crownisking Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 (edited) Except... if you were a current marcher in Open Class Drum Corps, you might just have to find another corps or disappear if GH ( and a few others ) had their way..... " kill " was certainly an adjective that was applicable to what GH proposed for all of them in these Corps. I think it should be possible to separate the Director and his Corps. ( if one trys hard enough anyway ). I see no reason to pre judge The Cadets show this year based upon innuendo, gossip, and so forth. Look, I have no use for GH. In my opinion, he's been good for his Corps, but bad for the activity. I wish he'd retire and move on to something else frankly. The Cadets would not fall apart if someone else took over the reigns there. They'd still be a top Corps if he left. That said, I can set that personal assessement aside and still enjoy his Corps this year. I look forward to the Cadets show, and wish all the marchers in The Cadets the best this summer. It's rare for The Cadets not to have a great show. I expect they won't disappoint this year either. I agree with a couple of points you made: 1. Yes, I have no doubt that The Cadets would not only survive, but do just fine without George Hopkins. Absolutely. They were there long before him, and they will be there long after him. 2. I can count on The Cadets putting on a great show every year, even if it's a year that I look at the repertoire and think I'm gonna be a little bored. (It didn't happen very often, but there have been a couple years where I wasn't sure I would be as entertained, but I always was when I saw the shows live) However, I think (again, just my opinion) if you take George Hopkins away from The Cadets, you will lose an important part of its fan base, and potentially its recruiting pool as well. Again, I'm not saying there would be 0 fans left and no one would want to ever march for them again. That's just silly. I just think that a significant number of people cheer/march for The Cadets nowadays because of George Hopkins and his "unique" approach to running the organization. Edited March 29, 2011 by crownisking 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euponitone Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 several from Boston, the Zone and others Lol...our 05 show wasn't borrowed or copied. "Losely based on something the designer did with another group".... sure, but considering the title, music, story, and drill were completely different, i'm not sure how you can say it was borrowed from a high school band....especially considering sully created both shows... Do designers mix ideas / themes from WGI, BOA, and DCI - yeah...all the time. Do i wish it wasn't so?...probably, but i know it's not going to happen, and i've got other, more significant things to complain about :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaddyt Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 However, I think (again, just my opinion) if you take George Hopkins away from The Cadets, you will lose an important part of its fan base, and potentially its recruiting pool as well. Again, I'm not saying there would be 0 fans left and no one would want to ever march for them again. That's just silly. I just think that a significant number of people cheer/march for The Cadets nowadays because of George Hopkins and his "unique" approach to running the organization. I highly doubt that. While I'm hot and cold on Hopkins personally, he has no bearing on my support or enthusiasm for the Cadets as a corps. It's pretty obvious to me that Rudy is being groomed as the successor, and from what little I've seen of him, I'm sure the Cadets will be just fine with him at the helm. And while I've never marched, I know a bunch who have and none of them single out Hopkins as a reason for auditioning for the corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Honestly, I could be wrong, but I've seen a lot of high schools do the zone show after The Cadets did it in '05. Again, I could be wrong, but usually high school bands get their inspiration from corps, not the other way around. But one thing you can't take away from them is that they: 1) won the championship that year and 2) did so with a score tied for the highest in DCI history! Did I say the show sucked? No I just said, and it's public knowledge the show came from a high school ( Michigan i think). It's no secret Tarpon Springs has been a Boston testing ground. Helps if you don't read into the response to your question 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Lol...our 05 show wasn't borrowed or copied. "Losely based on something the designer did with another group".... sure, but considering the title, music, story, and drill were completely different, i'm not sure how you can say it was borrowed from a high school band....especially considering sully created both shows... Do designers mix ideas / themes from WGI, BOA, and DCI - yeah...all the time. Do i wish it wasn't so?...probably, but i know it's not going to happen, and i've got other, more significant things to complain about :) odd. I remember seeing a totally different story back then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I agree with a couple of points you made: 1. Yes, I have no doubt that The Cadets would not only survive, but do just fine without George Hopkins. Absolutely. They were there long before him, and they will be there long after him. They didn't win till George showed up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 (edited) I agree with a couple of points you made: 1. Yes, I have no doubt that The Cadets would not only survive, but do just fine without George Hopkins. Absolutely. They were there long before him, and they will be there long after him. 2. I can count on The Cadets putting on a great show every year, even if it's a year that I look at the repertoire and think I'm gonna be a little bored. (It didn't happen very often, but there have been a couple years where I wasn't sure I would be as entertained, but I always was when I saw the shows live) However, I think (again, just my opinion) if you take George Hopkins away from The Cadets, you will lose an important part of its fan base, and potentially its recruiting pool as well. Again, I'm not saying there would be 0 fans left and no one would want to ever march for them again. That's just silly. I just think that a significant number of people cheer/march for The Cadets nowadays because of George Hopkins and his "unique" approach to running the organization. Well I think its great that you have a lot of passion for the cadets organization and George Hopkins. I would agree that he has done a lot for his corps, students, the marching arts, and for drum corps over the years. However, your point that George Hopkins is some how an "important" part of the corps fan base is probably a bit of a stretch. I can't say that I'm a fan of a corps because of "who's" in charge or running it. I like a corps based on how's it run and the programs they put out on the field. Yes, the people in charge "influence" that, but I don't look at them as the "cause" of me being fan. You're point however probably reflects an idea that the cadets may "change" (in show style and aura) if George were to leave. And frankly the jury is still out on that, it could, or it could not, depending on who's next. But based on other corps and their changed directors, those corps auras still very much stayed the same. Edited March 29, 2011 by charlie1223 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 They didn't win till George showed up... very good point. tho he didn't write it all himself 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 (edited) Except... if you were a current marcher in Open Class Drum Corps, you might just have to find another corps or disappear if GH ( and a few others ) had their way..... " kill " was certainly an adjective that was applicable to what GH proposed for all of them in these Corps. I think it should be possible to separate the Director and his Corps. ( if one trys hard enough anyway ). I see no reason to pre judge The Cadets show this year based upon innuendo, gossip, and so forth. Look, I have no use for GH. In my opinion, he's been good for his Corps, but bad for the activity. I wish he'd retire and move on to something else frankly. The Cadets would not fall apart if someone else took over the reigns there. They'd still be a top Corps if he left. That said, I can set that personal assessement aside and still enjoy his Corps this year. I look forward to the Cadets show, and wish all the marchers in The Cadets the best this summer. It's rare for The Cadets not to have a great show. I expect they won't disappoint this year either. One thing you should always allow people to do is to change their opinions and thoughts once given time to reflect on new information and ideas. The media likes to characterize people as "statues of ideas". That somehow what they said 3 years agos applies to their current thoughts now without inquiring for new opinion. People change, quickly or slowly, a little or a lot. On the same idea, we shouldn't characterize someone entirely on a single idea that they have said, or supported. People are more three dimensional than that. Also, you are VERY right that "it should be possible to separate the director and his corps". It's not only possible but in the case of drum corps it has to be done more often. Your opinions of GH are your opinions, and you have a right to them. I know that for me, I completely respect anyone who is willing to express their beliefs as boldly and confidently as he does. I've noticed over the years that peopled don't want "administration" to use the corps they work with (and the students) as "shields" and at the same time you have people who show their frustration and anger at what corps does by taking it out on the corps and its members... that's not fair either. What's to be done? To constantly remind people to separate the two. ALWAYS remember that seperation, respect the corps, and members, and have your opinions be directed at the person who created the ideas you disagree with. Edited March 29, 2011 by charlie1223 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie1223 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 very good point. tho he didn't write it all himself certainly not, like a good entrepreneur, he didn't create all the capital and labor but he knew how to put them together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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