seen-it-all

I guess there were a whole lot of corps who wanted their identities to be just like Chuck Mangione 😜

This is true, and DCI won't allow those corps to pull out of the tour on their own until DCI makes the call to pull the plug, which their Medical Advisory Team is telling them they should have done already.

Agreed. But unfortunately, this is only delaying the inevitable.

I hope it goes better than the last one did. And that every corps actually phones in to the meeting 😳

I'm not so optimistic about that. Otherwise, I agree.

A lot of times, when it comes to media, people will see and hear what that want to see and hear. That's not to say that all media coverage is 100% responsible. Of course it's not, but some folks see a scientist or viral expert being interviewed on the news reporting on whatever the most accurate statistical modeling is saying about what's going on/what we're most likely going to expect, or giving best advice practices about what to do to stay safe (none of which involves hoarding toilet paper, btw!) and somehow they manage to conflate that into "the media is telling everyone to panic and that we're all gonna die!!!" In short, people can be incredibly and willfully stupid at times like these. Postponing or cancelling events in the face of a world-wide pandemic is not fear mongering. Neither is limiting large public gatherings as much as possible or advising people to practice social distancing. But many people think that it is, and that it's all a result of the media overreacting "just to get ratings." Think about what's happened in this country just in the last 7 days alone. This thing has totally blindsided us to the point that something newsworthy is happening every half hour and it's always changing, moving faster than we can even process it. What else is there to report on? Now imagine what it will be like in the next 7 days. And consider that we're already way behind in our response to this. With little to no testing available up to this point, it must be reasonably presumed that there are far more people infected right now than have been officially counted who don't even know it. People are trying to be optimistic that hopefully this whole thing will have run its course by June. Honestly, I think this thing has just gotten started and the worst is yet to come. That's not a fear mongering take on my part, but just someone looking around at how the rest of the world has been impacted by this and knowing that our lack of preparation is not going to make things easier going forward. If you're not happy with the media coverage, change the channel or turn off the TV. There are many sites online that can provide you with the information you require in emergencies like this. (But in my experience, the people who complain about the media the most are those who can't seem to ever turn it off.)

This all depends, of course, on whether corps still have housing for spring training. If more schools/universities go on lockdown, even if they re-open before their spring academic calendar ends, they still might not be too eager to have a traveling circus from out of town set up camp on their grounds for several weeks. This is all uncharted territory here and corps are really concerned about this particular factor, as they should be.

And considering how schools are already taking precautions in terms of trying to contain whatever exposure may exist, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see a lot of drum corps start to see more difficulties in securing housing while on tour. Those tour buses are essentially traveling petri dishes (one of the reasons most corps go thru a round of sickness while on tour). School districts may not be too keen on opening their doors to that kind of thing, even if school isn't in session. The folks running WGI will be meeting tomorrow night to discuss the upcoming championship events at Dayton. Lots of groups are already pulling out. I think their response to what's going on will go a long way in giving us clues as to how DCI might respond about events this upcoming summer.

Care to ascribe some specifics to this not-so-veiled threat?

In my opinion, I think that the brand new BOD for the Cadets should have absolutely no ties to the old BOD at YEA or anyone who had prior administrative duties under GH. I truly believe that these matters of optics and public perception are important. Especially after so much public hand-wringing over their zeal to rid themselves of any and all ties to GH and the old "rubber stamp" BOD methods of operation (among other things). To be clear, I don't believe that everyone involved back then is automatically guilty by association, I just think that what's best for the Cadets at this crucial point in time is a clean break from that era when it comes to corps' management and operations. Fresh new faces, ideas, and vision for the future.

😳

Hmm. What exactly is he being put in charge of?

Indoor color guard, YES Drum corps/indoor drumline, NO (I don't think any Of them will ever make it in, tbh)

Without USBands and the revenue they brought in, the Cadets debt would have been far deeper than it was. It cannot be overstated how important that band circuit has been to them. Those "shared" bank accounts sure did come in real handy over the years whenever the Cadets had some big bills to pay, make no mistake about it.

Of course they do. The competition isn't typically as strong, especially at the championship level, which is my point and I stand by it. (This is not to say that there aren't good and even very good bands in those circuits.)

Then the Cadets would be as much of a damaged asset to any potential buyers, no? After all, the main reason for USBands underperforming the last few seasons was because they were floating enormous amounts of their revenue to help pay off the Cadets' debt, stretching their resources even thinner than usual. But it's my belief that USBands can still come out of this in much better shape once the YEA split is announced. It won't be easy, they still have much work to do, but I feel there is a need in that region for a top quality competitive band circuit*, (which in a lot of ways they have been over the years). Being in charge of their own destiny instead of bending to the whims of a megalomaniacal CEO could be just what they need. And I have been very critical of them here and elsewhere, mostly because I've always felt they didn't follow through on their promises and took on more than they could handle as an organization (GH strikes again!) If they can scale it back to a more northeastern/mid-Atlantic regional operation and slowly expand as their organization becomes more stabilized, I think they can be quite successful in the way that more resembles how it was envisioned to be. * the other circuits in that region have their positives and serve their purpose, but their best bands just don't compare as favorably to the best bands competing in USBands FWIW, I agree that any ideas floating around about Varsity buying out any of the YEA properties is a pipe dream. An official business relationship of some kind can probably work out, but not ownership.

Yup. Their mission statement is fine, doesn't need to be changed. And if it does get changed, it will no doubt be replaced with something nearly identical in idealistic intent and verbiage. (But I guess it somehow won't be "liberal BS" because GH didn't come up with it? Lol, whatever.) Of all the things on their plate right now, this is probably the least of their concerns.

They sold the Crossmen

It's been a while since I watched the show to remember the specifics, but I was there on finals night off to the side with other staff members of other finalist corps and it was clear to a whole bunch of us that something was seriously "off" with the last few of minutes of the show. We knew immediately that they just left the door open for the Cavaliers, which of course they did. They were lucky it wound up being a tie, IMO.

Have you? As an alum, perhaps you should. If it were my corps who was skating on thin ice, I'd wanna know whatever they could tell me.

What about donors to their fundraising campaigns, which can include alumni and fans in general who may have never had any formal direct ties to the Cadets? How much, specifically, do you think they (along with those members/parents paying tour/camp fees) are entitled to know about where and how that money is being allocated?

They're not changing the name. Nor should they.

Now just imagine what that outlook would be if there's NO consistent revenue coming from USBands because they are separate entities.

How about asking this question to current/potential future members: "Would the adding of any/all instruments to DCI prevent you from returning to or joining a DCI group?" Or to current members specifically..."Do you think your enjoyment of the DCI performer experience would be lessened if any/all instruments were added to DCI?" An even better addendum to both questions would be "Why?" Just thinking out loud here 🤔

It certainly has been a big part of the equation in DCI for decades. It definitely was the biggest factor for me wanting to join a DCI corps many moons ago. If I recall correctly, I came home from seeing my first DCI show saying, "Holy ####!!! They are so freaking good, I have to be a part of that!!!" Plus or minus a few expletives I'm not allowed to repeat here 😁