Band_dad_of_2

First half of the show was good....then those horns took over!!! OOOOOF!!!

WOODLANDS!! Holy cats!!! That was such a fun show!!

And the use of 3/4 time....that was a really cool part of the show.

Full results? Those won't be posted until after finals.

Great answer! To the OP, sometimes a performance is just not good enough. This is one of the hardest competitions around. Just because a band doesn't make finals do NOT mean they aren't great or that something went wrong.

One more thing....kudos to the programs that have made this model work. That process takes a lot of years and a lot of patience to pull off.

There's a lot of talk about how money plays the biggest part....I don't think that's true. Money won't build a progam...lots of kids being encouraged/taught by middle school/high school directors is just as important. As I've stated in another thread, the size of the program has more to do with a program's success than money and, as you say above, the extension of the program to the middle schools is crucial. That's where the HS and MS directors working to keep kids in band becomes vital. Combine that with parents who are encouraging kids to be a part of something special and you have a successful program. A good middle school retention rate will do as much for a high school band as money. If a band program has a huge talent pool, tryouts become serious business. The bands are able to pick out the best players and still have a large JV band. Bands without that depth struggle to keep up and will likely never see the success of the top tier bands.

the band finished the show still playing while marching off of the far right corner of the field? This had to be in the late 80s/early 90s. They didn't have a finale down a the front where everyone is blasting away...they simply kept marching toward the corner while playing softer and softer. That's how the show ended. I thought the effect was so cool. Please...I beg you. Help me figure this out!! I know I remember this...it's been driving me crazy for years!!

I agree completely. When my son was 8 (8!!) he was in a league where a coach on another team went for the kill ever time. He ran the score up on other teams....remember, these kids are 8. The next year, he drafted my son. Needless to say, my son didn't play baseball that year....I pulled him from that team quicker than you could blink. A few weeks ago, our director was talking to some parents after a finals performance. He said "1st place, 10th place....doesn't matter. THAT's the show we wanted to perform". The pride he took in his kids performing well could be seen on his face. That's what I want from a director.

I don't want to speak for samuelculper but I don't know if these contests are 100% not about winning and losing. I'm pretty sure there are bands out there that go into a competition wanting to win and knowing they should win...I know our band has. I want and like a band who walks into a contest with a little swagger. That being said, as we all know some of the best experience these kids can get is not winning. It hurts....but that's life. My kids have experienced both....wondering if they would even make finals and walking into a contest knowing they were top 3 or would win. Good comes from all of those experiences. At the same time, though, I tend to follow the mantra expressed by the Oracle in The Matrix....temet nosce...."know thyself". I've said it before in another thread that there are varying levels of success. For the top tier bands, they expect to win and the vast majority of the time they do. Beyond that, there are bands who, depending on the contest, see success as either winning, finishing top 5, making finals or finishing top 20. For some, though, just going to a BOA Regional or Super Regional or the reward/success. I see nothing wrong with any of these results...absolutely nothing! Why? Because the kids, directors and parents learn from each experience. If you understand the competition and prepare yourself for every result, you will be fine..."win" or "lose".

Back in the mid-90s, we were looking at building a house in this small community called "Frisco"...there was a new development and we could have built a new home for about $115-$120k. We decided against it...... As the knight said in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, "He chose....poorly".

This...is...spot on. Take responsibility for your result and don't blame the judges....own it! It's like fans blaming umpires for their team losing a big game. No, your team didn't play well enough to win. Rarely...very rarely...is it the umpire.

I like it when topics like this come back up after being dormant for a while. The biggest, most important point was made earlier....basically, stay in band. I've been a band parent for nearly a decade now and have seen my kids in some heart-stopping, tear-inducing shows and a couple that we just would just rather forget. They have seen great success and some of the worst disappointment they'll experience. Through all of that, they persevered....that's where good leadership shines (directors and student leadership). A bigger factor for success, though, is talent pool. If you have 400-500 kids in your band program and are going to field a band of 250-300 kids, tryouts are serious business. Those bands can afford to place only the best, more experienced musicians into the varsity band. For goodness sake, Coppell has a JV band that competes at UIL....several other bands have sizeable JV bands or pep-bands. For smaller programs, that is not the case and virtually every kid who wants to be in band is in the competition band. Please don't misunderstand my opinion as complaining and, yes, I know there are exceptions...not every successful band is a mega-program. I'm ecstatic that music programs are growing....not much bad can come from a growing music program.

But this line of thinking completely ignores the fact that the top 5 at Duncanville also do incredibly well at BOA events. It's not "better", it's just different....if you have a clean BOA show at a state-type contest, you'll do well. If you have a poor performance, well.........

Yoinks.......yeah, might be time to wrap this one up.

Duncanville doesn't have a Shapiro's Deli and Indy is indoors...I might have to give the nod to Indy if someone else is paying for the trip. That was some of the best corned beef I've ever had. Looking at the forecast, it's gonna be cold with the possibility of a little rain on Saturday morning (upper 40s). Hopefully, the rain is gone by the time the contest starts.

Dang...I may have to go to this one. The new Hornrank list is out and Haltom was 20th (previously unranked)....ahead of Keller (23...previously 14). That's a massive jump for Haltom and a big drop for Keller. This is going to be gooooooood!

I was told there wouldn't be math.........

No....no...no.....Leander and all of those other forces of nature can just stay up there in 6A, thank you very much!!! :lol: :lol:

This weather could not be more opposite from 2018. We went from rain every weekend last year to nothing this year. By the way, I'm fine with this....let the flood gates open once marching season is over!!

Best of luck to North Mesquite! This is going to be a really good and competitive contest.

That would be incredible!!!! uhhh, the six Texas bands making finals part....not the heads exploding part. That would be messy.

Solid plan. Really....solid.....plan. I was talking to someone who came up to a concert from Austin last weekend...it was UT/OU weekend and Baylor had a home game. He said there were saying the route through Waco could take over an hour but there was a route several miles out of the way that would get you around Waco in about 30 minutes. Waco....who knew????

No Haltom or are they in your 8-10? Oddly enough, St Louis (this weekend) is Haltom's first competition...their finish at St. Louis will give us a good indication of how they're going to do in Duncanville.

Yeah...I'm re-thinking that choice after last week's results. I'm pretty sure about my top 4...I want to see Seven Lakes push the top 3 but Waxahachie is tough. After those 4, it's anyone's game...after my top 4, there are a lot of bands on a similar level. I think Martin and Richland are on a similar level along with Centennial but after Centennial's result at BOA DFW, I'm giving the edge to Martin and then Richland. The Wylie contest had Sachse, Lake Ridge and Duncanville finishing 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively but that competition was more of a UIL-type contest (no GE scored). Just because I like over-thinking things and second-guessing myself, I'm going to go with this. Top 5 Keller Bowie (Austin) Waxahachie Seven Lakes Martin/Richland Next 5 Martin/Richland Hendrickson Centennial Lake Ridge Duncanville Bubble/Could replace some in the bottom 5 Mansfield Dripping Springs