Why is George Hopkins a punch line?

[skevinp]

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Edited August 20, 2013 by skevinp

[George Dixon]

And apparently, Brasso, some of the pom-pom waivers believe you can't have a split opinion of George and his corps. You have to either love him or hate him.

Many fans are capable of having multiple opinions of the man and his corps depending on the context of the discussion, as you so aptly put it above.

Agreed

But let's be honest, just as there are those who will love him and Cadets no matter what there are those who always hate him and practically always seem to hate the Cadets

The cross over is what bothers me - some hold Cadets responsible for George, George responsible for everything wrong in the world

As chief "pom pom" guy - I think he is right 95% of the time, I think his delivery sucks 30% of the time. I love the Cadets 2 out of 3 years. But nothing is 100% in my eyes

Should work both ways.

[Michael Boo]

And then there are things that are just not meant to be posted in public by a notoriously outspoken Corps Director when he unfairly maligns an entire region, ie " The South ". He was, at the very least, politically and culturally tone deaf not to have realised that his words would be interpreted this way when this Corps Director " from the North " said this publically, and with a very broad brush, regarding his bad treatment of his Corps " in the South ". Ironically, If it wasn't for the last minute emergency heavy influx of MM's " in the South " ( Univ. of Mississippi ) one year in the early 80's, the Cadets, from all reports, would have folded. GH himself personally traveled to the Univ. Mississippi to plead with them there to come help him save his Corps that literally was on the brink of having to fold within a few weeks. Now he claims he doesn't like the treatment his Corps is currently receiving " in the South ". Some people apparently arn't aware of this... or have forgotten, perhaps. But the irony with this is not lost on at least some of us anyway.

I still think there's a world of difference in thinking he wrote he doesn't like the treatment the corps gets in the South and thinking the facilities for rehearsing and lodging aren't what they are in other parts of the country. And there are many magnificent places to rehearse and stay in the South...when he goes down to the Phillies training camp during the winter, I hope he travels around and scouts out some locations. Many people on DCP would be all too happy to help him out in that.

[Michael Boo]

...

As chief "pom pom" guy - I think he is right 95% of the time, I think his delivery sucks 30% of the time. I love the Cadets 2 out of 3 years. But nothing is 100% in my eyes

...

Only 30%?

[skevinp]

I think the healthiest way to view George is neither as a villain or a saint. It seems almost irrefutable that there is decency in the man because you seldom hear anything to the contrary from those who have known him. But he has not always exercised good judgment and there have been consequences, and people who try to justify his every action are in reality showing disrespect to the victims of those consequences and to those who express honest concerns about them.

This thread seemed pretty positive when it was just about being a punch line. I think having a little playful fun and making a few innocent jokes with regard to these events that most people are already well aware of is a more positive approach than angrily taking one side or the other. I don't think anyone is going to be converted by all-or-nothing pronouncements, but we can at least send the positive message that DCI is strong enough to withstand a little controversy by putting it in perspective and not taking it too seriously.

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Edited August 19, 2013 by skevinp

[funkjazzaxe]

I am sure that Hopkins has nothing but the best in mind for his corps, and for drum corps in general. He has a very difficult job- all corps directors do. It is a tough gig, and you have to have a deep desire to serve youth and a real passion for the activity in order to do it. That said, I am not a fan of many of the rapid and drastic changes that have swept through DCI based on Hopkins' proposals. Amplification/mic'd brass/narration/synthesizers/etc... these are all changes he has aggressively pushed, and ones that have changed the activity and put a nail in the drum & bugle corps that existed until fairly recently (decade ago). My problem is, if you read his proposals, they are pretty haphazardly written- kind of a "what if we did this" approach and I am not sure they were based on any market research. He feels that with the aforementioned changes drum corps will adapt to the modern age and attract more kids and fans. But, who did he ask? Did he do market research? Did he facilitate focus groups? Were fans and potential members really loosing interest in the activity because there weren't synthesizers, amplified brass, and sampled soundbites? I haven't personally found that to be the case, at least with the many drum corps folks I know. In fact, I believe many people have walked away from the activity as it becomes more and more of a summer BOA/WGI stage show and looses the core elements/strengths that make it unique. Again, I have nothing but respect for Hopkins for his obvious passion for the activity and, most importantly, the kids. But- I believe most of his proposals and changes have been based more on personal hunches and pipe dreams, rather than solid market research and actually asking/polling to see what the kids and fans really want.

[flammaster]

I respect George Hopkins! The guy has a lot of passion and is doing a great job with his drum corps. I actually think it's great that he has occasional stumbles socially. I bet he is a really nice guy in person too. I might poke fun at some of his ideas but all in all I really do respect the guy.

[Michael Boo]

I still think there's a world of difference in thinking he wrote he doesn't like the treatment the corps gets in the South and thinking the facilities for rehearsing and lodging aren't what they are in other parts of the country. And there are many magnificent places to rehearse and stay in the South...when he goes down to the Phillies training camp during the winter, I hope he travels around and scouts out some locations. Many people on DCP would be all too happy to help him out in that.

I guess there are some that either don't want him to do that or wouldn't be willing to help out...lol.

[BRASSO]

I am sure that Hopkins has nothing but the best in mind for his corps, and for drum corps in general. He has a very difficult job- all corps directors do. It is a tough gig, and you have to have a deep desire to serve youth and a real passion for the activity in order to do it. That said, I am not a fan of many of the rapid and drastic changes that have swept through DCI based on Hopkins' proposals. Amplification/mic'd brass/narration/synthesizers/etc... these are all changes he has aggressively pushed, and ones that have changed the activity and put a nail in the drum & bugle corps that existed until fairly recently (decade ago). My problem is, if you read his proposals, they are pretty haphazardly written- kind of a "what if we did this" approach and I am not sure they were based on any market research. He feels that with the aforementioned changes drum corps will adapt to the modern age and attract more kids and fans. But, who did he ask? Did he do market research? Did he facilitate focus groups? Were fans and potential members really loosing interest in the activity because there weren't synthesizers, amplified brass, and sampled soundbites? I haven't personally found that to be the case, at least with the many drum corps folks I know. In fact, I believe many people have walked away from the activity as it becomes more and more of a summer BOA/WGI stage show and looses the core elements/strengths that make it unique. Again, I have nothing but respect for Hopkins for his obvious passion for the activity and, most importantly, the kids. But- I believe most of his proposals and changes have been based more on personal hunches and pipe dreams, rather than solid market research and actually asking/polling to see what the kids and fans really want.

Except for the woodwinds, just about all the instrumentation that GH has proposed have eventually been adopted. GH is convinced, from reports, that its all just a matter of time before the woodwinds ( which are already in use in DCI Individuals competition ) will be approved for DCI Field Competition. Based upon all his other instrumentation proposals that he has proposed that eventually found passage, it is probably safe to assume that woodwinds useage for DCI Field Competition will be here at some point. If so, we can thank ( or blame ) GH for his pushing the Drum & Bugle Corps in this instrumentation direction that he has pretty much been doing agressively for decades now.

Edited August 19, 2013 by BRASSO

[cixelsyd]

I think most of the time, he says things and puts ideas out there that the other directors want, but won't put their name to. You can't tell me that no other director wanted Bb horns, or electronics in drum corps. He went and put his name on it though, so that means that people will target him because his name was the one put out there.

Regarding Bb horns, or A&E, it is not that no one else was willing to put their name out there. The proposal for any-key brass was authored by Dave Gibbs, and Mark Arnold was the author of at least one of the earlier A&E proposals. But amplification took many, many tries to get passed, and it was Hopkins who became the author of its repeated resubmission until it passed on the 14th try.