2019 BOA San Antonio

[lost]

This is the highest score at any non grand national competition ever.

[A Testing Trumpet]

The score gap between 14th and 15th was 00.075 points. If that doesn't tell you how close this was I don't know what else to say.

[MarchingBandNerd]

Congratulations to Ronald Reagan for taking the gold!! I’m so proud of them Their show was absolutely amazing - even though I ended up being torn between them and Vista Ridge for my favorite show (that sound!!!) Besides those two, my personal favorite was Leander - I always enjoy their shows so much!!

The rest of my quick thoughts: Marcus always has such beautiful visuals; Keller and Hebron’s music was outstanding; James Bowie, Round Rock, and LD Bell were obviously having so much fun with their shows (and it showed in their high level of execution!); and Claudia Taylor Johnson, Flower Mound, the Woodlands, and Vandegrift’s shows were just all-around a fun treat to watch. And of course it was awesome seeing Pearland in finals for the first time!

TL;DR: All of the bands tonight had such wonderful performances. There was so much energy in every show and it was obvious the kids were really enjoying every minute out on the field too! You band parents definitely brought the hype (I was sitting near some Reagan and Leander parents, and hoo boy!)

Regardless of placement (I agree that many of them are strange...), congratulations to everyone who performed this weekend, and best of luck to those moving on to Grand Nationals!

[BenedictCucumberpatch]

I found The Woodlands finals run

 

https://youtu.be/QhYbVK3m7po

[LHSbandDad]

I'm interested to see what happens at Nationals with our TX groups. They’ve got 2 weeks, and as 2016 demonstrated, what happens at San Antonio isn’t always the best predictor of what happens at Nats. I am, of course, super excited at the prospect of 6 TX bands in finals. And hopefully Vandy’s music can put them over the edge and help them bring the Eagle back to Texas.

 

The difference is in 2016 we only had one week in between SA and GN and also had 6A State to deal with.  This year we have two weeks and no state. 

[jetliner]

In 2016, an 85 was a seat in finals. Today, that doesn't even get into the top 30.

In 2016, 5 bands were within 3 points of finals. Today, 14 bands were within 3 points of finals.

 

Some of the same performers were on the field for both of these years. Times change... fast.

 

The conversation about this contest having semifinals needs to be happening now. Prelims/Finals only is no longer a reliable method for this contest.

[josephbandfan]

tbh, I wasn't expecting JBA to score as high as everyone else but 58th is wayyy lower than I was expecting. I think the competition is getting so crazy that every band is squeezing themselves in between every little small space in the line.

[alex9809]

 

tbh, I wasn't expecting JBA to score as high as everyone else but 58th is wayyy lower than I was expecting. I think the competition is getting so crazy that every band is squeezing themselves in between every little small space in the line.

which is why we need a semis!!

[Samuel Culper]

I'm so proud of Vista Ridge for following up a dream season last year with one that brought more levels of success new for the program. That was a tall order to fill. Now we can look forward to taking this to Indy next year.

[FEDude]

Taft got 60th, but I hope the kids see that they got a Division 1 at BOA. When I was at Taft, we never got a Division 1 at BOA. Hope those kids are happy with their work, especially considering they're going through a director change.

[Focusflute]

John B Alexander 58th? I thought they won a regional unless I goofed? What I saw had me close to tears and saw it live in prelims. Was really pulling for them. What happened?

[PLC137]

A Vista director allegedly told the band that this year they would be better than last year. That turned out to be true. Of course others improved as well. Complacency will evidently get you kicked down about 8 places.

[Avisshadow]

Oak Ridge tied for 5th in ensemble music??? Wow!!! Kudos to them

Oak Ridge is always very strong in music which is probably why they’ve made the top 25 at SA the past 4 years or so. They just need to work on their visual and GE to put them into finals.

[LHSbandDad]

 Some interesting Facts & Statistics as we get closer to BOA SA...

• 2018 SA Finals average score was 92.80
• 2018 SA Finals 11 of 14 finalists broke 90 with a low of 88.40
• 2018 SA "next 10" (place 15-24 in prelims) averaged 87.7 with a low of 86.45
• 2019 St. Louis Finals average score was 85.5 with 2 bands breaking 90 and a low of 81.45
• 2019 Indy Finals average was 85.5 with 3 bands breaking 90 and a low of 81.20
• 2018 GN Finals average score was 92.80 with a low of 89.3

Translation?

• The "Next 10" from SA 2018 and SA 2019 would/ could have been in "top half" of Finals in Indy and/or St. Louis in 2019
• All 14 bands in 2019 SA Finals should score high enough to be in 2019 GN finals and potentially all break 90

Disclaimer:  I know this is all apples & oranges with comparing across different competitions, years and judges.  However, since we are in the middle of the MLB World Series and baseball guys

are notorious for diving deep into some odd statistics, I thought I would have a  little fun with this.  Enjoy!!

 

 

 

Although the average score of finals went down slightly this year (92.49) the depth of the prelims scores was beyond amazing!!!

• 41 bands would have made St. Louis SR finals!!!
• 42 bands would have made Indy SR finals!!!
• 28 bands would have been in "Top Half" of both St. L and Indy finals!!!
• 12 bands scored high enough for 2018 GN Finals!!!

Take a minute to digest all that.  The field of this contest had enough quality bands to field THREE finals worthy Super Regional competitions (14 x 3) and an entire Grand Nationals finals (12) !!!

 

PS - my original disclaimer described above applies!! :- )

[northtexasbandfan]

 

Complacency will evidently get you kicked down about 8 places.

Every band last night made it as far as they did due to hard work and a will to better themselves. To disparage any for being “complacent” is out of line.

[Majellan]

 

Reagan is not going

That’s why I left out 3....edit: for some reason I went to bed thinking Reagan got third. Guess I was tired.

[BenedictCucumberpatch]

That’s why I left out 3....

But Reagan is #1

[Majellan]

 

Every band last night made it as far as they did due to hard work and a will to better themselves. To disparage any for being “complacent” is out of line.

I don’t think Flower Mound was complacent, I think the competition was just tight this year. Some of the scores going all the way down the list don’t make sense to me, the judging was much different in some captions than last year.

[BandFan95]

From 33rd to 16th. Really proud of Westwood! I knew Reagan would win it all. Just a beautiful show!

[CTJBandPops]

spending the past few days working at the San Antonio SR - I have a new appreciation for the event from many angles.

 

I have attended the event since 2011, first as a parent, than as an alumni supporter, and now returning as a freshman parent that worked the event. I was amazed at the amount of work that goes into the event, I got to see the number of people and the overall hours that goes into the event, the number of people that are involved and the dedication. truly amazing. An to know that so many of them are doing it for the love of the art and dedication to the kids - 

 

But what touched me the most was the 2 full days of raw emotion. Seeing the tears of kids who may of had a bad run, a senior coming off the field in prelims knowing it may be their last performance of their high school career, kids in pain from a broken finger from a rifle toss, a sprained ankle from a trip, or a dislocated knee after getting hit by a prop. More than 15,000 kids crossed the floor of the dome. it was amazing to see up close and personal and it truly touched me. In the stands or on Flomarching, you do not see the emotion that plays into the event.

 

We all talk on this site of who will place where in this event, and while the results this year where not to my liking, I have a new respect for all those that make the event possible and the kids that leave everything they have on that field regardless of where they place.  

 

for those that would like to share in this love of the marching arts at this event and plan to attend next year - I plan to offer a chance for you to come to the dome, spend a few hours working and see the emotion first hand. I promise to feed you, get you into the event for free and provide you with whatever obnoxious colored t shirt we are offering next year.

 

congrats to every kid that crossed the field the past 2 days - as Dan Potter says - You are all winners!! 

[El Gato_01]

I know apples and all, but the top score at the California regional was Ayala HS with an 85.3.

In prelims Cy-Fair was 30th with an 85.325. 

[mteggatz]

So proud of Wylie East for placing 34th with an 84.475 in their first trip here!  

[landofwake]

First of all congratulations to all the bands. So much hard work, so much dedication to the marching arts- the students are all just so amazing, it makes me so proud to be part of this activity.

 

Just some comments. And none of this is meant to take away from anything any of the bands have achieved. These are comments about the process and not the performances, because truly they were spectacular and every band that made it to finals deserved to be there.

 

The results in the top would probably remain the same (with some minor movement), no matter what you did to the scoring system. However, it is not only about the bands in the top. It is about the thousands of kids who've put their blood, sweat and tears into the program and deserve to be judged equally (and I am saying equally. I am not saying fairly, because I believe the judges try to be fair within their panels. Equally, as in the same judges judge all the bands). Judging 84 bands with a two panel system is like having two different contests and then comparing scores- and how often have we said that we cannot compare scores across contests. I know there is a chief judge who is trying to make panels equal but it seems pretty clear that one panel was judged marginally higher than another, and even marginal differences can make a difference when the scores are so close. I don't know what the solution is but I do know that 84 bands is just too many. Adding semis, Prelims at two different venues, regional contests being used as a prelim to get to san antonio, different contests for class 1A/2A and 3A/4A like UIL does, take top 10 from each panel and give panel awards instead of grouping the panels.... although none of these solutions will be perfect, each has some merit and deserves to be discussed. Saying it will be logistically impossible or saying it is what it is, or saying the results would not change, is doing a disservice to the activity. Yes the results would likely be the same, possibly even the rankings would be similar, but the process needs to be evaluated and overhauled if necessary.

 

Once again, this is about the process, it is not taking away from any band or their performances.

[An Inspirational Pinecone]

There was a lot to take in from this contest, especially for me personally. I can firmly say that I am really proud of our band for making 8th and what I believe is the highest score we've gotten here in the last 4 years? I'm not completely sure. Congratulations to all the bands that made finals (especially Pearland and RR) and a great job by everyone that participated in the contest. Typically I'd be against participation awards but here when there's so many good bands that don't get recognized at finals it is almost necessary. It kinda sucks to see bands like Coppell and Cedar Ridge miss out on finals. I really liked both of their shows. I've still got some mad respect for Cedar Park after that video of them finishing their show without being able to see a thing thanks to a powet outage.

 

I can't tell y'all how ecstatic I am about finally beating Flower Mound after losing to them every single year. I'm sure they felt pretty bad about getting 9th following their amazing achievements these past 4 years but there's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of when you're at a competition like this. Nothing about that score or ranking takes anything away from their show, performance, or hard work they spent to get there.

 

Looking at the scores... Prelims is a complete mess. Scoring is so all over the place but that's been the case at every competition this year so I'm not really surprised. I always find it interesting to see how judges tend to agree more in finals than prelims, namely Reagan's jump from 7th in music in prelims to 2nd in finals. That's not to say that they didn't deserve it. It was well earned and having watched their show a few times I agree with it. I'm still a bit shocked by how "low" Hebron placed musically (quotations cause 5th is not low by any means) simply because of how difficult it is. I don't think there will ever be a band that can play anything as challenging as that and make it sound THAT good. Congrats to Vista Ridge for getting 3rd, though I can't say I agree with it entirely. I got to see them live and personally I thought they were pretty dirty. What they were doing was really cool and looked really hard, but I saw quite a lot of mistakes (or at least what I thought were mistakes) visually which makes me wonder about their individual visual placement. Maybe it's because I haven't really seen many bands live that I disagree with the judges there. Otherwise spectacular performance and still deserving of 3rd overall.

 

That's just about all my thoughts put down. Good luck to team Texas at GN in two weeks, I hope we all see each other at finals!

[DeepEllum]

Hebron’s music placements don’t surprise me. As challenging as a show as they have, covering the field from endzone to endzone most sets, and with the insane music depth they have, they have many timing issues. There were points where time was nonexistent and although they didn’t tear, it wasn’t tight at all. They are phenomenal and probably the best sounding and most technically advanced band around right now, but none of that means anything if time isn’t there. Good news for Hebron is that it’s easily correctable with 2 weeks time and will help their music score and GE score exponentially.