J-Mike16

I also love the community over at Hornrank. They are awesome! Though I am still a bit partial to TXBands, as I know more about our Powerhouse State than the rest of the country. However, both sites are top tier! ❤️

LD Bell placed 2nd and 3rd? WOW!! 

Hey everyone! Hope yall are getting some rest after one heck of a season we just experienced not only in our great state of Texas, but also in the country! I am here one last time to do post-prediction awards and do my closing statement.
First, I'd like to thank every single one of you who supported and played along with our Prediction Game. Everyone who goes out of their way to enter in some predictions just to see who they got right or wrong is what makes us continue doing this annually. Thank you all again!
Secondly, I'd like to give a shout out to @Clarinot for being the amazing TXBands Administrator/Predictions Creator they are! Without them, this whole Prediction Game would be something else lol.
And lastly before we get to the final rankings, I HAVE to thank everyone who reached out to me with an idea or thought, that could possibly make our game even better. Seeing all of that made my heart swell, and as the TXBands Predictions Admin (Said this already to Clarinot, but saying it again) I am so proud to represent a portion of our incredible site. If anyone have ideas on what they think could improve the game, please message me or Clarinot. We'd love to add neat things to the game.
Now.... Let's get onto these rankings! 
Please give a big round of applause to our 2023 TXBands Predictions Winner.... @celesta !!!!!!
Celesta showed immaculate skills in predicting since the start of the season. Celesta improved her ranking from 15th in 2022 to 1st this year!
Here are the top 10 Predictors, who by the way got the Predicting Badge!
Celesta - 586 Points J-Mike16 - 561.50 Points MrMusic5002 - 556 Points Tubalord11 - 551.50 Points brandonlfoskett - 537.25 Points Dave609 - 509.75 Points bxOxAxUIL - 504.50 Points RottenPredictions - 478.75 Points Mars 07 - 459.50 Points crunchycookie3 - 400.25 Points Congratulations to the top 10 and of course everyone else!!!!!
 
Now, some fun facts that I think is cool to know!
1). We had 1,641 Predictors.
2). The total amount of points from everyone came to a total of 29,715.75 Points! 🤯
3). Celesta, J-Mike16 (Me), MrMusic5002, Tubalord11, brandonlfoskett, & Mars 07 predicted all 97 events that were presented in the game this year.
4). These 3 events had the most participation, UIL 6A State (348 Predictions), UIL 5A State (248 Predictions), & BOA San Antonio (232 Predictions) with UIL 6A Area C coming in 4th with 220 Predictions.
 
And that concludes this closing statement (or Announcement if you want to be fancy 😉)
Hope everyone had a blast, and let's begin the Winter Festivities as we prepare for next Marching Season Madness!!! See yall around! 
- J-Mike16 (Your 2022 & 2023 TXBands Predictions Admin) *Drops the Mic*

I also love the community over at Hornrank. They are awesome! Though I am still a bit partial to TXBands, as I know more about our Powerhouse State than the rest of the country. However, both sites are top tier! ❤️

I will second @packwick’s enthusiastic expectation for the upcoming WGI (including the TCGC and NTCA circuits) season!
Here’s an update - As of this past Friday, The Woodlands World Guard has CLEARED the 2024 WGI Scholastic World Championship waitlist and will be competing in Dayton, OH for a third consecutive year!

Hey everyone! Hope yall are getting some rest after one heck of a season we just experienced not only in our great state of Texas, but also in the country! I am here one last time to do post-prediction awards and do my closing statement.
First, I'd like to thank every single one of you who supported and played along with our Prediction Game. Everyone who goes out of their way to enter in some predictions just to see who they got right or wrong is what makes us continue doing this annually. Thank you all again!
Secondly, I'd like to give a shout out to @Clarinot for being the amazing TXBands Administrator/Predictions Creator they are! Without them, this whole Prediction Game would be something else lol.
And lastly before we get to the final rankings, I HAVE to thank everyone who reached out to me with an idea or thought, that could possibly make our game even better. Seeing all of that made my heart swell, and as the TXBands Predictions Admin (Said this already to Clarinot, but saying it again) I am so proud to represent a portion of our incredible site. If anyone have ideas on what they think could improve the game, please message me or Clarinot. We'd love to add neat things to the game.
Now.... Let's get onto these rankings! 
Please give a big round of applause to our 2023 TXBands Predictions Winner.... @celesta !!!!!!
Celesta showed immaculate skills in predicting since the start of the season. Celesta improved her ranking from 15th in 2022 to 1st this year!
Here are the top 10 Predictors, who by the way got the Predicting Badge!
Celesta - 586 Points J-Mike16 - 561.50 Points MrMusic5002 - 556 Points Tubalord11 - 551.50 Points brandonlfoskett - 537.25 Points Dave609 - 509.75 Points bxOxAxUIL - 504.50 Points RottenPredictions - 478.75 Points Mars 07 - 459.50 Points crunchycookie3 - 400.25 Points Congratulations to the top 10 and of course everyone else!!!!!
 
Now, some fun facts that I think is cool to know!
1). We had 1,641 Predictors.
2). The total amount of points from everyone came to a total of 29,715.75 Points! 🤯
3). Celesta, J-Mike16 (Me), MrMusic5002, Tubalord11, brandonlfoskett, & Mars 07 predicted all 97 events that were presented in the game this year.
4). These 3 events had the most participation, UIL 6A State (348 Predictions), UIL 5A State (248 Predictions), & BOA San Antonio (232 Predictions) with UIL 6A Area C coming in 4th with 220 Predictions.
 
And that concludes this closing statement (or Announcement if you want to be fancy 😉)
Hope everyone had a blast, and let's begin the Winter Festivities as we prepare for next Marching Season Madness!!! See yall around! 
- J-Mike16 (Your 2022 & 2023 TXBands Predictions Admin) *Drops the Mic*

Another first time show watcher, this time it's for Leander!! Let's go!

Okay, I have seen that solo and it is jaw-dropping everytime! I just havent seen the 98% rest of the show lol

ALRIGHT THAT WAS AMAZING!!! Good Job Leander!!!!

Hey everyone! Hope yall are getting some rest after one heck of a season we just experienced not only in our great state of Texas, but also in the country! I am here one last time to do post-prediction awards and do my closing statement.
First, I'd like to thank every single one of you who supported and played along with our Prediction Game. Everyone who goes out of their way to enter in some predictions just to see who they got right or wrong is what makes us continue doing this annually. Thank you all again!
Secondly, I'd like to give a shout out to @Clarinot for being the amazing TXBands Administrator/Predictions Creator they are! Without them, this whole Prediction Game would be something else lol.
And lastly before we get to the final rankings, I HAVE to thank everyone who reached out to me with an idea or thought, that could possibly make our game even better. Seeing all of that made my heart swell, and as the TXBands Predictions Admin (Said this already to Clarinot, but saying it again) I am so proud to represent a portion of our incredible site. If anyone have ideas on what they think could improve the game, please message me or Clarinot. We'd love to add neat things to the game.
Now.... Let's get onto these rankings! 
Please give a big round of applause to our 2023 TXBands Predictions Winner.... @celesta !!!!!!
Celesta showed immaculate skills in predicting since the start of the season. Celesta improved her ranking from 15th in 2022 to 1st this year!
Here are the top 10 Predictors, who by the way got the Predicting Badge!
Celesta - 586 Points J-Mike16 - 561.50 Points MrMusic5002 - 556 Points Tubalord11 - 551.50 Points brandonlfoskett - 537.25 Points Dave609 - 509.75 Points bxOxAxUIL - 504.50 Points RottenPredictions - 478.75 Points Mars 07 - 459.50 Points crunchycookie3 - 400.25 Points Congratulations to the top 10 and of course everyone else!!!!!
 
Now, some fun facts that I think is cool to know!
1). We had 1,641 Predictors.
2). The total amount of points from everyone came to a total of 29,715.75 Points! 🤯
3). Celesta, J-Mike16 (Me), MrMusic5002, Tubalord11, brandonlfoskett, & Mars 07 predicted all 97 events that were presented in the game this year.
4). These 3 events had the most participation, UIL 6A State (348 Predictions), UIL 5A State (248 Predictions), & BOA San Antonio (232 Predictions) with UIL 6A Area C coming in 4th with 220 Predictions.
 
And that concludes this closing statement (or Announcement if you want to be fancy 😉)
Hope everyone had a blast, and let's begin the Winter Festivities as we prepare for next Marching Season Madness!!! See yall around! 
- J-Mike16 (Your 2022 & 2023 TXBands Predictions Admin) *Drops the Mic*

Hey everyone! Hope yall are getting some rest after one heck of a season we just experienced not only in our great state of Texas, but also in the country! I am here one last time to do post-prediction awards and do my closing statement.
First, I'd like to thank every single one of you who supported and played along with our Prediction Game. Everyone who goes out of their way to enter in some predictions just to see who they got right or wrong is what makes us continue doing this annually. Thank you all again!
Secondly, I'd like to give a shout out to @Clarinot for being the amazing TXBands Administrator/Predictions Creator they are! Without them, this whole Prediction Game would be something else lol.
And lastly before we get to the final rankings, I HAVE to thank everyone who reached out to me with an idea or thought, that could possibly make our game even better. Seeing all of that made my heart swell, and as the TXBands Predictions Admin (Said this already to Clarinot, but saying it again) I am so proud to represent a portion of our incredible site. If anyone have ideas on what they think could improve the game, please message me or Clarinot. We'd love to add neat things to the game.
Now.... Let's get onto these rankings! 
Please give a big round of applause to our 2023 TXBands Predictions Winner.... @celesta !!!!!!
Celesta showed immaculate skills in predicting since the start of the season. Celesta improved her ranking from 15th in 2022 to 1st this year!
Here are the top 10 Predictors, who by the way got the Predicting Badge!
Celesta - 586 Points J-Mike16 - 561.50 Points MrMusic5002 - 556 Points Tubalord11 - 551.50 Points brandonlfoskett - 537.25 Points Dave609 - 509.75 Points bxOxAxUIL - 504.50 Points RottenPredictions - 478.75 Points Mars 07 - 459.50 Points crunchycookie3 - 400.25 Points Congratulations to the top 10 and of course everyone else!!!!!
 
Now, some fun facts that I think is cool to know!
1). We had 1,641 Predictors.
2). The total amount of points from everyone came to a total of 29,715.75 Points! 🤯
3). Celesta, J-Mike16 (Me), MrMusic5002, Tubalord11, brandonlfoskett, & Mars 07 predicted all 97 events that were presented in the game this year.
4). These 3 events had the most participation, UIL 6A State (348 Predictions), UIL 5A State (248 Predictions), & BOA San Antonio (232 Predictions) with UIL 6A Area C coming in 4th with 220 Predictions.
 
And that concludes this closing statement (or Announcement if you want to be fancy 😉)
Hope everyone had a blast, and let's begin the Winter Festivities as we prepare for next Marching Season Madness!!! See yall around! 
- J-Mike16 (Your 2022 & 2023 TXBands Predictions Admin) *Drops the Mic*

It's a financial strain, for sure. When my daughter was at a Central Texas school, we had several trips in a row and I had to work a second job as we were volunteers that travelled with the guard to all of their football games and competitions, even the ones in Indianapolis and Dayton. But I will say that it was all worth it and if I had a chance to do it again, I would gladly do whatever it took. I certainly never had any opportunities like this when I was in high school and feel blessed that my daughter had the chance to go to the Grand Nationals twice, the WGI World Championships once, and march in the Rose Parade.

Also, we welcome more rankers on HornRank. If you are a mature individual with marching band experience and a passion for the marching arts in general, and you consider yourself an unbiased fan of bands from all around the country, then please consider joining us! You would be vetted of course, but if a current ranker can vouch for you, that’s a great place to start!
I would also genuinely love to see a GuardRank website started but I can’t seem to talk Jeremiah into it and I’m not sure how to do it on my own. 😅

I don’t turn the comments off for criticizing the rankings. I turn them off when people get nasty towards other programs. It’s fine to disagree with the rankings. It’s absolutely NOT fine to tear down the kids in the programs who ranked higher than someone thought they should. 

Congrats to Avon! They were great! And congrats to Harloff on a very successful first season as head director!
My rankings after watching finals on high cam were Carmel, The Woodlands, Hebron, then Avon, albeit all of them quite close to each other. Needless to say I was quite surprised by the final gaps!
Carmel was pure elegance, yet again. They produce lush sounds and shape long, beautiful phrases. People underestimate how difficult that is! There's an unmatched attention to detail musically and visually, even if the content doesn't connect with a broader audience and is more cerebral. Their visual performance was quite pristine in finals as well. The guard in particular gave their best performance of the season. I don't think I saw a single drop! The ballad was of course goosebumps central, with that gorgeous, diaphanous blue fabric that was pulled out over the band. The show was a fully formed diamond, just exquisite.
The Woodlands show was absolutely thrilling, musically and visually. The show is a real stunner visually -- crystal clear from both the band and the guard, the staging also developing in clear, logical, and creative ways. The 19.7 they received in semifinals from John Howell for visual effect was the accurate score for them in that caption. Their weakness relative to the top was in musicianship and exploring a fuller range of moods and musical colors. Also, to a degree, in trying something new, given the similarities to the Blue Devils 1994 show.
Hebron was of course dazzling musically. There was no other band in all of finals that could match their virtuosity. The showmanship of it all! As others have pointed out, fantastic music performances often bleed into music effect. I was a bit surprised that didn't happen as much here, but it's hard to know what the judges will react to emotionally and intellectually. Alas, as we all know by now, judges don't care much about general audience reaction. Visually, I thought Hebron's show was the weakest of the four by quite a bit from a perspective of pure cleanliness -- the guard in particular was a bit distracting with their ensemble flag timing throughout -- but their designers also challenge their members with lots of simultaneous responsibilities and difficult drill.
Avon was wearing costumes that looked like track suits for a reason. They just fly around the field. They take off right in the beginning and rarely let up. There's a lot of excitement here, musically and visually. The ending was particularly strong with the recapitulation of the main theme and the picture frames coming together in a jumbled but appealing mess. Purple, of course, works well on the green field, and provides a nice aesthetic pop. The arrangement of Pictures was also refreshing, unlike any we've heard before.  Finals, however, didn't actually seem like Avon's strongest run, with a bit of flagging energy and some noticeable visual dirt, ensemble flag issues, and some exposed drops. But, again, challenges are a bigger part of the visual sheets than they used to be, and that's likely where Avon shined.
An honorable mention to Blue Springs. Like I said earlier, it's extremely rare for me to see a show with a concept that I've never seen before, even if I found the narration a little cheesy and trite. (Platitudes like "in an ocean darkness" and "there will never be anybody quite like you" abounded.) They gave a great performance, albeit not one that warranted a 4th place finish.
Obviously, I disagreed a bit with the finals panel. It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last. What concerns me more, however, is the reaction I'm seeing to the results from people in Texas. It's not just on these forums, with the (sometimes sort of humorous) accusations of conflicts of interest among BOA's adjudication community; it's also on other chats I'm privy to featuring quite a lot of current educators and some judges. I'm hearing complaints about music being de-valued, about how it's no longer Music for All but Aesthetics for All, which is probably my favorite. 😄
There has even been talk among these educators of Texas bands divesting themselves of BOA -- sort of like how the Midwest Combine broke off prior to the formation of DCI. For me, this is a bit too much like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If there are issues, directors ought to try working with BOA first to fix them. Meanwhile, the advisory panel needs to take recommendations seriously. A good starting place might be to revise any policies regarding conflicts of interest. I would also recommend the use of double adjuducation panels in major events, like in DCI and WGI, to try to help reduce major shifts between rounds and to get more of an "average judge" perspective, whatever that is. Music already counts for most of the score, but maybe including fine-line performance to a greater degree in the effect captions is in order.
But here's the thing: so much of the reason why Texas bands struggle against the National competition has nothing at all to do with BOA and everything to do with TEA and their regulations. With the limited rehearsal time before August, in addition to the 8 hour rule throughout the season, Texas bands are limited both by How well they perform their shows and What they're able to field and reasonably clean. Do you see what I did there? The rules affect success in both the "What" and the "How" halves of the judging sheets. Those arguing otherwise are disingenuous -- well, either that, or I have a bridge to sell them. ("Not being able to rehearse twice as long as 8 hours a week totally has no effect on how Texas bands do! Derp derp!" 😄) Anyway, the point remains, a lot of this issue is because of Texas itself, not BOA.
But be careful what you wish for, folks! You might miss only having to rehearse 8 hours a week! 😉

Hey everyone! Hope all is well during this chaotic marching season! I am here tonight (Actually early morning lol) to announce a new feature with our Predictions Game. This idea was brought to me from @Dave609. His idea was what if the predictors got something at the end of the season like a badge to showcase to all for their "impeccable predicting skills". Well, @Clarinot and I am here to tell y'all what we have made to share with everyone. 
We have made a badge for those who predict the best! 
Now here is how it will work. 
Every hour the website will automatically calculate the standings of all the predictors for the current standings. Those in the top 10 will be rewarded with the badge. NOW, the next time the website updates (for example, when scores get added), anyone who drops out of the top 10 will get their badge revoked and then anyone who moves up into the top 10 will be rewarded with a badge. This will continue until the season is over, by then the final top 10 will keep their badge forever. Every year there will be a new badge ready to be awarded. 
We hope this will increase in the competitiveness in predicting and hope some of yall work even harder to get into one of the coveted 10 spots  
I will now list the current top 10 Predictors who should have a badge in their profile. 
celesta J-Mike16 MrMusic5002 Tubalord11 brandonlfoskett bxOxAxUIL Dave609 RottenPredictions AKNOX BigBassBoi One more thing! Please, please, please double check any lineups for events before submitting. I've already had a couple Area Contests submitted with multiple bands who did not advance. Thank yall for participating in our 2023 TXBands Predictions Game! We are now getting into the intense part of the season. Go Band! 

So I have been noticing that Dave Campbell's Texas Football updates their weekly rankings for the top 25 football teams in 6A, so I've decided to do one for marching band. I took results from BOA Grand Nationals, BOA San Antonio, and UIL State into consideration when making this. I also have next to each band what their final contest was this season, and I do plan to do this as the season goes on next year. So anyways, here's the final top 25 from this year:
Vandegrift (BOA San Antonio) Marcus (BOA San Antonio) Hebron (BOA Grand Nationals) Vista Ridge (BOA San Antonio) The Woodlands (BOA Grand Nationals) Ronald Reagan (BOA San Antonio) Flower Mound (UIL State) Pearland (BOA Grand Nationals) L.D. Bell (BOA San Antonio) Bridgeland (BOA San Antonio) Coppell (UIL State) Cy-Fair (UIL State) Waxahachie (UIL State) Round Rock (BOA Grand Nationals) Keller (BOA Grand Nationals) James Bowie (BOA Grand Nationals) Prosper (UIL State) Westlake (BOA San Antonio) Cedar Ridge (BOA San Antonio) Claudia Taylor Johnson (BOA Grand Nationals) Dripping Springs (BOA Grand Nationals) Seven Lakes (UIL State) Dickinson (UIL State) North Shore (UIL State) Timber Creek (BOA San Antonio) So there you have it. Congratulations to all of these bands for finishing in the top 25. Hope to see how this list could change in 2024 with a few newbies to 6A!

Last call for results! Please post in this thread if you have finals results for any of the following contests:
Mesquite Marching Festival Cypress Showcase
Seguin Marching Festival
If not, we will remove these contests shortly to wrap our final scores/placements for the 2023 predictions game!

I think maybe I'll start referring to this weekends competition as SGN - The Sorta Grand Nats

Shoutout to our honorary Texas band Avon! 13 Years of waiting, now come down to San Antonio again.

About time!!!! Ok.... I need to not get my hopes up LOL

About time!!!! Ok.... I need to not get my hopes up LOL

If Pine Tree moves down, they would be placed in 4A Area C. 

Ok can we get back to talking about Grand Nationals? If yall want to talk about video games, private messaging is an option.

Ok can we get back to talking about Grand Nationals? If yall want to talk about video games, private messaging is an option.