MisterA

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

There are a lot of things here that aren't adding up. What happens if it turns out Hopkins is innocent here? It has happened before with false accusations. It is no secret tons of people in the drum corps world hate GH with a passion. I myself haven't been so excited about some of his decisions. What if this goes through court, and it is found that someone just had a vendetta against GH and had a few people corroborate the story? Maybe that could be why the alleged victims didn't want to answer any questions during an investigation? And while YEA and Cadets probably should have put him on administrative leave immediately following the first report of any such allegations, maybe they have some reason to believe that the allegations are false? It also seems weird the statement that someone complained in January about GH and said if he wasn't fired they were going to the press with it. That seems more like a threat, than someone trying to get things done in a legal manner. So if they put him on leave or fired him, and it turned out to be false, he could have a lawsuit against the organization, which would also be bad. I am not saying GH is innocent, or that the alleged victims are making things up, but I think to just presume he is guilty before hearing more details, or him having his day in court is wrong. It used to be people were innocent until proven guilty, but now we make someone guilty, until they prove themselves innocent. Again not a fan of GH, and if it turns out to be true, hope he rots in H E double hockeysticks. The main reason I bring this up is because of a situation that happened in a school district close to ours. There was a girl who was 16 or 17, and she developed a crush on a newly hired teacher to her district who was in his mid 20s, fresh out of college. When she flirted and made a pass at him and he refused, she made all kinds of trouble and claimed he had come on to her. He was placed on leave, and his life and teaching career were ruined. When all the details had emerged, it turns out she had made the whole thing up about him, hoping to get him fired, and luckily one of her friends had come forward with text messages from her saying that if he wouldn't return her love, she would make his life hell and get him fired. The district offered him his position back, but he left the teaching profession, which is sad because it sounds like he was an excellent and popular teacher, and motivated his students extremely well. As a high school band instructor(and I am sure this resonates with choir instructors and drama instructors as well) you do get nervous about some situations. At our annual marching bands night, for the last performance of the year in October, all the seniors come forward and give a rose to their parents, and each one gives me and my wife a hug, sometimes in tears. I wouldn't want to refuse a hug at this time, but there is always a thought that maybe some parent will turn it into something more than it is. Sometimes even the parents give us hugs, which is probably the biggest reward possible. And the same thing happens at the end of the year at our final spring concert as we recognize our seniors last performance. The same thing happens with our choir instructors and drama coach during the year. The bottom line is as instructors(especially of performance arts) we set ourselves up more than anyone else for the possibility of accusations, especially instructors of activities where the kids tend to be a little more huggy/friendly. As drum corps people on these message boards, let me ask you one question. Has there ever been any action you have participated in, that from the outside could look a little weird to someone who doesn't know that activity? Have you ever hugged someone after a show? Have you been seen as an adult with many people under the age of 18? Have you been in stands during a rehearsal watching 150 14-21 year old people prancing around in their underwear? To an outsider, some of these things could look like something they are not. How would you defend yourself if allegations were to be made about you? Most of us involved in the activity know how emotional we are, but to outsiders, some things may look a little sketchy. I am not saying Hopkins is guilty or innocent, but I do notice that because so many people dislike/hate/despise him, that everyone is pretty much saying he is guilty without hearing very many actual facts of what may have or have not transpired. It isn't like this isn't the 3rd time a director has been pushed out of a corps in the last decade for unknown reasons that have been speculated on. But no matter what exactly has happened it is definitely a sad day for drum corps. I feel bad for the alleged victims and hatred towards Hopkins if it turns out to be true. I also feel as bad for all members, staff and volunteers of the organization, as it has to be rough dealing with all the gossip and speculations around this, on top of trying to pull everything together for summer tour which is only about 2 months away now. And if by some chance the allegations turn out to be false to just get GH out of the Cadets/YEA, then I feel bad because the life of an innocent man may have been ruined. Best of luck to Cadets of 2018, and know that we will be thinking about you and wishing you well this summer.

Regardless of size, Pioneer has put on some great shows. 2016 was one of my favorites over the years, along with the 96 show. Best of luck to Pioneer in 2018.

I haven't seen Boston since early season. I could see them in the mix for the 6-9 spots along with Cadets, BK and Phantom. It is still early season, we'll see how it shakes out.

I do not see them in the top 3 at this point. I think there are currently 5 corps fighting it out for medal contention. Blue Devils, SCV, Cavaliers, Crown, and Bluecoats. I think in some order that will be the top 5 come finals week. I think Cadets, Phantom and BK are going to be the 6-8 corps, not necessarily in that order. Again, 5 weeks still til finals, so lots of changes coming for everyone. Can they medal, possibly. Will they medal, more than likely not.

One thing that is kind of surprising is that Colts have been performing in shows for over a week now, and only 2 people have posted comments about their show on this thread.

Scores are something that come from the very small brains of something called a khaki-saurus. These slow creatures have to think way in advance, so typically they are working on their scores months before the competitive season begins, so they can attempt to get it right and give people the possibility to think they are very intelligent. In fact if you ask any typical khaki-saurus today, they can probably tell you the name of the 2018 champion.

I realize it probably did seem harsh. I am just extremely disappointed in their show. I have really enjoyed Colts, even before they made finals in the early 90s. Fun corps, fun shows, performance level not always the best, but entertaining to watch. This year I don't really feel any of that. Yes there are some very nice moments in the show, but for the most part the show is bland, and the vocals don't work very well. The soloist has a nice voice, but it just doesn't quite fit into the show very well. Again this is just my opinion. I don't think even clean this show is going to even come close to making finals this year. They are definitely not on the level of anyone who made finals last year, and with Madison and Mandarins improving so much over last year, i think 15th would be the highest possible placement, and that is not counting Blue Devils B, Vanguard Cadets, Troopers and Oregon Crusaders(who I have heard some amazing things coming out of their camp) To me Colts this year seem to have crossed styles of Blue Knights and Glassmen, but the staff just isn't quite as great as those staffs were, and it has fallen flat. The kids are doing a very good job with what they have been handed, but I don't think the total package will carry them very far compared to other corps. Again, I really hope they prove me wrong, I would love to see Colts back in finals again, but I would guarantee it won't be this year.

I have to say this is my least favorite show from Colts since the early 90s. Music is nice, and there are some nice visual moments, but as a whole this show is extremely boring and slow moving. After being embarrassed last year getting beat by Blue Devils B, I really had hoped they would come out kicking and screaming to try to make finals this year. Unfortunately I wouldn't be surprised to see them slip a couple of placements this year at Indy. I really hope they can turn this ship around, but it probably won't happen until next year. Too many of the other corps in their grouping have really amazing shows this season.

Not sure who Tim K is, but I have no problems speaking with anyone about anything. I can elaborate a little more on my comment though, if that would help. I understand what Cadets are trying to do, and they have some very nice moments musically and visually, but as a whole show, it just doesn't seem as enjoyable to me as many of their past productions, like last year and the Bartok show, which was amazing. I think the performance level is great, and the kids are doing a great job with what they were given, just for me personally, the whole show doesn't grab me, and it is the arrangements.

I haven't said this in many years, but Crossmen were my favorite corps of the evening. I was a little disappointed in Colts, Genesis, and Cadets shows. Nowhere near as exciting as last year for these 3. I don't think i have been as bored with a Colts show in 25 years, hoping they can do something to change that by the end of the season. Genesis seems to have taken a slight step back, and with Cadets, I usually love them one year and don't care for them the next. I got lucky as I really enjoyed them the last couple of years. This year, just can't get into their show.