CTJBandPops

Here is what I understand about the CTJ uniforms - the school opened in 2008 and have a uniform that was designed as a classic marching band uniform that highlighted the colors of the school. about 6 years ago the program went to a more dance oriented uniform from FJM and those uniforms where used for 4+ years on the field. but the classic uniform did not go away. The district tries to provide funds for all programs to update uniforms every 7 or 8 years (in a cycle) Last year CTJ used their funding to get their new uniforms that were again designed for their dance/body movement shows. the classic uniform is now 10 years old and is still used. i have seen the FJM and Horn Rank posts on the "new" uniform for this year, it is the same base uniform with different accessories such as the plume, sash, sleeves etc - this allows them to change the colors to match their show for that year. The classic uniform that is not used during the BOA season is now 10 years old is holding up very well so in effect, they have 2 uniforms a classic and dance uniform that can look new each year and does not cost any more than any other program.

WOW!!!! - talking about the world we live in today..... The show, like most CTJ shows has a story - - the "Tremendous Sea of Love" - Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that - this is a quote from Martin Luther King Jr - there are quotes and actual speeches from MLK Jr and RFK within the show, the american "swing" flags are used during "America the Beautiful" in the closing of the show. there is no political angle in the show - but rather a historical one

you ARE a band junkie - i am heading out to see a send off show here in SA

forecast as of today shows McAllen sunny and mid 90's for the South Texas Regional Midland T-Storms on Friday and rain off/on for Saturday looking forward to a great opening to the season.

looking forward to that show!!

i could imagine - the game I went too Friday - take away the band and the drill team - there might have been 50 people in the visitor stands

good luck with that

Rain cleared out enough for CTJ homecoming - they ran the full show after the game with props for the first time - only the new uniforms were missing. Great show and concept - the sound at the top of the 50 yard line was phenomenal. that show still has a huge upside, but I think it will do well next week in McAllen and in Austin the following week.

hoping to see them live tonight - but it just started pouring - 10 minutes ago

I agree - outside the the SA super regional, Austin has the deepest field in BOA Texas - there will be 7 bands in Austin that made finals in San Antonio last year and there has been a new winner in Austin every year for the last 4 years - 2 weeks and counting

this is depressing - I believe we have been fortunate here in SA to have a very supportive administration. While I recall the band performing at UIL region and getting right on the bus to get to a game - but while everyone loves seeing the band perform in the stands and at halftime, they also understand that those members of the band did not join to just to perform at football games but to compete in their own arena. My middle school child will be in the stands performing next Friday night at the CTJ - Reagan game (big rivalry- both in football and band) while CTJ is on the road to McAllen regional. it is a shame that the Conroe admin do not respect the program as more than a filler to FB games - especially a program that has won Grand Nats

I agree that these are the top 3 for Austin- Vandy - the video I have seen - I would agree that the visual is tame CTJ - from what I have seen, the video out there does not capture a lot of missing pieces that will be there in Austin. the music book is very strong and powerful Leander - great show and excited to see where it goes as the year progresses I think these are the 3 medals in Austin - the question is the order - should be a great show

yes - Texas State Grad

1. CTJ 2. Vandy 3. Leander 4. Round Rock 5. Cedar Park 6. Hendrickson 7. Cedar Ridge 8. Bowie 9. Vista Ridge 10. Churchill just my thoughts - the top 2-3 could be very fluid, and it will be a joy to see how it plays out

the Director at Churchill is a MacArthur grad - the asst director is from Lee - both NEISD grands from SA

i try to hold my Bias - but I do not see CTJ in 5th

my bad on the "Geek VS Nerd" reference - either way - looking forward to hearing your thoughts on both Midland and McAllen

will there be a "geek in" for both McAllen and Midland next week?

you are correct - all 3 have huge freshmen classes and missing time in the pad due to the weather hurts bringing them up to speed- while a pain, I am sure it is workable

and in 2014 when FloMo went from 13th in San Antonio to 6th in Grand Nats finals - those are the movements that make the argument for SA being a deeper and tougher field as these kinds of results continue, if I were a band director, why would I ask students/parents to pay the additional funds ($1K each) and time out of class for a lesser competition. instead, would I ask them to spend their money elsewhere.. MFA/BOA sees the growth in Texas and that is why we continue to see the addition of more BOA events - like the addition of Austin, MC Allen, Midland and Waco over the past 8-10 years. they know where their audience is at and again, this is just my thoughts, but I think this is a conversation that is already in play outside of Texas

I agree and all the more reason to structure the 2 events alike. the hard part of that is that Texas has some "lesser programs" - and I apologize for that term, that do not make finals, but have 250+ members. that scares off some of the smaller school programs. do they create a program that is structured for the smaller schools? like UIL?

going back 13 seasons to 2005 is as follows 2005 - Reagan Won SA - Went to GN - finished second 2006 - LD Bell Won SA - Went to GN - finished second 2007 - Marcus won SA - Bell finished 2nd - Marcus did not go - Bell went to GN and brought home the Eagle 2008 - LD Bell Won SA - Went to GN - finished second 2009 - LD Bell Won SA - Went to GN - finished second 2010 - Marcus won SA - did not go to GN 2011 - LD Bell won SA - did not go to GN 2012 - Marcus won SA - did not go to GN 2013 - TWHS won SA - went to GN and brought home the Eagle 2014 - CTJ won SA - did not go to GN 2015 - FloMo won SA - did not go to GN 2016 - FloMo won SA - did not go to GN 2017 - CTJ won SA - did not go to GN not saying that a win at SA is a Gnats win - but It is likely a medal at the least - and less and less are making that trek if you look at the trend since 2009, the only band to win BOA SA and go to GNats was TWHS and they brought home the Eagle.

I think this would bring more out of state programs to San Antonio to compete

college football has had a national champion for years and a ranking system without actually playing each other - so maybe it is a Northern Champion and a Southern Champion this year there is only 1 Texas band in Indy - with Texas the largest state with some of the largest Programs - how do you call that a national champion either there were 17 BOA Regionals in 2017 and 3 Super Regionals - 6 of those winners attended GN there were 5 Regionals and the SA Super Regional in Texas - none of those winners attended Indy the Past 13 Grand Nats have been won by 6 programs. with the exception of Bell in 2007 and TWHS in 2013 all the others are regular if not annual participants Carmel (4) Broken Arrow (4) Avon (2) and Tarpon Springs (1) again - most Texas programs plan for these events 2+ years in advance

we may not see any competitions until San Antonio - there is a good chance that there is going to be some heavy rains the next few weeks - right now Midland and McAllen regionals could see some major impact - there are 4 stores in the atlantic - 3 named and a depression that will likely be a tropical storm when it hits Corpus on Friday and then comes up through San Antonio and Austin - could be one of those really wet years again