Staying classy

[Overhype]

I respect your response.

I stand behind my comment that "the student would be gone -- immediately." from the standpoint of that competition (which actually consists of several competitions -- marching, jazz, concert, etc.). And when I mentioned "permanently," I also stated the words "a good chance." Yes, there would be room for reconsideration on my part. No, that is not self-serving waffling. I do believe in fairness, and I do believe in "teaching moments." I think the philosophy I have always instilled in my students, and which I stated in my post, supports this.

Maybe it paints me as an old fogey, but I still do believe in right and wrong, proper and improper, and basic values. And maybe I have been disillusioned by the modern practice of being expected to acknowledge excuses for any transgression -- no matter how flimsy the excuse, or how major the transgression. We live in an age of entitlement; but nobody, for any reason, is to treat a competitor in a way which has led to this entire discussion. I may be wrong...but that's what I am, and will continue to be.

Again, I respect the fact that you have engaged in this discussion in a respectful manner.

"To treat a competitor in a way..." I'm keeping in mind that a MM scribbled something on the bottom of their own shoes. Someone took a photo of it. Someone published it on the internet. Maybe it was all the same person. Maybe not.

I'm keeping in mind that the MM didn't actually DO anything to their competitor. The MM didn't "treat" their competitor poorly - well, not directly anyway. Did they flip the bird to their competitor? No. (I actually remember seeing someone do that years ago - presumably a staff member - from behind their corps' retreat block, but I don't recall who it was or what year. Doesn't matter now.) They didn't start a scuffle or any direct name-calling, as far as I know. This was probably something done in relative private that was unfortunately and (if I may say) stupidly published.

In the 30+ years that I have been following the activity, I have never known that particular corps to do anything unbecoming. In fact, that particular corps tends to epitomize appropriate decorum, almost unbelievably. I don't recall ever seeing them even celebrate right after winning championships. I don't think many of us could usually tell just from looking at them in their finals retreat block whether they placed 1st, 2nd or 7th. Talk about a poker face! I personally wish they would loosen up and celebrate a little, blow off a little steam, and maybe be a little more open to crossing yard lines and interacting with other corps members. While I saw teams #1, 2 and 5 co-mingling after scores tonight, team #3 kind of appeared to storm off. Now, I know from many years of watching them, that this was most probably not the case. This is just the manner in which they conduct themselves as a group. (Tangent: I know many of those MMs were disappointed tonight, but I hope they return to their regular lives with a great sense of accomplishment and that they all had a great summer.)

I don't regard you as an "old fogey" or "wrong." We just disagree on some points in this particular discussion and apparently how we perceive the DCI activity, and that is all fine. I would probably be considered an "old fogey" too in that I agree with many of the same things that you listed above. I am also not a fan of the modern trend of some being so easily offended to the point where others have to walk on eggshells and be so politically correct. I think things are very different than they were a few decades ago, and I don't think it has all been change for the better.

I am not trying to and don't expect to change your mind on any of this. I appreciate the civilized dialogue.

[Zeke]

"To treat a competitor in a way..." I'm keeping in mind that a MM scribbled something on the bottom of their own shoes. Someone took a photo of it. Someone published it on the internet. Maybe it was all the same person. Maybe not.

I'm keeping in mind that the MM didn't actually DO anything to their competitor. The MM didn't "treat" their competitor poorly - well, not directly anyway. Did they flip the bird to their competitor? No. (I actually remember seeing someone do that years ago - presumably a staff member - from behind their corps' retreat block, but I don't recall who it was or what year. Doesn't matter now.) They didn't start a scuffle or any direct name-calling, as far as I know. This was probably something done in relative private that was unfortunately and (if I may say) stupidly published.

92 Phantom Finals Retreat?

Edited August 10, 2014 by Zeke

[jwillis35]

Things of this nature need to be put into perspective instead of sensationalizing the event and generalizing the actions as a black eye on many. Someone did a dumb thing. Happens every day. Somehow a photo of that dumb thing went public. The Cadets, I'm sure, have acted on the situation. That's a private matter how they do that. The well-publicized image of the crime has cause stereotypes to fly. Cadets are classless, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cadets have many friends in BD. Their front percussion ensembles shared some time this summer. Took a wonderful photo. But social media can help to further a stereotype or a generalization for several reasons: 1) misinformation, 2) leaving the details up to the uninformed (before the facts get out), and 3) pot stir-ers who like to cause trouble and perhaps who wish to hurt the image of a corps (for whatever reasons).

Every corps has bad apples, and I'd say that in this case it was more likely a good apple making a bad mistake. Your favorite corps has the same type of kids. They're called "NORMAL."

In this case it's those who like to stir-the-pot who look the most immature.