DorianDude

From what I understand, the judges were not docking points for tuning issues because of the weather, but do you think that going on later during the finals round may have actually hurt some groups?

Clements, Austin, will make it as they have a history of excellence and always perform highly. Now some people will question why I have Seven Lakes and Cy Fair.....simply put, their shows have more demand. All the bands will achieve the necessary level of clarity to make it to state, but out of ten bands, those 4 IN MY OPINION will proceed. You can talk about how the judges are only there to judge achievement, but the subliminal message of pulling off a more strenuous show does add points to more than the classified sheets. Also, the people above mentioned the difference between BOA and UIL scoring. Lone Star is a boa-esq event. Katy Marching Festival was a UIL-esq event. I'll leave it at that. Best luck to all the bands going, and I hope the bands that do go to state represent us well (in finals?!?) Finals 1. Clements 2. Austin 3. Cy Fair 4. Seven Lakes 5. Morton Ranch 6. Langham Creek 7. Taylor 8. Cy Woods 9. Cy Falls 10. Jersey Village

umm not necessarily.... My band recently made 2nd (or 3rd?) in GE recently at a marching competition that it hadn't gone to finals in years. In my opinion, GE is BOA's guard against what sometimes happens at UIL--- bands that have harder music/drill but don't execute lose to bands that have a much easier show, but execute just a hair better.

I agree. People predict too many bands as "locks" due to their average performance quality. However, thats not really how it works. If LD Bell (however unlikely) somehow broke time and ended up falling apart, they would not make finals. Obviously this is an extreme example, but the same principle applies: Judges judge what is on the field, not the average performance of the band. If a band from Knowhereville, TX shows up, has a decent show, and demomstrates that (for that performance) they have the highest marching/playing ability of the group, they should/would be rated first. You need that principle becuase if there wasn't any hope of doing well, the bottom half of the bands at any BOA Regional wouldn't show up! There always has to be a chance for the little guys to suceed. That being said, these are bands that are LIKELY making finals: Bowie, LD Bell, Marcus Everyone else is in danger of getting out knocked by a band with once-in-a-year performance.

Whatever band played after 7 Lakes (we were in the parking lot and could still hear the performance) had an absolutely amazing hornline. That Crazy Train arrangement is some of the best high school playing I've ever heard.

I see on the predictions and here that we have Dripping Springs comming in and pretty much sweeping house like they did last year. I really don't think that will be the case. I think that the incredible jump of quality in terms of bands. (Area E's stronger attendence, for example) will make this a far more competitive year. Im not saying that DP won't win, but they (and pretty much everyone who wants to be in top 5 or so) isn't going to cruise right in. Good luck to all! 1st: Dripping Springs 2nd Dawson or Cy Falls 4th: Clements 5th: Seven Lakes or The Woodlands College Park or Clear Brook