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Didn't like the jump scare? I think knowing some of the back story about the show makes you even more dusty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_and_the_Thousand_Paper_Cranes

I loved the second half of Vista Ridge's show, including and especially the ballad. The first half-- well, I didn't love. And I think that's what kept them out of the very top tier. It was a music and show design thing for me, it definitely was NOT the kids, because they played and marched their hearts out. At BOA San Antonio we sat with a bunch of Vista Ridge parents during Finals, for the last few shows including theirs, and one of the trumpet soloist/duet player's dads was right in front of us. I'll just say it got a bit dusty in there, his eyes were watering during that portion, and consequently some dust must have gotten in my eyes too and they started watering as well. My wife took contraband video of his son playing and sent it to him afterward, and sure enough it got dusty a second time up there in the Alamodome.

Amen, brutha! I don't really want to imagine it because I don't want to think about how it would affect my kids. They already have a tremendous challenge managing their studies during the fall. They're either doing band rehearsal, or football games, or competitions, or they're completely exhausted from all of the above. It leaves very little time for proper study and preparation for their academic requirements.

I get what you're saying, but as others have said I like the 8hour rule. These kids already put more time in than any other group in High School between football games on Fridays and any mid-season competitions that last all day and they get home at 2AM. I'm not sure kids could really do more and maintain grades as well. I'm not sure how other states are putting in that much time.

Hey everyone! I am here to give yall the TXBands Prediction Game Awards Ceremony! (Just a week and a half late 😂) Without any further delay, here are final top 10 Predictors who have also received the fancy Predicting Badge for 2024!!! Congratulations to @celesta on winning their 2nd Predictions Game title in a row! Celesta - 736.22 Points Dog885 - 710 Points Mike McBandiel - 709.34 Points LKendrick - 692.31 Points Tubalord11 - 690.17 Points lunareclipse18 - 683.7 Points brandonlfoskett - 677.24 Points J-Mike16 - 676.63 Points Safiy - 645.54 Points Dave609 - 642.15 Points These 10 individuals showed impeccable predicting throughout the season, with almost all of them being at the top of 2 or more competitions when it came to predicting! I also want to shout out those that place just outside the top 10, 11th - 15th specifically, Bushpresident - 630.31 Points Gardenia - 611.17 Points AKNOX - 573.67 Points grapevineftw - 538.22 Points zoomer - 524.52 Points These 5 also showed really great predicting moments as they appeared near the top half for a lot of the competitions. Now for some little fun facts about this year's array of Predictors and Contests!!! 1. TXBands saw 1,821 people submit at least 1 prediction for this year's Prediction Game! That is +180 from last year! 2. This year the total amount of points the predictors got was 59,895.03 Points. The difference between last year and this year came out to be a whopping 30,179.28 Points!! 3. The average points per predictor was 32.89. While the average of each contest was 3.98 points. 4. 5 Predictors who finished in the top 10 last year finished in the top 10 again this year. Celesta, J-Mike16, Tubalord11, brandonlfoskett, & Dave609. The other 5 sadly either failed to retain their top 10 position or altogether not "compete" this year. MrMusic5002 - 3rd to N/A bxOxAxUIL - 7th to 17th RottenPredictions - 8th to N/A Mars 07 - 9th to N/A crunchycookie3 - 10th to 30th 5 new predictors jumped into the top 10, with those being Dog885 - 428th to 2nd (Awesome job man!!) Mike McBandiel - N/A to 3rd (Also fantastic job!) LKendrick - 46th to 4th lunareclipse18 - 157th to 6th Safiy - 26th to 9th 6. Celesta, Mike McBandiel, LKendrick, Tubalord11, brandonlfoskett, J-Mike16, Safiy, Dave609, & Bushpresident predicted all 108 Competitions in this year's lineup of the game! Despite some saying 110, 112, 109, etc. The actual number of contests were 108. +11 from last year! 7. The following 10 contests had the most Predictions... BOA Bedford - 261 BOA Prosper - 247 UIL 2024 5A State Marching Championships - 245 BOA Austin - 242 Texas Marching Classic - 214 BOA Webster - 197 Birdville Marching Festival - 178 Melissa Marching Showcase - 173 BOA North Houston - 160 BOA Waco - 155 (Because it is Waco ) Flip the switch, here are the contests with the least Predictions. Pleasant Grove Marching Invitational - 20 High Plains Marching Festival - 23 Mustang Marching Invitational - 25 Seguin Marching Festival - 27 USBands Madisonville Showcase - 27 USBands San Angelo Regional - 28 UIL 2A Area D - 28 USBands Southeastern Texas Championships - 28 Golden Triangle Marching Classic - 29 Hill Country Marching Festival - 30 ------ We are now in the home stretch of this ceremony. I want to first thank @Clarinot for allowing me to help operate the Prediction Game again this year! I've said it before, but I will say it again. I love being a part of our amazing TXBands Community, and therefore, being an admin for our Prediction Game means I am able to engage with all of you in a unique and meaningful way. It's an honor to contribute to the excitement and camaraderie that make our community so special. I want to also thank all the amazing people who decided to submit a prediction or two (or 108) in this year's game! Without people predicting, this game would just not be here. The Prediction Game is not just a game; it's an opportunity for us to engage deeply with the performances and each other. It brings a sense of anticipation and thrill that enhances our overall experience. Finally, I do want to thank all the individuals who helped me with either finding information or gathering results. It can be rather tricky when certain programs or competitions just don't provide the information that is needed for us to use for our amazing little game. I believe I am done here. Thank yall again for an amazing marching band season and another great year for our game! Every year it's getting tougher and tougher, so I suggest getting enough rest before the start of next marching season. It will be here sooner before you know it. Bye Guys!!

7) ONLY area I is canceled for the 2025 season

look, if i'm doing marching band rehearsal for like 3 hours everyday, i better love the instrument i play or whatever im doing, or else im quitting, like i am not finna do allat

Also even though it is a dis-advantage in grand nats, I for one am glad for an 8 hour limit because that’s definitely enough, and to have like 18 hours weekly like some schools would just kill me.

Visually stimulating, I think I'd agree. In part it's because of groups like CTJ, TWHS, kinda Reagan, and (in my opinion most significantly) LD Bell pushing the envelope with visuals and guard work throughout the late 2000s and 2010s. I think Texas is still behind in that aspect compared to states like Indiana and California. You could also argue bands like PCEP, Carmel, Lawrence Central, Tarpon Springs, etc, have been innovating the visual space since the 90s, and Texas is just starting to catch up. Creative? I don't know. I really appreciated the musical creativity that came with the prioritization of music over visuals. Maybe it's nostalgia, but my heart melted when I heard Reagan play Gymnopedes 1 layered with Lana Del Ray, CTJ play Fly to Paradise better than some drum corps did that next season, Hebron performing a stunning dress change while performing their Cinderella show. I think you get the point, I like the 2010s a lot and consider a lot of those shows to be very iconic.

I hope Vista can break through on of these days!

I don't know how much their shows cost, but I do know it costs a decent-sized Texas band $500,000 or more to make the trip to Indianapolis. That's a half a million dollars. It's jaw-dropping. That's why I find the somewhat dismissive and cavalier attitude often seen on hornrank from the midwest homers regarding the incredible difficulty and expense of such a trip, to be irritatingly condescending.

Some of us can remember the Westfield HS Band (school opened in Fall 1981), finished second to Marian Catholic in 1985. First Texas band at GN, first Texas GN finalist. I’d say I wasn’t born yet 😂, but I was actually an oboist and color guard member at Westfield those four years.

And despite all the varying band sizes you mentioned...all three schools have the same overall student population.