bingogooberman

Yes, this all may be true (though I think the Indy super field is a bit deeper than you’re suggesting- blue springs would almost certainly make SA finals and Lincoln way, homestead, and o’Fallon would definitely be in the mix) but that just goes back to what I was saying before, which is that MFA is not going to put themselves in a position to explicitly state that the level of competition in Texas is stronger, even if it’s true. There’s already some curmudgeons in the north that think it’s ridiculous we have 6 regionals on top of the super. The only way this contest gets a semis, which I agree would be very helpful in terms of competitive fairness, is to elevate it above being a super regional. As great as that would be, and as much as the level of competition at SA merits it, I have a hard time seeing it actually happen

Well in terms of size, the Indy super was just as big as San Antonio, each maxing out at 84 bands. St. Louis wasn’t too far behind at 69 bands. I agree that the practicality of instituting a semis round shouldn’t necessarily have anything to do with prestige, but I think the reasons that MFA will not pull the trigger on it do have to do with the prestige of grand nats, among other concerns like cost and the ability of programs to miss class, etc

after 6 consecutive state finals appearances, Wakeland finally lands on the podium, snagging the bronze medal and nearly earning silver. Congrats! It's long overdue in my opinion

I can’t imagine BOA would institute a semis round at San Antonio without adding them to the St. Louis and Indianapolis supers as well- even though it may be true that SAs level of competition is deeper, they don’t want to appear to be playing favorites. Not to mention a semis round at SA would take away from the luster, appeal and all around uniqueness of grand nationals. Im firmly of the belief a semis round will never happen for these reasons and the ones laid out above by flomo parent

5A State participants scores at BOA San Antonio: 1. Cedar Park- 86.70 (22nd)- Panel 2 2. Wakeland- 86.43 (24th)- Panel 1 3. Rouse- 84.93 (31st)- Panel 1 4. Burleson Centennial- 84.80 (33rd)- Panel 2 5. Wylie East- 84.18 (34th)- Panel 2 6. Friendswood- 83.80 (36th)- Panel 2 7. Weiss- 81.60 (41st)- Panel 2 8. Aledo- 81.30 (42nd)- Panel 2 9. Tom Glenn- 79.35 (47th)- Panel 1 10. Forney- 76.30 (54th)- Panel 1 11. Pioneer- 76.03 (57th)- Panel 1 Some interesting things to note here- most notably Wakeland less than a quarter of a point behind Cedar Park and a point and half ahead of Rouse. I'm feeling pretty good about their medal chances. Centennial, Wylie East and Friendswood were all closer to Rouse than expected, and Aledo was a bit lower than I thought they'd be.

No, top 5 from each panel advance automatically, then the two panels are combined and the top 4 that hadn’t already advanced make finals. It just happened to be 50/50 split between the panels

7:15 p.m. – Class A: Collinsville H.S., OK 7:30 p.m. – James Bowie H.S., TX 7:45 p.m. – Keller H.S., TX 8:00 p.m. – Round Rock H.S., TX 8:15 p.m. – Pearland H.S., TX 8:30 p.m. – The Woodlands H.S., TX 8:45 p.m. – Flower Mound H.S., TX 9:00 p.m. – L.D. Bell H.S., TX 9:15 p.m. – Ronald Reagan H.S., TX 9:30 p.m. – Marcus H.S., TX 9:45 p.m. – Vista Ridge H.S., TX 10:00 p.m. – Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX 10:15 p.m. – Vandegrift H.S., TX 10:30 p.m. – Hebron H.S., TX 10:45 p.m. – Leander H.S., TX 11:00 p.m. – Class AA: Roma H.S., TX

if the last few years are indicative at all, I’d bet money we see at least one presumed lock band miss finals- I also think we’ve got a pretty great shot at seeing a first time SA finalist

I know it a bit late in the season for this but is it possible Haltom has homecoming tonight? I remember back in the day Hebron would often have a contest on homecoming day and request to go first in finals so the kids could attend the dance if they wanted to. Bc I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around them in 10th here

yeah, I’m worried after watching that Avon video...it’s got to be their best show in nearly a decade and they are leaps and bounds ahead of anyone in the country from a visual standpoint. Some (or at least 1, but potentially as many as 3) of the Texas groups should be able to beat them musically. Wasn’t a fan at all of whichever pop/rock song they incorporate in the middle (my memory escapes me as to which song it is) but i doubt it will affect them much. Vandegrift is performing their show at the highest level of any of our attendees, but I’m not sure the visual program is strong enough to hang with Avon. Music and music GE might be able to put them over the edge if they don’t fall too far behind visually (a high visual ind score ala Marcus 2013 could help) Hebron and CTJ are tackling significantly more challenging musical programs than Avon. CTJs visual program is challenging but not as compelling as Avon’s. If they can get it clean enough they could challenge. Hebron’s visual design *is* (in spots) compelling, but not nearly as challenging. If either of them are going to win they’ll need near flawless visual runs, which I’m nervous about Leander and TWHS are fantastic this year but neither seems like an eagle contender to me. Then there’s Carmel, which I’ve only seen an early season video of so not sure what to make of them And sidebar- caught a video of Ayala and am really digging what they’re up to this year. Really hope they make it back into finals

What a phenomenal season James Martin is having- back to back top 5 BOA regional finishes is a very impressive feat

Great show Richland! Has to be my favorite show of theirs in quite some time.

bummed Coppell and Keller are performing at the same in finals tonight- they were the two I was most excited to revisit.

wouldn't that have been acknowledged in some way during the finals announcement? not sure what the protocol on that would be.

the only thing I feel confident about with this one is BA winning and probably by a huge margin. While I personally preferred Tarpon at Orlando from a demand and execution standpoint, BA was quite impressive, and their show is a huge crowd pleaser. After that, I don't know what to think. I feel like Blue Springs, Coppell, LD Bell, Lake Travis, and Rosemount will probably fill out the top 6. In what order, I don't know. I'm not sure whether Rosemount nearly beating Blue Springs at Cedar Falls means Rosemount is a medalist caliber group here or if Blue Springs has just taken a small step backwards this year. I'm kind of leaning towards the latter, but wouldn't really be too surprised to see them go 2nd and 3rd (especially Blue Springs in 2nd considering they've gotten 2nd here 5 out of the last 6 years) Pre-season assumption probably would have had LD Bell in 3rd here, and I can absolutely see that happening, maybe even 2nd, but I feel like Coppell and/or Lake Travis may be able to over take them this year. LT's show is conceptually brilliant and they're executing it at a very high level. Coppell has really made a big step forward this year. They were less than a point behind Bell in Bedford prelims and were closer to FloMo than expected at Birdville. I'm guessing Bixby, Camdenton, Franklin, Haltom, Jenks, O'Fallon Township, Union, and SFA fill out finals (not in that order), though I could see Grain Valley, Lincoln or maybe Air Academy pulling it off, too. Haltom may belong in the upper tier, but I just haven't seen them.

worth noting from prelims recaps- Music Performance 2 Judge rankings: 1. Mustang- 192 2. Coppell- 189 3. Waxahachie- 185 4. Flower Mound- 183 5. Lewisville- 176 ... honestly, there's not too much to glean from one judge at a local contest like this, but these are some pretty remarkable results

Coppell should be moved up a tier

great to see Coppell so close to top 5 in prelims- was really impressed with them. Pretty shocked waxahachie finished 11 in prelims...all in all the scores here are a bit of a head scratcher

certainly wouldnt have anyone below westlake above 80 imo, but it honestly doesnt really matter.

scores were sky high here today. too high, in my opinion, but the margins seem pretty spot on

ok...having seen LD Bell and Blue Springs...and given tonights results at vista ridge...can LT take silver here?

super impressed by Forney tonight. I like their chances to make finals in Waco in a couple weeks, and maybe even return to state finals after a 10 year absence

what a departure for the woodlands! really digging this show, honestly. will be interesting to see if they can get back on top of westwood tonight

marcus looking good post director change. future looks bright for them

by the way, i missed it- did anyone catch the name of Flower Mound's show?