Scerpella

I think the real sturm und drang begins when we learn how Scouts plan on turning the ship around.

Personally I thought the show idea might have made more sense 5 years ago.

When have you ever known me to be brief??

People keep saying that year after year, but at least in Scouts case (and maybe all corps ranked 10 or less) it doesn’t make a difference. Face to face or otherwise, the precision with which DCI judges rank a group, in different locations, under different circumstances and conditions and without regard to whether one group practices more effectively or God forbid have either a bad night or great night performing, is truly astonishing not to mention statistically unlikely.

Probably the majority of unrest is coming from the 70's-90's veterans who apart from the two world championships were never that far out of the running. Personally, I don't care if some non alumni doesn't like the idea of superman suits because it wasn't meant for you...ever. Every corps has its own tradition and way of characterizing itself. That was ours, it was our way of saying to ourselves when we suit up we are heroes. Don't know what your group did, but I am fairly certain others from outside your group may have found fault with it. Madison is down now and real concerns are being felt about what needs to be done. But truly I am not really interested in some non alumnus coming along and tossing salt on the wound. There have been precisely 9 corps in the 45 yr history of DCI who have been champions, Madison did it twice. We cant help it some one with an axe to grind doesnt like Madison's long time status of being one the favored corps in DCI even when they're down. There's plenty of constructive criticism for the Scouts right now, why some resort to envious bullsh*t is beyond me.

I too was taken aback by mfrontz contention that Madison is just starting a 10-year rebuilding project. First of all, based on what is he telling us that is the path to success? Who else has done a 10 yr rebuilding project? The only corps who really fell out for a length of time and are back is Blue Stars...and their rebuilding took much more than 10 years. And as Plankton correctly noted, this administration has been there for 10 years already. What were they doing if not rebuilding? If we're talking about corps who were nothing but built themselves into powerful contenders then we're talking Crown and Coats. Again it took much longer than 10 years for them. What about Star? They were around very shortly before cracking the top 12. Spirit of Atlanta did it in one year and by their 4th year was top 6.

Really begs the question as to why have an age barrier at all.

What about Bandettes.?

My opinion is that for lack of a better description, the traditionalists have given way to the pragmatists. The uniform was read by the alumni as an honest attempt to go all in to improve placing.

The Madison Alumni were largely supportive of the costume last year, a reaction the organization was fairly unprepared for.

Ok, this made me just go and revisit RAMD. 90 minutes I will never get back.

My recollection is that Stuart was treated like a Cassandra, the figure in Greek mythology who was cursed by the gods to know the future but also not to be believed. I’d say he’s been vindicated.

For the sake of clarity, nowhere in Tennyson’s poem “the charge on the light brigade” are the 27th lancers mentioned. In fact the 27th Lancers were a new unit formed sometime in the 20th century. It is true that in the Crimean war which is where this charge of the light brigade took place, there were Lancer units as well as Hussars and there was a Hollywood movie made about it which I think featured Errol Flynn, and perhaps that is where Bonfiglio got his idea for naming the corps the lancers.

Yeah, I don't envision DCP stopping talking about this. Let's face it this could be the beginning of an existential crisis for DCI. Cadets are going to suffer badly from this.

Agree this was a necessary move but am kind of surprised at the tone of the alumni who think it's just a matter of moving on now. I think this will be playing out for some time before any healing or moving on starts to happen. Clearly, Hopkins accusers will derive some measure of satisfaction. What of others who haven't and may not come forward? And what happens when this possibly spreads to other DCI organizations? There is a possibility everything about DCI changes in the near future. You have something this massive happen and it's effects may be felt for some time. Madison is still trying to return to top six 16 years later after the exit of Scott Stewart.

No statement on YEA site as yet. Hopkins still mentioned.

I think anyone who has been in the activity for more than a short time is not completely surprised by this. Nor will we be surprised by the sure to come additional revelations from many other organizations. For many decades drum corps operated outside of any meaningful supervision by any parent or school group, for staff to have sexual relationships with members, both consensual and nonconsensual was a commonplace occurrence. Drum corps was the ######## stepchild of "legitimate" musical groups and things went down there that simply didn't in other groups, or at least not to the same extent. The sexual revolution in drum corps was like pouring gasoline on flames, (not that it apparently needed it if you know stories from folks in the activity 70's and prior) and I would argue that in the activity as in most of society as a whole, young vulnerable women were the ones hurt most often. Society told us meaningless hookups were ok and harmless. They weren't. And staffs were often simply aged out members who saw the current members as fair game, not for a moment considering the power differential that existed, however small and informal it might have been. Guys like Hopkins, acted with impunity for years. And now the chickens have truly come home to roost.

Much appreciated by the Alumni in general that the corps has gone all in on a show design and look. In fact the Board and management were pretty surprised at the Alumni reaction when they gave us the preview early on the Saturday of the Whitewater show. Cant speak for everyone of my era but I think what we wanted to see was a commitment to DCI as it is today, not some rewarming of an old concept or an attempt to present the Madison Mystique in a new way. Those days by and large are over. Its time for the corps to create a new one if we ever want to vie for the top spots again The important things will always be there. Saw the show at Lisle. Seems to me they are performing it well. I could not hum any part of that show if my life depended on it, not exactly the acid test but there it is. Impressed by the commitment to the role of post apocalyptic leather punks by the members.

Well that turned out to be premature!

When was the last time Madison began the season only 5 pts behind the leader? Good on ya boys!

Entertainment is great, but if a group is going in bent on ignoring the criteria around which an organization ranks each member, then why not just form a bowling league? Its cheaper and easier. If a group has strayed that far from its founding charter then perhaps new leadership should be considered. Or at the very least a re evaluation of why this group is participating in a judged activity.

@ Dan D, the criticism from alumni has been pretty muted for a long time. The organization has never been particularly interested in the opinions of people who are no longer in the corps for a long time, despite their having the best intentions for the success of the group. This off season is actually kind of unique in that people are speaking out. There comes a point when speaking out is required. Will it do any good? My guess is not. My fondest wish is to be completely wrong about this. It certainly wouldnt be the first time. Maybe thats just the ebb and flow of DCA corps, big one year small the next. Considering how many vital corps have gone for the permanent dirt nap in the past 10 years I guess we have to congratulate the Kilties on simply being around. I speak only for myself but I think that in every endeavor when the people arent getting it done, you thank them for all their hard work and get new people.

Not only is it imperative that Kilties decide exactly what they want to be but also decide on what will be the criteria for success. I think that bar has been lowering each year since 2008. And frankly I think its time for new blood from top to bottom. If the intention is competitiveness in DCA Open Class then that goal is not being reached, not for some time. Doing the same thing with the same people is not going to improve that.

That image of the Kilties has not been the reality for at least 10 years. By the way, Beer festivals are a very popular and growing phenomenon. I dont know what you think the Kilties do at ours but we generally work it and do not celebrate in the least until the festival is over and everything has been cleaned up. The 90's Kilties were definitely hard partiers but that group is completely gone.

Beerfest is a huge fundraiser for the Kilties. Cant fault them for that, it finances their operation.