Symphomorphisis

Not to discount the great program you have at Newman Smith, your show this year is quite great, but early season wins/losses should not be used to count your eggs before they hatch. Just remember that they didn't put their closer on the field, and took everything that was given on the critique sheets very seriously. The first contest they put their closer on the field at, Area C, they very nearly swept in both Prelims and Finals. I feel like Cedar Park and Dripping Springs will be first and second in prelims, in no particular order, with Centennial hot on their tails followed by Waxahachie and Lake Travis. Then an upset with Lake Travis and Waxahachie fighting for first and second, with Centennial and Dripping Springs fighting for third/fourth and a huge upset with Cedar Park in fifth place. Because we all know that literally anything can happen in the UIL circuit, especially with 4A being such a diverse, cutthroat division. I'd also like to say that Lake Travis's show is quite lovely, and I was surprised the first time I saw them. I keep trying to figure out where I've heard/seen elements of the show before, but I can't quite ever put my finger on it. Either way, I'm excited to see all the spectacular bands at State this coming Tuesday!

It's not like he was a brand new director. He wasn't even from out of the district. If I heard correctly from the Poteet parent at Area, he was one of the assistant band directors that was at the HS.

I was under the impression that their appeal was on Friday night, to see whether they would be allowed to compete at Area.

I'd like Waxahachie. Rich has been doing great work with taking a program essentially from the ground up here and has done amazing work the past 9(10?) years. For those who don't know, Waxhachie's director, Rich Armstrong, was the head drum major for the Cadets in the 80's, winning World Finals with them several times, then going on the work for them, and later the Blue Devils as he aged out. Waxhachie made State Finals in '09 as the smallest 4A band to ever do so, and almost beat Coppell at the Duncanville Marching Invitational. I think it would be very on-track for them to win State with the rapid improvement they've seen every year, I just hope they haven't burned out. We know they can play, they're the Honor Band, beating out the likes of Dripping Springs for it, and they've been steadily eating into Duncanville's numbers at All Region band. What we don't know is if their marching and guard work will be up to snuff. Who knows? A link to their most recent preformance can be found here: http://youtu.be/vVzyGqDi_m0 All that said, though, if Waxahachie does not win State, I would very much like Dripping Springs to make a repeat performance, as I think their show concept this year is brilliant.