tubapop

TWHS exhibition…. Lmao, they’re on a completely different planet than the bands in this contest. Bravo.

Clear brook’s ending sequence is the most exciting 30 seconds of marching band I’ve seen this season.

Klein Cain, what a MASSIVE improvement over last year. Wow.

Spittin the truth

It was a fine run. The competition is just stiff this year.

4A captions aux = Tomball memorial perc brodgeland music college park ge north shore visual Bridgeland 3a clesr brook sweep 2a spelndora aux lumberton remaining sweep 4a champs Bridgeland, then north shore, college park 3a champs clear brook, then mag west and magnolia 2a champs lumber ton, splendors, west fork finalists tomball memorial college park clearbrook bridgeland klein cain north shore grand oaks klein oak klein oak ridge

1. Bridgeland (clean sweep) 2. Klein oak 3. College park 4. Clear Brook 5. Tomball Memorial 6. North shore 7. Klein Cain 8. Cy Ranch 9. ? 10. ?

Wunderlich was writing for us at Langham Creek in the 90s. I'm amazed that he is writing for my daughter's school all these years later.

In what situation would a judge openly express their bias? Bias is often subconscious, and even if it wasn't, no judge will admit that s/he is giving a higher score to a particular band because of their reputation. Judges, who are human, bring various types of biases to the evaluation process, from the type of music they like to the type of marching style they prefer. It all influences a given score. So it isn't a great leap to think that a judge might consciously or subconsciously give a little bit of an edge to certain bands based on those bands' reputations or names. I'm not saying I agree that there is a pervasive bias problem to a degree that action needs to be taken - there very likely isn't. As another poster pointed out, there is enough variation in the ranks year after year that this is probably not a big deal. But bias is a very real human behavior and it could be influencing certain judges in certain situations to at least some degree.

I knew that part, but I was wondering about the impartial judging favoring bands based on reputation. Is there any evidence of this? I hadn't heard of it but would not be surprised. Judges don't want to be "wrong" and there can be a real fear of losing respect in the community for boldly scoring a less reputable band over a more reputable band, even if the performances merited it.

Whoa, can you elaborate on this?

Maybe true for you and me. But surely we can find a panel of judges who aren’t too familiar with the top Texas bands?

This is absolutely true. Marching band is not a major point of focus in most states. Have you seen bands from states outside of Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma, Florida, Kentucky? Go watch a video of the New York state champion Greece Blue Knights band. They would be laughed out of the building at BOA-SA.

I wonder how all these comparisons would change if all bands nationwide had the same hourly practice restrictions. How do Avon, Carmel, Blue Springs, Tarpon fare in SA with the same weekly limit we have?

Come on guys. I also chuckled a bit at the posts but then it occurred to me that this is probably a Langham Creek band kid who really wants to see his/her band do well. He's aiming for something, he has a goal, he has a dream, he has a competitive spirit, and in this forum of all places we should be encouraging the helI out of that, not mocking him for it.

Sorry, complete brain fart, yes, I was thinking of North Shore. Egg on my face

Lone Star Preview is one of the next major Houston-area competitions. Any renewed predictions/thoughts based on the past 2 weeks of contests?

Ranch competed yesterday, so we’ve seen them. But yeah generally I agree with you. I get slightly irritated at summer predictions, which are unfair because they’re purely based on rep, but they’re fun and I get it.

Nothing wrong with them, just concerned that they have their whole show finished (while many bands didn't) and still missed finals at BOA-Webster by 2 spots (I think) - that's a fine placement, but for a band with state aspirations, I think they will need to improve. They placed lower than I thought they would. So I'm a little concerned about where they'll end up. But - still plenty of time to clean things up. And to my point earlier, judging panels can vary widely, so who knows how things will progress. It's just one data point. Now, did JET have another competition last week - how did they fare there?

Electronics weren't working during cy ranch performance, might be why there was no sound

I was not surprised to see Cy Fair rank lower than they hoped, because I don't think their show really showcases their abilities. They are without doubt a better band than their show and their ranking on Saturday would suggest. Last year's show was so incredible and this year feels like a step backward. Before anyone gets upset at me criticizing them, understand that I'm not criticizing them, but rather their show selection. They are better than 6th place. We haven't seen the entire show I think, so we'll get a better sense as the weeks pass and we see the shows develop. Bridgeland was more improved from a week ago than I expected. I certainly didn't think that in prelims we would beat the eventual champion Pearland, who would also beat Reagan. But the music is still rough. And I don't mean performing the music cleanly; I mean tone and power. The difference between Reagan sound and Bridgeland sound is significant, both in terms of volume and brass tonal quality. On the flip side, the remainder of our 4th movement is the most dazzling drill-wise, so maybe we'll score some more points there. Anyway, for better or for worse, those are my candid thoughts right now. I was very impressed with 7L and my son (who comes to BL contests to support his sister) got into an argument with me about how 7L was going to beat Bridgeland. I don't think their show is super challenging but they were clean and had a much better run in finals than prelims (haven't checked to see if the score support my view). I think they'll make state. Cinco is a dark horse that is becoming less dark as the season unfolds. Let's watch that carefully. My top-5 predictions for area right now: 1. Bridgeland 2. Cy Fair 3. 7L 4. Cinco 5. Northbrook And the rest, I don't follow closely enough to say. I do fear for JET's season. I take all of our rankings with a huge grain of salt. It's a bit like college football AP rankings. In various contests (prelims/finals), Bridgeland beat Pearland, who beat Reagan, who beat Pearland and Bridgeland, all of whom handily beat Cy Fair, who was only a point behind the Woodlands. What does it all mean? Who knows? Lol. Maybe just that Houston is slowly reappearing on the scene as a power after many years of relative quiet (Houston has dropped off since the super dominant Westfield, Spring, Klein, Langham Creek days of the 90s/early 00s). And on that note, don't forget Klein Oak - what a surprise. I love the resurgence we're seeing in H-town.

To be fair, this is a massive improvement over just a week ago. They did great, so proud of our kids.

Finals schedule 7:30 - Churchill Fulshear H.S., TX 7:45 - Dickinson H.S., TX 8:00 - Friendswood H.S., TX 8:15 - Dawson H.S., TX 8:30 - Foster H.S., TX 8:45 - Seven Lakes H.S., TX 9:00 - Bridgeland H.S., TX 9:15 - Ronald Reagan H.S., TX 9:30 - Cy-Fair H.S., TX 9:45 - Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX 10:00 - Klein Oak H.S., TX 10:15 - Pearland H.S., TX 10:30 - West Harrison H.S., MS (EXHIBITION )

lol I loved Dawson creek.