A band's crowd reflecting the band

[titancoaster]

Ok well I heard this mostly from my directors and my parents, at state we knew the Poteet band parents would run and hog the 50yd line seats. Well our parents wanted the non-reserved seats, so they showed up before finals got near to starting and started to get a few rows for Connally parents (put up a few signs like the poteet parents do) and our parents bgean to trickle in and sit down, well the poteet parents ripped up our signs, and moved our stuff in order to sit on the 50, and would sit in other peoples seat when they were gone, so our parents lost the seats they rightfully got to first, but they were nice about it and moved to the next section over so they still had good seats. When Connally took the field the Poteet parents sat deadly still and wouldnt applaud. Well our director took his director's seat which was in the middle of the Poteet parents. When we executed our first (false) impacted the Poteet parents just sat there and refused to clap, and at the end of our opener, the crowd applauded as is custom in marching band, except the poteet parents, who sat and stared without clapping. So our director, who is an amazing director, who really stands up for his beliefs (which is to support everyone in the activity) yelled to the Poteet parents "what were you trained not to clap" and they truned to him and stared. Once we got to the end of the trumpet solo during the third movement (which was played really well) they stared agian, and then my director yelled "What do you think about that!" and he was really mad that throughout our entire time on the field (pre show, show, and post show) the Poteet parents refused to acknowledge our hard work. My beef is, how is this activity supposed to stay alive, if we can only support oursleves? I really think that the Poteet parents made me lose respect for the whole program, I personally would rather come in second if it means that we are a well behaved, good moral band.

Any thoughts/Opinions?

[the terminator]

yeah I heard about that but truth be told Poteet band parents really don't care for anyone else and it is extremely sad to see the performer's own parents showing disrepect. The band has good sportsmanship, so it looks like the parents needs a lesson from the kids

[lyyiddd-2011]

  titancoaster said:

Ok well I heard this mostly from my directors and my parents, at state we knew the Poteet band parents would run and hog the 50yd line seats. Well our parents wanted the non-reserved seats, so they showed up before finals got near to starting and started to get a few rows for Connally parents (put up a few signs like the poteet parents do) and our parents bgean to trickle in and sit down, well the poteet parents ripped up our signs, and moved our stuff in order to sit on the 50, and would sit in other peoples seat when they were gone, so our parents lost the seats they rightfully got to first, but they were nice about it and moved to the next section over so they still had good seats. When Connally took the field the Poteet parents sat deadly still and wouldnt applaud. Well our director took his director's seat which was in the middle of the Poteet parents. When we executed our first (false) impacted the Poteet parents just sat there and refused to clap, and at the end of our opener, the crowd applauded as is custom in marching band, except the poteet parents, who sat and stared without clapping. So our director, who is an amazing director, who really stands up for his beliefs (which is to support everyone in the activity) yelled to the Poteet parents "what were you trained not to clap" and they truned to him and stared. Once we got to the end of the trumpet solo during the third movement (which was played really well) they stared agian, and then my director yelled "What do you think about that!" and he was really mad that throughout our entire time on the field (pre show, show, and post show) the Poteet parents refused to acknowledge our hard work. My beef is, how is this activity supposed to stay alive, if we can only support oursleves? I really think that the Poteet parents made me lose respect for the whole program, I personally would rather come in second if it means that we are a well behaved, good moral band.

Any thoughts/Opinions?

 

Well even though that is rude and disrespectful I am glad

that did not show that same attitude..

I heard y'all the whole time cheering for other bands..

My opinion on clapping though is that you should wait until after the

whole show is done.. Or after solos.

Y'alls band is polite and courteous..(every band has its rotten apples though)

And personally I liked talking to the members of

your band in the halls,lines, and things..

 

I do agree though with the fact that they should have

clapped..

 

Again on clapping..

I think that when awards are being announced for participation..

everyone should clap..

But when actual placement awards are being announced..

Its okay to not clap for other schools if you are crossing your fingers,

Holding hands with your band, or something along the lines

of you know.. Wishing and things for your band..

I think that after you band is called however..

clap..

 

This sport will not survive without politeness

and sportsmanship..

[dtxtrmpt]

My parents were in the stands sitting next to [insert bands name here] fans and students. And right before they announced the finalist bands, one of the students turned to my father and saw that he was with Dickinson, becuase of the shirt he was wearing, and told him that we were not going to make finals because we sucked. The student wasnt kidding at all. She wasnt smiling about it, she was being rude. Sadly for her, they announced our bands right next to each other. They jumped when they heard there name announced, and the girl turned and gave my father an ugly look when they announced ours. I was shocked to here this. Good thing I know that their band is full of students who are not like her, thanks to this board. just another story.

[Donezo]

Wow, that really sucks. I'm sorry your parents had to deal with that. PHS parents are usually great and I'd like to think this was a novice group who didn't know how to conduct themselves at a contest. That, however, is still no excuse for their behavior. I hope Mr. Portillo lets Mr. Coulson know about this.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Donezo

[lyyiddd-2011]

I am glad that SOME bands have class..

[longhornsax]

while we're on the topic of poteet and sportsmanship, did anyone find poteets celebration a little excessive? I mean, I shook hands with a lot of the drum majors after we were released, but when I went to shake hands with the poteet drum majors, they were climbing the fence... Then the whole chant thing...I guess that's tradition and all, but couldn't they wait just a little? I don't know, I just wish that a band, who is a repeat champion, would show a little more respect for the bands who didn't win. I totally understand they deserved to celebrate, but i think they were a little over the top. Maybe that's just me though...

[Donezo]

  longhornsax said:

while we're on the topic of poteet and sportsmanship, did anyone find poteets celebration a little excessive? I mean, I shook hands with a lot of the drum majors after we were released, but when I went to shake hands with the poteet drum majors, they were climbing the fence... Then the whole chant thing...I guess that's tradition and all, but couldn't they wait just a little? I don't know, I just wish that a band, who is a repeat champion, would show a little more respect for the bands who didn't win. I totally understand they deserved to celebrate, but i think they were a little over the top. Maybe that's just me though...

 

Well, I can't attest to the DMs jumping the fence, but Poteet always dismisses in the stands after every performance. They did the same thing in prelims and they would have done it if they hadn't won.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Donezo

[Danpod]

  titancoaster said:

Ok well I heard this mostly from my directors and my parents, at state we knew the Poteet band parents would run and hog the 50yd line seats. Well our parents wanted the non-reserved seats, so they showed up before finals got near to starting and started to get a few rows for Connally parents (put up a few signs like the poteet parents do) and our parents bgean to trickle in and sit down, well the poteet parents ripped up our signs, and moved our stuff in order to sit on the 50, and would sit in other peoples seat when they were gone, so our parents lost the seats they rightfully got to first, but they were nice about it and moved to the next section over so they still had good seats. When Connally took the field the Poteet parents sat deadly still and wouldnt applaud. Well our director took his director's seat which was in the middle of the Poteet parents. When we executed our first (false) impacted the Poteet parents just sat there and refused to clap, and at the end of our opener, the crowd applauded as is custom in marching band, except the poteet parents, who sat and stared without clapping. So our director, who is an amazing director, who really stands up for his beliefs (which is to support everyone in the activity) yelled to the Poteet parents "what were you trained not to clap" and they truned to him and stared. Once we got to the end of the trumpet solo during the third movement (which was played really well) they stared agian, and then my director yelled "What do you think about that!" and he was really mad that throughout our entire time on the field (pre show, show, and post show) the Poteet parents refused to acknowledge our hard work. My beef is, how is this activity supposed to stay alive, if we can only support oursleves? I really think that the Poteet parents made me lose respect for the whole program, I personally would rather come in second if it means that we are a well behaved, good moral band.

Any thoughts/Opinions?

 

Ripped up your signs??? As in, physically tore the signs???? That sounds awful.

 

The saving seats deal has really gotten out of hand. I've seen people set down colored pieces of construction paper on the seats in the Alamodome, indicating that a whole section belongs to a certain group's band parents. I witnessed a verbal altercation in which band parents from a certain group were yelling at three of the most respected and well-known contributors to the Marching Arts. It's horrible.

 

If the stadium has actual seats you can sit in, BOA and UIL should try their best to sell reserved tickets for those seats, just like they do for the Upper Level at the Alamodome for the Super Regional. It would eliminate a lot of the crazy seat saving that goes on.

[titancoaster]

I dont know if they tore up our signs, or just ripped them off the seats and threw them off the ground , but either way is unacceptable, I think its terrible that parents have to show up early just to beat out a few poteet parents who save an entire section (and again I love thier band, they deserved first, and am not sore in any way)

[DrumMajorly09]

  longhornsax said:

I mean, I shook hands with a lot of the drum majors after we were released, but when I went to shake hands with the poteet drum majors, they were climbing the fence...

 

Is that where they went?? I was wondering where they had gone...anyway, that's all surprising to me because I'd heard nothing but good about the Poteet parents. Crazy how something like that could happen.

[longhornsax]

  Donezo said:

Well, I can't attest to the DMs jumping the fence, but Poteet always dismisses in the stands after every performance. They did the same thing in prelims and they would have done it if they hadn't won.

 

ah, ok, well that's reasonable then, thank you for the clarification on that...i didn't really understand what they were saying.

[Donezo]

Well I definitely agree that Poteet's parents can be a bit overzealous when it comes to reserving seats. I remember back when Coppell and Colleyville Heritage were 4A.......it was basically a three-way feeding frenzy when the gates would open for state marching contest. Now I guess Poteet is the lone seat snatcher.

[thePIXELelement]

  titancoaster said:

Ok well I heard this mostly from my directors and my parents, at state we knew the Poteet band parents would run and hog the 50yd line seats. Well our parents wanted the non-reserved seats, so they showed up before finals got near to starting and started to get a few rows for Connally parents (put up a few signs like the poteet parents do) and our parents bgean to trickle in and sit down, well the poteet parents ripped up our signs, and moved our stuff in order to sit on the 50, and would sit in other peoples seat when they were gone, so our parents lost the seats they rightfully got to first, but they were nice about it and moved to the next section over so they still had good seats. When Connally took the field the Poteet parents sat deadly still and wouldnt applaud. Well our director took his director's seat which was in the middle of the Poteet parents. When we executed our first (false) impacted the Poteet parents just sat there and refused to clap, and at the end of our opener, the crowd applauded as is custom in marching band, except the poteet parents, who sat and stared without clapping. So our director, who is an amazing director, who really stands up for his beliefs (which is to support everyone in the activity) yelled to the Poteet parents "what were you trained not to clap" and they truned to him and stared. Once we got to the end of the trumpet solo during the third movement (which was played really well) they stared agian, and then my director yelled "What do you think about that!" and he was really mad that throughout our entire time on the field (pre show, show, and post show) the Poteet parents refused to acknowledge our hard work. My beef is, how is this activity supposed to stay alive, if we can only support oursleves? I really think that the Poteet parents made me lose respect for the whole program, I personally would rather come in second if it means that we are a well behaved, good moral band.

Any thoughts/Opinions?

 

 

It's not just there parents, it's their fans too. We played them at Mesquite 2 years ago my freshmen year and we were watching them perform and their fans were saying some of the most offensive things most of it I can not even post here...They threw Skittles at us and I remember one person very vividly saying "Go Band! I am not talking about ya'll(Looking at us) and I am talking about the band over there..." for some reason that just annoyed me to no end...And then some of their parents (I guess our whoever blows up the tunnel for their football games) who were blowing up the tunnel as we walked by were saying "State Champs" over and over and over again...

[Donezo]

Yeah, the football parents are the ones who blow up the tunnel and they are very, very rude. The whole "state champ" thing surprises me though because they are usually not very nice to the PHS band.

[Xenon]

For the record, I was there the whole time (right by the director section) during prelims and finals and for a significant time after both, and while I did see quite a few things examples of band-parent rudeness, I didn't see the specific things that you mentioned.

 

In regards to the Connally parents laying down signs and then the Poteet people ending up in those seats; the Connally parents stayed late after prelims and before the Alamodome staff finished kicking everybody out before Finals. It was during this time that they were laying signs on the seats so that they wouldn't have to rush back in. The Alamodome staff informed the Connally parents that these signs would be removed before people were let back in for Finals.

 

Also, sitting right next to the director's viewing area, I often glance at the directors to see their reactions and I never noticed the director that was up there for Connally interacting with the crowd around him. Now, I didn't pay close attention to the main section of Poteet fans, but the secondary section that I was around was quite friendly and appreciative the whole night.

 

Now, here is the big issue I had with people saving seats during this 4A competition. There were parents from a band (Not Poteet!) that went on during the 2nd block of prelims who got there first thing in the morning and saved 3-4 whole rows right on the 50 for their parents even though they only filled about a quarter of those seats until the start of the 2nd block. Leaving all those seats open right in the center and refusing to let people sit there for even one band is beyond rude.

[Danpod]

  Xenon said:

Now, here is the big issue I had with people saving seats during this 4A competition. There were parents from a band (Not Poteet!) that went on during the 2nd block of prelims who got there first thing in the morning and saved 3-4 whole rows right on the 50 for their parents even though they only filled about a quarter of those seats until the start of the 2nd block. Leaving all those seats open right in the center and refusing to let people sit there for even one band is beyond rude.

 

That rubbed me the wrong way too. I showed up around 9 A.M. only to find that almost half of the seats on the 50 were occupied by newspapers and jackets.

 

Karma, folks........Karma.

[thePIXELelement]

  Danpod said:

That rubbed me the wrong way too. I showed up around 9 A.M. only to find that almost half of the seats on the 50 were occupied by newspapers and jackets.

 

Karma, folks........Karma.

 

 

Yup, Karma is a beautiful thing sometimes...We had a few problems with Mansfield's crowd on Friday but that was expected being it was a rival game and the majority of the jeers were coming from pre-adolescent kids who don't know any better...

[lyyiddd-2011]

I think that excitement is one thing but when you go overboard like climbing fences.. Well something needs to be said.

[Donezo]

I think longhornsax was talking about how the DMs from Poteet jumped over the fence to get to the band for dismissal. They should probably have shaken hands with the other drum majors, but I don't think the physical action of getting to the band was too crazy.

 

If we want to talk about excessive celebration after winning, I remember when Cedar Park won in 2001 and the entire band stormed the Baylor field and was going nuts. Security had a fun time with that. Or when Coppell won in 1999 and a student ran across the field with a GIANT mustang flag before the drum majors had even left the field. I don't know what he was going to do with it if Coppell had not won, but there you have it.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Donezo

[lyyiddd-2011]

I know what he was talking about.. I'm saying that they should have stayed and shaken hands with ALL the drum majors before they did that.

[TheDancingClarinetist]

  titancoaster said:

Ok well I heard this mostly from my directors and my parents, at state we knew the Poteet band parents would run and hog the 50yd line seats. Well our parents wanted the non-reserved seats, so they showed up before finals got near to starting and started to get a few rows for Connally parents (put up a few signs like the poteet parents do) and our parents bgean to trickle in and sit down, well the poteet parents ripped up our signs, and moved our stuff in order to sit on the 50, and would sit in other peoples seat when they were gone, so our parents lost the seats they rightfully got to first, but they were nice about it and moved to the next section over so they still had good seats. When Connally took the field the Poteet parents sat deadly still and wouldnt applaud. Well our director took his director's seat which was in the middle of the Poteet parents. When we executed our first (false) impacted the Poteet parents just sat there and refused to clap, and at the end of our opener, the crowd applauded as is custom in marching band, except the poteet parents, who sat and stared without clapping. So our director, who is an amazing director, who really stands up for his beliefs (which is to support everyone in the activity) yelled to the Poteet parents "what were you trained not to clap" and they truned to him and stared. Once we got to the end of the trumpet solo during the third movement (which was played really well) they stared agian, and then my director yelled "What do you think about that!" and he was really mad that throughout our entire time on the field (pre show, show, and post show) the Poteet parents refused to acknowledge our hard work. My beef is, how is this activity supposed to stay alive, if we can only support oursleves? I really think that the Poteet parents made me lose respect for the whole program, I personally would rather come in second if it means that we are a well behaved, good moral band.

Any thoughts/Opinions?

 

Be careful... People in general will always try to find fault with the winner of a contest, especially if it's a band like Poteet who wins a whole lot.

 

I remember being at the 2003 State Marching Contest when they didn't even make finals (and everybody thought they would); every band they walked by jeered and yelled at them; I felt really sorry for them. Then, I distinctly remember them sitting in the stands during finals fervently applauding one of those bands that was not nearly so kind to them earlier. I was probably too young to get it then, but looking back on it, that was really awesome.

 

I'm not saying they didn't do what you say they did; just be sure that you aren't being a sore loser and trying to discredit the winner of a contest.

[Aegis Fang]

Sit where you want, you paid to sit where you want, that's all. But if the poteet parents knew that Conally was sitting in those seats before, knew connally wanted those seats back, they should have had some class and not sat there in the first place, that's just asking for a fight. If someone saves a few good rows and nobody's sitting there, those parents saving those seats have no right at all to make you move. Now if someone from that groups comes and wants to sit there, then maybe being polite and moving would be the right move. But until then, those seats are fair game, you just have to be smart about it all.

[bonepit06-07]

how and why can you say that we are being sore losers... we (connally) arent being sore losersbut are just simply stating the obvious and so is everyone else here... i kinda noticed in the students as well before they were announed first nobody applauded when dickinson or we were announced from there band because they were waiting to see if there name was called out. This event isnt just about winning.. its about showing good sportsmanship its about doing the thing in which we all love to do.. and thats play music.. so by not being happy for other bands before in the standings is just straight shopwing bad sportsmanship.. great program or not. (its being a sore loser) because nobody is hating on them were just saying there not acting the right way.

[Dynasty]

Applause can be a tricky thing to judge.

 

If you're a band parent for a particular band, it makes sense you would scream your head off for your band because your kids are in it and you've been following the show the WHOLE season.

 

When it comes to other bands, I totally agree applause is due. And I would imagine every person there did applause.

 

Now if you're expecting the whooping and on your feet hollering from the rest of the crowd, it depends on the shows. Just thinking back to BOA SA, I saw every show for the first time. Some shows really got you into the music and caused you to go to your feet. Others didn't. Now am I calling myself a bad sport? Well, that's your judgement. I clapped for everyone and got on my feet for a few.

 

Regarding celebrations....

 

My alma mater (Cedar Park) would stand at attention throughout any finals announcements. When our name was announced, no matter what the placement, we were expected to stand silently.

 

I can think of more than 1 occasion when someone asked me why we were so cocky... not even cheering when our name was announced. I still explain that its because we want to be modest (possibly after what Donezo alluded to in 2001, which was before my time).

 

So in the end, do you expect a band to be silent, or to cheer? Is there a good interpretation of them either way? No.... because you're probably jealous you didn't win.

 

If you won, people would be on here talking about you. How would you react then? Competitions are tense for parents and students. Every action is judged, and almost always for the worst.

 

That being said, Winston Churchill parents are some of the nicest I met, and if anyone reads this, thank you for your hospitality at BOA SA.