I&E

[LAMystreaux]

And I do believe it's junk, because in THIS day and age any corps not letting their kids participate are CHEATING them, since so many winners go on to further music careers with gigs, endorsements, and all kinds of opportunities that they get ONLY because of their I&E "fame".

Hmmm, judging from this you would think The Cadets keep it a secret that they don't let their members participate until after the kids are in the corps. How are you cheating kids who know what they are getting into before they participate? Why so bitter other than just another reason to hate on Hop?

Here's a simple solution. DCI should FORCE all corps to take the day off that day to attend and cheer on the activity if they don't want to participate. EVERY CORPS. THE WHOLE DAY. That way it all works out fair and square don't it?

Why should anyone be forced to participate and/or go watch?!

[madscout96]

I&E is a great thing for DCI and all the corps to have.

It gives corps members an extra challenge if they need one. Believe it or not, performing 11.5 minutes of music for 3 months might not be the most challenging thing for a young musician! Especially if they are a music major or are aspiring to be one. They need to be given that opportunity, especially if DCI is supposed to be about education.

It acts as a nice showcase for DCI's talent. It shows what the members can do as individuals, not just as part of a unit. Who doesn't love watching snare or tenor solos, mixed ensembles, bass drum skits, sabre solos? Quite often they perform stuff at I&E that they themselves wrote or arranged. Again, if DCI is about education, it's good to have this event where they can show what the students do and how they benefit individually? I have to believe it's good for grants and sponsorships and things like that.

It doesn't take time away from rehearsal, because members will work on their I&E during their free time. If a corps doesn't offer enough free time to work on it to begin with? Well... then I think that corps has more serious issues.

[madscout96]

Why should anyone be forced to participate and/or go watch?!

Why should anyone be forced to NOT participate and/or go watch!?

[Hulka]

You can let loose and have fun on Sunday.

People can say that one final day won't make a difference, but I bet that Troop/PC/Cascades and Glassmen/Spirit/Academy/Blue Stars think differently. As someone who was always either fighting to maintain Semis or pushing to hopefully make Finals every year, Wednesday matters. A lot.

To me if a corps feels like one more day will make that much of a difference then they've waited until the last minute to make the show better and not "take care of business" the rest of the summer. That's like so many basketball games I've seen over the years where a team will play lazily all game only to turn it on at the end frantically trying to win the game. Please don't think I'm saying a corps is lazy through the season. Besides, spending some time away from the field show might actually do some good in terms of taking a collective breathe to recharge and hit it hard that evening and the next day.

I&E wasn't an all day thing. We rehearsed, went to I&E, and then rehearsed some more.

Yeah, once we were done we went back to the school and rehearsed later that afternoon and evening so we only lost a third to half the day for I&E.

[DaveH]

i was at vanguards rehearsal on tuesday night, and yes, there were some obvious problems (still) in the show which the staff planned to address on wednesday, the last possible day. to ignore these problems by giving the corp an almost entire free day would to be doing a disservice to the entire drum corp and all related people.

The staff planned poorly then.

It's easy enough to set up a schedule that includes a day at I&E during the "event week". In fact, it should be mandatory imo.

To be honest, one of the biggest disappointments of my Blue Devils experience was the fact that we DIDN'T go, as a corps, to cheer our guys on that day. The competitors left, but the overall corps was "too busy" because scores were close that year.

Well, we still finished fourth so it didn't make a bit of difference in the long run. But it sure would have been fun to go to I&E and see some of those legends perform! (like some corps manage to fit in).

Again...mandatory is the way to go. Wednesday of finals week is FREE DAY for each and every corps, that way, competing or not, no corps gets an "extra" advantage of rehearsal "cram time".

Works for me. What's wrong with it, really? Anyone object? And if so, why?

[madscout96]

Besides, spending some time away from the field show might actually do some good in terms of taking a collective breathe to recharge and hit it hard that evening and the next day.

Exactly. You know what the Colts did on the night before semifinals in 1993?

They took the night off and went to the movies.

Then the next day they performed and made Finals for the first time EVER.

Or did they go to the movies the night before quarters? Not sure... but you get the picture.

Edited August 9, 2007 by madscout96

[UP_Front1201]

I couldn't find the recap where is it??

[DaveH]

Like Hulka said too, there is plenty of time to get in some last minute rehearsal too...and it works especially well if all the corps are on the same schedule.

So, I should say, mandatory HALF-DAY free (no corps can send off the busses to rehearsal until I&E is over and done with).

I've seen way too much advantage IN THE REAL WORLD for the kids that are allowed to compete, gigs, endorsements, a chance to actually MAKE MONEY doing the drum corps thing...and SHAME on Hopkins and the other guys who deny their kids the chance to go for these opportunities!

[leadsop97]

I&E day was the biggest day to relax before making one final push. I'm of the belief that when well rested, you will be more productive in less time, and at least for me, it's always been true. The days where we got an hour for lunch instead of 45 minutes were great because not only did we have 15 more minutes of down time/digestion time, but when we got back out on the field we pushed harder and had a more productive rehearsal because we knew we were being given some extra time for us, and that took away from our rehearsal time.

I&E is fun. Waiting for scores isn't. But the actual competition is great. It was frustrating for me because I came so close so many times to winning and never did, but getting to hear and watch some very talented and admittedly some not so talented (but with a huge set of ba##s) performers from various corps is great. Not only does it give you a better idea of what other drum corps players are like outside of drum corps, but it gives you ideas yourself and I'm not gonna lie, when you're as competitive as I am and you lose by a point 3 out of the 5 years you do it, it pushes you to be better.

also, I don't think ECJ had any problem with being competitive while letting us do I&E.

[60sSOP]

My belief is that young people make decisions on where they want to go based on many factors. Music and image being foremost. Underlying that there is a wantingness (is this a word) to belong and the way that corps are run and the underlying philosophy rings sometimes louder than horns and drums. The top corps in particular have this quality about them. Individuals attracted to the Blue Devils or the Cadets are not usually considering the other the same for the Cavaliers etc.. I know there are definitely exceptions. As an outsider my gut tells me the Cadets are a little heavy on the one for all, and a little light on the all for one as a philosophy and it bleeds into things like I&E. It is no secret and those people who have bought into that probably couldn't care less because it just isn't there. I think that corps should be completely neutral on the subject and support them as fully as possible if they decide to go for it. But I am an old Cavalier from the dinosaur era and could be losing my senses.