natertater21000

True, the scores do reflect that. I'd argue they sounded markedly better than a certain perenial finalist that year though.

Other than the multiple times that a band that missed finals at SA went on to make finals at GN, I think one of the most obvious examples of SA being a more difficult contest top to bottom would be 2017. Avon has missed the "podium" of any contest (top three spots) only ONE time in the last 10 years. That was when they made the trip down to SA in 2017 and came in 4th behind Vandy, Hebron, and CTJ. There is the outlier example of blue springs in 2013 (made SA finals but did not make GN finals), but now that we are more than 10 years removed from that I think it's safe to say almost everyone would agree that that was an....interesting jusdging choice to say the least.

I've been on the forums talking band since I was a Junior in Highschool back in 2013. I am now in my 5th year as a middle school band director and mostly use the forums to keep up with the ebbs and flows of the marching world.

Yes it is! I often wondered why they never hosted a BOA there throughout my time at TXST.

Vandegrifts philosophy towards GE has always been the effect of being excellent. I that sense, it was VERY effective.

Jinx @packwick

It’s ultimately their decision but I think this worry that an errant YouTube video of a successful program will influence judges and cause a lesser result is silly. Some programs upload every week, some programs keep it hush hush. Some of the programs that never post place lower, and some of the programs that post weekly videos will win the same contest. The judges are smart enough to judge what’s in front of their eyes and ears on the day of.

Leander ISD was killer last year (as always) but I feel like this year is going to blow 2023 out of the water. Super cool products that are being performed at a much higher level in early September than years past. I haven’t seen Rouse yet, but I do get the pleasure of hearing their impacts echo across my apartment complex each day after work. They sound like they haven’t skipped a beat from last year as well. If anyone is able to make it out to BOA austin or lisd festival of bands you most definitely should go!

It’s not a rampant problem by any means but you’d be surprised.

The biggest difference in rehearsal time comes from some out of state bands using off Saturdays as essentially extra summer band days. With an 8-noon and a 1-5 rehearsal block. There are other differences that don’t involve rehearsal time as well. Carmel’s marching band for example is entirely voluntary. It isn’t like Texas where if you’re in band you do marching in the fall and concert in the spring. If you just want to do concert and pass on the marching you can. This means that every single student on the field for Carmel specifically chose to be in the marching band. That’s not always the case in Texas even within the top programs.

Cedar park vs Leander is probably bigger than CP vs Rouse which is relatively new. The CP/Leander rivalry has been around since the mid 2000’s. these days I’m not sure rivalry is the right word though, lots of positivity and support in the competitiveness of LISD these days

This is missing Cedar Park with a 90.65 at BOA SA.

Another strange thing to think about That’s not far from how the honor band taping process works…with human judges of course.

imagine a future where you have to upload the score and drill book into a contest computer and it judges your accuracy and spacing down to the inches.

This has more to do with different judges grading their individual sub captions during different runs and getting different results. These are still students after all so completely consistent run through quality (while that is the ultimate goal) is a bit of a myth. There is also the small amount of luck involved in where the judges eye happened to be in any given moment. As an example-Maybe the flutes on side two in the opener have had foot timing issues throughout the year. During pre lims the judge happened to be looking at side one and completely missed it. This ended in a higher individual marching score as a result. The judges in semis and finals did happen to be looking at side two in that moment and caught the small timing error. It's all how the individual numbers add up in the end. The judges don't all go meet in a huddle at the end of the show and decide on an overall ranking.

Of course, I would imagine the nastier comments on Instagram come from disgruntled students (or I would certainly hope that's the case) I don't ever look at the Instagram posts of the rankings.

The primary issue is the rankings routinely go against what the HornRank website says their process is. BOA is weighted higher (except when it's not) Finals results outweigh Pre lims (except when they don't) Head to head scores are valued over speculation (at least until the last 2 seasons) Do they matter? no. Do they effect/influence anything? no. But (and this is just my opinion) when you head the most viewed and popular ranking system for marching bands across the country, there is a certain level of responsibility to be as meticulous and "accurate" as possible that comes with it. It's also crazy to me how most of the people on Horn Rank can't seem to stand ANY criticism of the rankings. The moment any legitimate concern is brought up it's "UGH guys they're just for fun" or the comments are simply turned off lol.

The Woodlands are incredible all the way around but the guard is actually something else entirely. Absolutely INSANE ensemble timing.

Exactly, School districts don't just hand the band program a mountain of cash and say "now go win state!"

I think this is a very common misconception when it comes to a lot of these bands. I don't know a single school district that gives their bands a full budget to fund the entire show. Leander raised over 100,000 dollars through their March-a-thon fundraiser and every last dollar was spent on the show. Transportation, food, contest registration, props, drill, music, etc. These bands work extremely hard on and off the field to make everything happen.

Good grief Hebron...I'm just sad I will not get to have seen the show live.

100%

@2ndgenbandmom75 The horn rank rankings don’t even acknowledge head to head scores at BOA contests at this point, I wouldn’t worry about them.

Leander going from 1st in brass in pre lims to 7th in finals is a pretty crazy swing.

Marcus from 2004-2014 is the only other streak that can compare. Truly an incredible and historic accomplishment!