Staff merri-go-round

[oldbandguy]

Would mention the Bluecoats actually folded a couple of times along the way. What's the old saying about the race is not always a sprint.

[Tim K]

I dont think anyone with a clue expects Boston to immediately contend. it'll take time...cultures to be merged etc. But these guys have track records of good things. In time with the right total team.....hey in 2000, who expected Bluecoats to one day contend? or Crown?

Immediately contend, perhaps not,, but remember, George Zingali left 27th for the then Garfield Cadets. Within a year they placed third and within two years they took home the first of three championships. I do not expect it to happen with Boston, lots of different factors were involved in Cadets rise including the young young visionary George Hopkins in his early career (don't forget, before Facebook and Twitter recorded ever move he made and every word he uttered, he was highly regarded), but if that did happen for Boston, wouldn't that shake things up a bit!

[Lance]

did boston change their field staff at all, or is there any word that they will? i assume the new caption heads might want to bring in their own people, and that's really important, too.

also, wasn't sully with boston for a few heartbeats, or am i thinking of somebody else?

[Tim K]

Colin McNutt has a pretty good history of his students following him. Being that Boston isn't that far away and he is a disciple of Thom Hannum/UMASS, I'd be willing to bet that there were probably a handful of UMASS students in the section already. It makes sense that they would also go to BAC and follow him there. I know Thom runs the show and Colin assists him there but listen to the UMASS line and listen to a McNutt Cadets line. They sound identical.

This is purely speculation on my part, but I do not believe at the present time BAC has too many, if any kids associated with U Mass. Most kids who attend U Mass hail from Massachusetts, and my guess is the majority of kids in the band are also from the Bay State. It was often pointed out that most kids who march with WC corps from Massachusetts march with Cadets, Crown (this may be due to an instructor), and Bluecoats. While BAC does have auditions in Boston, and would love to have more local kids, most kids who March with BAC hail from Florida and Texas. Remember, BAC's camps are held in Florida, which means two or three round trips to Florida during peak flying times which is expensive.

[Sandonovan]

It would be interesting to see Boston start a surge to a medal now, it would add another layer to the competitiveness of the activity and be a good thing for them after dropping in placements over the last few years.

[HNCadet]

Just a bit of historical perspective on the GH controversy being debated and dissected.

G has been Director of the Corp since I believe 1983 and on staff since '78(?) He was chosen by the prior Director with input from earlier Alumni Directors. Given his background he was the best choice at the time. G has produced outstanding results(in terms of Championships) for the vast majority of his tenure, however his single-mindedness on assuming complete control of the organization has been long known by the older Alumni and perhaps even encouraged a bit from the outset.

The complaint of "Its My Way or the Highway" type of management is not something entirely new within the Cadet Organization, even from its earliest days. It seems with the Cadets anyway, that those Directors that held that absolute Vision AND THE POWER to see that vision thru have been the most successful Directors The Cadets have had. Mr Huber and Mr Kemmerer held the Directors Title for 24 years(1940-1964) and in that time amassed 10 National Titles and both those men were in complete control of the direction of the organization. Even though G never bought into the Traditions of the Corp, he would have been an idiot not to see the results of his prior Alumni. All of the other Directors combined have 0 Titles, although they're skill sets were put to the test in reinventing the organization and keeping it on the field and competing. They were the ones navigating the start & later the big changes in the activity during the 60-70's, and don't overlook the fact that G inherited a Corp that had already been transformed and was climbing to the top and Yes, he did have a good deal to do with that and that's why he was the best choice............He had a vision and therefore was given the power to see it through. He just took it to levels that we could not have imagined.

The question of his management style today really isn't much different than that of some successful entrepreneurs who reach a high level of accomplishment and when conditions in the labor market change they are unable to change they're management style to meet the demands of the age. We've all seen this dance happen at whatever industry we labored through life. G is now simply forcing his vision on a staff that no longer buys into his style. He now has only two choices. He can find that new staff that he can again force his visions upon or he will have to re-invent HIMSELF before he self-destructs. Someone here mentioned earlier about a Sports Staff analogy and I agree............this could very well be the start of a replay of the Bo Pelini meltdown @ Nebraska.

Those of us still alive and watching this drama unfold(live on social media!) have been awaiting this moment for some time and are simply sitting back and waiting to see which path he takes. Our only fear is that should he continue down his current path, he attempts to take down the organization with him, but we doubt G is a Psychopath. Unfortunately, his morale character appears to be not what one could compare favorably to a Mr. Huber or Mr. Kemmerer. Both of those men operated within the strict confines of the Church and earned your respect, never demanded it and that's what we believe has changed in him. Therein lies the failure of his leadership.......#### that ego. Can he re-invent himself? Well, still being old school, we PRAY that he does.

Lastly G craves success like a heroin addict. To him however, success is not necessarily winning those Titles, but attracting hundreds of young men & women to enroll in his programs every year, rewarding him with their attention and attendance. We don't see him relinquishing that fix.

Godspeed G. you were entrusted with something far greater than yourself and in 2007 you were even proclaimed a Cadet, now it's up to you to live up to seeing that "For Holy Name Shall Always Be......" doesn't stop on your watch.

It's been awhile since I read Dante's Inferno, but I recall something about a special place in Hell for.............

Edited August 17, 2016 by HNCadet

[BillH]

Quite honestly I would like to hear it. I am a guard person who has been around a VERY long time and has a pretty great resume with some really big name programs that I am still involved with (not tooting my own horn just trying to explain my experience and knowledge) and I disagree with you on the Cadet guard. I'm interested in where your opinions are coming from. I sat through all three days of every show there and can tell you that in no way shape or form was the Cadet guard valued correctly. Quite honestly neither was the corp (example: no way the Cavie brass is better than Cadet brass). The problem was that the Cadets got caught in the slotting game and once there show was not scoring well by the judging community that was that (not saying the show was great). Now I'm not saying they were a medalist but I am saying that they were DEFINITELY better than the Cavaliers and quite frankly should have been way closer to SCV. But the judges were not going to let that happen. Look at the scores over the last week leading into DCI. All over the place. And please do not say "different panel". There is clear cut criteria to judge by. Yes they may see some things a little differently and yes the corps may perform differently each time but not as ridiculous as the scores showed over just the DCI weekend alone. The Cadets scores were so underrated it's ridiculous. So I am curious as to your thoughts on the Cadet guard since we obviously do not agree.

In my opinion, there really are NOT clear cut criteria to judge by. Up until the mid-late 2000's, the criteria were spelled out in each of the legendary 5 boxes, in each subcaption score range. To get to box 4 for example, one had to exhibit all of the criteria listed and, as the corps improved in consistency and showed more attributes from box 5, their score should have progressed within the range of box 4. Sure, there were differences of opinion between judges and between staff and judges, but there was a clear rubric related to the score given that could enable an informed discussion about scores and provided a tool for more objective evaluation by the judge in each subcaption.

Some time in the last 10-15 years, those criteria and descriptions were removed from the boxes and replaced with descriptors ranging from never (box 1) to always (box 5). The criteria are in a list in the description of the subcaption. This means that the judge is basically given a 10 point range for the subcaption from which they select a number, with no direct correlation to the criteria. To get from box 4 ("Usually") to box 5 ("Always"), the judge has no specific criteria to measure by. Usually What? Always what? And in critique, the staff cannot ask what is not evident to the judge (criteria-wise) to reach a certain subcaption score, as the judge has no real rubric any longer.

The result of this is that we have lost integrity in the captions relative to specific design and performance attributes and numbers assignment becomes far more subjective, in my opinion. So wild swings in scoring, placement and spreads between panels are easy to anticipate.

Not trying to make this a lament for "back in the day". Just correcting the perception that the judges have clear-cut criteria for each number that should be relatively consistent from judge to judge.

[BRASSO]

This is purely speculation on my part, but I do not believe at the present time BAC has too many, if any kids associated with U Mass. Most kids who attend U Mass hail from Massachusetts, and my guess is the majority of kids in the band are also from the Bay State. It was often pointed out that most kids who march with WC corps from Massachusetts march with Cadets, Crown (this may be due to an instructor), and Bluecoats. While BAC does have auditions in Boston, and would love to have more local kids, most kids who March with BAC hail from Florida and Texas. Remember, BAC's camps are held in Florida, which means two or three round trips to Florida during peak flying times which is expensive.

Umass- Amherst is located in the western section of Massachusetts, a few hours from Boston. Michael Klesch affiliation with this University's Marching Band ( and Crown ) has sent scores of Marchers to Carolina Crown over the years. Colin McNutt ( who marched Boston in his youth ) teaches Percussion there, and over the years, Percussionists from there found their way to the Cadets, where Colin was on staff there with the Cadets until this week.

Edited August 17, 2016 by BRASSO

[Kamarag]

Certainly, the addition of Cipriani and McNutt will be viewed by some kids as a plus in the "pros" column, when potential players evaluate their choice of corps. But at the same time, Boston fell from 10th to 12th, and very nearly missed out on finals altogether, which will certainly be a big mark in the "cons" column. Will the former outweigh the latter for the players?

The thing is, Boston has an enormous amount of talent, and if they'd been given a good vehicle were *easily* a 6-9 placing corps. The fact that the corps has essentially cleaned up a sub-par design is evidence of that. Partial credit to the technical staff, which Boston clearly has had.

[LabMaster]

I suspect all three are true. But the corollary is that these corps will be siphoning talent that in years past would have been heading to Allentown. Will it happen? Who knows, but I think it will to some extent. Maybe a big extent.

I'm not sure Coats or Crown would be siphoning as you put it. Kids looking at those corps were probably looking at that level anyway, Cadets included. The beneficiary of siphoning would surely be Boston, as kids now looking there, may not have been previously looking at them.