bottom. The fact that DCI now realizes it has to entertain and build its fan base may be the case of too little too late.

That's a d'bag post.

Let me make this clear...I have been "off my meds" for 5 years now, and was not "drunk" at the time I posted the DCI Birthday message. But some of you will always consider me an ########. Hey, I can live with that. But... Over the past few years I've spoken with many of you Classics, Alumni, and people from other BITD Corps who THINK what I SAY! In short, most of the men I marched with had neither the Talent nor Finances to make it in the current DCI "Activity". What we did have was an open door policy that excluded noone. What was once a Veterans Youth Activity for anyone who wished to participate has become Show Business; let me emphasize BUSINESS, a place to where, largely (but not all) wealthy Music/Arts students can flesh out their resumes (and never look back). Check YOUR Corps Alumni and see how many post-2001 FMMs remain active. I wish this were only my opinion, but I believe facts bear me out. Corps Directors making 6 figure salaries? DCI Staff ditto, "Designers/Caption Instructors" getting fat while the Corps sleeps on gym floors? Hell, in '61 we stayed at a beachfront HOTEL in Bal Harbor for VFW Nationals, '63 in a really decent MOTEL in Seattle after getting a chartered ride to & from on the Burlington Northern RAILROAD. Understand this, I've come to grips with the innovations now an integral part of DCI performances. While I didn't always agree with them I see now how beautifully they can enhance a performance. "Mad World" & "XtraaordinarY" wouldn't have worked at all without them. Still, I maintain, DCI has become a fat, greedy entity, feeding a select group of so-called "Adults" living off the sweat & blood of the "Kids". Disagree all you want, but don't lower yourselves to the point where you dismiss my beliefs as the Rantings of an under medicated drunk. And I still believe that The Cavaliers decision to join the G7 Insurrection, ("to keep an eye on the competition") while tactically wise, was strategically much more disrespectful to DCI than I could ever dream of being. Can you say "Combine" within the Combine? I wish you all the very best. P.S. ####### rhymes with glass pole

Oh, I don't know... Something like 4000 shows to enjoy Something like 500,000 marching members experienced the roar of the crowd Something like $200-million spent on-balance sheet (and if you know anything about the economic theory of money-multipliers, you know that's about $2-billion in capital creation) Immeasurable dollars of corporate sponsorship capital generated The Legacy Collection (I ain't got no "Legacy" collection of pre-DCI drum corps!) I could go on and on but, generally, I think this eclipses several times the impact of pre-DCI. That's just me, but I'm not as close to the end of the line as you apparently are. cur·mudg·eon/kərˈməjən/ Noun:A bad-tempered or surly person.

A couple of days ago, Red Corso told me that 2011 was the best DCA championship he's been involved in. For those that don't know him, Red is well into his 80s, and has been DCA's treasurer since 1974. Now, that's quite a statement coming from a guy with that depth of experience, who is STILL one of the driving forces behind what DCA is -TODAY- . A whole LOT changed in DCA this year. Some of it fans could see, and some they couldn't. Even I look back on the things we did, and I am amazed that we pulled off what we did in one season. I am the youngest member of the DCA board, and am a career IT professional. We got the live web cast of prelims going in a WEEK. 7 days after we reached a contractual agreement, we had the thing beaming into people's houses. If someone had asked me to pull that off at work, I'd still be laughing. This was also the very first DCA championship where the judges did not use cassette recorders. It was all digital. Within minutes of a corps finishing their show, corps' staff members were listening to the judges comments on their iPhones, Droids, Laptops, etc. For those that criticize our partnership with DCI this year, they loaned us the recorders that our judges used. I had to cook up a system to make it work, tested it in Scranton, and then just said "what the hell, let's go for it". Of course, I had a case of cassette tapes standing by just in case :) . The stuff on the jumbotron, all being directed by Mike Symonds and the little instant replay clips he showed as each corps left the field. The "Time of My Life" video played while the corps stood on retreat in the pouring rain and cheered wildly at it anyway ... Mike and his crew cooked that up the day before. A bunch of computers running in tabulation room - Mike and I and Steve Anderman in a chat room orchestrating everything... As soon as a prelim score was official, it was beamed out as a text message to every corps director. This enabled corps to do their prelim show and get outta Dodge and go about the rest of their plan for the day, instead of wasting time hanging around the stadium waiting to hear where they were going to end up... the web site being continually updated ... scores going out by Twitter ... That's just some of the technology stuff that happened. Other stuff in 2011 ... A new judging system weighted heavily toward entertainment... Dan Rippon completely rewrote the tabulation software that not only calculates the score, but generates the score sheet for the announcer and automatically lists who won what captions. We hammered the corps directors over and over in the off season telling them not to have their designers out-design the other designers, but design for the people in the stands. I'll stop here, the list is large. Ok, I know this thread is about Cadets 2. If they compete in DCA, I believe it'll be the first time a corps enters our circuit with an upper age limit. Another first for DCA. We HAVE had corps with bottom age limits before. Some corps didn't allow women in their corps. DCA is still here. I would also like to remind everyone that DCA is an association of its members. No single individual in this organization is greater than any other. Our corps are weekend warriors, at each other's throats on the competition field every weekend in the summer, and in the off-season, are a tight collection of people who ALWAYS act in the best interest of the collective. No particular corps or person is going to revolutionize anything on his or her own. None of our member corps are going to roll over for any other one. They never have, and they never will. STOP THE CHICKEN LITTLE STUFF :) I am looking forward to seeing Cadets 2 on the field. Its another drum corps for DCA, and more drum corps is never a bad thing. And now we're moving into a new city, in a new stadium with a press box as big as my house. So look at all the new stuff that happened in 2011. I think we can survive a new corps with an age cap, don't you? And that's my annual diatribe on Drum Corps Planet. Glen

I agree. Elph's just making Hop a convenient whipping boy for her dismay that the activity has evolved beyond her frozen-in-time definition of what she'd like it to be. The guy's got what, 10 rings? And there are hundreds (probably more like in the thousands by now) of Cadet alums who will testify to the incredible journey they experienced under his stewardship. He's doing something right. Peace, Fred O.

Yes. Also yes. Why is everybody so up in arms about a corps that DOESN'T EVEN EXIST YET? Seriously. I can't believe all this hype over a corps that has no members, show design, or even a style of its own, etc... Yes they will have a younger average age than most other senior corps, SO WHAT? Let me run down the perspective members for Cadets2. Kids that aren't ready for a junior corps yet, kids that can't afford to march in a junior corps, kids that can't sacrifice junior corps time but still want to march somewhere, or kids that just like what DCA has to offer and feel that is more "their speed".... sound like anyone else you know??? Maybe EVERY OTHER corps in DCA? The only thing missing is the kids that are too old to march in DCA, and by elimintating that from their talent pool I promise you they are missing out. Example: this year's bassline at Empire had a combined 19 years of drum corps experience with an average age of 22. I would have put them up against any other line in DCA and openly requested to do so right here on DCP. Of those 5 guys only 2 would be eligible to march in Cadets2 next season. Two are too old and one is too young. Cadets2 will be putting istelf at a disadvantage with its age restrictions, in my opinion. I heave heard people predict them winning next year or even coming in top 4. Based on what? Hype. Incredible. This corps doesn't even have a reputation to precede it, but from reading on these boards you never know that. We will see what next year brings. While I am NOT a Cadets fan nor a fan of Hopkins I see this as a GOOD thing. First, we have one more corps, and one that is likely to put a quality product out. It will at least be interesting to see these guys take a stab at it. Some of C2's mebership will eventually move on to the Cadets, some will not. They will all see this other circuit of drum corps and many may not have even realized DCA existsed. They may get a few years in with C2 and ultimatley "age out". They may then want to continue marching and they'll realize that Cabs, Bush, Reading, et al are right around the corner (or possible closer). A win for the "other guys"! Some of them may march their first season with C2 and see the Caballeros for the first time. Then after that season they may want nothing more in the world than to march in a show with Hawthorne. The possiblities are endless and in the end C2 is bringing a new wave of drum corps people to DCA. Maybe I'm out of my mind, but I am excited for this new corps.