(02-22-2018 12:29 AM)JMUNation Wrote: Maybe Houston decided Weaver wasn’t meeting the grade? It is highly unusual for a young coach to move down unless they are encouraged to do so.
Ok, here it is. Coach Weaver is leaving for family reasons period. IMO, he had the best group of the bunch, so I'm sure it wasn't a Houston decision. We wish him all the best at his new landing spot.
(02-20-2018 04:14 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: Prob drawn to the marching band. Yep that's it.
Skip to 2:30 for the brass opening hit.
Hyper,
How would you compare the current MRDs to this band? Curious for your honest opinion.
This band is significantly better than the MRDs, both musically & visually. No disrespect intended to the MRDs.
Totally agree. There was a time when the MRD's were the standard, but the standard has changed and the bar has been raised. The MRDs have tried changing, but sadly falling behind. Even high schools now have some pretty incredible shows and many would be floored by how good they are.
I really hope they do something, but I don't think it'll happen with the staff in place right now.
The MRD's are still a very good marching band and one of the better ones. Probably still "Virginia's Finest", but they need to step up.
(02-23-2018 03:12 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: Most definitely still VA's finest. CNU is a strong second.
CNU puts about 150 on the field + guard.
I've said this before, I'd love to see the MRD's trim the fat and drop down from the 350-450 to 150-250. It's probably a controversial point of view and DEFINITELY not the JMU way, but IMO it would be a game changer. You would get people that REALLY want to be there, a good portion of music majors, DCI vets, etc.
I get that its fun and games to put one of the largest bands in America on the field, but watch our lines at Macy's this year and then look at some of the 200 member high school bands made up of kids that REALLY REALLY want to be there.
(02-23-2018 03:12 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: Most definitely still VA's finest. CNU is a strong second.
CNU puts about 150 on the field + guard.
I've said this before, I'd love to see the MRD's trim the fat and drop down from the 350-450 to 150-250. It's probably a controversial point of view and DEFINITELY not the JMU way, but IMO it would be a game changer. You would get people that REALLY want to be there, a good portion of music majors, DCI vets, etc.
I get that its fun and games to put one of the largest bands in America on the field, but watch our lines at Macy's this year and then look at some of the 200 member high school bands made up of kids that REALLY REALLY want to be there.
I used to disagree with that, but I am not in agreement there. I think the size of the band is a novelty and its cool to say we have one of the larger college bands in the country.
The big problem is almost everyone gets in, with the exception of a small few. It should not be as easy as it is to get on the field. As a result, the talent level isn't as high. 'You are only as strong as your weakest member' is true here as well. Some people can't keep time but get on the field. Alternates do take some of the spots, but the competition isn't high and not enough to really change the talent level.
And then there's the other problem, people are there to have fun. Some people flat out don't care how good the group is, they are there for the fun of it. The MRDs will never be as good as they can be as long as there are those who don't give a ****.
Bring down the member size and the talent will go up. The performance level goes up and they can do more with less.
CNU is not on the upswing because of their size. They've been that size for a good 12-13 years. New director brought more exciting music & energy to their shows. They are even more visually limited than JMU, but they do a lot with much less.
(02-23-2018 10:38 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: CNU is not on the upswing because of their size. They've been that size for a good 12-13 years. New director brought more exciting music & energy to their shows. They are even more visually limited than JMU, but they do a lot with much less.
I was at a CNU WBB game recently. This is D3 bball. There were at least 100 in the band, 8 tubas, 15 drum liners, full instrumentation. And they played some great old tunes for guys like me. I remember when JMU had a huge pep band, but somehow that seemed to change last year.
(02-23-2018 03:12 PM)HyperDuke Wrote: Most definitely still VA's finest. CNU is a strong second.
CNU puts about 150 on the field + guard.
I've said this before, I'd love to see the MRD's trim the fat and drop down from the 350-450 to 150-250. It's probably a controversial point of view and DEFINITELY not the JMU way, but IMO it would be a game changer. You would get people that REALLY want to be there, a good portion of music majors, DCI vets, etc.
I get that its fun and games to put one of the largest bands in America on the field, but watch our lines at Macy's this year and then look at some of the 200 member high school bands made up of kids that REALLY REALLY want to be there.
I used to disagree with that, but I am not in agreement there. I think the size of the band is a novelty and its cool to say we have one of the larger college bands in the country.
The big problem is almost everyone gets in, with the exception of a small few. It should not be as easy as it is to get on the field. As a result, the talent level isn't as high. 'You are only as strong as your weakest member' is true here as well. Some people can't keep time but get on the field. Alternates do take some of the spots, but the competition isn't high and not enough to really change the talent level.
And then there's the other problem, people are there to have fun. Some people flat out don't care how good the group is, they are there for the fun of it. The MRDs will never be as good as they can be as long as there are those who don't give a ****.
Bring down the member size and the talent will go up. The performance level goes up and they can do more with less.
I agree with loving the idea/novelty of having 400 on the field... IF we had 600 auditioning. The fact that we have 425 auditioning and we're fielding 400 leads to the issues in on-field product that everyone has seen over the past decade+.
My suggestion of going down to 250 or 300 isn't because that is the perfect size band, it's because of the 425 that show up to the quad on the Sunday before band camp, only 250-300 of them are really talented musicians and skilled marchers that want to be there, likely have come from competitive high school bands and are most likely to take pride in the on-field product.
I'll trade the novelty for some on-field pride and a better product.
(03-07-2018 07:12 PM)Dukesfan71 Wrote: Looks like we got a good young replacement. Corico Wright. Former player at Clemson. It is on Rivals sight through the DNR.
Spring practice starts next week
I agree. And I'm glad the hire was in place prior to Spring Practice.
The new coach is walking into a dream situation given the talent that is returning, and I'd hate to see that potential messed with by a late hire.