Leaderboard

Here is my take on the money gap issue. Yes it is an issue to a point, especially at BOA where they put so much more emphases on showmanship. Money buys you custom show specific uniforms, buys the best show music and choreography, buys the best private teachers, buys the best group teachers, buys the best instruments and keeps them in top shape, allows for the best travel conditions, buys the best custom made props, buys the best electronics and attracts the best band directors. Is there a gap? Of course there is a gap, just like most professional sports faced years ago before they implemented salary caps. You cannot fix the issue by limiting the money though because it is spent in so many places other than props or uniforms. Plus, you have the issue of most states not having the 8 hour rule like Texas does for example. In Texas you get 8 hours per week period and trust me they watch it. Most of the bands at the top of the BOA have little real limits to practice time even into the summer. Like in pro sports this issue will become more and more pronounced as the haves get more and the have nots get less. Success breeds success after all. You also have the smaller issue with band sizes. Look at the top bands and they are typically at or over 200 members. Smaller bands with 150 just have issues matching that blasting style that BOA like so much these days. Also don’t forget that bands that live in Indiana or very close have an advantage that they are always playing on home turf. Some bands have to scrap and scrounge for the money to get to Indianapolis every 4 -6 years and then travel 16-20 hours by bus and then play almost as soon as they arrive. Others just roll out of bed and play at Lucas Oil every year. And don’t think home field advantage is not real because a place like Lucas Oil Stadium is marked up differently that High School or College fields and that does affect the bands. Money for stuff is an issue, but I think having to travel so far, band size and being handicapped by the 8 hour rule really hurts some. The only thing I can think of, and I know it will never happen, is have 2 categories for BOA. One could be Show Band and the other could be Marching Band. Show bands could be anything goes within each states own rules. You want Grand Pianos, a Choir, custom themed uniforms, Banjos, add your schools symphony orchestra, put up a circus tent or a giant inflatable Panda then go for it. Marching Bands could be limited in what they can put on the field in some way. They could still have props, but not to the extent of the Show Bands. More scoring emphasis could be put on actual marching and actual music and less on general effect unless by general effect you mean how a bands marching and music make you feel.