2014 BOA San Antonio Super-Regional Predictions

[thatbrown_guyy]

I find it extremely weird that for Leander, ME1 is 5th and ME2 is 13th!!?! Like what, I need an explanation?!

[That one drum major]

  On 11/2/2014 at 8:59 AM, thatbrown_guyy said:

 

I find it extremely weird that for Leander, ME1 is 5th and ME2 is 13th!!?! Like what, I need an explanation?!

I do agree with you. I feel that judge was very inconsistent. If it was another judge I definitely think things would have been different.

[~ME~]

Thanks to everyone for posting all these recaps and ordinals! It's VERY enlightening. Before I go into my personal gripes, I just want to say that I respect the judges ( who undoubtedly know WAY more than I do about the activity) and did not envy them AT all last night with that unbelievably tough job of judging arguably the most competitive BOA contest ever. But that doesn't mean I can't turn around and disagree with their opinions. :b These were the things that made me say "HUH???":

 

Flower Mound's placement was pretty odd, but we've clearly already established that. They are going to do awesome at Grand Nats though, there's no denying that!

 

Maybe there's something I'm just not seeing, or maybe the multicam view showed me things the judges didn't see, but I highly disagree with CTJ placing so high in both visual performance captions. I probably would have had them in 6th behind Bowie, Woodlands, Marcus, Leander, and Bell visually overall (Not wanting to discredit CTJ's gold medal though, they EARNED that. I have zero complaints with them finishing first overall). And admittedly, their show looked quite difficult to perform visually and the drill was stunning. But still, I just didn't feel that the execution and individual technique was quite there for them to be winning the visual caption.

 

Music Ensemble Performace... With this one I at least understand the judge's reasoning, and I think this is just a clash of personal preference for me. This judge clearly preferred the in-your-face BOA sound that CTJ and Leander had over the concert-band-on the-field sound that I generally prefer from Marcus. I would have had Marcus and Hebron as the top 2 in this category, but like I said, it all comes down to personal preference. That being said, I do think this is the second year in a row Hebron has kinda gotten jipped musically at BOA SA. I felt like they should have won the overall music caption last year, and I felt the same way this year. They had the guts to put out one of the most technically intricate and demanding shows I've heard in years, and they pulled it off in spades with a refined sound on par with that of Marcus. Hence why that 5th place finish in Ensemble Music kinda baffles me. The same goes for Marcus's 4th place finish, although I'm happy they still won the overall Music Caption.

 

The STRANGE Music GE stuff has already been covered, so I'll just say yeah, I have no idea what they were doing. Maybe Leander could have won the whole thing if not for that 13th place...

 

Overall though, I still feel like the judges did a pretty solid job this year. They especially nailed who the top 6 were, and I've already stated how I think it's pretty cool that all 6 of them were the bands that broke 90. And with an exception to Flower Mound, I think they did a pretty good job with the 7-14 bands as well. Yeah, there's some head scratchers, but they ultimately did a fantastic job. Kudos to the brave judges who actually had the guts to judge such an insane contest!

[LKendrick]

13th - 30th, over 17 bands is a spread of just 6.65 points.  THAT is a testament to how deep this competition is, that's insane.

 

Shout out to Hendrickson, what an incredible show that is one of my favorites of the year, I was REALLY pulling for them to make it in, had them in 14th myself, but what a well deserved 15th at the most competitive contest of the year.  That's quite an accomplishment.  

[Samuel Culper]

Here's a thought: I'd love to see a breakdown of the 14 finalists by UIL classification.

[~ME~]

It's also crazy to think that there were even more great bands like Cedar Ridge, Coppell, Wakeland, Mansfield, and Dripping Springs (congrats to them on their 6th place finish at Atlanta, by the way) that weren't even there. And imagine if Duncanville were to start competing in BOA again... Texas is unbelievable.

[yungmellophone]

  On 11/2/2014 at 6:24 PM, Samuel Culper said:

Here's a thought: I'd love to see a breakdown of the 14 finalists by UIL classification.

All 6A except for the 4 5A Leander ISD bands. What a district!

[LKendrick]

  On 11/2/2014 at 6:28 PM, yungmellophone said:

All 6A except for the 4 5A Leander ISD bands. What a district!

As far as I am concerned that's the place to be a music educator right now. They've got something special going on there.

[lasvegasmonkey]

Although, I find it irritating that Round Rock didn't make it to state, even with an AMAZING show. Area D is just so hard, while other areas aren't that hard... I think all the finalists from Area D should've made it to state.

[BlackJesus]

  On 11/2/2014 at 6:30 PM, LKendrick said:

 

As far as I am concerned that's the place to be a music educator right now. They've got something special going on there.

Meanwhile we're getting a considerable amount of Freshman who don't even know how to play or read music or bother to get any better

[Abbie123]

That culture of excellence starts with the upperclassman (sophomores, juniors, seniors), and the directors. Its a process it takes persistence and patience, but overtime things can change...

[Tenzineo]

I had to sleep off the events of yesterday, but WOW. This is by far the best marching event I've been to (and I went to Grand Nats last year). I completely underestimated Cedar Park, they were AMAZING, their Music GE score was well-deserved along with their placement. That was one of the best 1812 Overtures I've heard. I feel like I also underestimated CTJ, their first place was very well earned and deserved, and I thought their show was fantastic. All-in-all I think this was an amazing Super Regional with so many deserving bands. 

 

Some other thoughts I had:

 

Hebron- Man! They placed way lower than I thought they would, even after watching them, I hope to see them make a great showing at State.

 

Leander- Their whole show was as gorgeous as I thought it would be. They have really left their mark this year, with first in prelims and third in finals. I hope that they'll carry their momentum forward into next year, and hopefully an oncoming Grand Nats appearance.
 

James Bowie- Their finals run was definitely my favorite of the night (no offence to CTJ). They had an AMAZING run, probably the largest difference from prelims to finals out of all the bands. I loved how their whole show tied together in the end, with a mirror set of all of them facing backwards. I believe they generally go to Grand Nats every three years? So hopefully we'll see them there next year, with a show like that I think they could contest for a medal at least, if not another Texas Eagle -- Same with CTJ and Leander. 

 

I wasn't planning on going to State, but I just might have to. I'm sad that Leander wont be there, but I will like to see the bands finals pushes to the end of the season. 

[Tenzineo]

And on a side note. I also think the Music GE judges scoring was very strange, it seemed like that had a major effect on the placements. Also, I think its pretty crazy that CTJ got 24 in GE visual in prelims. 

[LKendrick]

I think my favorite moment of the contest is Leander's Rocky Point Holiday Climax SEAMLESSLY transitioning into Somewhere Over the Rainbow before they finish out with a Orawa reprise and then blowing your face off with that last hit.  Just wow.  

[LKendrick]

I think my second favorite behind Leander is Cedar Park, if you closed your eyes, that 1812 Overture sounds just as good as any drum corps.  The stereophonic bells ballad is really neat.  They just sound SO good.  And that color scheme is beautiful.  Just a simple, and performed the heck out of show.  Sometimes that's all you need.  

[Jbl3770]

my thoughts on the past few days - 3 things to keep in mind

1. I am not a judge so my opinion is just that
2. I have played many instruments in my 4 years in high school and marched 3 years with DCI 
3. I have attended all 3 Texas BOA's this year and was in the box for all 64 bands and 14 finalist in the dome.

With that said - I watched the videos this morning for the finalists from last night. as someone that was sitting in a prime location last night - the audio/video feed does not do any of these bands justice. both from a musical and visual perspective - it leaves much to be desired. so for those that are second guessing the scoring - 

at the end of the day, I agree with the placements for finals as I thought that CTJ, Bowie, Leander and TWHS brought the best shows I saw and what you did not see on the videos was the emotion - the CTJ show appears to be designed just for BOA (VS UIL- as we will see in 2 days) Bowie in second and could do the same on Tuesday) - Leander was truly driven on emotion and great music. Woodlands left a great show out on the field and should be proud of what they accomplished.

CTJ has only been around 6 or 7 years and has progressed each year. finishing 5th, 4th, and 4th the past 3 runs in BOA SA - this was their next step and they did so with a great show - only downside is that this show will not be heading to Indy.

 

fun fact - 5 of the 7 judges in finals and not judged a BOA finals in Texas this year. no "favorites" to worry about

 

Congrats to all the bands and to our medalist - I felt that this would be a year that would introduce some new blood to the old guard (Marcus, TWHS, LD Bell, Bowie) based on Leander's showing in BOA Austin and CTJ in Conroe, FloMo in Prelims yesterday adding to Hebron's rise last year in BOA Dallas and San Antonio. not to mention all the great shows that had very strong performances yesterday and leads to the question....who will jump up next year.

 

All this will make for an even more competitive group in the years to come and next years BOA SA will be even better. At some point BOA will need to rethink the format in San Antonio - it is not just another Super Regional - this is Texas and Marching band really is bigger here.

 

Stay safe on looking forward to UIL on Tuesday and what that might bring.

[Percplayer19]

  On 11/2/2014 at 5:42 AM, Jellyfishes said:

Man, great recovery year for Richland, after placing 38th last year. Wow so close!

Thank you for noticing. I look forward to next year, Richland isnt big, but they overcome and are persistent.

[thatbrown_guyy]

Just wanted to say that Leander HS left it all on that field. You should've seen them walking out through that tunnel. They have a strong connection and have been through some ups and downs, but they finally came through. Cant wait to see what they bring to us next year!

[Abbie123]

^You in the Leander band, be proud use first person tone of voice. we.

[BlackJesus]

Quick question, if every band that has made 4A and 5A finals in the past few cycles were to go to GNs including bands who make Finals at BOA, what do you guys think GN Semi's or Finals would look like?

[That one drum major]

  On 11/3/2014 at 12:08 AM, Abbie123 said:

^You in the Leander band, be proud use first person tone of voice. we.

Hes been caught lol. I guess when you love your band that much you cant help but speak out on it

[principalagent]

  On 11/3/2014 at 12:53 AM, BlackJesus said:

Quick question, if every band that has made 4A and 5A finals in the past few cycles were to go to GNs including bands who make Finals at BOA, what do you guys think GN Semi's or Finals would look like?

 

An average of 5 or 6 bands a year from Texas. There are five bands from outside of Texas that I would certainly bet on (especially this year) and about four or five bands from Texas that I also would bet on. The last two or three spots just kind of depend, but Texas should take at least one as well just because of depth alone. Which bands, you can decide (:

[That one drum major]

  On 11/3/2014 at 12:53 AM, BlackJesus said:

Quick question, if every band that has made 4A and 5A finals in the past few cycles were to go to GNs including bands who make Finals at BOA, what do you guys think GN Semi's or Finals would look like?

I think finals would look like this (though there may be a few too many texas bands)

 

1. CTJ

2. Broken Arrow

3. Leander

4. Avon

5. Bowie

6. Carmel

7. Marcus

8. Woodlands

9. Cedar Ridge

10. Marion Catholic

11. Cedar park

12. Hebron

 

This is basically my national ranking based on what i know for this year

[LKendrick]

  On 11/3/2014 at 2:29 AM, Chaseguy15 said:

I think finals would look like this (though there may be a few too many texas bands)

 

1. CTJ

2. Broken Arrow

3. Leander

4. Avon

5. Bowie

6. Carmel

7. Marcus

8. Woodlands

9. Cedar Ridge

10. Marion Catholic

11. Cedar park

12. Hebron

 

This is basically my national ranking based on what i know for this year

I'd throw Tarpon Springs in there as well, but pretty much this.

[trumpetdrumajorpower13]

With all that has happened this season who do y'all think makes the trip to Indianapolis next year? From Texas of course.