Area C 2018

[KinDallas]

One thing about this, Lewisville made it four bands from LISD (Lewisville) to make Area Finals. We are all very proud of LHS and this accomplishment.

Absolutely. The strides the LHS program has made the last few years have been very exciting. And their new uniforms are sharp!

[Danpod]

littlejaw, on 28 Oct 2018 - 21:42, said:

I mean he doesn’t do a very good job of explaining the situation. He glosses over the reason why Keller’s score was bigger than Waxahachie’s. No mention of why the announcement was made at the time for Keller winning. When they now say the rule never existed and they should have announced Waxa as the champion at the contest.

 

Fair point. Allow me to expand on what I know and what I do not.

 

According to total ranking score, Keller was in 2nd Place. This was true on the original recap and on the corrected recap. On the original recap, Waxahachie was physically listed at the top. However, in the Final Rank column of the original recap, Keller had 1st Place next to it and Waxahachie had 2nd Place next to it. It seems to me that the State Finals 1st Place Rule was misapplied and the announcer read the placements off of the Final Rank column.

 

I agree that the system needs some work.  We are definitely on the same page there.  Although it doesn't happen that often, I hope they make this rule available for Area Finals in the future along with other changes to the judging system.

 

A somewhat similar situation has happened in BOA before.  In 2003, BOA decided to only announce a Grand National Champion and caption awards in Finals.  Placements 12th through 2nd Place were not announced and the full results were under lock and key.  The rest of the results were not released until the National Concert Band Festival several months later.  We then found out, including the performers, that Ronald Reagan was 2nd Place in Finals and only a few tenths away from winning a National Championship.  The school had only been opened for five years.  I'm certain the program would have enjoyed hearing that on the field at Finals retreat.  BOA changed procedure the next year to include the announcement of Finals placements although they did not start announcing scores again at retreat until a few years later.

 

It's disappointing that the experience in the stadium was diminished after the fact and my heart goes out to the performers on both sides.  I actually feel partly responsible for this and it is not a good feeling.  Obviously, my intent was to speak about the information that I had available.  My intention was not to ruffle feathers.  

[KinDallas]

I want to know what judge 2 was smoking. Scoring Marcus musically higher than both FloMo & Hebron is an interesting choice, to say the least.

 

I think Rockwall & Marcus advancing vs Sacshe & Wylie Comes down to personal philosophy.

 

I prefer to see bands stretch outside their comfort zone. I am definitely from the "peak at State" mould. I think that Marcus & Rockwall are close to their respective tops & they will not be able to improve much from Saturday. But IMO, they are marching easier shows.

 

With that said, I can certainly see putting Rockwall & Marcus in the top 5. They were clean both musically & technically. And As an LISD parent I wd love to be presently surprised in San Antonio to have 3 LISD schools make both finals.

 

GLTA!

 

Paul

Should Hebron have been 1st across the board for music? Yes. That one judge just probably allowed “I liked that” to come into play (I’m a Marcus parent, in full disclosure, and have seen Hebron’s show more than once). That’s the judge’s prerogative. But, to quote Dan: “Marcus, remember them? They’re still good.” I think Marcus is getting picked apart this year since DW moved up to the district. This is still her show, though, and I’m super excited to see what Jones and crew come up with next year.

 

And their music is harder than it sounds—the ballad alone has 4 time signature changes, for example (5/4 anyone? While marching? Cringe). Maybe the technical aspect is what that judge got excited about. Honestly, any band who plays The Firebird well gets a 1 in my book (looking at you, Hebron), but that’s personal preference, as that piece is in my top 5 favorites.

 

Finally (and I’ll shut up after this) Marcus’s improvement from last week to this week was pretty dramatic—funny what some sunny days can do. So I do think they have room to grow before next Monday. I think every band does—even FloMo who is just about clean. This is the time to fine tune. (And props for using “mould” in a sentence.

[littlejaw]

Sorry this is area B talk. But it’s not your fault Danpod.

 

I really would have preferred they called waxahachie the champion in the stadium. Or just left the issue as was with Keller as the winner.

 

What we don’t want is sour grapes in anyone’s mouth, whether Keller students feel first place was taken away from them or Waxahachie students didn’t recieve the recognition they deserve regardless of a rogue judge.

 

We want to to reward these schools and send them off to state to represent the area in the best light. But the UIL has far too many flaws as is.

[FloMoParent]

Sorry this is area B talk. But it’s not your fault Danpod.

 

 

Uhm, this is "Area C 2018"

[bingogooberman]

You called it! Can you believe this mess?

I can! I’m thrilled for them, huge congrats to John horn! I’ll be paying attention closely to their program from here on out

[LeanderMomma]

Uhm, this is "Area C 2018"

 

Didn't you get the memo?  Nothing else matters this year but Area B!    

 

I AM TEASING, PEOPLE!  

 

(don't @ me).      

[Avisshadow]

Didn't you get the memo? Nothing else matters this year but Area B!

 

I AM TEASING, PEOPLE!

 

(don't @ me).

I feel like we all need some popcorn and a refreshing drink while reading the Area B thread

[Samuel Culper]

Area B: The Area thread that won't die...

[paulhhs]

North Mesquite was truly robbed. They didn’t advance to finals and in all honesty, time placements really played a part yesterday.. They are an amazing band.

Yeah, it is always disheartening to see kids punished due to "luck of the draw". However weather we admit it or not, life isn't fair & that's a valuable lesson to learn as a kid.

 

Paul

[paulhhs]

Should Hebron have been 1st across the board for music? Yes. That one judge just probably allowed “I liked that” to come into play (I’m a Marcus parent, in full disclosure, and have seen Hebron’s show more than once). That’s the judge’s prerogative. But, to quote Dan: “Marcus, remember them? They’re still good.” I think Marcus is getting picked apart this year since DW moved up to the district. This is still her show, though, and I’m super excited to see what Jones and crew come up with next year.

And their music is harder than it sounds—the ballad alone has 4 time signature changes, for example (5/4 anyone? While marching? Cringe). Maybe the technical aspect is what that judge got excited about. Honestly, any band who plays The Firebird well gets a 1 in my book (looking at you, Hebron), but that’s personal preference, as that piece is in my top 5 favorites.

Finally (and I’ll shut up after this) Marcus’s improvement from last week to this week was pretty dramatic—funny what some sunny days can do. So I do think they have room to grow before next Monday. I think every band does—even FloMo who is just about clean. This is the time to fine tune. (And props for using “mould” in a sentence. )

Agreed on the Marcus situation. The kids are in a tough spot this year & have improved their show TREMENDOUSLY since the Marcus/Hebron FB game. I talked (but more importantly listened!) w/ some Marcus band members after half time & they were kindof down in the dumps emotionally.

 

I spent some time cheering them up & pointing out what lessons they are learning w/ the change at the top. And that is not a reflection on Mr. Jones at all. I think his work at North Mesquite speaks for itself & he will only improve upon the tremendous foundation that DW cultivated. W/ the rain & change in directors, Marcus had a *lot* to contend w/ this year. I hope they enjoyed Saturday, because they shd be very proud of how much they have improved since the game.

 

As an aside, I think I judge the LISD schools harder because I've been continually AMAZED year in & year out by them. We all have our biases & mine cause me to drop any LISD school precisely because of how spoiled I have become living here.

 

I think I was so impressed w/ what John Horn, Wylie, & Sacshe put on the field, because I simply wasn't expecting to be impressed.

 

Hello biases. Again.

 

I can see from reading my previous posts that I might be coming across as thinking Marcus & Rockwall were 'bad". Let me clearly state, they most certainly were NOT bad! They were VERY, VERY good!!

 

I do think they marched easier drill compared to FloMo & Hebron, but that doesn't mean their drill is easy. I wd put CTJ, FLOMO & Hebron as solid choices for marching hardest drill this year. And, I wd also put Area C's top bands in the top 5 in most other areas. That's the challenge of being in an area w/ a lot of depth. Incidentally the same depth of field argument cd be made for Area's D & H too.

 

I think BOA & State this year will be unique because all schools have been negatively impacted by that 2 week stretch of rain that pretty much covered the entire state. This was very different compared to years past, where only specific sections of the state were negatively impacted. Examples wd be Hurricane damage primarily impacting gulf coast bands to that year where wild fires shut down most of the Austin, San Antonio, & West Of Houston area for a couple of months or so.

 

Anyhoo, sorry for rambling, but I wanted to clear up my earlier posts regarding Area C rankings. Again, GLTA & I can't wait to see what happens during Final(s) at the Alamo(Dome).

 

Paul

[KinDallas]

Agreed on the Marcus situation. The kids are in a tough spot this year & have improved their show TREMENDOUSLY since the Marcus/Hebron FB game. I talked (but more importantly listened!) w/ some Marcus band members after half time & they were kindof down in the dumps emotionally.

 

I spent some time cheering them up & pointing out what lessons they are learning w/ the change at the top. And that is not a reflection on Mr. Jones at all. I think his work at North Mesquite speaks for itself & he will only improve upon the tremendous foundation that DW cultivated. W/ the rain & change in directors, Marcus had a *lot* to contend w/ this year. I hope they enjoyed Saturday, because they shd be very proud of how much they have improved since the game.

 

 

Paul

Thanks for that...there’s been a lot of “what’s wrong with Marcus?” on the forums this year and my back is up a bit. The kids see this stuff and people forget they’re all in high school, not DCI. Do I think Marcus is a state gold medal contender? Probably not this year, but these kids are still really darn good. Show design—we can argue that, but the effort and talent is still there. Now, we do have a LOT of freshmen this year, so watch out for us in 2020.

[littlejaw]

I might have accidentally started some of the Marcus doubt. At HEB I said that I liked Marcus but it didn’t seem to have the usual sparkle. But I also told people to stop over reacting and to put Marcus at BOA/State 1 place above or below Keller.

[KinDallas]

I might have accidentally started some of the Marcus doubt. At HEB I said that I liked Marcus but it didn’t seem to have the usual sparkle. But I also told people to stop over reacting and to put Marcus at BOA/State 1 place above or below Keller.

 

[Nny14]

[KinDallas]

Avons director actually decided to stay.

Really? Good for them! I thought he was retiring.

[northtexasbandfan]

Thanks for that...there’s been a lot of “what’s wrong with Marcus?” on the forums this year and my back is up a bit. The kids see this stuff and people forget they’re all in high school, not DCI. Do I think Marcus is a state gold medal contender? Probably not this year, but these kids are still really darn good. Show design—we can argue that, but the effort and talent is still there. Now, we do have a LOT of freshmen this year, so watch out for us in 2020.

 

As for the kids, they are in a much better place this week. Their excellent runs at the FloMo game and prelims pumped them up a lot. Jones does an exceptional job keeping them Zen on contest days too. They had a good rehearsal yesterday, so I’m breathing easier. I spend a lot of time with them being a master cheerleader and see the difference in the smiles and fist bumps. Next year will be more settled (and let’s all send a prayer to Mother Nature, for rain only at 2am and pleasant temps).

 

Best of luck to all LISD this week!

As a FloMo alumni parent I would say that ... Marcus is STILL Marcus ... until proven otherwise ... and they will absolutely get the benefit of the doubt from me.