defeldus2

1 - I'm glad your kid had a fantastic summer, that's all that matters in the end. 2 - Noone here has accused them of failing, if so please point it out. Everyone is supportive of the kids and their level of performance. 3 - We must have seen different shows, because the Cadets guard was nowhere near the level of their brass or percussion in design or execution, especially in comparison to the other corps that placed higher. The design in particular left me scratching my head throughout the show as to why they were doing the things they were doing. These are not criticisms of the kids who are obviously all incredibly talented. 4 - People aren't only focusing on the negative, but a lot of bad things have reached boiling point for many fans, alumni, and supporters and it's clearly time for some major restructuring in the organization. 5 - DCP posts have no bearing on the activity or their placements. If that were the case every corps would win gold medal and simultaneously not make finals.

Hey, the first and last photos are from me! It was very cool to have that access and follow them these last few weeks. I'll have to upload all the photos for you guys.

Of course not. It might be an annoyance for the audience but the judges would certainly never consider that.

I completely understand and respect your position. I can only imagine how all of this stuff makes alumni feel. You weren't one of the people I was referring to, by the way. Your posts are always level.

I completely understand and respect your position. I can only imagine how all of this stuff makes alumni feel. You weren't one of the people I was referring to, by the way. Your posts are always level.

Two thoughts; It's sad to hear so many bad things I've heard about Hopkins/Cadets staff culture confirmed over this season. The kids, staff, and Cadets' history deserve better. They are one of the all time great drum corps and their legacy didn't deserve to be tarnished by the stranglehold of a director. Some people here are way too close to the matters to talk about them with a level head. Some of the Hopkins defenders here are just sad when his issues are common knowledge throughout the activity. I haven't seen anyone leverage personal attacks at him here, only professional criticisms which he absolutely deserves, doubly so since he makes his position such a public spectacle.

Finals retreat panorama I took Link to DL if you want it for a wallpaper http://imgur.com/UngRpeP

Crown and SCV both did plenty of shout outs for BLoo on social media. Didn't see anything there from Cadets though, but as said that isn't a sign of anything other than not having a dedicated person for those roles.

Enough with that, let's gush over the first new Zingali winners in 8 years! That guard was on fire every night I saw them. One of my favorite sections ever.

I definitely choked up at the end of the show tonight and I'm hoarse from screaming for all of your caption awards. Congrats Crown for being incredible. Brass, you continue to set the standard. Visual, No one was close to you in cleanliness. Guard, legendary.

CROWN BRASS OMG

Crown wins visual too. What a night.

OH BOY CROWN DO IT

OH BOY CROWN DO IT

YES CROWN GUARD

YES CROWN GUARD

Standing O for Academy :)

Those captions are averaged over the week. Gold is only from tonight.

Oh ####.

What are you talking about??

Crown not winning guard would be a much bigger injustice than Bloo not winning gold.

Bloo's energy was off the charts, but it also gave them a sloppy run. Their best night was prelims. BD had a few issues but sounded incredible. Strongest of their week IMO. Crown was intense and dialed in and sold every aspect of their show, but the energy felt better last night. Pulling for Crown, would love to see Bloo win, and wouldn't be surprised at all to see BD win again. Hell of a season!

That wink got the loudest cheer of the night haha

No audience reaction at all for that story climax. Standing O for the company front after though. That's the Cadets show in a nutshell.

Yeah, their insane volume is made up of far too much pit and synth.