TWHSParent

And one last thing I noticed, both Richard Saucedo and Gary Markham will be the Chief Judges. I checked, and there was only 1 Chief Judge at Indianapolis SR, and 1 listed for St. Louis SR. Not sure why San Antonio gets 2?

https://www.musicforall.org/images/San_Antonio_SUPER_REGIONAL_-_Judges_Bios_.pdf Of course, I'm now wondering where the Aladome is?

Not commenting on the band discussion. However I disagree with your statement about not being on these forums. High School is a perfect opportunity to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses. Reading criticism, determining if it is constructive or destructive, and taking it in to improve (if constructive), or ignoring (if destructive) is a critical life skill that serves well until you are the guest of honor at the funeral home. This is not an easy thing to learn, especially during the teen years where I remember taking everything to heart a bit too much. It can be mentally challenging, but learning to pick out the wheat from the chaff is important, as is building your ability to accept criticism without over or under reacting. There is nothing quite like taking constructive criticism, working to improve, and coming out better at the end! As for the destructive criticism, well, ignoring then proving them wrong has it's own rewards too. Just my two cents. Worth what you paid for it!

Oh, and Avon may not be here this year, but Jay Webb will be! He is listed as one of the music judges.

So the San Antonio final packet lists a time for entry to "Indoor Warmup". It appears they are planning for poor weather this far in advance. I consider that a good move on MFA's part.

I was lurking here that year, and I think I remember you (or at least someone) posting about that. I guess it is one of those unspoken things that, for lack of a better term, "band politics" will rear its head from time to time. I don't know much about that in regards to Texas marching band (so I tend to keep my mouth/keyboard shut on this - oops!), but I have been working in multi-billion dollar corporations for decades, so I have a really good understanding of the insidious influence of corporate politics. It is there and it permeates everything.

Area matters only insofar as whether you do or don't qualify for state. In 2016 TWHS finished 4th and squeaked into the state contest, where we ended up being the highest finishing of the area bands (North Shore also made state finals). My opinion is that Oak Ridge and CP are the strongest they have been, maybe ever. I personally have a tendency to view bands through a BOA lens, so with that lens TWHS is the strongest of these bands. UIL will view things differently, so as long as we hit top 4 and advance that is what matters the most. I would love to send the top 3 CISD programs to state this year, and I think there is a strong possibility it happens, regardless of the area order. There are a few more practices to go before area and San Antonio, so things can and will change right up to the end.

On a better note, right now area F weather looks like sunny and 70's on Saturday. Unleash the Unicorns!

Weather looks like upper 50's early, then low 60's and a little damp from time to time...

On this forum? Certainly not the only one...

I'm going to try to see Tomball Memorial tomorrow at the region show if I can stay late enough.

Leander's props from last year are being used by Klein this year. Terry was using the flower props from Winston Churchill 2016. I had to look that one up. I recognized them but couldn't immediately remember where/when I saw them. Apparently our ramp from 2015 was used by The Guardians corp this year. It is always interesting to see where props end up.

I'll say that Cy-Fair, College Park, and Oak Ridge were very strong. Brazoswood was also strong, just a rung below these three. It is a shame Cy-Fair won't be at BOA San Antonio. After watching them yesterday I think they would have a strong shot at a finals spot. College Park is now very much in the finals discussion and are really building an outstanding show. Oak Ridge will also be pretty close this year. Don't overlook these bands for BOA or UIL.

Auxiliary caption doesn't count directly in the overall score.

This is true. I also think the top 30 will be different as ranked by BOA vs UIL styles. Ok time for the 10.5 hour flight back to Houston. At least I’m not flying from Asia...

For area F our director already told the boosters that only 4 will go.

The strongest bands in Dripping Springs group are Marian Catholic and O'Fallon Township. Grain Valley is very good, as is Rockwood Summit. Those 4 plus Dripping Springs would be my guess for the top 5 in that grouping.

Weather is currently looking tolerable. 40% chance of showers (no thunderstorms) and a high of around 70. Only 20% chance at night, with a low of 57.

TWHS is 5-2. They lost their first 2 games and have won 5 straight in the district. Oh, and the game the band didn’t attend they won by something like 45 points.

Good thing the judging panels are switching. With no lunch break on Saturday and minimal on Friday we could have some hangry judges!

Yes, it is happening. There is a schedule that has been shared with the competing bands. 14 currently attending with 10 finalists. I am flying back from my business trip to Europe on Friday so I can do the volunteer thing at the contest!

Reality is we are all just guessing. We don't know what the shows will look like come November. Now heading to my business trip. I hate airports but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Don't forget (per my comment on the previous page) that in 2015 there were 2 weeks between San Antonio and Grand Nationals.

Were you there at Indy that year? Did you experience the crowd feedback to their show that they fed off of for that semi-finals run? You could just see them push harder and harder during that run, and the crowd ate it up and rewarded them. That was the real problem with them going first in finals - half the crowd wasn't there yet, and they didn't have as much feedback. They still put out one heck of a performance, but the full interaction wasn't there because the crowd was still "cold". Had they gone on even 3rd or 4th I think it would have made a significant difference.

And that year San Antonio was 2 weeks before Grand Nationals rather than the 1 week it has been the last 2 years. Hebron, The Woodlands, Round Rock, and Keller (and Keller Central) all made very significant strides in that 2 week gap.