principalagent

This was when Marcus was completely on fire and they handily took the music caption that year (which was absolutely the right call).

Ok, now I'm doing the Anthony V procrastination thing (I work from home on Mondays), but OH MY WORD, HAVE YOU GUYS EVER WATCHED AVON'S SHOW FROM 2009?! (Yes, I'm screaming, and for good reason). If they bring THAT kind of product to BOA SA, Texas is doomed!!!

Regarding to Prosper, in terms of my own expectations I think they have the ability to strike pretty high for a few reasons.  
Pretty steady but rapid improvement and growth as a program over the last few years, they're definitely not slowing down and if they keep the rate of improvement at the same level and improve off of last years very solid show that much again that could put them in some pretty great company.   They scored REALLY well in music at San Antonio in a pretty deep and crowded field last year at BOA, and it was well deserved.  Very powerful, balanced, and great ensemble sounds coming from that group (as well as an amazing percussion section). I know Grand Nationals doesn't automatically equate to a band being better or having a better season but going for their first time they must be very comfortable and excited about where the program is at to be embarking on an endeavor like that.   I'm not predicting anything concrete or saying that will happen but I can certainly see an argument why they could potentially strike pretty high up the ladder at state.  I've really enjoyed watching theme emerge and I can't wait to see how they do this fall.  

Lame, only three BOA shows?

Quoted for posterity.

Quoted for posterity.

Duncanville going to BOA is like those weirdly interesting Cartoon Network crossovers that were popular in the early 2000's.

I'm sure of it. I'm no stranger to late night and early morning trips as an LISD alum myself.

Perhaps your approach is a bit high handed? Especially for a relative newcomer to this forum. You are a bit aggressive IMHO. But i do think you mean well.

Hello again.
 
Want to hear a quick story about BOA Houston 2000 and how it cost me a delicious dinner??  Good!  Click the links below:
 
https://soundcloud.com/user-854158827/the-danpodcast-campfire-story-1
 
Thanks for the support!!

Yes, that's why they gave Avon the lowest chance of going undefeated. Avon has the toughest road out of all four, with FloMo just behind. Broken Arrow, on the other hand, will almost undoubtedly be undefeated until November.

Hi.  I'm Daniel.  
 
I'm an Admin/Live Blog person with Txbands.com.  Once upon a time, when the site first started out, I did a silly podcast ranting and raving about the marching activity.  I did it for awhile and then I sent it to Podcast Heaven.  Or I deleted the access code for the podcast software.  DON'T YELL AT ME!!!
 
Anyhow, I did a new one.  If you people like it, I will keep doing it.  If not, I'll put the microphone away in my closet next to my old Chuck Norris Action Figure (Yes, I still have it.  Maybe.  I don't know really.)
 
Today's Topic:
The beginning of actually learning drill and UIL rule basics.  IS IT ALL DUMB AND STUPID???  Find out at the links below.

https://soundcloud.com/user-854158827/the-danpodcast-get-good-day
 

 
Enjoy at your own risk!!

Daniel

SFA in Austin is different than the storied SFA in Houston. Westlake, Hendrickson, Dripping Springs and Anderson should all come before Austin High on a top 10 list of Austin.

Y'know.... it's kind of really tacky to start a thread under the pretense of talking about "rising/underdog bands" (even though there's already another thread about it literally 2 lines down), then basically use the opening post to hype your affiliated band (but not actually claim it as a band you're affiliated with, despite the fact the band name is in your ID) as the prime and only example. Then afterward, closing the post by redirecting the focus of the topic from "rising/underdog bands" to "please say nice things about my band?...pretty please?". 

It wouldn't be so tacky if you owned up that it was your band, made a casual mention of why you thought they were rising, and then maybe name off 3 or 4 other bands that you've noticed are in fact rising and talk about them in detail.
 

That person almost assuredly went to Allen. A hint is in their username.

From my understanding he's referring to 2003 when Westfield's band withdrew from UIL specifically so they wouldn't have to follow the 8 hour rule, as opposed to CTJ just choosing not to attend UIL events, while still abiding by the UIL 8-hour rule.

Yes, a wonderful improvement from CGT Dallas. They really made a statement about themselves this year. Congrats to them!
 
Scores were definitely closer at the top than I was expecting, at least in the Scholastic class. Carmel's 97.550 to Avon's 97.0, and Pride of Cincinnati's 97.9 to Aimachi's 97.650. Avon actually beat Carmel in Equipment Analysis. I didn't see that coming. Meanwhile, Aimachi took both Movement Analysis and General Effect, but lost the gold due to Equipment Analysis (especially) and Design Analysis. No surprises there. Furthermore, Aimachi took Effect on the strength of Performance as opposed to Repertoire. Again, not a surprise. They might not have won the title, but this is Aimachi's best showing ever. Huge congrats to them!
 
Well, it was fun talking to myself for most of this thread! There wasn't as much interest as I was expecting, but who cares. Congrats to all of the performers on a great season!

Congrats to Klein Oak, Scholastic A Champions!

I think there are two categories of bands who benefit from dropping out of UIL. Bands with tougher visual packages who could use a little more time cleaning up (to compete with Avon or Tarpon or BA), and bands who would be more encouraged to take more or different risks (especially visual) without worrying about being hurt by UIL judging. For the first category, Leander, Johnson, Bell and the Woodlands come to mind. Marcus and Vandegrift come to mind for the latter.
 
As for the broader point about San Antonio, I'm not so sure. Every year since at least 2010, there's at least one band in state that either did or very likely would have beat Avon head to head - although I can accept disagreement for 2011 and even 2014. The thing is, that band may not have gone to GN that year. Now, Avon is playing in Texas's home field. The chance that *1* of these bands can pass Avon is pretty high. Even in the earlier part of the century, Texas didn't have the depth that it does now. Instead of just one, maybe two bands reasonably being capable of beating Carmel and not achieving that, there are probably 6-7 that potentially could beat Avon, and all of them will be at San Antonio and hungry. Not at all to count Avon out, but Avon vs. one given band in the state tends to favor Avon. Avon vs. the field favors the field, the way I see it.

We also shouldn't completely rule out the idea that the UIL Marching Band 8-Hour Rule has likely been a long-term benefit for TX bands (and bands across the country) as TX directors have had to heavily focus on their pedagogy skills and methods in order to optimize what they can get out of those 8 hours.

I think there are two categories of bands who benefit from dropping out of UIL. Bands with tougher visual packages who could use a little more time cleaning up (to compete with Avon or Tarpon or BA), and bands who would be more encouraged to take more or different risks (especially visual) without worrying about being hurt by UIL judging. For the first category, Leander, Johnson, Bell and the Woodlands come to mind. Marcus and Vandegrift come to mind for the latter.
 
As for the broader point about San Antonio, I'm not so sure. Every year since at least 2010, there's at least one band in state that either did or very likely would have beat Avon head to head - although I can accept disagreement for 2011 and even 2014. The thing is, that band may not have gone to GN that year. Now, Avon is playing in Texas's home field. The chance that *1* of these bands can pass Avon is pretty high. Even in the earlier part of the century, Texas didn't have the depth that it does now. Instead of just one, maybe two bands reasonably being capable of beating Carmel and not achieving that, there are probably 6-7 that potentially could beat Avon, and all of them will be at San Antonio and hungry. Not at all to count Avon out, but Avon vs. one given band in the state tends to favor Avon. Avon vs. the field favors the field, the way I see it.

I think there are two categories of bands who benefit from dropping out of UIL. Bands with tougher visual packages who could use a little more time cleaning up (to compete with Avon or Tarpon or BA), and bands who would be more encouraged to take more or different risks (especially visual) without worrying about being hurt by UIL judging. For the first category, Leander, Johnson, Bell and the Woodlands come to mind. Marcus and Vandegrift come to mind for the latter.
 
As for the broader point about San Antonio, I'm not so sure. Every year since at least 2010, there's at least one band in state that either did or very likely would have beat Avon head to head - although I can accept disagreement for 2011 and even 2014. The thing is, that band may not have gone to GN that year. Now, Avon is playing in Texas's home field. The chance that *1* of these bands can pass Avon is pretty high. Even in the earlier part of the century, Texas didn't have the depth that it does now. Instead of just one, maybe two bands reasonably being capable of beating Carmel and not achieving that, there are probably 6-7 that potentially could beat Avon, and all of them will be at San Antonio and hungry. Not at all to count Avon out, but Avon vs. one given band in the state tends to favor Avon. Avon vs. the field favors the field, the way I see it.

I think there are two categories of bands who benefit from dropping out of UIL. Bands with tougher visual packages who could use a little more time cleaning up (to compete with Avon or Tarpon or BA), and bands who would be more encouraged to take more or different risks (especially visual) without worrying about being hurt by UIL judging. For the first category, Leander, Johnson, Bell and the Woodlands come to mind. Marcus and Vandegrift come to mind for the latter.
 
As for the broader point about San Antonio, I'm not so sure. Every year since at least 2010, there's at least one band in state that either did or very likely would have beat Avon head to head - although I can accept disagreement for 2011 and even 2014. The thing is, that band may not have gone to GN that year. Now, Avon is playing in Texas's home field. The chance that *1* of these bands can pass Avon is pretty high. Even in the earlier part of the century, Texas didn't have the depth that it does now. Instead of just one, maybe two bands reasonably being capable of beating Carmel and not achieving that, there are probably 6-7 that potentially could beat Avon, and all of them will be at San Antonio and hungry. Not at all to count Avon out, but Avon vs. one given band in the state tends to favor Avon. Avon vs. the field favors the field, the way I see it.

Not a fan of this schedule really. Austin and Dallas are both quite early. Wouldn't be surprised to see some bands take on a second regional or skip DFW altogether, especially considering that bands like Keller and Marcus tend to take their time putting down drill. I do like that Conroe is back to being the last regional in the Texas Triangle, though.
 
I am pleased that BOA is growing into West Texas. I think some DFW bands will travel down I-20, and it's not prohibitively far for San Antonio or Austin bands either. I'm also interested to see how much this regional will pull from Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma, if at all. Maybe even Utah or California! One concern is that this regional falls on the weekend that Keller, Denton and El Paso schools did region in 2016. Hopefully that doesn't prohibit bands next year.