Silly Me

[MikeD]

Then you completely misunderstood what I wrote, Mike. If anything it was pro-Cadet, pro-members. They were an outstanding group of performers. They deserved a better show. They could have won, but they were the victims of George's agenda to change at any cost, to tear the envelope to shreds, to thumb his nose at what the fans want in favor of what George wants.

Their talent and poise still got them a silver medal. It very well could have been gold.

You don't get to determine if my opinion is true or not. You seem to get very dismissive of any opinion that doesn't line up with yours and The Borg's. Take off the reactionary glasses and re-read what

I wrote.

The Cadets members deserved better and shouldn't be handcuffed to an agenda.

And remember, George brought it up.

Garry in Vegas

Proves my point. You can have an opinion, but that doesn't make it 'true'.

Gold? From the recaps it was low placements in guard and esp percussion that most decided where they would place.

[MikeD]

Yeah, I don't understand that at all. Last year, I got the sense that semis was so well attended in part because Madison's Alumni Project was going to perform.

But you know...the we gotta get home and let's get out of the parking lot before anyone else mentality rules in LA LA LAND.

I would think that some of the difference might be because Madison still exists...how many younger folks were even bor n when Anaheim was at the top of their game???

[SF2K4]

I would think that some of the difference might be because Madison still exists...how many younger folks were even bor n when Anaheim was at the top of their game???

But should we accept that? I don't get the vibe from many that we should teach the history of this activity to the younger crowd... just because I wasn't alive to watch Hank Aaron play doesn't mean I don't know what he did. I barely remember Joe Namath on the field but I know what he did. TONS of people weren't alive to watch Bear Bryant coach but I GURANTEE everyone in the Southeast, and most football fans in the country, know the legacy he left behind.

No, I get the vibe many in drum corps want to "ignore" the past in favor of showing kids where we're going... but how can you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been?

[Pinwiz]

It's too bad that some aspiring young musician exposed to drum corps for the first time tonight will be stamped with the impression that only 10 of the top 12 are worthy of anyone's time.

By that logic, it's a shame that anyone being exposed to the activity through the broadcast was deprived of seeing the 22 Open Class corps plus all of the Div II/III.

[Pinwiz]

Yeah, I don't understand that at all. Last year, I got the sense that semis was so well attended in part because Madison's Alumni Project was going to perform.

But you know...the we gotta get home and let's get out of the parking lot before anyone else mentality rules in LA LA LAND.

I'm sorry, but if you're willing to pay my expenses for the next three months so I can look for a new job then I'll gladly watch every Alumni Corps performance during Finals week from here to eternity. Some of us had legitimate reasons to leave.

[O.P.]

It's too bad that some aspiring young musician exposed to drum corps for the first time tonight will be stamped with the impression that only 10 of the top 12 are worthy of anyone's time.

If you think the ESPN format was bad than don't become a serious figure skating fan because they don't show a dozen or more of the people who are competing at the events when they are televised. Hate to tell you malcontents out there but TV is about what catches people's eyes amd what sells. The drum corps community needs to pay attention to what ESPN is telling us.

1. We are too long and too boring to show everything

2. The human interest aspect is an integral part of the corps experience

The broadcast is not ESPN's charitable gesture for the 11th and 12th place corps to see themselves on TV but a business decsion to market a product they believe they can make money on. When I marched in the stone age only the top 5 corps made it to TV and we saw that as incentive to perform better so we could see ourselves on TV. As a entertainment medium with little to compare ourselves to, we need to decide if we want to expand our audience (which would require changing how we play our game) or just go back to being this odd little subculture. People like Hopkins and Gibbs honestly try to expand and grow the activity which I respect them for as leaders of the activity. Without them, and people like them, the activity would be stuck in 1955.

Its called "progress" folks, and either get on the bus or get left in the past. Your choice.

Edited September 8, 2007 by O.P.

[audiodb]

I heard this from several midwest directors themselves. We have too many tiny shows when we could have one bigger show instead. I was really hoping DeKalb could be one of those "bigger" shows.

DCM paid the corps a performance fee of X and DCI paid the corps a performance fee of 3X so you do the math. Bigger audiences, fewer performances, more quality teaching time with these wonderful young people...see it IS about the kids.

Fewer, bigger shows. Fewer, bigger corps. Just remember that "fewer, bigger" is the route the dinosaurs took.

[audiodb]

all at a price and many times they did a sub par job - hey, for my $250 bucks in tickets on finals week, is it too much to ask for lights that don't buzzz and ruin shows? I guess so.

(and then)

Man, I miss that DeKalb, use to be 2 days of great fun.

Um, the lights at DeKalb buzzed too. Maybe not quite as loud as the Rose Bowl, but still way louder than most other venues.

I miss DeKalb too. But the buzzing light comment was a bit ironic in this context.

[year1buick]

Fewer, bigger shows. Fewer, bigger corps. Just remember that "fewer, bigger" is the route the dinosaurs took.

"Fewer, bigger" seems to work okay for the NFL. (As compared to, say, MLB.)

[HockeyDad]

Actually, not a word of truth. More anti-Cadet drivel that spews out of DCP on a daily basis.

Anti-GH does not equal Anti-Cadets, unless you believe GH IS the Cadets. Do you hold that opinion?

Is it possible people are tired of the "it's all about me" vibe we get from GH? Example - bowing to the crowd? One poster said he can't even see the Cadets anymore - all he can think of is GH.

I have loved the Cadets. I saw them in the "AMEN" shows in the late '70's that didn't make Finals. People buzzed about how they're the hardest working corps in dci - even when not making Finals.

So don't label every poster who has a negative opinion about narration as a Cadet hater. It's just not true. It may be what you need to fit your mental model (negative post = Cadet hater, therefore comments can be dismissed), but it's not true. Don't give me the "what about the other corps that use narration" stuff. Everyone knows that the catalyst for this rule change was GH. So that's why the anti-narration (not anti-Cadets) comments are overwhelmingly directed at GH. It's not any big conspiracy or mystery.

Count me in the group of Cadet lovers who are tired of the GH agenda.