Tommeee

I was going to take a couple photos when the grounds crew was in the field during INT, but I didn’t. Like I said before, they were REALLY inspecting the grass with a fine-toothed comb. They were clearly looking at specific areas of the field. It sucks for the stadium. Turf grass management is a complex science, and facilities pay top dollar for full-time experts to be in charge. It costs money. I don’t fault the stadium personnel for voicing concerns. Obviously, it also sucks for the corps and the fans in attendance (myself included). I was initially extremely mad. But I calmed down as soon as Boston started to play, and SCV made me even more happy. The acoustics of that stadium will be missed. If they can’t go back, I hope they find something close with similar sound.

I will say, seeing BAC, SCV, and Cadets do standstills in THAT stadium, was aurally thrilling, especially from a percussion perspective!

Yep, and the grounds crew wasn’t just a couple people, either. I knew when I saw those guys out there, basically inspecting the field with a microscope, we could be in for trouble.

Little Geoffrey went to BD? I hadn’t heard that before, but that’s definitely a good piece of trivia!

YEA! runs both USBands and Cadets. Of course money and resources are going to be shared. There might need to be more transparency on how money is flowed, but to suggest that money CANNOT be shared, is incorrect.

What makes you say it’s getting worse? The scores from San Antonio? If that’s the basis of your opinion, you might want to consider looking at this from a more constructive viewpoint.

How do you know the details of their financials? And what’s your suggestion on how to improve that aspect of the organization?

The Cadets have already righted the ship. But there is a HUGE difference between “righting the ship” and being at the very pinnacle of the sport. As others have said, it will take more time to get back to the top. SO, the most important thing for the future and stability of The Cadets (and ANY corps) has almost nothing to do with design. The MOST important thing is financial success. I’m not knowledgeable about all the things YEA is doing to improve the financial outlook. But it does seem to be something they are working on pretty diligently. You must run a drum corps like a business. If you struggle financially, any competitive success you enjoy is going to be short-lived.

On the contrary, the Cadets members have more experience this year, by far, than either 2017 or 2018. Experience level has consistently gone up over these 3 years. The truth is, 2018 and 2019 have been really good as far as member retention are concerned. Visit a rehearsal, and you can see reasons why.

Show = good. Talent = great. Tarps = horrible.

I’m not going so far as to say the lack of communication is ALARMING. But I do think it is disappointing.

So far, there has been no such thing as “good” tarps. They have ALL been gimmicky, and they look like crap under the lights. Someone needs to either learn to make PERFECT tarps, without wrinkles and glare, or stop using them.

I disagree with this blanket statement. SOME drill is very difficult to clean, and some is easier. Just as SOME body movement is difficult to clean, and some is easy. Much of the body work is designed in a way that makes it cleanable, such as counting through the movement, etc. When you look at some of the more organic drill (such as the Cadets zipper in 2011) it can be extremely difficult to clean. It took all season to clean that, and some would argue that it was NEVER clean. But at the same time, we often see MUCH body movement that is already being done to near perfection on day one. No cleaning necessary. Either way, I don’t think you can make blanket statements that apply to ALL drill or ALL body movement.

Drill, staging, and body movement, all used together, would be a great combination. In fact, if you could somehow combine the huge props Cadets have this year, WITH some elements of past Cadet-style drill and velocity, who wouldn’t LOVE that?? Whoever coordinated the movement of the battery this year, is really my hero. I would personally like to see a lot more of that in the rest of the corps.

Yep, that’s what I’m suggesting. Have you ever heard of any corps changing drill writers in the middle of spring training, and that NOT causing issues?

On the contrary, I would argue that they are doing a FANTASTIC job of dealing with less rehearsal time, AND excelling. I hate that it sounds like an excuse, but the situation with the former drill writer is BY FAR the biggest reason why they are currently placing where they are. It’s not an excuse, as much as it is a FACT. Theyre doing a great job!

Totally agree. TOTALLY! Pete Weber had a unique style that’s now missing from DCI. Would love to see someone integrate that drill style with today’s props.

Once again, your commentary adds absolutely nothing. Thank you for your time.

Z-pull shirt is cool, but I wish there was more on it. I don’t think there’s anything on the back, is there? I like to sit at a show, and have the folks behind me be able to see the shirt/corps I’m wearing.

Those weren’t one of their best efforts, you’re right. Actually, now that I think of it, I really don’t like a lot of the specific show theme or tour shirts, for ANY corps. I was thinking more of the Cadets logo shirts. And those baseball jerseys with the “34” on the back. Those were awesome! SCV and Crossmen had nice baseball jerseys, too. But the “34” became a bit of a classic for The Cadets, in my opinion.

I actually thought Cadets past merch was some of the most appealing, highest quality, and largest variety. This year seems like they took a step backwards in the clothing department. i bought one shirt in Allentown, sealed in a bag like most of them were. The fabric is sorta cheap and rough (Gildan brand), and the screen printing is slightly askew. It wasn’t inexpensive, either. Also, the people at the spiciest booth looked like volunteers, to me. They were slightly underprepared for the pre-show thunderstorm. I felt bad for them. i did prefer the presentation of the Cadets souvenir booth over those of the Bluecoats and BAC.

I actually LIKE the “Do Better” section. And yeah, Tom and Darcie have done great things at Dartmouth. Some of that magic IS appearing at Cadets RIGHT NOW. The percussion is their strongest caption. This is a fact, and it matters! They are on fire!

Maybe you can add something of substance to the conversation, instead of just plain negativity?

It is 6:38 PM and 75 degrees here in Allentown outside the stadium. Humid, but way more comfortable than 3 hours ago. Lots of people wearing Cadets shirts! Bluecoats trucks pulled in about 10 minutes ago. Here we go!

Does anyone know where, exactly, Bluecoats are rehearsing tomorrow before the Allentown show?