What marching band is all about

[treyj]

So I was on myspace and my friend stephanie posted this.

 

And I thought it was pretty cool, well written, and true!

 

enjoy.

 

Those​ horri​ble,​​ hot days of summe​r band.​​ Rehea​rsing​ drill​ until​

your legs burn.​​ Doing​ the show until​ you are posit​ively​ sick of the

band direc​tor sayin​g "​​let'​​s do it just one more time.​​" Loadi​ng and

unloa​ding instr​ument​s,​​ carry​ing flags​ and props​ on and off the field​

with the timin​g of a milit​ary offen​sive,​​ day after​ day after​ day. Ice

to relie​ve bruis​es on wrist​s,​​ foreh​eads,​​ ankle​s.​​ Swoll​en lips.​​ Doing​

pushu​ps.​​ Stand​ing at atten​tion for five more minut​es than you can bear.​​ Sunbu​rn.​​

 

Wanti​ng to sell your soul for five more minut​es of sleep​.​​ Flags​ in the

face,​​ rifle​s in the ribs.​​ Wanti​ng to give it all up and join the chess​

team.​​ Heari​ng the show music​ in your sleep​.​​ Secti​onals​.​​ Heart​burn.​​

Heart​break​.​​.​​ Drumm​ing on every​thing​ in sight​.​​ Tossi​ng anyth​ing you can pick up. Think​ing march​ing band was a stupi​d way to get out of P.E. Runni​ng laps becau​se someo​ne else was late,​​ again​.​​ Reali​zing color​guard​ looke​d a lot easie​r than it is. Doing​ more push-​​ups.​​

 

Wonde​ring what happe​ned to your life.​​ Eatin​g dinne​r in the car while​ chang​ing cloth​es and doing​ homew​ork.​​ Lost shoes​ and lost mouth​piece​s.​​ Blood​ blist​ers on your palms​.​​ Long under​wear under​ your unifo​rm and icy wind in your face.​​ Learn​ing the fine art of sleep​ing on a bus. Tears​ and teasi​ng.​​ Learn​ing you have 200 new broth​ers and siste​rs who stick​ by you throu​gh thick​ and thin.​​ Knowi​ng you have 300 new paren​ts who will cheer​ for you, no matte​r what.​​ Laugh​ing at each other​'​​s jokes​ and learn​ing more about​ yours​elf than you knew.​​ Doing​ more push-​​ups.​​

Think​ing the show will never​ work.​​

 

And then,​​ final​ly,​​ it comes​ all toget​her and you have achie​ved

perfe​ction​,​​ drumm​ing your hands​ off and playi​ng your brain​s out and tossi​ng highe​r than the sky. A slice​ of time in a stadi​um when every​one cheer​s and your mom cries​ and pictu​res get taken​ at once,​​ just once,​​ you have the world​ in your hands​.​​ And the band march​es out of the stadi​um and down the stree​t,​​ alway​s toget​her wheth​er it's succe​ss or not, and you know by the feeli​ng in your heart​ it doesn​'​​t get any bette​r than this.​​

 

And you know if your direc​tor asked​ you to turn aroun​d and "do it just one more time,​​ a littl​e bette​r,​​"​​ you would​.​​

[treblemaker]

That is really cool! I like it. :]

[b_sax_agent]

Band is one of those things that it is truly unique.

 

One of my friends that quit band during summer was laughing at us, because "we didn't win".

 

I then watched a football movie, and found a quote, "It doesn't matter whjat awesome saves you make, cool passes, or great runs. All that matters is winning", and then I said aloud, "That is the difference between marching band and any other competitive sport. There is only two competitors, rather than 50. And you don't have to like the people that made first; you can like the 35th place show."

 

But band is also something that even though I enjoyed it to death, it isn't somthing I would repeat.

[treyj]

  b_sax_agent said:

Band is one of those things that it is truly unique.

 

One of my friends that quit band during summer was laughing at us, because "we didn't win".

 

I then watched a football movie, and found a quote, "It doesn't matter whjat awesome saves you make, cool passes, or great runs. All that matters is winning", and then I said aloud, "That is the difference between marching band and any other competitive sport. There is only two competitors, rather than 50. And you don't have to like the people that made first; you can like the 35th place show."

 

But band is also something that even though I enjoyed it to death, it isn't somthing I would repeat.

 

 

really?

 

i would repeat it even if i had a choice not too.

 

but yeah

 

band is definitely unique

 

hard to explain

[whitewing09]

I would choose band again fo sho! It taught me so much stuff! It showed me how hard work and dedication worked. I learned that it doesn't matter whether you are a jock, prep, emo, geek, party goer, etc. you can work together to accomplish a common goal. There's just a lot lol

[b_sax_agent]

I'm not saying I didn't get anything from it, but it's a one time thing for me. I loved it, but I also hated it.

[whitewing09]

235 bands compete to get where yall were at?! Where were yall? lol

[b_sax_agent]

supposedly there is about 235 5A bands.

 

That's what our principal told us.

 

 

I haven't counted tham, so I really don't know.

 

 

(Zach W. is a cheif)

[treyj]

  RebelSaxophone said:

I wrote this at the beginning of my sophomore year to attempt to explain why I loved band so much. At this point I had only marched one full year and this is what I took from that year. Some names have been changed in this essay because I didn't know if they wanted to be mentioned online.

 

================================================================================

====

 

This was it, the moment we had been striving to achieve all year. The moment every marching band in the state of Texas had been striving to achieve I suppose. This was the BOA retreat.

 

 

We have never done anything BOA and doubt I we ever will.

 

lol

[whitewing09]

Lol get a spot 235 bands want... not really a lot of bands choose not to and rather not do BOA lol

[b_sax_agent]

that was actually for state.

[treyj]

  whitewing09 said:

Lol get a spot 235 bands want... not really a lot of bands choose not to and rather not do BOA lol

 

 

exactly.

 

im sure it was still a cool experience though

 

ha

[connorjewell]

  treyj said:

We have never done anything BOA and doubt I we ever will.

 

lol

 

I feel bad for you. BOA is so great. It is geared towards the kids, and nothing else. And it goes way beyond just the UIL show, it is entertaining, exciting, and the judging is more accurate.

[treyj]

  connorjewell said:

I feel bad for you. BOA is so great. It is geared towards the kids, and nothing else. And it goes way beyond just the UIL show, it is entertaining, exciting, and the judging is more accurate.

 

You can't determine if judging is more accurate. It can't be inaccurate, it someone's opinion of your performance..... More consistent between judges? Maybe. And yeah I'm sure it is great, I was just stating we are not a BOA and I cannot ever imagine either one of my teachers gearing toward BOA.

[whitewing09]

  b_sax_agent said:

that was actually for state.

 

He said BOA in the same paragraph lol nothing about state

[b_sax_agent]

no, but the 200something bands want to get here or something to that effect was for state.

[gavinrh]

  b_sax_agent said:

no, but the 200something bands want to get here or something to that effect was for state.

 

 

we fell on our faces at state... (some of us quite literally), so i doubt he was feeling real proud about that

[b_sax_agent]

there wasn't even a retreat for state.

 

 

Oh well.

 

life goes on.

[whitewing09]

Ok cause when the main idea was of boa in the paragraph he was talking about state lol anywhooo I can't wait until the invitationals start!

[treyj]

march-o-thon this morning

 

should be fun!

 

:]