Booing and the Cadets

[MikeD]

AJMHO....but I was there, and I was booing....George!

No, you were booing the Cadets, however you choose to rationalize it to yourself.

Disgusting behavior.

[Mello Dude]

...and we wonder why we have problems with our children. Peeps, 18-21 year old people are ADULTS. These are the people working and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am sick and tired of the stupid coddling of ADULTS in this country. Why do you think we have 20-30 year olds acting like frigging children...we don't let them grow up. So the Cadets got booed, grow a set and move on. The people here complaining about the booing people are the SAME people that let people cut in front of them at the supermarket and never say anything. Then ##### about it later when they SHOULD have grown a pair and said something THEN. It's high time people stood up and said enough of the crap is enough. The fans are paying the entrance fee, they have the right to boo OR cheer. I would bet these same PC people here didn't bother to tell the peeps to stop booing in the stands either.

My 2 cents....

[asifindnoarta]

they're stretching at 6:27 am PST??

No, you are right. The cadets were sleeping when I posted. I was wrong.

[Baeritone]

I don't think anyone thinks that the Cadets are going to be phased. I mean, who would phase them out? They're good box office if nothing else...

Oh, you meant FAZED!

My bad.

[ssorrell]

This is a simple grass roots uprising against the direction Hopkins wants to move the activity.

Why do you assume that George wants the activity as a whole to move in the same direction as he takes the Cadets? I think it's fair to assume that he likes for the Cadets to be different, and if the entirety of drum corps follows the Cadets, then they will no longer stand out...good or bad.

Sure, George pushed hard to get amps and electronics on the field, and there's more radical plans where those came from, but he had to get those ideas through so that he could pursue his own personal agenda with the Cadets. No one is forcing the rest of the activity to follow them. In fact, this year more corps left narration out, yet Cadets fill their show with it. So it's also fair to assume that most corps don't agree with George's direction and thus they go their own way.

I could be wrong, but I guarantee you that George isn't asking all corps to follow him down his path. He's simply taking his own corps in a direction that many do not like. So what? I don't particularly like the direction that some corps have taken over the course of time, but I would be absolutely selfish and closeminded if I ever believed that I would like 100% of the offerings on the field every year.

George might be a powerful guy in DCI, but don't give him that much credit. And how about giving credit to the other directors that give us shows every year that are pure entertainment without the use of narration(or at least the excessive use of it), props, or wacky themes? It's as if you expect all corps and their directors to follow George into the unknown without having a mind of their own.

[Jami]

No, you are right. The cadets were sleeping when I posted. I was wrong.

I was going to say, I hoped they were getting some well deserved sleep! :)

[BigSnareline]

I speak as, as a drum corps enthusiast and theorist, a performer, a musician, a fan, a writer, but most especially, a grade A pure bred home grown 16th note stickin' stop' n' goin' running his butt off blowin' his brains out balls to the wall all or nothin' do or die win or loose tough as nails MAROON BLEEDING "see" "ay" "dee" "E" "Tee" CADET and I want to say something about the kids in the drum corps that got booed off the field last night.

They don't care. They really don't care about the boo's. They don't care about hash marks. They don't care about penalties. THey don't care about winning. They don't care about loosing. They don't care about you or me. Right now every single one of the members in that God - blessed drum corps right now is not thinking abotu last night.... I assure you. I used to be there. Yeah we had some flack for a few things back in '05... but nothing compared to today, and you know what, it doesn't matter. I will tell you the mental state of these kids. They are not shaken up. They're not hurt or sad. These are fierce competitors that do not let emotion come into play. I bet you ANYTHING that last night every single one of these PROFESSIONALS would have killed to go out there and be the GODS they are hashes or no hashes. They would have marched on coals if they had to let alone without hashes. I'm not commenting on Mr. Hopkins' choice to call it out -- that's irrelevant. I'm commenting on the utter tenacity that this corps displays. They would have gone out there without hashes just to see if they could make it happen. I will let the non-cadet community in on a little secret. These kids are crazy. Literally crazy, they will put everything on the line just for a taste of glory. If you tell them to get across the entire field in 8 counts while playing trumpet voluntary they will stay up all night trying to make it happen instead of eating sleeping or doing anything remotely close to what might be described under normal human limitations.

So what are the cadets doing right now. They're practicing stop 'n go's, they're looking at their dot books. They're going over licks that they already have looked at every night. They're thinking about the show. THey're not thinking about hash marks or last night or boos or rude fans. That moment is gone. It doesn't exist anymore and all they care about is that direction change in the second movement tonight. The high A they have to stick. The buzz roll that slips sometimes. That toss in the opener. They are imortals. They are uneffected. They will not let the ignorance and anti-class of the fans hinder them from giving it up... giving all they have... all they possibly have not for the fans... not for the staff... not for themselves... but rather, for the Cadets. The members past and present and future. With each count they execute tonight the members of the Cadets add a brick to the monument that stands for the meaning and honor of the Cadets Drum and Bugle corps. You can love them or hate them, cheer them or boo them. But they are The Cadets, The Cadets of Bergen County, The Garfield Cadets, The Holy Name Cadets, and they are in the business of being perfect. The cadet craves most a challenge. GO ahead, give them an impossible show and they will perform it like nothing. Go ahead and boo them... it will only make them play louder.

The Cadet does not care about anything other than doing impossible things better than anything else on the planet. Cadets love to get their ##### kicked. So go ahead. Spit in their face, they will not notice, they are too busy focusing on their yard line relationships, their body allignment, their intonnation, their articulation patters, they think of nothing other than details. Nothing other than being better than perfect. Nothing other than being a Cadet.

I swear to God if you people try to close this thread or merge it... notice the difference. Understand what I'm saying and post your comments now. This is not about penalties. This is about the Cadets.

Wow! better check yourself - might have carpal tunnel after that one! Guess what all the other corps are doing today? - The same thing! Cadets are not special in that regard. Not at all. They all work their butts off.

[Richard]

Why is it ok for 20,000 people to BOO Duke when the play North Carolina in Basketball? Those kids are just young or younger than kids in some corps.

Word. I was just about to make that point. I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, obviously the "kids" don't like it, who would? But are we really that concerned about hurting their feelings? A true competitor will use the boos as motivation and let their performance do the talking. The Cadets are obviously doing this. If I was to be booed, I would just throw down extra hard. The best revenge is living (or performing) well, because you know it bothers the hell out of those Cadet haters out there when they bust out a 96 at prelims.

Now it's time for my rant:

Someone made this point previously and I would like to echo it: It's not the narration itself that bothers me, I could care less about voice in a show. It's what they're saying. It's ALL so very cheesy and appears to be geared to 6th graders. I may be wrong, but I think they changed the "rehearsal" segment to take out any negative comments. [sarcasm] Yeah, that's REAL indicative of drum corps; happy staff all the time lavishing you with praise. [/sarcasm] Another part that bothered me was how they explain the basic elements of what the brassline is doing (e.g. "Now the trumpets add the melody") Are you kidding me? That IS 6th grade music class!! Who is this narration written for??? What's most troubling is these are things that they've added throughout the course of the season, as if they really want to move towards a dumbed-down super-happy lovefest where everyone is special, unique and a WINNER!!...Give me a break. Maybe that’s why the boos are so concerning, because it sets a bad example for all the 12 year olds the narration was seemingly written for.

I’m not a hater, and I’m not one to boo, but how much damage is it actually doing here? Are we worried that emo trumpet kid will cry himself to sleep every night for the rest of his life?

As an aside: thanks to a crappy field lining crew/Hopkins, one of my friends missed the last T (subway) out of Boston and was stranded there for the night. Bummer.

[ssorrell]

When you are a performer, most of your teachers and coaches will tell you to expect to be booed at some point in your career.

Really?

Wow. I went through over a decade in drum corps and was never told to expect to be booed.

I also never had a music teacher in school, high school or college, to suggest that I should be prepared for booing.

Besides, this is not a "career" for those members of the Cadets. They are not career musicians. They are high school and college aged musicians that are marching in a top drum corps for a summer.

[KeepOnFoodTruckin]

I rarely comment on controversial topics but I'm going to throw out a question to consider,

Do you think that any member of this year's Cadets went in thinking "I'm going to audition for the Cadets because they are going to do a traditional, non-controversial show that won't evoke any sort of emotional reaction -- negative or positive -- from the crowd?"

I doubt it. THIS I BELIEVE: The young adults who choose to march with the Cadets do so knowing they are going to be a part of a show that pushes the envelope and will have the "Hopkins Stamp" on it and choosing to march with that corps is accepting that they will be meeting impassioned fans who have very strong feelings about what they are doing. There's not a lot of middle of the road with the Cadets' fan reaction.

However, if those young adults wanted a middle of the road performance experience (and a relatively low chance of loud fan reaction -- positive or negative) they would have auditioned at any of the 21 other Div I corps who could provide that for them. Booing, in my opinion, is bad form and I don't do it, but I don't believe the marching members went in under some misconception that they were going to march somewhere without controversy.

We talk about drum corps being a growing experience and one of the lessons learned in young adulthood is that choices have consequences. They chose to march in a program that has a reputation for controversial performances and the consequences of that is a crowd reaction. They'll learn from it and they've probably toughened up more this season and learned to be proud of their accomplishment no matter what the crowd reaction is. I'm going to guess it's tightened the bond with their corps mates too.

Just my two cents worth. Feel free to keep the change.