conan

I hate how arguments like these start. It should not be an argument. He or she never meant to insult anyone in the first place. Reagan is simply not as good as it once was. Fact. Bands enter into competitions willingly. They aren't required to. Some years will be better and some years will be worse (placement-wise), but every year will be hard work. I long for the day when people realize that the payoff from a marching season is not the hollow placement they receive but rather how they are better and t he memories they have from the experience. Until then, people will argue.

I think it's just a problem that arises from creating a performance and judging it. Like, if each band had the exact same show to perform, the bands' abilities would be judged with much less dispute but you can bet there would be someone complaining about how there is little/no creativity or originality involved and how marching band contests are boring. Likewise, creating different shows for each band makes it more difficult to judge skill definitively, but marching contests are more interesting and the bands are allowed to, I guess you could say, express themselves. Not every person will be satisfied no matter what the system is. A situation that comes to my mind is Avon vs Bell last year at GN Finals. Watching Avon's show, they march and play at least 4:30-5 minutes (I didn't write exact times down) of about an 8:45 second show compared to LD Bell's 3:26 for an 8:33 total time. (It was in fact easier to remember the times Avon was not marching and playing than when they were.) LD Bell beat Avon in music 18.95-18.25 and Avon beat Bell in visual 19.35-18.85.

http://www.churchillbpa.org/churchill_band_2007_080.jpg You can see the mirrors on the drumline.