Mash

So with Area B and H dropping one band each not being advanced, does that affect the number of bands in the 6A final finals? There was talk of 12 schools in finals earlier.

Agreed, they went through a lot in the last few years, so happy to see them on the right track.

Around 5 years ago or so, a band friend pointed me to the site.

Agreed they are on the rise! It is awesome seeing them find their way. I expect great things from them this year and will only get better moving forward. Great music at all the LISD Middle and High Schools with the support of the district. Glenn will probably need a few years before they are in the mix as well.

Yeah those videos are fun. I know the Vista video guy the last couple of years mounted go pros to several instruments and edited the video. It is a very cool view. I wonder when they will have drones flying through the band to video the movements.

And when Vista Ridge, the only other Cedar Park school had UIL teams in the state finals there was no mention of Vista (Softball, Football, Basketball, Robotics). When both teams were in the playoffs for Football they posted all about CPHS and nothing about Vista. Vista has done quite well in many UIL areas. The funny thing is that the former mayor lives a block from me and is zoned for Vista.

I agree, I think the top three maybe in any order. I wouldn't count out Westlake or Lake Travis making it to the top three but I think they are on the outside looking in. It is a real bummer that that only three advance.

It should be a great competition. From what I have seen it looks like there are 6 or so bands that could win or medal. And a lot that will be fighting for finals spots. It feels that this year is more open than previous years with less of a clear favorite of one of two bands that are locks to win. I don't think it is because quality has gone down, it feels that quality has gone up this year.

Sadly, if you just want to go to finals. You can usually buy a finals pass from a parent that their band didn't make finals. One year I remember people were just giving them away. It really tears at your soul seeing that.

We always bought our tickets on site. I don't think there are any cheaper ways of getting in.

sigh. I wish they would lock in everyone for each block.

It is ok, we show them love.

I said the rules for ranking were biased not the judges. I am very familiar with judging and understand how it works. I am far from naive. Did I say anyone would back into finals? Do not attempt to put words in my mouth. I will not put worlds, meanings, or intentions in yours. Respect.

Yeah, they often get forgotten but they perform very well. The city of Cedar Park often celebrates Cedar Park High school and never mentions when the other school in Cedar Park does well or even out performs them.

oh man, that is going to really be a heartbreaker for a band.

Thanks

I might swing by to watch this region. What is the time schedule for it?

Judging always seems to have a judge or two that are on a wildly different page from the others. I am not sure how they can fix it without maybe doing something like they do in gymnastics where band programs start with a max top score and are marked down for each issue noticed. With a standard for each issue. I personally think that would be a detriment to the programs as they would start to look very similar and we would lose variety and innovation. It is frustrating when bands lose places in finals because of "that" judge. We have all seen it, and I think there will always be a judge that views the shows different than the others. Heck, look at baseball umpires and their strike zones. They have a very controlled thing to watch for and they can't get balls and strikes right.

I hope y'all are all right and nobody gets screwed. The kids are all working hard in these final two weeks.

Did I ever say that they weren't professional? Or phoning it in? Y'all are implying I am saying they are dishonest. I never said that, do not imply that I did. I am a fan of all the bands and think the kids work really hard and are amazing at performing.

Whatever..... I am happy to disagree with you.

So if a bunch of old fav's have a down year and a bunch of new bands have a great year the new bands get rooked. You might think I am being odd about this but in this day and age there is plenty of ways to pre-judge bands on their merits of this year. If people don't think judges are biased by prior years, you are fooling yourself. I will point out that I think the band I support is already building a solid history, I just want to have it be fair to all of the bands. Calling me grumpy won't get you anywhere, I am already old enough to tell you to get off my lawn.

But why base it off of previous years? Just because a band is good typically doesn't mean they should get preferential treatment IMHO.

How about basing off of the bands regional score from the current year? I am not saying it should be random.

This is what I dislike about this. The bands already are being prejudged against previous years which shouldn't matter because it should be based on this year. The old guard continually gets better scores and judging because of the schools reputation vs. the actual performance.