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Why is George Hopkins a punch line?


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I've written this more than once...If George Hopkins didn't exist, we would have to invent him.

Oh he's just so swell as is, can't we just clone him instead ?

Edited by BRASSO
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Nobody? Okay I'll do it. Please understand the reason I'm being opinionated in these explanations is so you can understand how people who dislike Hopkins might feel.

He's been a large voice for rule changes that a huge amount of previous/current DCI fans protested and continue to protest. The main reason people target him in particular is simply because he's a very vocal figure of a high ranking corps with a lot of competitive pull. Whenever a controversial rule change comes about he always seems to be the most vocal supporter and leader. Over time his recurring voice on controversial things just solidified his new role as a "villain" for a lot of old-schoolers and new-schoolers alike. In reality a lot of corps directors feel similarly to him (Gibbs of Blue Devils comes to mind) but they just aren't as vocal as Hopkins. Couple this with quite a few Cadets shows in the past decade or show being incredibly polarizing, and he's basically created a target on himself and the Cadets.

Examples:

Legalization of Bb horns in 2000.

This change was led by Blue Devils and Cadets in 2000, but over the next 4 years it became apparent that Bb was going to be a major shift for every corps. I believe Pioneer was the last holdout on the G horns with (I think) 2003 Madison being the last finalist corps to have them; in reality it was probably financially the best decision for DCI despite the G horns providing superior timbres and arranging possibilities for the medium. [/informedopinion]

Legalization of amplification and vocal amplification in 2004.

Again something that was pushed by a lot of corps directors, but (I believe) Hopkins found himself in the middle of as well. In fact, the Boston Crusaders 2004 show was the first to feel the controversy from fans regarding Amplified Voice. On the other hand, the Cadets' 2004 show was actually incredibly tame/bland by Cadets' standards, but the 2005 show is what helped cause Hopkins to solidify his new villainous position in DCI. The Dreamscapes show made little sense to the average fan (and even myself) while utilizing controversial sounds that seemed to make even less sense. Narration seemed to drag the audience down by talking "at" them rather than letting interpret things in their own way. Fans began to feel as though the Cadets were simply being rewarded for trying new things regardless of whether or not it actually felt like a good show. The only reason I'm giving this heavily opinionated explanation is so you understand why a lot of fans will look to Hopkins as a new leader in simply designing shows exclusively for competitive edge. "Ignoring the fans and siding exclusively with the judges" is what a lot of fans seemed to voice at the time. Obviously that 2005 corps could probably outperform even today's top corps, but the effects it used caused a huge amount of problems with fans. It didn't help that 2005 was very much a down year for DCI shows.

2006 saw them go down a similar path with less competitive success. A 2nd Dreamscapes show based off of Alice in Wonderland that used a ton of narration and human voice fell flat with judges and fans alike. Those same fans who mounted against Hopkins/Cadets in 2005 were likely pleased with the competitive placement, but still frustrated with the Cadets apparent need to try new things with amplification despite the huge backlash.

2007, much like 2005, gave the Cadets an incredibly talented corps with more controversial show elements. This time around, narration was given to actual marching members that again explained and talked "at" the audience. I believe this was also the year the little microcosm of fan frustration occurred on finals weekend when Hopkins delayed the Cadets performance simply to repaint hash marks which he felt weren't up to snuff.

2008 was the year the Cadets tried to base an entire show around both a stage and an a heavily narrated (and most fans agree: boring) story. Like 2006 it seemed to be risky for the sake of being risky, and like the film The Room it was like no one ever told anyone in the design room that almost everything in that show was a bad idea. Luckily the design staff seemed to realize they done f---ed up about halfway through the season when they added the

in a show since maybe Cadets/Cavaliers of the early decade. To me it obviously seemed to simply give the fans and members something special regardless of the obvious design flaws in the rest of the show.

** Keep in mind throughout all these years Hopkins is also one of the few people pushing for saxophones/woodwinds. You can imagine how people might feel about that **

2009 Legalization of electronic instruments (synths and whatnot)

Even though Hopkins was a big supporter of this rule change, you can point to 2009 as a bit of a plateau in the Hopkins hate brigade. Now everyone seems to hate the Blue Devils and their poles/chairs/mirrors/household objects. Everyone still has a bit of frustration to Hopkins due to history (as well as some off-the field reports), but for the most part I feel like a lot of the animosity has died down in the same way that political frustrations eventually lead to semi-tame complacency.

Personally?

I actually enjoy that he likes being innovative, I just wish his definition of "innovative" matched up with mine. Imagine having your grandparents in charge of making things new and innovative... it's just not going to work out. It's also occasionally frustrating to watch the Cadets shows over time; 02-04 is pretty bland, 05-08 is experimental with huge variances of success, 09 was a throwback (which is great), 10 was fairly bland for Cadets' standards, 11 was a nice happy medium (and won a championship!), and 12 was pretty comparable to the 02-04 shows in that it was pretty bland for Cadets' standards. I haven't even seen 13 yet.

Edited by NR_Ohiobando
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A couple of other things NR Ohiobando forgot to point out....

2002 - The Madison Fire Dept incident on Finals night and accusations of pandering. Also, the addition of the Pledge of Allegiance with the words "UNDER GOD" spoken quite loudly after the big court ruling. (also accusations of pandering).

2003 - Changes to the iconic uniform making the Cadets look like they are wearing a cheap knock off of the Cadets uniforms.

2004 - A BATON TWIRLER IN DRUM CORPS? MY GOD HOPKINS HAS GONE MAD! heh...does anybody remember that controversy?

2005 - In addition to the crazy show and talking and drum speak GH went even further out on a limb and got whacky uniforms that further alienated the traditional fans.

2006 - The uniforms got even weirder!

2010 - Little Geoffrey

2013 - The South vs. George Hopkins

Overall I think he's an interesting guy. I love reading his blogs and twitter, etc. I may not always agree with him, but we need a few more personalities in drum corps I think.

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