Anthony V

Well regardless of who places where, I have a feeling Atlanta is going to be a very very very good day for Cedar Ridge was well as the rest of Team Texas heading out to Georgia!

So I bought five ponchos for nothing???????  darn!!

I'd say I'm dirty Dan!
 
No! I'd say I'm dirty Dan!

To bring in a concept from economics, I like to think of diminishing marginal returns or a logarithmic graph. Until a certain point, money matters A TON. And then after that certain point, it doesn't get you much more at all. In my mind, schools like Leander sit just past the inflection of the point of the graph where the first derivative starts to be less than 1. And that's why money doesn't matter when they compete with Vandegrift where on the same curve, their first derivative approaches the asymptote. And there are schools like Duncanville and North Shore that may have a first order derivative > 1 but still beat competition with higher means; this gets to the points made about Adair and about the schools Takigan mentioned. However, those are increasingly rare cases, just because the benefits of additional money as well as socioeconomic status bring an assortment of positive benefits to a band program.
 
Always a good day when you can bring out your calculus.

Interesting that Adair County comes up - http://www.txbands.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6717-4a-statearea-predictions/?p=94185
 
The issue of money is complicated.  Round up the list of 2016 state marching competitors and look at the percentage of students on free and reduced lunch and compare it to the state average (State average I think is 55 or 58%).  I don't have the data on hand (though someone on the yellowboard crunched the data last November) but the average percentage of the nearly 40 bands was something like 40% while the percentage for the 10 bands that made finals was under 25%.  And it's like that every year.  Money clearly matters to some measurable extent.
 
Now obviously it's not the money that "makes you good".  $50,000 in props don't really mean much in the grand scheme of things. It's "flash", as you put it.  I mean look at the Japanese.  Their best bands don't have nearly a quarter the budget that the best Texas bands do, yet they run circles around our best bands.  However, even when analyzing their best and worst bands, it's still the wealthy private schools that rise to the top of their own competitions while the small rural village schools are still getting bronze awards (3rd divisions) and staying home for Nats.
 
I watched an inner city Texas band (90+% free/reduced lunch, 90+% hispanic ethnicity) rehearse one time and the rehearsals were dead quiet, zero chatter, and the director on the podium is leading with bubbly passion and the students are buying into it...the kids were much more focused in rehearsal than my High School band ever was...And the band played superbly...One of their ensembles had even been invited to Midwest in recent years.  Yet we had been to the state marching contest and Honor Band finals several times and this band hasn't been in decades.  Why? Because we had stronger elementary music programs, access to early childhood developmental tools (migrant workers aren't enrolling their young children in piano lessons when it's a struggle to even eat for example), consistent access to private lessons starting at the middle school level, access to better equipment...among many other things.  We worked hard....and that's why we were successful.  But a band like this inner city band needed to work even harder to make up for the lifelong shortcomings their socioeconomic situation placed them in.
 
As good as Adair County is, they're only as good as they can be with the resources and culture that they have.  Adair County is an example of a band that I would say is pushing hard work to its "cultural maximum"....meaning the Japanese still work harder, but it would be unrealistic to expect the kids at Adair County to work as hard as the Japanese.  There isn't a band in all of Texas with their similar socioeconomic situation that could compete with them....that "works as hard" as they do.  You'll never see them winning Grand Nationals, but I mean that in the same way you'll never see a 1A HS Football team beat the UT starting lineup, even if that 1A school decided to work harder and train harder than UT. Every band has a cultural ceiling....that ceiling is higher than their community might often think it is, but it still has a limit.  Money might be overrated...but it does matter, and quite a bit.

Perhaps a Guide To Eating At A Marching Contest is in order....

Ugh I'm sitting here bored, so I am listening to your podcasts over and over again lol

Inconceivable!
 
It's too bad you told us, actually. Otherwise I was going to threaten to start calling you "the fresh principalagent of Bel-Air."
 
Well, it was either going to be that or "P-daddy." (The "P" could stand for "political science" or "profile name" depending on your mood.)

As you well know, watching magical humanoids compete in long-distance foot races has always been a veritable pastime. It's an acquired taste, really.
 
But no, my current engagement is a heavy dose of procrastination!

What? I don't know that!!
 
Aaaahhhhhhhhhhh.........

Is it a Yamaha or a Getzen trombone slide?

Which then brings my twisted mind to, "She turned me into a newt!!!"

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.  

Pflugerville got 48th last year in San Antonio and 16th in Austin. I enjoyed their show last year, but unfortunately now can't really remember it. Saw them again last Thursday at the Leander vs Pflugerville football game and I can't even remember their show. Oh, except one of their cheerleaders marches and plays trumpet at halftime in her cheer costume. I thought that was pretty cool. 
And yes, you gotta get the jumbo bag of kettle corn and eat it ALL DAY!

That kettle corn will make you weak in the knees!

Good stuff, buddy!!!  Looking forward to more!

You have a voice made for radio!

Great job for your first TXB podcast, Anthony! Like Daniel (danpod), you're a natural. I could easily listen to any future podcasts you might endeavor to do, if you do.  
I have been participating in online forums since the mid 90's, longer than my own (recently graduated) band kid has even been alive! I completely enjoy the different personalities of each forum that I'm a part of, and I am pretty much exactly the same person in RL that I am online.
 
I think my spirit animal is probably a Chihuahua...yappy and irritating.

You hit the nail right on the head! I am definitely super introverted, but I try really hard to act extroverted; that was an awesome way that you phrased that.
 
That's one of the things that I love about this activity; it's a different world that is in many ways separated from the "real" world and we all get to be whatever we want to build ourselves into regardless of who we are elsewhere. And the stretching of self this has given me has even manifested itself and helped me grow in everything that I do. I can give presentations to large groups at work with confidence instead of curling up into my introverted ball of fear in the corner. The fear still twinges, but the forced extroversion I have put myself through here has given me the tools with which to push that aside and know that no wording is perfect, everyone understands that, and that is ok.

*Results may vary.
 
You guys! I have a podcast that I made for you. I had to split it up into two videos because the YouTube machine has a really delicate stomach and will spit things out if it eats too much.
 
This feature presentation has been made possible by our sponsor, the Royal Order of the Shaven Llama. Unfortunately, they went out of existence about five seconds ago due to a rapid growth in the mascot's hair. It was all very sad, and the llama was solemnly denounced before the dissolution of the order. But maybe I will find another willing sponsor in the future if people like this podcast.
 
(ALSO: I have the dumb when it comes to embedding the HTML codes for these videos; I don't know if these videos will open in a new window, so maybe right-click on the link > "Open link in new tab" if that's your preference.)
 
Part I -- Of Funnies and Fervorinos
Part II -- The Night (Activity) is Still Young!
 
Addendum:
- Clifford Stoll's TED Talk, "The Call to Learn"
 
Let me know what you think!
 
AV

*Results may vary.
 
You guys! I have a podcast that I made for you. I had to split it up into two videos because the YouTube machine has a really delicate stomach and will spit things out if it eats too much.
 
This feature presentation has been made possible by our sponsor, the Royal Order of the Shaven Llama. Unfortunately, they went out of existence about five seconds ago due to a rapid growth in the mascot's hair. It was all very sad, and the llama was solemnly denounced before the dissolution of the order. But maybe I will find another willing sponsor in the future if people like this podcast.
 
(ALSO: I have the dumb when it comes to embedding the HTML codes for these videos; I don't know if these videos will open in a new window, so maybe right-click on the link > "Open link in new tab" if that's your preference.)
 
Part I -- Of Funnies and Fervorinos
Part II -- The Night (Activity) is Still Young!
 
Addendum:
- Clifford Stoll's TED Talk, "The Call to Learn"
 
Let me know what you think!
 
AV

You guys! Haha, y'all are so funny.
 
=o)

You guys! Haha, y'all are so funny.
 
=o)

Oh thank god. I'm glad that area is OK. Y'all be careful and Godspeed with the "rebuild" process.

Yes, poor Stony Point has had a bit of a roller coaster ride this year with band director changes and all.  Everytime I think they might have a shot at having a good year, something happens within their program to cause a whole new set of issues.  But I'm always rooting for them and hoping to see big improvement in coming years...they ARE an RRISD school after all!