Mash

And if Leander moves down to 5A they will push each other. It could be LISD sweeps again if that happens. And watch out for Glenn high school in two years.

Until Cedar Park doesn't get first, I pick them. The have a great program and system proven to win UIL.

I predicted them to win 2 years ago when everyone else got moved up to 6A :-) They were a powerhouse before and most of the competition got moved. Rouse is on the upswing over the last few years, I can't wait to see that pattern continue.

Thanks.

It will be interesting to see where Vista goes as they were close as well to 5A. With the Glenn and the rezoning, I am unsure where they will end up. Like Cedar Park HS most of the area is now built up, so I don't think there will be a ton of new growth.

Vista Ridge is similar, a bit more than 10 students difference but not a lot more. Football has been painful for sure.

yep, I have zero musical talent. just a wallet :-)

I want to choose Alumni Parent.

Sorry for somehow getting this onto a money track. I meant it as a serious question and not meant to stir the pot. It just seemed to surprise me that the same bands from the district are going so often when others aren't. Given the info and I am sure lead time, I would imagine seeing bands like Vista Ridge going in two years. They are in the same if not slightly better financial situation than Leander and slightly worse than Cedar Park. Vandy, is head and shoulders about the rest of the schools in the district when it comes to financial support. I don't mean that derogatory at all, I have many friends at all the schools across our district. $ certainly can make some things easier, sometimes not having $ can make other things easier.

How does that decision get made to go to Grand Nat's? Seems like the same bands from the district go every other year while Vista has never gone. Is it up to the band director of each school?

ROFL, the mom always wins :-)

Keller sounded great, much better than the other band I saw

4435 students in one high school? WOW! that is a small college campus.

Yes they do, Cedar Park is a well oiled machine though. So Rouse will need to hit on all cylinders

I don't know if our district would send three bands (Leander, Vandegrift, Vista Ridge). I think all three would do well, just not sure they would send three

Crazy how that would affect judging.

I think it is two years now if I remember correctly. My daughter was queen of the Xbox and it is a blessing and a curse. They are included and vital to the full show. But they get forgotten and not taught the marching skills they need to make it out of the Xbox. The band directors and I went to battle a few times on this and they slowly started adding marching clinics for them to help prep them for the next year but it was hit and miss. I would like to see a JV band and have them march at the freshman games and all band together for the full show at the varsity games.

I agree, My daughter was in color guard and I saw many outfits that struck me as not appropriate or just plain ill fitting. My daughter, like many of them blossomed early and it was hard and expensive for us to find supporting undergarments that worked for her in the outfit.

It was awesome, I totally should have mentioned where I was so we could have all could have met up.

Wow, great write up. If you can make it Friday to Cedar Park, they are performing it one more time. My goodness the stands maybe fuller than I have ever seen them. BTW, there will be a football game opening for the band :-)

I remember those tapes, I seem to remember them saying good things about a certain soloist as well :-) I would love to hear the tapes, I bet they are interesting. The difference between FloMo and VR was very close. It could have easily gone the other way between the two schools. Timing in finals could have made a difference, it also could be other small factors. The differences between the performances were just that close. Both schools should be extremely proud of their program.

Dragon dad, that seems very thorough and makes sense. It sounded like Danpod had some connections that could help in the UIL committee. My gut tells me the committee will just say "This has always worked, why should we change" but I hope that they will look into how to continually improve the judging. I am not sure if there are any other ways to make this know in a calm and rational discussion like yours seems to be. We obviously want to keep the human part of judging in so there has to be a fine line about what can change. Hopefully they will be able to take your suggestions and from others to tweak the system for the betterment of all the kids in the future. On a side note: Congrats to a great season this year. The band should hold their head up high no matter what a single judge says. I know a few kiddos in the Dragon band and I know they are upset and confused about the situation.

Congrats to Flower Mound, they had an amazing season and they were spectacular as usual. Mad props to them! Nothing to be ashamed of. BTW: here is the final VR run at finals

Oh my, that doesn't sound good.

Here is the video, check out the very end: https://www.facebook.com/boxfivemedia/videos/509766196159176/?tn-str=k*F