king_leonides

I could 37 bands in 5A. Is that a record? I see there were only 31 two years ago.

Plenty of other bands have spirit events at the same time as UIL Area. They manage to show up at the Area competitions every year. This year, SLHS had their school homecoming this year during the same week as Area. The SLHS still performed in all the homecoming events, including the parade and pep rallies, but still found their way to the Berry Center. SFA could show up to that Area E contest every year, and win it, hands down. If they don't show for the UIL Area for State shows, it is because they don't want to. It really does boil down to priorities, doesn't it?

Well, this weekend's events simply point out what I have been telling my son for years about marching band: It is 5% jubiliation, 95% gut-wrenching disappointment. I think the Spartans (and JET, Cinco, Dulles) got a taste of that last night at the Berry Center.

Is this the reason that they were no-shows at the Area E contest today? It sure explains a lot. They skipped a show they could have easily won, and then gone on to the state finals.

Seven Lakes finished eighth. Ouch. Extremely disappointing.

Area E advancers: Clements, Cy Falls, Cy Woods, Langham Creek Now I get to go change my signature. Very disappointing.

Do we have scores yet from prelims, or just the rankings?

From the Spartan Spy Network: Area E finalists: cinco...clements...cypress creek...cy fair...cypress falls...cypress woods...jersey village...langham creek...seven lakes...james e. taylor.

For God's sake, don't hold any marching band contests here: AKA Cowboys Stadium. It is bad enough that we have to hold the state finals and BOA super regional in the Alamodome. Do we have to hold more shows indoors? No. There is no way that the accoustics in an indoor stadium will ever be as good as an outdoor one. No way. Sorry, I have seen shows at indoor venues, and it will never be as good as outdoors. Never. Besides, the owner of the Cowboys, this guy: He already has enough money. What do they charge just to park at tha place? Forget it.

Umm... I am talking about this SFA, from Fort Bend ISD, in Sugar Land/Region 13/Area E: http://www.austinbulldogband.org/ I am not talking about the SFA from Austin ISD, which of course is region 18/Area D: http://www.austinisd.org/schools/website.phtml?id=014 Sorry for any confusion.

Yes, they did earn a 1 two years ago at Region 23. Then they were no-shows for the area contest. Only 19 bands competed at area E, and as a result, area E only sent 3 to Finals. Cy-Woods finished 4th. This year, the only no-show for area E is SFA. Fortunately, area E already has 22 bands without them, so 4 bands will go to Finals this time around. I have yet to hear a good explanation as to why SFA does not show up. Surely they think they will qualify for Finals, after winning the BOA show earlier this month. Why did their band director tell them to take the ACT test, instead of competing at Area E? The ACT is offered several times a year, not just October 23rd. I suspect that there is some other explanation at work here.....

The complete list is here: http://www.uilforms.com/regions/23/2010-AreaMarchingInfo.htm

Apparently, Westside's web site says that they qualified, so that means at least 8 bands will qualify from region 23. This means that they will have at least 21 in competition at area E, with 4 to move on to state. I will try to check on the remaining 2 bands from region 23: Alief Taylor and Alief Elsik. No, the region 23 database on uilforms is not yet updated - even though the contest was over 18 hours ago. Somebody at UIL must be asleep at the switch......

My understanding is that all 6 KISD bands at last night's UIL region 23 shows made 1's. Hastings also earned a 1. That makes 7. I have yet to hear about Westside, and the other AISD/HISD bands in attendance last night. I know that Lamar earned a 2. But 7 bands from region 23, would put the Area E show over 20 bands. That means 4 should qualify for finals from area E. I checked Hastings' website, and the Area E contest is on their calendar, so I presume they will attend. So it looks like SFA's decision not to attend, will not impact the total number of bands who will be coming from area E.

I still don't have a total for region 23. I know that Mayde Creek did earn a 1. I don't have number for Katy HS, Westside, JET, or the other competitors from the last segment tonight. Whoever is responsible for entering this data into UILFORMS for region 23, needs to get it done.

Apparently, SFA won't be coming to Area E finals. I checked their online calendar. Not only are they not planning on attending area E - they are instructing their members to take the ACT test that day. http://www.austinbulldogband.org/calendars...nson-s-calendar I will not comment on that situation. What that effectively means for Area E is this: 7 bands must qualify from tonight's region 23 show, to get to the magic number of 20. Four qualified from the first set of 5. (Hastings made a 1. That is a solid accomplishment for that program. They must have really improved from previous year's shows. Congratulations.) That means that 3 must qualify from the last group of 7. JET will almost certainly make a 1, That means that Katy HS, Mayde Creek, Westside, or one of the other Alief school will need to produce two 1s. And they all need to come to the Berry Center this Saturday.

More from my covert agents at Rhodes Stadium: SLHS 1. CRHS 1 . Lamar 2. Hastings 1. MRHS 1 Mid-evening break. Up next: Westside Alief Taylor HS Bellaire HS Mayde Creek HS Elsik HS Katy HS JE Taylor HS

Unofficial results from my spy network, at the UIL region 23 contest: ‎4a results. Reagan 2. Austin 3. Sterling 3. Sharpstown 2. Waltrip 1. 5a non varsity; Milby 4 Dinner break now. Hopefully, more 1's to come.

I just know that Pradervand will be judging the region 23 contest tomorrow night. I don't know why this director is "controversial".....I just hope he leaves the "controversy" somewhere along I-10, before he gets to Houston.......

Excellent. What manufacturer? Yamaha, King, Dynasty, or Jupiter?

Region 23 schedules can be found here: http://www.uilforms.com/regions/23/SCHEDUL...Sched-Reg23.pdf I would estimate 6 to 8 bands will earn a spot in the Area round. Of course, not every band from region 23 who earns 1 goes on to Area, which in turn decreases the number of bands from Area E that advance. Don't ask for my opinion on that. I will say something I will regret.

Ordinal systems are a joke. They should not be used for judging, period. They are used by judges, so they can judge relatively, not objectively. If they had to judge objectively, they would have to work a lot harder, because there would be much greater precision and accountability. They would have to objectively state, that your corps/band/guard is box 5/4/3/2/1, because of these criteria - and because of that, your score is a 91.5, not "first place." Judges wouldn't be able to hide behind excuses, such as "Well, I thought your band looked great, but I still placed you 16th." Then we would have a lot less Doyle Gammills in the world. Ordinal systems really should be banned. After 31 years of competing in, and watching, marching competitions, it is one of the few things that I am 100% convinced of.

Again, Clements' Area 3 finals scores in 2008 were: 22233 That means all 5 judges rated them in the top 3 at Finals. That doesn't explain how that 1 judge moved them 15 to 2 or 3, after preliminaries.

James E. Taylor going from 4th to 7th in Area E Finals in 2008. Here are the scoring sheets: http://uilforms.com/regions/23/AREA%20MARC...sults-AreaE.xls One judge alone dropped them 200 points, from prelims to finals, killing whateve chance they had of making State. There was other whackiness going on at that show, most notably Clements being rated 3, 2, 4, 2 by judges 1-4, and then a 15 by judge 5, during pelims. Then he gives them a 3 at finals. Sorry, when I see whackiness like this, I really begin to lose faith in the UIL scoring and judging. I have no confidence in that organization, whatsoever. None. I really think they should switch to the BOA system, which is used by most of the major state associations in this country.

Key Poulan writes (or has written) shows for a huge number of bands in Texas. But perhaps his most prestigious client in Texas is Flower Mound. And yes, he has written for Seven Lakes as well. Here is a complete list of his clients: http://www.keypoulanmusic.com/clientele Altogether, his web site lists 233 clients in Texas. That's a lot of money he has raked in from the Lone Star State. Higgenbotham has a series of clients in Texas as well. Perhaps Richland is his most famous customer. All three individuals have consulting practices that sell shows and designs. I wouldn't be surprised if members of this forum marched one of their shows, and didn't even know it.