Madison Scouts 2023

[BlueStainGlass]

I guess the most important question for @DudleytheWest is if these people aren't the right ones who is? Alumni? An unknown? Or try to poach someone from somewhere else?

It's like college sports where teams want their head coach fired but who can fix it? U of M fans wanted Harbaugh fired and now he's won back to back championships. Grass isn't always greener on the other side too like when Nebraska got Scott Frost and he was supposed to change everything. 

[DudleytheWest]

53 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

I guess the most important question for @DudleytheWest is if these people aren't the right ones who is? Alumni? An unknown? Or try to poach someone from somewhere else?

It's like college sports where teams want their head coach fired but who can fix it? U of M fans wanted Harbaugh fired and now he's won back to back championships. Grass isn't always greener on the other side too like when Nebraska got Scott Frost and he was supposed to change everything. 

What alumni? I have many friends who marched Madison. I know the relationship, or lack thereof, between the Scouts administration and their alumni. That is a huge part of the problem. If all your friends controlled whether you kept your job or not, and you constantly failed at your job, you'd still have your job. That's another huge part of the problem. I have little hope for Madison having a bright future from a competitive standpoint, because to do that, you need the right people at the top (they clearly don't have it) and the right support system, and since there's a constant staff turnover, they don't have that either. The top corps succeed because they have their alumni, they have the right people in charge, and they have the right support team who has spent years together in many cases.

Edited June 29, 2023 by DudleytheWest

[DudleytheWest]

3 hours ago, C.Holland said:

But hey, feel free to nominate someone to take over at the end of this term.  Or at least go ask the members their thoughts.  I think you’ll be very surprised at their answers. 

No one can. That's the problem. The board is puddy in his hands.

Scott also led the corps to a world championship and many top 5 finishes through his tenure. The comparison between him and Chris K is insulting quite frankly. What have they accomplished? One 12th place finish. Seriously.

I'll say it again - it's not a choice - being financial sound or competitive. It's great that they are financially sound (well according to you) but they've lost their identity, they are no longer the fan favorite, and they have had no success competitively. You can keep on with the excuse-making as long as you want, but facts are facts.

Mason left the corps in great shape in terms of staff and talent. His legacy brought them to 8th in 2015. I was so hopeful, then it all changed and it just keeps getting worse and worse.

Edited June 29, 2023 by DudleytheWest

[Gantang]

On 6/28/2023 at 4:28 PM, Grandpa Joe said:

So my kid is "lower quality" because he was contracted to Madison and Bluecoats, but chose Madison because he didn't want to pay $7,000? I'll be sure to let him know that a keyboard warrior said so.

You are arguing from the specific to the general. Your son may be an outlier in the 2023 Madison Scouts, but it is not the rule. Dating back more than a decade, there has been a decline in the level of talent auditioning for the Scouts. At one point (if my memory serves correctly), Madison had the youngest average age of any Semi-finalist. You can't tell me that high school juniors and seniors are filling the ranks of BD, Blue, BC, CC, etc. 

Successful corps, and they do compete for placement and accolades, will GENERALLY attract a higher talent level than lower placing corps. 

I applaud your son for making a wise financial decision, but I wonder how he'll look back at his decision if Bluecoats are the last corps to leave the field in Indy. 

[BlueStainGlass]

2 hours ago, DudleytheWest said:

What alumni? I have many friends who marched Madison. I know the relationship, or lack thereof, between the Scouts administration and their alumni. That is a huge part of the problem. If all your friends controlled whether you kept your job or not, and you constantly failed at your job, you'd still have your job. That's another huge part of the problem. I have little hope for Madison having a bright future from a competitive standpoint, because to do that, you need the right people at the top (they clearly don't have it) and the right support system, and since there's a constant staff turnover, they don't have that either. The top corps succeed because they have their alumni, they have the right people in charge, and they have the right support team who has spent years together in many cases.

I just want to know who you are putting in charge to fix it. That was the question

[HockeyDad]

1 hour ago, BlueStainGlass said:

I just want to know who you are putting in charge to fix it. That was the question

I don’t get this. Sports teams don’t hesitate to fire coaches because they don’t know who they’d replace them with. That’s just a silly excuse in my opinion, the idea that you can’t fire a corps director unless you know who you’d replace them with. 

[HockeyDad]

“Just ask the kids” what they think. Sure. It’s called the Stockholm Syndrome. Of course the kids will say they love what they’re doing. What are they gonna say - yeah, this show sucks and I’m going to spend months and months of my life doing it.  How about, ask the kids - five or ten years from now, what they thought of the experience.  You’re likely to get a very different answer. 

[BlueStainGlass]

2 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

I don’t get this. Sports teams don’t hesitate to fire coaches because they don’t know who they’d replace them with. That’s just a silly excuse in my opinion, the idea that you can’t fire a corps director unless you know who you’d replace them with. 

Man has been spitting that they need to fire people.  So my question is WHO WOULD YOU REPLACE THEM WITH?  If it is that easy to find someone to turn something around WHO IS IT

[C.Holland]

1 hour ago, BlueStainGlass said:

Man has been spitting that they need to fire people.  So my question is WHO WOULD YOU REPLACE THEM WITH?  If it is that easy to find someone to turn something around WHO IS IT

This can, and will go on forever. The old ####s will constantly cry but can never come up with one single name who is good at BOTH development of revenue and staffing for artistic.   There are a few on this forum who were board members, didn’t meet their numbers, and then tried to take the whole corps down with their exit. 
 

 But they don’t know, they know diddly about the activity in its current state, diddly about how the non profit arts work, diddly about how to develop funds for it, diddly about show design… you get the point.  
 

it’s the same tired argument.  I hope they’re at least paying their actual dues, donating to the keg fundraisers for the annual tailgate, and buying corps meals like the rest of us are.  
 

irony is, go ask a member their thoughts.  I love hearing from members, seeing their Twitter feeds, and I have a few students in there. They are working hard, having a blast, and keeping the corps going. 

[C.Holland]

10 hours ago, DudleytheWest said:

I disagree - the 2019 show was just another year of the team throwing #### at the wall to see if it stinks. I saw an interview with one of their design team members. He said the corps competitive goals were to get back into the top 12 - well into the top 12.

We have got to stop blaming anything other than the administration and the design team. Madison needs a major overhaul. 

You can disagree all you want but the  program coordinator who’s old school, the wardrobe of old school, the concept of old school, if was anymore old school they’d have been firing a starter pistol and arcing up for the ballad… zzzZzzzZzzzzZzzzZzzzzzz.