treblemaker

I can't wait for the reviews! I like reading about all the awesome bands and what people thought of their shows.

random thought: My grandpa was in band in the 40s and he told me they didn't have competitions, hardly ever practiced and they all rode the city bus together. haha. He still has his trombone and original mouth piece which he bought for 5 dollars! I told him I was going to steal it one of these days. okay sorry had to say that. =]

wow. the day that comes is the day marching band dies. how boring that would be.

Marcus' props did not make them win! Are you kidding me? Were your ears open? Did were your eyes closed?

I'm not saying anything against the props. And I know Bell didn't have any props I guess I was just thinking of the white silk. I personally think it was a clever idea.

Every band has their preference. If they want to use props then let them. If they want to use dancers and no color guard then let them. It's all about what the band members brought to the field and last night all 14 bands gave it there all. You can't sit there and penalize one decision of a band to another. Just look at Bell and Marcus.. Marcus had a lot of really cool props and a happy kind of show. Bell had a creepy guy walking around and a eery kind of show. They both performed it really well and entertained the entire alamo dome. I'll be the first to admit that there were some bands there that I was really jealous of but it was more of a "wow there show concept was really cool. I wish we had thought of that" or whatever. I'm really not afraid to say that about another band.

I agree. I had a discussion about that with my band director. You have to admit that LD Bell and Marcus had really good shows but where is the line between marching and not? I guess I am just a traditionalist. Also I think that not all bands can afford props and such at the level Bell and Marcus have. but I'm not going to penalize them for that because when it comes down their shows were pretty BA.

I'm pretty sure Bell stole my innocence.. Lux was beautiful though.. Way to go to all competing bands!

You're Welcome.

QUOTE nstead of trying to guess who will place 1 - 57, I decided to take a different approach: I got the list of bands attending off the BOA website, and pasted them into excel; Then, I split them up into 4 groups: Group A: Made the finals at the last BOA contest they attended, or at San Antonio last year (+ 13 & 14th place) (only took top 6 from Houston, due to number of big bands that dropped out). Group B: Received a 1st division rating at the last BOA contest they attended. Group C: Received a 2 - 4 division rating at the last BOA contest they attended. Unknowns: Have not attended a BOA regional in the last 2 years. Even though they should technically be in "Unknown", I went ahead and put Langham Creek in Group A. I also split Group A and B into two blocks; the first one being who I would consider to be the "heavies". Within the blocks, all bands are in alphabetical order. If I had to guess who would win, I would say Marcus: I saw their show at Arlington, and it was incredible. But anything can happen... I'd also like to point out that every band (except for Duncanville) that was in the Texas State UIL finals last year will be at this contest. "Group A" Bands: (17) L.D. Bell H.S. Langham Creek H.S. Marcus H.S. Richland H.S. Ronald Reagan H.S. The Woodlands H.S. Westfield H.S. Winston Churchill H.S. Berkner H.S. Cedar Park H.S. Clear Brook H.S. Colleyville Heritage H.S. Coppell H.S. Haltom H.S. Hebron H.S. James Bowie H.S. Spring H.S. "Group B" Bands: (12) Brazoswood H.S. Cypress Falls H.S. Harlingen South H.S. Judson H.S. Klein H.S. United H.S. Bel Air H.S. Creekview H.S. Fossil Ridge H.S. Leander H.S. The Woodlands College Park H.S. W. Charles Akins H.S. "Group C" Bands: (13) Clear Lake H.S. Columbus H.S. Hidalgo H.S. John B. Alexander H.S. Lewisville H.S. Oak Ridge H.S. Sharyland H.S. Smithson Valley H.S. Victoria Memorial H.S. Vista Ridge H.S. Waller H.S. Whitesboro H.S. William B. Travis H.S. "Unknown" Bands: (15) Azle H.S. Clements H.S. Edinburg H.S. Edinburg North H.S. Gatesville H.S. Georgetown H.S. Jarrell H.S. La Joya H.S. Llano H.S. Lopez H.S. Northwest H.S. Randolph H.S. Roma H.S. Samuel Clemens H.S. Uvalde H.S. I think that this persons theory is reasonable except for one part.."(only took top 6 from Houston, due to number of big bands that dropped out)". This part does not make sense to me because it shouldn't matter who dropped out because the facts still stand as to who made FINALS. You can't pick and choose who you want to include. That just isn't fair to the bands who worked just as hard as any other. Bands 7-10 could have made it whether the ones who dropped out attended or not. There is no way of knowing. So by you excluding them is almost an ultimate insult in my book. All the 57 competing bands at BOA San Antonio have just as much chance of making finals as any other. In my opinion I like when an underdog comes in and makes finals because seeing the same "power houses" over and over again kind of ruins the competition when you already have in your mind who is going to be in the top 3. What makes a good competition are the upsets because you know that is all people talk about the next day. Sometimes just making a BOA finals for one band means more than getting the first place trophy. So I really think this person needs to go back and revise their list if they are going to have correct statistics.