pokerface

LOL, someone needs to chill out. I agreed with GuitarJoe, that was the best cymbal line ever. I never commented on what they look like, you started that whole bit. You jump on me and try to make me out to be some kind of perv? G.T.F.O. kthx. I know those girls from 2003 and think they were an AWESOME part of what made the band unique. I still talk to some of them today and i'm willing to bet you couldn't name one. Like I said, I see where your mind wanders to first.

I see where your mind wanders to first! Haha, I knew most of them personally! They were darn good at what they did!

Can I get an Amen?

hissssssssss!

Look, there's really no point in venturing into the details of that year. They were phenomenal, it unfortunately ended the way it did, period. Please get back on track and lets continue with the original question/topic. Thanks.

That's still a really painful year to remember for a lot of kids, tragic for everyone involved. They will be remembered as one of the greatest ensembles in the history of marching band though.

I'm going to leave any 2008 shows off of this list since the season and shows aren't totally complete. There's quite a few I like from this year already though. There's so many I love, but there's two shows that I will always view as masterpieces. Reagan 2003 was an overall draw dropper for me. Major props to that design team, they really went all out on this one and pushed those kids to the limit. This was the first year I was really impressed with how Reagan sounded as an ensemble, and so much emotion at that. Could've taken the eagle that year imo, I was definitely fully entertained everytime I got a chance to see it. LD Bell 2006 was WOW. The most emotionally engaging show i've ever witnessed in my time. This was the first real breakthrough year for Bell in terms of design AND music execution coupled together. They had execution and design in the past, but aside from some dirty drill both were in top form this year. I could listen to and watch this show over and over and over again. Had Broken Arrow not had the performace of their life in finals, they would be competing for their 3rd eagle in a row.

Oh the irony of a drum corp fellow writing a marching band bible, haha. I agree from the difficulty standpoint and really to an entertainment standpoint. While I love the modern approach to marching band, I still crave the balls to the wall intense marching and playing for 8-10 minutes. I have an appreciation for both approaches, as long as they're done well in their respective styles!

You know, i've been looking around in the "Holy Bible of Marching Band". I can't seem to find the rule that says "Thou shalt always march while playing". I'm looking hard for that hard and fast rule that must be in place, can you help me find the documentation, or are you just making up the rules as you go? edit- I think it's funny how some complain about certain bands not marching and playing, but when you actually break it down with all the bands they're all pretty similar. On a side note, Bell's time looks a little shorter because they hardly march in the ballad this year compared to most. I personally wish they had a little more motion band-wise in that section, but the muscality and guard wayyyy makes up for it, at least for my entertainment value.

Edit- Rehtorical, immature questions deserve no answer. If you were wanting to know my age, you could've asked me or pmed me to find out. You clearly had no interest in if I was 17 (why the number 17 I don't know), and to pretend like you were waiting on an answer to that is simply idiotic. Oh c'mon man you took shots at more than just me in very tasteless ways, then called BlueBell's opinions classless. I just happen to take them as well as I dish them out. Also, you don't have to actually know someone to debate a point, but anything you had to say included some sort of attempt at a personal shot. I'm typically pretty calm in debating, but when you start the whole "wahhh wahhh" and "sobsobsob" immature bs, I will happily return the favor in my rebuttles. It seems you just couldn't handle taking what you dished out and had to run off and report my posts to admins; which did no good for your case. That's cool if you want to take that route, but if you want to actually debate, leave it between you and I arguing points that are valid. You got on some tanget because one Bell Alumni said that they thought Bell's music this year had great range and variety, and that they thought Marcus' music was one dimensional. That is not that big of a deal, that's a very basic opinion and really not insulting to anyone except for the music arranger. He said Marcus plays their style very well, as does Bell play their style very well. You blew it out of proportion because you clearly took some personal offense to it. Also, your continued use of satire to attempt to insult or talk down is very immature and really hurts any civilized conversation you might try to induce. You use your "sorry to dissapoint, i'm not a former band mate D:" or "What? are you seventeen?" lines in that satiric way. It just goes to show your age/maturity level, that's all it really does. I'm not sure why the age of someone matters to you that much if they can carry on a healthy debate or conversation. Clearly you cannot because you resort back to your childish sarcasm and attempt at insults. Last thing. No, I am not a Bell kid, but I did have a lot of close friends that went there and happen to be very, very close to some of their staff/former staff members. Their influence on the activity along with many other groups are why I hold them to such a high standard, and wish that the UIL would conform their system to these high standards.

This is where you are wrong. If you were older, and were around longer, you would know there were far more complaints the year that Bell won in 2004 than there are this year. Look at the scoring that year, look at it in 2002, look at it in 2000. Consistently inconsistent. Your statement that it only started when Bell started losing is bogus and you need to do your homework and figure this stuff out. I'm glad you think i'm seventeen though, shows just how little you actually know.

2002 was the last year it was outdoors. There was no finals that year, only prelims. Prelims was barely able to keep going due to the rain and mudpit that was being marched in.

The better question is. What happened to 5A state in 2002?

I knew everyone in that band, very very well. You didn't even have to mention that you were a sophmore.. your forums-name and first name would've been suffice for me to figure it out

Oh ok, I know who you are. You'll never know who I am, my pokerface is too good.

ah, 2004, that recording is beautiful. Who are you good sir or maam?

Im sure they are, he has good, reliable sources and wouldn't post it unless he was very sure of it. LOL @ UIL

LOL 10?? Bell last in music?? yowza. I cant wait to see the full ordinals. They did go on first so it makes some sense...wait...no it just doesn't haha. Congrats to Marcus

He is right whether or not you want to admit it. The band and the kids did not collapse, they are just as hard working as they have always been with all the dedication and heart that has been there. What DID collapse is the program, which is what Alan said- there is definitely a difference. I understand why some Reagan kids might take that statement the wrong way, but I think his assesment was fair about the program. program. program.

It's all good, was just trying to play nice. i'm definitely the same way for the most part. People definitely need to learn to get legit info before they post things of that nature, though.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Some people just don't care enough or don't know how to use tact in their responses. I think they're from Keller in case you were wondering.

Yeah. I believed the execution vs demand was revised around 2003 if i'm not mistaken. They basically rewrote the how and what portion of the adjudication. Point being you cant march box drills playing the star spangled banner with perfect form and musicality for 8 minutes and win- it just aint gonna happen that way. To that end... There were probably so many positive comments due to the fact that Mansfield has come such a long way from what they were. UIL judges tend to give commentary in relative to how well the band has progressed throughout it's years.

If you implemented the "bad judge" rule that UIL uses in finals. You guys would be 1st place. rule- two 1's in music and 1 in marching. Nullifies the lower placements.

Sounds like she probably thought you were executing your responsibilities really well. Other bands may have just had "more" responsibilites and did them well too. I think it's now up to your staff to push the limits of what yall can do as a group. I saw you perform at area, bravo on the best Mansfield i've seen to date- keep up the good culture!

I believe they way Xenon explained how Duncanville learns drill is probably similar to the way LD Bell learns drill. I only can only assume because they both have Brian Youngblood as their drill designer and I know he does drill charts/pictures, and not coordinates like a Michael Gaines might do. Both these bands seem to have had a great deal of ensemble visual success year after year, so it seems to be working for them. I think it also helps to keep a consistent process of how the drill is written, so that a staff can continually improve their approch and become more effecient with teaching/cleaning drill. Again, both these groups have been fairly consistent over the years with their visual consultation.