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Pretty amusing that there is so much hand-wringing over a corps that has been out of the top five just once in the past 34 seasons, during which time they won ten championships.

well you sure have an axe to grind. maybe it's time to air out name, rank, serial number and all of the dirt you seem to tease everyone with

I wouldn't get carried away with rumors, etc. I'm sure people have heard all kinds of things, but I'm also sure there is more to the story than what gets reported. Despite the constant rumors of GH being a rather feisty guy, and quite picky about certain things, the Cadets have been very well run for decades. Amidst disagreements and arguments and occasional staff changes, the corps survives and continues to perform brilliantly. Change is bound to happen, even when it's not a pretty change. I've always said that competitive drum corps can be a volatile activity where opinions and methods get tested and ruffled over the course of a season. Instructors have egos. Caption heads have egos. Techs have egos. Directors have egos. Fans and alumni have egos. Imagine trying to keep all of that together, happy, and in the pursuit of excellence every year, no matter the score or placement? Not to mention all the fund raising and admin work that needs to be done. This is why many directors have left corps, or been let go. It's why some corps have folded or lost key staff and alumni. There is nothing easy about running a modern American drum & bugle corps.

I have to second Jeff's assessment of Kristy's passion for her program and her kids, as it was recently on full display at a local TOB show. I would actually pay good money to see a few posters in this thread put in a room with Ms. Templin where they could convey their disdain for her relationship with George and how it will negatively impact the corps directly to her in person.

I am going to go there. Do I have any idea how Kristy will work out for the Cadets? No, but having known her our entire lives I hope she does well. I have had the pleasure of knowing her and the family since before birth. I have also had the honor of teaching with Kristy for several years at Mechanicsburg, and if she's still there when my daughter reaches guard age, I'd have no issue letting her work with my daughter. I have seen what she inherited with 9 girls in 98, and over time built that program into a world class unit. For any warts or flaws she may have to some, she's ###### good, passionate, and cares for her kids. When a sad incident with a band students death befell the program a few years ago, and one of her kids was involved with that student, Kristy was right there the whole way...not just rehearsal, but god love her, at the scene and driving to the band directors house at midnight to tell him since he wasn't answering his phone. I saw her work with Cabs, which helped get the corps closer to gold than they had been for years. I saw her work with C2 last summer which took a guard that was getting good and made it great. Is Scholastic World or DCA the same as DCI? No, but she has good people around her, several I know. here's what I detest, and it puts me in an uncomfortable position.....as I';ve never been one of George's biggest fans. Kristy is getting #### on by armchair critics because she is dating George. While I have no insight to that except to say they seem happy together.....who ####### cares? if she wasn't good, he wouldn't have brought her on board. the Cadets are too precious to George to just hire someone because they're dating. people that have little if any knowledge of Kristy's work are out here trashing her rep because of her love life....guilt by association. and man, if she pulls another rabbit out of her hat, I can't wait to come in here in August and call out all the naysayers and demand they eat ####### crow. Regardless of who she is dating, when Kristy Templin wants something, she usually get it. if I started a corps tomorrow, I'd be calling her too.

a lot of it depends on the organization. Westshore folded, people floated away. A few went to Bucs, a small handful to Cabs. some like me had been around it since birth. even the number attending DCI events has dropped. And with no local show, they had no reason to come around

kinda: it says I am not ####### my financial future and happy home life on a gamble without the resources available thT I feel are required to do it right. I was once part of a group that rehearsed Friday night, drove to north jersey, rehearsed, did a show, then drove down to central jersey late at night for a rehearsaland a show. and there were 16 year olds doing the same thing. I'd never allow that. But I'd need the cash to make it not happen. I was part of a corps that stiffed people left and right and saw equipment repo'd right after finals.That found a legion willing to sponsor us, only to see admin bail on the one thing they asked us to do...that morning. i saw one member pay out of their own pocket to get the corps home because the bus check bounced and the busses were locked....from florida. and that member never got anything close to what the corps owed them. I rode school busses two weeks in a row, 5, 6 hours one way because checks to bus companies bounced. so if I'm to do it, I want to have finances in place before rehearsal one. hell, before staff is hired. does that make me a quitter? maybe to you. To me it makes me a smart business person not willing to harm my family's financial well being

Best seats are through friends of DCI.

No question. However... The interesting thing is that this year, the difference between first and second and also between third and fourth at finals this year was....wait for it....performance.

Wow..... big ELO fan here, and "Mr. Blue Sky" absolutely rocks!!! So cool that Sky is doing this.

That 93 horn line is boss!! But i have to give a very VERY slight edge to BD's 91 horn line.

Why do so few of the hotels have rooms available Wednesday night? I find it hard to believe they are sold out so far in advance. I;ve stayed at Embassy Suites downtown every year since the first year at LOS (and am a Silver HHonors member) and have never had trouble booking my room before.

I think the problem is some of your ideas were perceived to be heading in that direction. I didn't think so, but you know how people are

This is ridiculous. There should be an exemption for not for profit 501© organizations. I mean, they aren't doing this for profit! In fact, DCI LOSES money on CDs/DVDs each year. And these artists will still get something. How many people on here have bought something from an artist where they first heard it in Drum Corps? I know I have. This is just another example of corporate greed.

Everyone looks back at the 70/80's I think with a touch too much nostalgia. I had a great time, but there were things that happened that P****ed me off back then with problem drinking and drug use. Certain folks were excised from Westshore for that, some at the instigation of other corps members. One friend, I can think of by their parents. For the record, yes, I did some goofy stuff, but after watching several corps-mates get out of control and make total a-double-esses of themselves early on, I didn't think it was the smart thing to do nor the right thing. The one thing Dan can say is this to anyone who starts going in that negative direction about CV: You can't be a top 5 DCA corps anymore pulling that kind of crap. Truthfully, you do that now- you won't beat anyone in Open Class, period. You'd also be a pretty big joke and not respected by everyone else. You couldn't do this activity blazed or wasted in 1979 to 1984 when I marched (Sorry, won't hear arguments you could, prolly because I beat your corps ...) you definitely can't do that now. Ironically, the one area of the activity that does have these problems in spades is the aspect that the "common folks" so love... the Collegiate end of this. You're not seeing anyone in DCA or DCI beating their Drum Majors to death in a hazing incident or getting 2 dozen page reports written up about endemic issues within the organization with hazing/sexual harassment/soonandsoforth that the Tidbitters at OSU ended up with and then tried to do a lame spin and damage control campaign on DCP after it happened, totally to my disgust. I haven't gone there with the usual drinking spates that accompany most of the bands when they go to bowl games or on road trips. But, I guess that's okay since it's associated with everyone's fave sport and college teams and everyone likes the dancers, loud drony, blatty pop tunes, and drill with a guy kicking a football. This rant brought to you by the Letter K for Kappa Kappa Psi, which I wish more of my brothers would speak up more about this kind of crap in their college bands... the letter B for Beer, which I did learn to drink in corps but also learned to drink in moderation and not make a bigger idiot out of myself than I already was when sober .... and the letter N for nostalgia, which is a nice thing when not overrated. More later. Work calls, I just felt this mini-rant coming for 2 days...

You said "seats" without saying how many. If you need two or three seats, get a Gold level Friends of DCI membership. This is $1,250 and includes three premium seats to Indy or Allentown with the right to purchase three more premium or super premium in Indy or seats in Allentown. You are allowed to split your seats between the two events, as I recall, and someone will be along to slap me down like a bug on a corps bus windshield if I'm wrong about that. Pay to upgrade Gold premium seats to Gold super premium seats (black section in Indy), $80 each. Buy additional seats for Allentown, $79 each. That's $1,568 total for two people or $1,727 for three people. The seats will be excellent, right where you want. If you need four or five seats, the next higher step for Friends of DCI is Platinum which would get you 6 super premium seats (no extra charge) plus the right to buy 4 more in Indy and/or Allentown if you need them, but the basic buy-in donation at Platinum level is $2,500. Again, excellent seats, even a little better, but they're all excellent seats in the black sections. The way they do seating for FDCI is all Diamond members are assigned seats close to midfield at the stadium level they want before all Platinum, then Gold, then Silver, then Bronze are assigned. Within each level of membership, ties are broken by years of consecutive membership. But anyone in Gold or Platinum gets excellent seats, no problem. If it matters, keep in mind that tax deductions for these are sharply limited on DCI's acknowledgment letters because of the benefits you're getting.

BD 2012? Really? There's nothing different from that show from any other they've done since 2008.

Good question... wish I knew the answer..... According to wiki he is from da Bronx.....

I don't know if I'd say Star 93 has been replaced. I think that show will stand the test of time. But I think Bluecoats 2015 is in the same realm as Star 93, but for different reasons. I think they have opened the flood gates for electronics in a quality way. I think they've set a standard for its' use that other corps have struggled with. I do believe others will analyze it and grow from what BLOOO has established. I think BLOOO's integration of music arrangement (brass, battery, pit) is paramount in order to highlight the effectiveness of electronic and other acoustic sounds. I think their visual ideas have highlighted theme and mood in combination with electronics. It's a lot of things they are doing that goes beyond simple setup and mastering of the electronics and effects. And when it comes to setup, micing, effects, and mastering I believe they are ahead of the game as well.

FROM 2015 ONLY: Cadets Brass Line - WOW, especially the 2nd part of the show (after the intro) Bluecoats electronics, especially in opener Bluecoats ballad Blue Devils incredible use of staging continues to grab me Carolina Crown's POWER in the opener Cadets using 10 French Horns in the waltz Santa Clara's opening drill Spirit of Atlanta using Kanstul Brass = yes Colts music arrangements - which I thought were stellar, great show too Madison Scouts closer with full company front Carolina Crown adding the chorus audio in the closer of Beethoven Nine, with new gold silks Academy's opener of Marry Poppins - my favorite show of theirs yet Blue Devils ballad, which just felt like one of their classic 70s/80s ballad closers, and especially the delay before the last chord with casual change of form. So perfect!

The saving grace here is this is happening in September. Last year, guard caption head relinquished his post fairly late in game and Bruno jumped in without the luxury of picking a team etc. Visual has been Cadets Achilles heal for awhile now. Ultimately, kids that want to March in that wonderful brass or percussion line will line up at auditions to do so as long as Colin, Gino and Jay are in place. As far as guard and visual in general, GH will need to fill some pretty big shoes when all the dust settles but this was the area that needed a change anyway so time will tell.

or be glad you didn't ask for a German Sheppard..... Was a big F Troop fan as a kid.... today can barely watch it on the Retro Channel but still a fan of Larry (Cpl Agarn, Phineas J Whoopie) Storch who is 90+ but still with us....

After the annual DCI meeting, Hop posted on Facebook something like, "The licensing issues are real and dramatic." No details provided. I really hope this gets sorted out soo because this past year was too good not to be able to enjoy in the future.

The rest of the guard staff gets a post season pink slip; but she is retained. Must be something about her last name.

and yet he keeps his daughter as the movement choreographer... What works on a small stage for dance enthusiasts doesn't always translate well in the NFL size stadiums DCI uses, amongst other perspectives.

"F Troop": Sgt. Major Morgan O'Rourke from "F Troop". (Forrest Tucker). Elphaba WWW

I'm guessing Sgt. Biff O'Hara from Fort Apache.

Exactly. Bluecoats went into San Antonio just 2.05 behind the leaders (Cadets), and without their electronic effects they could only manage a 2.00 gap from those same first-place Cadets. Wait - that is 0.05 better. So what was your point?

i truly feel at this point in time, DCI really doesn't need to change anything.

The tie in the early 80's at DCM between Phantom and Madison and they did their shows again for a winner!

My name is Joshua Mimms and I am one of the owners and AR manager for Rich Sticks LLC. We just came out with a line of marching sticks and mallets and we are looking for percussion caption heads to use our products and help with the design process as we continue to grow our product line. You must not be in contract with any other stick company and have an indoor line, fall or summer line. To apply, please email me at josh@richsticks.com and let me know how you think you'd be a good fit. Know that we are considering caption heads that are out of the US too. Joshua L. Mimms AR Manager Richsticks LLC josh@richsticks.com www.richsticks.com Cell 978-869-5673

GEEZ, I must be getting old! How could I ever have trouble remembering those two? By the way, John - What would you call the headwear of the old Pittsburgh Rockets? It was black in color and I would refer to them as helmets, but I remember them as being pretty unique. Any idea? Rockets are another past corps that does not get enough mention. I always thouight they were pretty strong.