Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I know it's early, but hey, the schedules are out, might as well start making predictions! My top 10 would probably be:

1. Leander

2. Ronald Reagan

3. Vandegrift

4. The Woodlands

5. Hendrickson

6. The Woodlands College Park

7. Winston Churchill

8. Cy-Fair

9. Round Rock

10. Any number of groups, but most likely (from what I can see) Pearland or JET

 

Of course, almost anything can happen, especially with the quantity of talent in this competition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I know it's early, but hey, the schedules are out, might as well start making predictions! My top 10 would probably be:

1. Leander

2. Ronald Reagan

3. Vandegrift

4. The Woodlands

5. Hendrickson

6. The Woodlands College Park

7. Winston Churchill

8. Cy-Fair

9. Round Rock

10. Any number of groups, but most likely (from what I can see) Pearland or JET

 

Of course, almost anything can happen, especially with the quantity of talent in this competition.

 

Interesting, almost half of these potential finalists (I agree with this list of top 10) have been regional champs before. Nice to see BOA Conroe growing into an early-bloodbath contest/BOA Austin 2.0.  :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Bowie and Coppell are absolutely on the table for finals. I personally think there may only be one or two Houston area bands in finals.

 

And there are actually six former regional champions in attendance: Leander, Vandegrift, Bowie, The Woodlands, Churchill, and Reagan. There are likewise six former Grand Nationals Finalists in attendance, swapping Vandy for Round Rock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I think we can mostly agree that the top 4 spots will probably be Leander, the Woodlands, Vandegrift, and Reagan (in whatever order).

 

Then the next few will be Round Rock, Churchill, Cy-Fair, and Hendrickson. (again, in whatever order).

 

Then that leaves about 2 spots left, which I'm guessing will be taken up by Bowie, Waxahachie, or Coppell.

 

Bowie had absolutely insane circumstances last year: from what I heard, they didn't even have a set director until significantly into the summer and therefore were already starting off at a time and design disadvantage. But nonetheless, they had a fairly successful season and a really fun show. They finished 5th at BOA DFW, and made pretty high in Semis in Grand Nats (don't remember exactly). They definitely have the potential to rise up above the last two spots, it just depends on how good their staff is. I think they're definitely going to improve tremendously over last year, regardless. And last year was still a great show.

 

Coppell I think also has a great chance to jump in there. They also have a new staff in their second season, similar to Bowie, (their new staff is basically all of Wakeland's old directors) and it showed last year. It took them a while to get going (they didn't make BOA DFW finals, and didn't compete in San Antonio) but by the time State Finals rolled around... they had a gorgeous show that was a HUGE improvement over the past few years. Also, from what I can tell, for those involved in the drum corps world, Blue Knights 2017 may or may not be fairly inspired by Coppell 2016. Pretty cool. If they can get the ball rolling a little quicker this year, I'd say they have a lock. I definitely have my eye on them.

 

Waxahachie, admittedly, I'm the most unfamiliar with. All I know is that they made BOA DFW finals last year in a crazy competition, and made UIL State Finals the year before, beating Centennial and Aledo. Also, they did a Queen show last year that was just a lot of fun to watch. They could definitely surprise a few people- they surprised me last year!

 

Some other finals contenders: JET, Pearland, Oak Ridge..... I'm so excited for this! Between Conroe, DFW, and San Antonio, this marching season is going to be absolutely CRAZY.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we can mostly agree that the top 4 spots will probably be Leander, the Woodlands, Vandegrift, and Reagan (in whatever order).

 

Then the next few will be Round Rock, Churchill, Cy-Fair, and Hendrickson. (again, in whatever order).

 

Then that leaves about 2 spots left, which I'm guessing will be taken up by Bowie, Waxahachie, or Coppell.

 

Bowie had absolutely insane circumstances last year: from what I heard, they didn't even have a set director until significantly into the summer and therefore were already starting off at a time and design disadvantage. But nonetheless, they had a fairly successful season and a really fun show. They finished 5th at BOA DFW, and made pretty high in Semis in Grand Nats (don't remember exactly). They definitely have the potential to rise up above the last two spots, it just depends on how good their staff is. I think they're definitely going to improve tremendously over last year, regardless. And last year was still a great show.

 

Coppell I think also has a great chance to jump in there. They also have a new staff in their second season, similar to Bowie, (their new staff is basically all of Wakeland's old directors) and it showed last year. It took them a while to get going (they didn't make BOA DFW finals, and didn't compete in San Antonio) but by the time State Finals rolled around... they had a gorgeous show that was a HUGE improvement over the past few years. Also, from what I can tell, for those involved in the drum corps world, Blue Knights 2017 may or may not be fairly inspired by Coppell 2016. Pretty cool. If they can get the ball rolling a little quicker this year, I'd say they have a lock. I definitely have my eye on them.

 

Waxahachie, admittedly, I'm the most unfamiliar with. All I know is that they made BOA DFW finals last year in a crazy competition, and made UIL State Finals the year before, beating Centennial and Aledo. Also, they did a Queen show last year that was just a lot of fun to watch. They could definitely surprise a few people- they surprised me last year!

 

Some other finals contenders: JET, Pearland, Oak Ridge..... I'm so excited for this! Between Conroe, DFW, and San Antonio, this marching season is going to be absolutely CRAZY.

 

 

Not quite understanding how Bowie would be at the bottom of finals (unless they just really fall off the trail this year). Last year, they were neck-to-neck with Bell at DFW and edged out Cy-Fair at state, even with those awful music scores. I thought Bowie's show just fell flat with respect to design. The opener was awesome, the ballad was ok, and the closer was forgettable.  Hopefully they figure something out this year.

 

Overall, I think Bowie would flatly beat Cy-Fair in design, especially visually, and probably in execution. Churchill is probably better matched w.r.t design, but I think Bowie will beat them because of execution. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

1. Ronald Reagan H.S., TX

2. Vandegrift H.S., TX

3. Leander H.S., TX

4. The Woodlands H.S., TX

5. Round Rock H.S., TX

6. James Bowie H.S., TX

7. Winston Churchill H.S., TX

8. Coppell H.S., TX

9. Hendrickson H.S., TX

10. Cypress Fair H.S., TX

 

11. The Woodlands College Park H.S, TX

12. James E. Taylor H.S., TX

13. Pearland H.S., TX

14. Klein Oak Ridge H.S., TX

15. Brazoswood H.S., TX

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My list-whisch is so hard!

 

1. Reagan-they usually start out the year with a bang imo.

2. Leander- IDK if they are just late boomers, but they have beaten Reagan at both SA and GN, so that says something.

3. Vandegrift- Have you seen their preview?! They're going to have an awesome year, just hope they find the perfect drill and visual package this year.

4. TWHS- Always an awesome band. If they have a show like 2013 they could easily win, and the Scythian suite sounds like "a match made in heaven" for their band.

5. Round Rock-hard I just have a feeling that they will place here.

6. Hendrickson- they had an amazing show last year with 3-D. Hope they can replicate that this year.

7. JBOPE- I think this band will overcome the staff changes this year and rebound.

8. Churchill- Imo they haven't been doing so well lately. I watched them compete in person at area last year, and they weren't very clean. Still a consistent finals band Bc of their musicality, but I see them starting to drop off with the caliber of bands developing now. Hope to see them work harder for their spot.

9. Coppel

10. Cypress Fair H.S., TX

 

11. The Woodlands College Park H.S, TX

12. James E. Taylor H.S., TX

13. Pearland H.D.

14. Klein Oak Ridge H.S., TX

15. Brazoswood H.S., TX

 

I don't really know anout 9 through 15, sorry.

 

This is going to be a rough competition for sure.

 

Your thoughts on this list?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My list-whisch is so hard!

 

1. Reagan-they usually start out the year with a bang imo.

2. Leander- IDK if they are just late boomers, but they have beaten Reagan at both SA and GN, so that says something.

3. Vandegrift- Have you seen their preview?! They're going to have an awesome year, just hope they find the perfect drill and visual package this year.

4. TWHS- Always an awesome band. If they have a show like 2013 they could easily win, and the Scythian suite sounds like "a match made in heaven" for their band.

5. Round Rock-hard I just have a feeling that they will place here.

6. Hendrickson- they had an amazing show last year with 3-D. Hope they can replicate that this year.

7. JBOPE- I think this band will overcome the staff changes this year and rebound.

8. Churchill- Imo they haven't been doing so well lately. I watched them compete in person at area last year, and they weren't very clean. Still a consistent finals band Bc of their musicality, but I see them starting to drop off with the caliber of bands developing now. Hope to see them work harder for their spot.

9. Coppel

10. Cypress Fair H.S., TX

 

11. The Woodlands College Park H.S, TX

12. James E. Taylor H.S., TX

13. Pearland H.D.

14. Klein Oak Ridge H.S., TX

15. Brazoswood H.S., TX

 

I don't really know anout 9 through 15, sorry.

 

This is going to be a rough competition for sure.

 

Your thoughts on this list?

I cant say I agree about Churchill. This year was easily the most successful they have been since 2008, and they are performing so much better than the past few years. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a very difficult contest to predict the winner without seeing anything. I suspect that Vandegrift and Reagan will be pretty polished early on, unless they plan on challenging themselves more than last year. Speaking of last year, I thought Reagan was obviously the best at Conroe, even though my opinion changed quite drastically after seeing the groups at San Antonio. Reagan could come storming out of the gate again this year, but it seems unlikely that they'll win three years in a row, especially given the increased competition. Something to keep in mind is that this contest is a *little* later than usual (I think), and that could benefit late bloomers like Round Rock or The Woodlands. By how much? I don't know. I'd also like to throw in there that groups like Hendrickson, Bowie, and Churchill probably pose more of a threat to the "top 5" than we think. After all, Hendrickson was awfully close to The Woodlands last year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

As we know don't know the situation of the Houston bands right now; I think ranking this regional is impossible since they are such an uncertainty with the hurricane and all. The area is a strong one and I have no doubt that the bands affected will rebound from this event eventually, but when that happens remains to be seen. I pray that everyone is safe from flooding and can pick up the pieces when the flooding is over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As we know don't know the situation of the Houston bands right now; I think ranking this regional is impossible since they are such an uncertainty with the hurricane and all. The area is a strong one and I have no doubt that the bands affected will rebound from this event eventually, but when that happens remains to be seen. I pray that everyone is safe from flooding and can pick up the pieces when the flooding is over.

 

I was about to come here and say the same thing.  I've heard that some of the Houston bands seasons may be a complete "wash" at this point, no pun intended.   :(   I hope not and that they DO get to perform, but it's hard to imagine that they will have had enough time to prepare for the upcoming 2017 competitions. Besides the fact that many of those families have had to move out of their homes and may have had to enroll their children in other school districts in other parts of the state, depending on where they relocated.  There are a lot of things that will affect the Houston area schools band programs with the fallout from Harvey.  And what will Irma do to Tarpon Springs in Florida?  Lots of people affected by these awful storms.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TWHS Band is very quiet about their status, program, show information, etc., and they request parents and boosters to be careful about what we post publicly. What I can say is that Conroe ISD reopened this week (full week), and the band has been back on their regularly scheduled practices. UIL has made accommodations for the area schools affected by Harvey, and these are being used per their guidelines. I can't really speculate much on any lasting effects, but in general, The Woodlands area was not as affected by the flooding as the immediate Houston area - partially due to being at the extreme southern part of the piney woods vs. the coastal plain area where Houston is located. Not to say there wasn't flooding, because there was, but it wasn't as widespread as what was covered in the news in other areas of the metro region.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...