Donezo

I've heard from many sources that Centennial was best in show! I can't wait to see how they do tomorrow.

Coppell gets nailed by some music judges for their very in your face ensemble sound (see last year's state prelims) and they can often be a bit dirty visually (relative to a band like Marcus or Bell.) That said, I think they should have come in third last time around.

LOL. I know. I've been around both systems for probably as long as you have. I'm just scratching my head over the prelims results. It's pretty rare for a band to win both performance captions and not win everything. The last time I can think of is.....Marcus at the same contest in 2005. Strange. It just seems very backwards to me. Again, I'm glad the situation didn't repeat itself in finals.

Perhaps I'm just an old curmudgeon who will never be a fan of the BOA system, but I find it more than a little disturbing that Marcus won Music and Visual in prelims.......yet they finished 2nd? Call me old fashioned, but I feel like the band who the judges agree marched and played the best should come in first. Everything else is a bit out of the kids' hands. I'm glad the band who won the performance captions in finals went on to win the whole contest. Also, I always scratch my head over Coppell's every other year flip-flop. Top five at state marching contest, then misses BOA SA finals. Is that group the biggest disconnect between the BOA/UIL scoring systems? Then again, they seem to have stepped out of their comfort zone a bit this year.

Brazoswood - 31st Haltom - 32nd

Possibly Poteet, but I can't confirm that.

What also kind of sucks is that Poteet has to forfeit their first division rating, which will break their UIL Sweepstakes streak that's been going since the late 80s. That bit seems a bit cruel, but I guess it makes sense as the violation was at Region. This got me thinking about how athletic programs are punished for participating ineligible students. If an ineligible student plays at a game, is the only consequence forfeiting the result of the game? If that's the case and it's just the regular season of football or basketball, then that team still has a shot at making the playoffs even with an extra loss. It seems like the stakes are much higher for fine arts programs, and I don't really like that. I wonder if Poteet's head director will receive an official reprimand from UIL. Was that the case with The Woodlands?

I still contend that the UT stadium was the best ever venue for State Marching Contest, although Dome contests are obviously popular due to weather concerns. Plus, BOA at UT would be a hilarious parking disaster of epic proportions.

Probably more like Tom Shine-era Duncanville, no? Current Duncanville seems to have modernized a lot despite still not attending BOA.

Fair enough. However, State without Poteet will be incredibly bizarre. Kind of like when Dickinson finally moved up to 5A in 2008 after being a 4A powerhouse since the 80s. That's more what I meant by "end of an era," especially when paired with Scott Coulson's retirement last year.

This will be the first 4A State Marching Contest without Poteet since 1990. End of an era indeed.

I haven't seen much outside of the Dallas area this year, but Waxahachie sounded great at Area. If they keep improving at this rate, I'm expecting very high music ranks. I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the top three.

This is an incredibly qualified and diverse panel. It really ticks me off when people on this board and elsewhere talk about these judges like they're morons (not talking about you, drummerjoe.) The results are "inconsistent" (whatever that means) because these groups at the top of Area D are all pretty great. Four former state finalists are staying home, three of which would have made it with the prelims results at the expense of a former state champion and 5A state finalist. This was an intense competition. I always scratch my head when people cry foul over the point spread at state marching contest. Is the 7th place band really that much better than the 18th place band? Usually not. When there are this many great bands in Texas, it gets hard to rank them after a while. Thank God people aren't paying me to do it, because I'm sure I would be way out of line all the time. I know I always am when I attempt to score 5A state prelims.

Regardless of the outcome of the hearing, I think Poteet is contending for an 8-10 spot unless they really clean up. I won't count them out for finals, but top five could be a long shot. They seem to be struggling a bit with the new staff. The show is very visually demanding as always, but they're not executing at the level they usually do around Area time. It is a bit telling that two judges had them in 4th in area finals, but perhaps it's also telling that they picked up several 1st rankings throughout the day when I thought it could have been a total blow out for Waxahachie. They may prove to be a bit divisive. However, this is a group that tends to peak at the right time, so who knows. The same is true of Friendswood, who I expect to beat Dawson in San Antonio and finish in the top three.

Poteet treats it like a volunteer position for students not in the program. The band doesn't really have the numbers to put kids who could be marching and playing on the sound board. In Coppell's case, it was the mistake of the staff for rather blatantly ignoring a well-known rule, but I think the right decision was made in the end. I bet Forney will petition to advance if Poteet is allowed to go, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was approved...

Having lived through Poteet/Coppell in the 90s, I'm going to say yes. 1997 state finals - the Poteet crowd cheered just about as loudly for Coppell's third place announcement as for Poteet's first place (back when they actually announced the placement order for all of the finalists. What a novel concept!) Tacky but true. Team Coppell returned the favor in 1999. I think the Coppell crowd was also quite peeved that Poteet always won area no matter what went on to happen at state. Several parents complained to contest officials that Area C was always in Mesquite and Poteet had an unfair home advantage. That's the nastiest one I can think of. I also remember Colleville Heritage parents storming into the Poteet parent section in the stands right before 1999 state finals and shoving all of the Poteet seat cushions and blankets to the side. Sportsmanship in marching band has generally improved a lot in the last 10-15 years, so we don't see much of that anymore. I'm also sure Spring/Westfield got pretty catty in the 90s.

I understand that. However, Coppell arguably also had somebody other than an eligible student performing a role that UIL has decided a student must perform. The student is also technically not enrolled in the PHS band program. It's a grey area and of course we have no way of knowing which way the decision will go. I'm just highlighting that precedent might be on Poteet's side in this case. I don't think it would be some kind of grave tragedy if they got to advance.

It's also a UIL law that only students can operate sound equipment at UIL marching competitions, which is why this ineligible student was operating the sound board in the first place. Believe me, I was in high school when the rule changed and it was kind of a hassle. I don't see how that rule is any less serious than no pass, no play. If I were on the Poteet staff, I would use the Coppell example to my advantage. Like I said, that is the clear precedent to me in this case. The student wasn't marching.

Not surprising considering that Waxahachie is on fire these days, but if this order holds in finals, it will be the first time Poteet doesn't win 4A Area C in 20 years. Also, yay Ennis! I always love seeing military groups do well.

No Wylie in Area B Finals?? I thought they would be contenders to advance! Shocking.

A note on the Poteet case: the student in question is the sound technician, who is not technically enrolled in band or in any other extracurricular activity. Therefore, the student was not included in the automatically generated list that names students who are ineligible for Poteet's extracurricular activities. It was a mistake that the Poteet staff couldn't have really been prepared or expecting to face, as the school's system is actually quite effective at showing exactly who is ineligible. Who knows how the ruling will go. Danpod brought up The Woodlands in 2008, but I think the case of Coppell in 2008 is a better example. In that case, a parent was found operating the sound system at Area C Marching Contest. The band was allowed to participate in the State contest anyway. It was a violation of UIL rules, but apparently not a serious enough one to warrant disqualification. I don't see how an ineligible student operating the sound board at Region is any different from a parent operating the sound board at Area. In any case, this is an almost completely new and very young staff at Poteet. I hope they get the chance to compete and prove themselves on their own terms rather than be disqualified on a trivial technicality. In my opinion, it would be more in line with precedent to let them compete if they advance.

Looks like Poteet's finals performance was finally posted: http://www.poteetpirateband.org/video/State_09.html

LMAO wow. Let's just move all the old 4A powerhouses back down while we're at it. Coppell, Keller, Hebron, Dickinson, Colleville Heritage, Connally, Georgetown, Grapevine, Leander, Fossil Ridge, Wylie, Lopez, New Braunfels, Belton, Allen (though that would be beyond impossible.) That would be epic.

There is pretty much nothing military about Poteet. They're about as classic drum corps-style as you can get. And lord help us all if Cedar Park is really moving down. They'll probably be as unbeatable as Richland was in '03.

Areas B, C and D have been totally dominating 4A and 5A state as of late. And I was very glad to see all three Area C bands get into finals!