rmurrey74 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 If a vet is not prepared for auditions and does make enough effort to meet the requirements of the corps, then they should be cut. It's a tough decision but it wouldn't be fair to everyone else auditioning if exceptions were made. The corps should be making their best effort to evaluate objectively each year and giving everyone spending time and money the same chance. Vets obviously have a HUGE advantage because they know the system and expectations. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xandandl Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) To answer your question, OP, I do know that Crown, PR, Cadets and Caavaliers have not re-contracted some vets at times, particularly those who came to auditions unprepared or who were most difficult to live/work with during tours. I have heard that this has also been true in Calif. corps, but I do not know specific instances to comment further. At one of the first three corps I mentioned, I do know a situation of a vet who was not re-contracted after a November audition, went home and worked on his technique and attitude and re-appeared at a March camp asking for a re-audition, if only as a substitute. By the end of spring training, he had found a spot, not his original one but one which allowed him to march satisfactorily for all concerned. Edited January 13, 2015 by xandandl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) I'm sorry, but all of this reeks of nothing more than contemporary society's expectations of "entitlement." Maybe that's my old age coming through...but that's how I feel. Those of us dealing with the day-to-day real world know that we are entitled to nothing...or at least most of us know that. Just because I might have had a winning (or rather, successful. One may be successful without necessarily being a champion) band or bands "x" number of years ago doesn't automatically indicate that I am a worthy teacher today. And as hard as it may be to accept, the same should hold true for Corps marching members. Please keep in mind that I am saying this with no intentions of being harsh...just realistic according to my own personal philosophy. Edited January 12, 2015 by HornTeacher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleran Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 I'm sorry, but all of this reeks of nothing more than contemporary society's expectations of "entitlement." I don't know if the sentiment is particular just to contemporary society. Isn't this the same sort of sentiment that riddles the union movement all the way through history - that those with seniority, or so-called veterans, are the ones protected at the expense of newbies, in every collective bargaining agreement? Isn't this the same sentiment as the concept of tenure in schools? Isn't this the same sentiment that says it was ok for America to welcome our poor immigrant grandparents into the country in 1914, but it's not ok to let in any new poor immigrants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornTeacher Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) Absolutely yes, Eleran. Maybe it just seems to me that it has become much more prevalent over the past few years. I do know that I see much more of it in my students (and their parents) now than I did in students (and their parents) under my tutelage when I started in 1981. Edited January 12, 2015 by HornTeacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Anyone who plays or tosses knows that, if you take several months off, you get rusty, and obviously auditions are no time to be rusty. While I appreciate the tone, and especially at a corps that has several hundred kids auditioning, if a kid gets rusty while another kid shines well above expectations, I'm not convinced that "earning" a spot just because you're a vet meets the high level of expectations that the activity promotes. Good points. Like an NFL vet who comes to training camp out of shape/not as motivated as in years past/whatever, and is beaten out by a new player who is raring to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) And yes, before anyone starts in with the "but drum corps isn't the NFL" stuff.... I am fully aware that drum corps is not the NFL, and that the circumstances surrounding drum corps/marching music and professional sports are, for all intents and purposes, entirely different. And thank goodness for that. Edited January 12, 2015 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleran Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Absolutely yes, Eleran. Maybe it just seems to me that it has become much more prevalent over the past few years. I do know that I see much more of it in my students (and their parents) now than I did in students (and their parents) under my tutelage when I started in 1981. There definitely does seem to have been something of a cultural shift over the years in this country from accepting what transpires and carrying on, to begging/demanding/suing to get what one believes was due in the first place. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideways Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 If the vet can't hang, then they shouldn't be given a spot just because they marched a year. What if said vet was a complete tick all season and everyone hated to be around them? We've all marched with those kind of people, and don't want them back. Or the ones that are ticks and then go back home and talk as if they were the star member. No one likes that guy. And if they show up un-prepared to auditions, well, it sucks to be them. Call it motivation for the next season to work harder and come back prepared and ready to show what you can do. Not the "pc" thing to do anymore but there are ways of dealing with those ticks to make sure they do not want to stick around... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwillpayne Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Performed with INT one summer. I thought I was going to be section leader the following year. I worked hard, trained hard, and was cut the following November. Something about not using turf spray at all the prior year.....or maybe it was deodorant. neither here nor there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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