rpbobcat

It don't know if this has been discussed. I know no one knows the answer, but I was just wondering,if the G7 leave DCI, what happens to the Blue Devils "B" and "C" corps and the Santa Clara Cadets. It will be interesting to see, if the G7 leave DCI, if they'd still try to have these feeder corps stay in Open Class and, if they wanted them to compete in Open Class, would DCI let them.

I agree its difficult to guess what is in someone's mind.But,to me,George has given a few hints about wanting a summer marching band circuit,even if its still called drum corps. 1.At the Cadets Clifton show a couple of years ago,they had,as special guests, a summer marching band. 2.While George's currrent proposal is for woodwinds,a number of previous changes he pushed, including narration,using basicly any instrument in a "preshow" and allowing "strings" moves drum corps closer to marching bands. 3.If you add woodwinds you basicly have a marching band,even if you still call it something else. 4.Although,from what I've read,at this time,the only woodwinds would be saxaphones,that "opens the door" and based George's history saxaphones would just be the next step.After all,once you allow any woodwinds why not other woodwinds like calrinets or other brass instruments like troumbones. Again,you can still call it drum corps,but as they say "if it quacks like duck ..."

Let me start out by saying that I never marched in a corps or band.I got hooked on drum corps by watching Finals on PBS.This goes back to the days when they showed all 12 corps. Its strange,but whenever my wife and I go to a show,we usually go to 3-4 a year including the "Easts", a lot of people seem shocked that we're interested in drum corps having never marched or have/had a kid in the activity. To me,we're the type of people DCI should be trying to attract.Given the age of a lot of fans and the decreasing number of corps this seems to be one of the "untapped" markets for new fans. For anyone who thinks "outsiders" can't become fans, my wife never heard of drum corps until I took her to her first show.She's been a fan ever since. As far as the corps directors like Hopkins not being "marketing" people,it doesn't appear that George and possibly other corps directors are business people either. I base my opinion on the fact that I got an email earlier this year from YEA looking for,what I believe they called a "Director of Operations". Basicly they wanted a business/finance person to come in,clean up their mess then leave.But,any decision they made had to be cleared through George or other staff. As someone who runs a small company,I can tell you that's not how it should be done. Since the G7 threads and posts have gotten kind of volumous I don't know if any one has brought this up. In my opinion,the ultimate goal of George and some, if not all of the G7 directors, was to weaken/ dismantle DCI and create a summer marching band circuit.Personally,I don't think a summer marching band circuit could go head to head with drum corps so weakening and/or eliminating DCI is the only way it becomes viable. This would tie in real well with YEA's USSBA. While you might lose hard core, drum corps fans,you could make that up with more high school marching band kids and parents attending shows. The G7 would just be super marching bands instead of drum corps. Just my $0.02

The G7 directors may be "smart people" musically and know how to put a Drum Corps show on the field,but I don't know how smart they are from a business sense. You only have to look at YEA's search for a "Director of Operations". The way the ad is worded it sounds like they want someone to come in,clean up their mess,then leave. Unfortunately,the ad also makes it clear that the D.O.O. has to have all their moves cleared through various higher ups. Although I am opposed to the G7 proposal,I also think D.C.I. needs to get its act together,and, as I've read on this site,get more business oriented people on their Board of Directors. Drum Corps is similar to a lot of seasonal businesses and needs to have people who understand this. If not, you end up in trouble. A perfect example is Six Flags.They were purchased by someone who had no background in Theme Parks.He also put together a Management Team who were also not familiar with Theme Parks.They tried to treat Six Flags like any other business.What happened,Six Flags ended up,for a number of reasons,going chapter 11. To me,D.C.I. needs to put together a framework for the direction of the activity and then work with the corps to market their product.After all the bottom line is "seats in the seats".

I don't know if this topic has been discussed,but does anyone know if or how the G7 proposal has been presented to current members of those corps by their staff. I also wonder if anyone knows any current members of a G7 or non G7 corps and what they think of the idea.

I was just wondering if anyone out there knows what members of the "pit"do when a corps marches in a parade ?

My wife and I went to see Drumline Live last night. The cast is made up of former members of "show" bands from "Historically Black Colleges and Universities" mostly Florida A&M. We weren't impressed and except for a couple of pieces it really doesn't have any resemblence to the movie. A lot more brass then percussion and it acts more as a salute to HBCU's then to Drumline. They also borow a bit from Blast include a "battle" between 2 snares. One thing the show does show,if this is an example of the best of former show band members,their drum line can't touch any of the top corps.

I don't know if this has been posted yet,but I got in a notice from DCI yesterday for advance tickets for the Easts. The notice said that the Allentown school district has begun the bidding process to renovate the upper stands and that they MAY be available for the Easts. They also give you the option,if you purchase "premium" seats to be moved to the upper stands if they are available.

Not to bore everyone with technical stuff,but I'm an engineer who designs,among other things, synthetic turf fields. In response to a some of the comments that have been made regarding the turf at I.U. 1.The rubber pellts tend to be more prevelant on the surfaces of new fields since they need some time to be "worked" in between the turf fibers.That's the reason the lines and numbers looked dirty. 2.Believe it or not,one of the "worst" things for synthetic turf is a drum corps or band show.Not that it wears down or damages the turf,but the repetitive foot traffic creates a lot of static electricity which brings up the rubber pellets.The static electricity also makes the pellets "sticky".I live in N.J. and the Cadets had a show in Giants stadium,right after new synthetic turf was installed and the turf manufaturer said it was a nightmare to groom it after the show. 3.The differnt colors you see on a field are actually different colored turf and as several people have said the black you see are only the rubber infill pellets 4.You maintain a sythetic turf field using a specially made "groomer".There are several types but the baseball field infield rake is a pretty good analogy. 5.Synthetic turf will get hotter then natural grass,but normally its only 10 -15 deg.Also if temp is an issue they make an "irrigation" system to cool the turf surface down.It can also be wet down ,if you're REAL careful,with a fire engine,usually an aerial ladder 6.One last believe it or not.Depending on how the infill is installed you can actually "adjust" how hard or soft the turf surface is.

I know this was probably posted already but just in case it wasn't or someone forgot. I was just going through the DCI Yearbook I got in Allentown. According to an article on page 10,DCI will not have any national T.V. broadcast this year.It was apparently suspended due to costs. They do confirm in the article that they will be selling dvd's. So unless you are part of the DCI fan network and want to watch on your computor the only way to see the corps during final's week is tomorrow night in theaters.

In talking with peole from Jersey Surf I was told that they intend to go World Class next year. I've seen them several times this season and to me they don't seem ready to make the jump. Their scores, including last night's, would seem to bear this out. I know Pioneer made the jump after winning Div II at least a couple of times and they are at the lower end of WC scores.Surf,as far as I know never won either a Div (when they existed) or OC title. Since I didn't march I'm no expert so I was just wondering what others thought.

Two things: 1.I just purchsed tickets at the box office.They were $18.00 each. 2.I live in North Jersey and until now the only place close to us showing the quarter finals was in midtown Manhattan. Looking on their web site,at least in my area, they added a lot of locations (AMC theaters) so hopefully more people will be able to see this. Wonder if they'll be serving funnel cakes ?

Although I like watching the Open Class corps,I don't really keep up with the "rules" govering them. I know this is a dumb question, but with DCI's changing of Div II and III to Open Class,does that mean that now there is only one champion regardless of the "size" of the corps?

The question is,how do you find out in advance of a vote what the proposed rule changes under consideratin are ? It could be something as simple as DCI posting them on their web site a couple of weeks in advance of a vote,with the posting date set up and "advertised" in advance. Then you would have the ability to write to a corps director or DCI with comments.

First off, thanks for the responses. To me,DCI's set up for rule changes is akin to inbreeding. Here is a radical concept,similar to what happens in government in N.J. where I live. When a municipality wants to change a law (ordinance) it is introduced by an affirmative vote of the governing body.It is then advertised and before it can be passed into "law" any member of the public can comment before a final vote. In the case of the State,changes to statutes covering various areas such as environmental regulations must be published and the public is given a set time period to comment before those changes are adopted. I would think that a similar approach could be used by DCI so they could get input from a more diverse base before anything becomes set in stone. Beyond the rule change issue,I also think that the DCI board of directors should include some members not directly invloved with the activitiy.This approach is used by a number of corporations,non profit organiziations and universities to provide a more varied and objective point of view on a number of issues. It also lets an organization draw on the expertise of people in areas where other board members may be lacking. I serve as the chairman of an advisiory committee for a local University and have been told more then once that the school really likes the fact that the committee can approach a subject "from the outside looking in ". Just my $0.02

I've been a fan of drum corps going back to the Bridgemen but never really followed the rule changes until the debate over changing the key (? ,forgive me I'm not a music major) of the bugles. Over the years DCI has approved a number of rule changes and I've seen calls to reverse certain rule changes like amplification. I'm looking for help with a couple of questions: 1.Is the procedure to reverse a rule the same as implementing it ? 2.Has DCI ever reversed a rule change ? 3.Is it true that the committee that votes on rule changes is only made up of corps directors ? Thanks for your help

Two very good sugesstions,especially since,to some extent,I already did both of them. Last year I sent an email to Mr. Hopkins and got what could best be classified as a "canned" response. Although,since we like knowing what's going on with the Cadets, my wife and I stayed members of the M&G we did drop our contribution to the lowest level to stay in and gave the differnce to other Corps. I admit,I don't think much of Mr. Hopkins' character,but that opinion based on things I have seen first hand. For example,George is very good at changing his mind.Going back on his word might be a better way to say it. I was at the city council meeting when the Cadets wanted to move from Garfield into the City of Hackensack.George made this great spiel about working with the City,clinics for the H.S. band etc.The City welcomed the Cadets but none of what was promised ever materialized and a couple of years later the Cadets were in Bergenfield. I grew up with the Garfield Cadets and remember wathcing them as a little kid in parades before I ever knew what drum corps was which is probably why I still care about the organization and am not ready to give up on them yet.

My wife and I are members of the Cadets Maroon and Gold Club. I'm not sure if it was the year before last,but within the past couple of years when the Cadets scores were low we got a letter from George explaining that his philosophy was to please the fans. Guess,just like a lot of other things with him and drum corps, he changed his mind.

Although my wife and I had listened to the Cadets C.D. which has their show with and without narration,we decided to withhold judgement until we saw the show. Last night (7/05) we did. We could not agree more with the comments on the narration not working on any number of levels. Rather then repeat what others have said, let me give you a few comments from people who were sitting around us in the "VIP" seats. "George just can't help himself" "What a waste of talent" "Get rid of the stage and narration and you'd have great show" "Oh God,not more talking" After the show one woman said after every sentence she was praying they were done,but no. Several Cadets "staff "members (At least they had Cadets I.D.'s) were sitting around us during their performance and they got an earful.We heard more then one perosn say "Don't blame me". This was the Cadets "home" show,but Carolina and Boston got the biggest ovations for competing corps. Neither my wife or I marched or are music majors.I'm an engineer and she is a nurse.We may not know all of the "fine points" or terminology of drum corps but we've been following the activity since the late 1970's and we have seen what works. No one needed to explain Carolina's or Boston's shows and good drill is good drill. Now we have a question.From what we could see,the 2 people on the stage weren't doing the narration.That seemed to be coming from behind screens on the sideline.The question is,do the performers and narrators "count" as corps members.We would think they should,especially since the female characater does go on the field at the end of the show.If they do,it seems like a waste of spots in the corps.

The issue of the Cadets narration is good for at least one enterprising guy. He was selling "This I Believe,Shut Up and Play" tee shirts outside the stadium yesterday. When my wife and I were souvie area yesterday there were a few people with his shirts and homemade versions saying basicly the same thing.