skywhopper Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) The whole point of the post was to ask local Cadet Alums/Supporters if there were alternate sites available. Which there were. And there was no need for him to toss in the fact that he prefers to avoid the South to ask that question. Nothing good could possibly come of it. And whatever you or I think of the statement (I think it's pretty rude to toss out what amounts to a slam right before you go tour a region, but I realize Hop was just mismanaging his frustration and needs an editor), it obviously bothered a lot of people in the area. Edited July 22, 2013 by skywhopper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 He didn't say that the south was bad, he said that the corps has a hard time getting the facilities they need in the south. That's not an insult, it's a statement of history. Sometimes too much honesty is rude. Pointing out negative things that have no bearing on the context is gratuitous and sends a message, intended or not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) Yeah, this paragraph of his post didn't make the "news" article (news being a very generous term for that article) "Pass the word. We will travel. If we can get a location within an hour of the stadium we are fine; an we will pay if we have to. Now, we do have some stadiums we can move to during the day, but we want the drivers to stay asleep, we like to be self contained and we like to work hard." The whole point of the post was to ask local Cadet Alums/Supporters if there were alternate sites available. Which there were. Thanks... as for the drivers staying asleep, well US DOT requires that too.... :devil:/> So good and bad (see Skywhoppers post two above) in the FB blurb which is usual in cases like this. Bad still would bother me as a group offereing a site that the stink storm came up and GH aplogized to the corps and... that was it. Unless something has been posted or sent privately it's like the groups offering the "problem" sites have been ignored. Gee, wonder how much they would want to host in the future. Edited July 22, 2013 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuriousMe Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 And there was no need for him to toss in the fact that he prefers to avoid the South to ask that question. Nothing good could possibly come of it. And whatever you or I think of the statement (I think it's pretty rude to toss out what amounts to a slam right before you go tour a region, but I realize Hop was just mismanaging his frustration and needs an editor), it obviously bothered a lot of people in the area. From the amount of times the "50 million dollar school" was mentioned in the replies to his post....my guess is that folks got their nose out of joint because Cadets chose not to stay at their shiny new high school. He wasn't speaking about his "preference" for the south or not....he was saying that he runs in to more housing issues in the south and because of that the corps avoids touring there. I still don't see that as a slam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seen-it-all Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Well, I've read a lot of comments, and a LOT of generalizations. Those of you citing Hopkins supporters as apologists are missing the point, and those who are condemning the entire Cadets organization because of 1 person's actions are casting a generalization at the corps which is, in FACT, false. I have seen the pot stirrers and those who just love to bash Hopkins at any chance they get. The bottom line here is that a corps director became frustrated by a situation that was not ideal and where he was told he would get one thing (for the corps) and ultimately that agreement changed. If you've every run a top 12 corps you know how big a deal this is. Every rehearsal day can cost a corps or really help. I would think any director would be irate over this. Now, would other directors lash out the way he did? Some might, but most would not. GH has always been very "open" and public with his life, his emotions, his thoughts, and his love for the activity. We may not like his ideas, and most other directors do not blog and FB and tweat like he does, but there are both pros and cons to such openness. Nobody in the activity offers more off-season info and media than do the Cadets. That is because of GH. With the good comes the bad. He can also be very vocal and open when he is upset, and in this case he was clearly wrong, using poor judgement and he demonstrated a lack of good leadership skills. He has apologized to my knowledge, and he has blogged about his unprofessional actions (in this case) as a letter to his corps. I read it and it was quite sincere. Now, is GH the first leader to make a mistake? No. Have all of you made mistakes? Yes. Hell, I've said some sh-t when things have gone wrong with my band program and I'm just glad that I don't FB or Tweat those things. But I'm also not as open as GH is. In the long run, GH knows the South has good reason to be mad at him. Hopefully intelligent people will realize that it was a corps director in a heated moment that made a bad mistake and nothing more. The crudest and less-intelligent will generalize the whole situation and boo the Cadets, make false statements about how the Cadets are classless and complain about rehearsal sites, etc. This is what the uninformed do and it's what less-than-intelligent people do...they embellish, generalize, cast a wide stone, and then place themselves on the perch of "I would never have done this horrible act." Personally I would have been ###### at those schools and at DCI, and who knows what would have come out of my mouth. I can only hope I would not have posted it. Corps directors definitely have a lot of stress and they want the best for their members, staff, and for the benefit of their competitive chances. That's not an apology for GH's actions. It's just a summary of why these things can happen from time to time. Clearly he was wrong. I only ask that we stop casting over-arching stones at the total organization. I have seen and heard far worse in this activity, and with corps that many of you think are sacred. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuriousMe Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Sometimes too much honesty is rude. Pointing out negative things that have no bearing on the context is gratuitous and sends a message, intended or not. I'll take "too much honesty" over "only telling me things I want to hear" every single time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) From the amount of times the "50 million dollar school" was mentioned in the replies to his post....my guess is that folks got their nose out of joint because Cadets chose not to stay at their shiny new high school. If it was my old school district noses would be out of joint for another reason. Few years back they built a new HS that the locals not so nicely call the "Taj Mahal". Bring up the price tg there (not sure what is was) and the taxpayers start going ballistic. And to infer that school sites in the area are substandard.... OUCH..... Sure the amount on the School tax notice doesn't reflect that. Well my old district wouldn't have that problem as no way in Hades would non-taxpayers use the facilites without having an in with the School Board. And in reply to your above post... tact can be a wonderful thing.... Edited July 22, 2013 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Personally I would have been ###### at those schools and at DCI, and who knows what would have come out of my mouth. I'm sure Hop was mad at those folks, but you seem to assume (elsewhere in your post) that he had a right to be. From what the school said (namely that Cadets wanted the stadium for rehearsal, but that another corps had asked first, and so the other corps got it), it sounds like the Cadets were just sloppy in their planning or communication with the show host/stadium owners and failed to ensure they had the facilities lined up well ahead of time. I'm sure Hop thought he or his staff had locked that in, but turns out they were confused. The right thing for Hop and his staff to do would be to take responsibility (even if it wasn't their fault) for the mixup, learn a lesson about due diligence when touring in new places, and use it as an opportunity to post a positive message. Alas, Hop chose poorly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 (edited) I'll take "too much honesty" over "only telling me things I want to hear" every single time. I'm not talking about what *you* would like. Folks in Hop's position have to take into account everyone their message is reaching. He could have been honest without being rude to the South. Edited July 22, 2013 by skywhopper 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuriousMe Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 I'm not talking about what *you* would like. Folks in Hop's position have to take into account everyone their message is reaching. He could have been honest without being rude to the South. And there's the crux of our difference of opinion. I think he was honest without being rude. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.