titancoaster

AHH!!! I hate having to even think about who could get medals, their are the two "obvious" Friendswood and Poteet, but then there is Newman Smith (which IMO has an amazing shot for gold) and the Area D bands of Hendrickson and Dripping Springs (I cant seperate the two because of the tie at area). Oh and then there are the new schools, Dawson, Legacy, Wakeland, Forney who could take a medal. Of course then you have to look at Hays who took first in Area D Prelims which says they have the potential to be yet another dark horse. Roma is another band to consider as they consistantly make state finals, could this be the year they take a spot on the podium. Wow, this is going to be an amazing contest. Finalists: (alpha order) Dripping Springs Forney (any band that could convince even two judges they are better than poteet deserve to be a finalist) Poteet Friendswood Hays Hendrickson Legacy Newman Smith Poteet Roma Wakeland

Prelims Schedule (Posted on UIL website) 4A - NOVEMBER 3, 2009 PERFORM ORDER SCHOOL TIME 1 HAYS 8:30 2 ALICE 8:45 3 WAXAHACHIE 9:00 4 LEGACY 9:15 5 EDCOUCH-ELSA 9:30 6 FRENSHIP 9:45 7 BRENHAM 10:00 8 NEWMAN SMITH 10:15 BREAK 9 FRIENDSWOOD 10:45 10 KING 11:00 11 DEL VALLE 11:15 12 BOSWELL 11:30 13 LBJ 11:45 14 POTEET 12:00 LUNCH 15 GALENA PARK 1:00 16 WAKELAND 1:15 17 CALALLEN 1:30 18 DRIPPING SPRINGS 1:45 19 WALLER 2:00 20 DAWSON 2:15 BREAK 21 FORNEY 2:45 22 AZLE 3:00 23 ROMA 3:15 24 HENDRICKSON 3:30 25 SOUTHWEST 3:45 26 SAGINAW 4:00

^thank you so much. I really enjoyed your show (though I only saw it from the back gate as you performed the band before us). I love Javelin and you have a fun arrangement of it. I think yall have the potential to do really well at state. With the stiff competition there is this year the medalists are going to be the bands who work their butt off the next 8 days.

Dont forget Dickinson in the 2007 finalists not returning, and three of the five not returning are now 5A.

Aw, you make my list look so unprofessional . I am saving my comments until the schedule is posted.

^In my opinion when it comes to Area all that matters is advancing, not who advanced in first place or fourth, becuase it could all change later at State. As long as the judges picked the right ones to advance thats all that matters. (See Area D '05 and '07 as Hendrickson and Connally switched ranks from area to state in both of those years)

Wow, Newman Smith is rocking this year! There were moments of pure gorgeousness (it may not be a word but Im using it ) but there were times the trumpets got alittle out of hand and had not so nice sounds. They will be fighting for a state medal in eight days!

^ agreed

Um I actually never said anything about Friendswood beating anybody at state, it was asked how is Friendswood doing, and I simply said the facts, that we had beaten HHS before (at Lone Star). Do I think that means we will beat y'all again, NO!, does it mean I am not worried about Poteet, NO!, it was simply trying to answer on how we are doing. I agree that there are alot of bands that could very well beat us at state, including any Area D bands, Area B bands, Poteet, Forney... I agree that when it comes to state anything could happen, and I as a staff member do not ever mean to come off as biased (I even put that in the intro to my post). I again wish luck to all State bound bands, and people CHILL OUT! these forums are for fun/ connecting the band community, try to look at both sides of the argument before over-reacting.

Ug, I work as a tech for Friendswood so I wont go into too much (dont want to be biased and all) but I will say they are having a good year and have yet to lose to any 4A school (including Hendrickson) but there is of course work to be done before state. I cant wait for November 3rd!!! Oh, and I think Area D definantly has a shot for getting all four into finals, as long as they all have good shows that morning. Good luck to all advancing bands!

The scores in finals are really interesting a tie between Hendrickson and Dripping Spring, and one point between Hays and LBJ it should be interesting to see how the pairs duke it out at state.

no, high schools dont perform un exhibition (well except last year, but that was a whole different story), they were probably announced as alternate to state

2009 4A State Participants (by Area): Area A: Azle Boswell Frenship Saginaw Area B: Southwest Legacy Wakeland Newman Smith Area C: Poteet Forney Waxahachie Area D: Hendrickson Dripping Springs LBJ Hays Area E: Brenham Waller Area F: Friendswood Dawson Galena Park Area G: Roma Calallen King Edcouch Elsa Alice

ok so I know in Area F Friendswood recieved straight first place votes, and apparantly Dawson and Gelena Park advanced, but Im kinda shaky on that last part, can anyone confirm?

Hmm, four to state again. My bets are (in random order) Hendrickson, Dripping Springs, Hays and Steele. Vandergrift or Lake Travis may make a statement and work their way into a state spot, but only time will tell.

Its about freaking time, Oh, and Crockett '89 from Westlake Finals is on youtube, and wow, they were awesome! (I love Candide!)

^^ Im not trying to be mean or anything I am just saying my opinion, and actually of all the big players I have seen all except Poteet (I attended both BOAs and saw the video of Dripping Springs). I do agree that any band could pull their way onto the medal podium in three weeks, but I am just going off where they are now. I never said those three were "locks" for medals, just that they were locks for finals and very likely the medalitsts. Oh and with the Honor band thing, congrats to Wakeland for placing 2nd that is awesome, but one marching band is a different ball game, and two they are going against the two bands who have reigned as honor bands since the 2005-2006 school year (Friendswood and Poteet) and if I remember correctly Dripping Springs placed very well in the state competition. Again I am not trying to say the season is over except these three bands, I am just saying they have pulled away as being the three front runners in the race for state. Oh and yes it is awesome for Wakeland, Legacy, and Dawson to be making such a strong voice as such young schools, it really speaks volumes about the future of marching band.

Ok, the reason I did not choose Dawson and Wakeland as probable medalists is that yes they made BOA finals, which is a huge achievement, but both are BOA bands, and will not be rewarded in the UIL scorecard. Look at Wakeland, the only reason they made it into finals was because of GE, their execution scores were horridly low. Dawson will do well but not to the point where they will be a threat for a medal, but in two years it could be a totally different story.

yes this Stephen F. Austin was the one from Austin, TX (usually refered to just as Austin High School)

Ok so after three weeks of competition its clear that Friendswood and Dripping Springs are going to be in State Finals (and medal if they dont make any major mess-ups) and the third medal will probably go to Poteet. (The color of the medal each school is up for debate) I put Dripping Springs and Friendswood as clear medalists, due to the video I saw of Dripping Springs which was ABSOLUTLY AMAZING! and that FHS has proved its intent through a strong showing at BOA Pearland against some very stiff 5A competitors. I hesitate to put Poteet as a clear medalist due to the second place finish to McKinney Boyd and a third place in music at the Plano East Competition, while they did good, I am just not convinced that they are a lock for a medal.

In regards to the previous post, , wow, Im speechless, that was amazing, you guys will (if you continue to work like you are now) be Area D champ and be state medalist, challenging and possibly beating Poteet for the gold.

^no, this was Travis from Austin not Sugar Land.

anybody care to write about dripping springs?

Biasism aside I believe that Connally will beat Birdville, Creekview and Legacy, they did place well at BOA Arlington last year, I will not say they will make finals I just think they will beat the above schools. They had a slow start but in what I have heard they have really come along with their show since USSBA, and their show design is very BOA.

performance order for Westlake is determined by if you you were a class champion the year previous you perform last in your class (and I believe Bowie and CP tied last year) and then it is random/when you turn in your registration. The finals time is split with the bottom five performing first (random draw) and top five performing last (a seperate draw)