mellopwn1

Seriously...? In the past 10 years how many different uniforms have those guys had? It's crazy.

Sadly, I feel the same way about Churchill. On the bright side, I think they have created a show that will play to their strengths this year. I think if they get it to a good place in terms of cleanliness and musical effect, then they should have no problem squeaking into the bottom few places of SA.

they just got new uni's last year! ...or at least I didn't think it was a "patch"....maybe it was.

Can anyone post a picture of Richland's new Uni's?

I would be EXTREMELY shocked The Woodlands and CTJ did not make finals. TW has made finals at every BOA event they've attended (exception of GN 1998) since 1996, the year they opened, and has placed top 5 at every regional attended since 2006. CTJ is also going into the season with tremendous momentum and placed well in finals last year.

Looking at the picture of the retreat block, there has to be at least 60 guard girls there. *Phew* scared me for a second....LD Bell with a small guard is like cereal without milk.

Yes, that is right. I don't understand what is so egregious about the situation. This morning, 8 4A bands performed at a level superior to that of the two bands you specify and rightfully earned themselves a finals slot for it.

BOA rewards achievement. Talented students achieve a high level of performance quality. Sadly, because small bands are...small...they have a smaller pool of talent to pull from and have fewer people to cover up bad sounds/marching. Larger bands are better equipped with the edge of having a larger student body to take advantage of what I just said, as well as being better funded through the band fees of additional students. They generally can hire better arrangers/drill writers and additional staff to perfect marching and playing program/technique. BOA isn't being biased towards big bands...the big bands just achieve at a higher level (in general). Small bands CAN do well, as was shown by Vandegrift placing 3rd in finals at BOA Houston in 2011, Jackson Academy making Grand National Finals in the 90s, and numerous other examples. If you want a contest where the scoring sheets are handicapped towards specific classes, then USSBA and UIL A, AA, AAA, AAAA, and AAAAA competitions are for you. Moreover, the 3rd place 3A band, Pflugerville, is not a terribly small band. Nor is Aledo.

Cool your jets....no need to go picking fights.

I refuse to believe any of this hoo-ha about how Hebron has gone down the crapper this year until I see them on Saturday. I think we'll all discover that they're doing just fine...or at least I hope so.

While the drill is very slow paced and not all that complicated, that doesn't matter as much in UIL. Their music is unexpectedly good, I have to admit.....some nice mellophone stuff in there I can't really comment on their competitiveness because I haven't seen many other 4A shows, though :/

Vandegrift placed 3rd. And my friend at SFA is talking up a storm about their show....it's supposedly great. We'll see October 8th, I suppose.

The question is whether they can pull it off this early in the season, really.

Hypothetical Situation: How awesome would it be if Bowie managed to beat out LD Bell for 1st?! It's a POSSIBILITY...

Woops, I just knew they attended last year and saw "Brazos-" when skimming and assumed Swap out Dawson for Brazosport...my apologies

According to their website, TWCP will not be attending finals because the students opted to go to their homecoming dance instead. So, that is is something to take into account when looking at Finalists. Top 5: Dripping Springs Brazoswood Clements Cy-Falls

1. The Woodlands 2. SFA 3. Spring 4. Brazoswood 5. Westfield No offense to SFA, but The Woodlands is truly the better band program. Yes, SFA almost always wins the Houston Regional, but, since 2006, The Woodlands has come out ahead (sometimes FAR ahead) at the San Antonio Super Regional and at Grand Nationals. Also, their concert band program is much more solid. This past year, the SFA varsity ensemble earned a 3 at UIL C&SR. The Woodlands has performed at Midwest, National Concert Band Festival, etc. and almost always (if not always) earns UIL Sweepstakes for all bands. They have also earned both the Sudler Flag and Sudler Shield. I really think that The Woodlands, with the exception of early season, is hands down the best band in Houston right now. Spring is working its way back up the ladder and has been making finals at State and Regionals, earning itself 3rd on my list. Also numerous Midwest Performance in the past 5 years. Brazoswood is the big band that never quite makes it. They play and march with the best of them, but there's always that "something" missing that holds them back. A strong 4th. Westfield's biggest disadvantage is its size. They are very small in comparison to years past. Add school splits, director changes, and all that stuff and this program has undergone quite a bit of restructuring. HOWEVER, they are making significant strides in the quality of their program that make me optimistic about their future and excited about their present performance level. All of this is just my opinion, of course.

From a cost perspective, it would seem that cutting out San Antonio (like SFA) would be the most effective cost cutting measure. It doesn't make much sense to cut the significantly less expensive trip up to Conroe. From a competition standpoint, it's a mixed bag. Attending Conroe would give them feedback on what is working and what isn't (effective, ineffective, needs work, etc.) early on from BOA judges they might see later on, giving them time to fix things. On the other hand, San Antonio gives them invaluable experience playing in a domed environment. I never really understood why SFA didn't go to San Antonio last year either, so I really don't understand this decision from Spring. I know Risinger and Musella probably have their reasons, but I'm just mad because Conroe is the one regional I can attend and I wanted to see Spring perform what I hear is a rehash of their 1993 show... *hmph* Oh well...there's always the fan network, right?

Question: Why is Spring not attending the Conroe regional that is less than 10 miles away, especially in a year that it is going to Indianapolis for Grand Nationals? Wouldn't you think they'd want as many competitive opportunities as possible? Doesn't make sense...

Most definitely add Keller High School. The Indian band places in finals in San Antonio almost every year and did well at State last year and in years past, I think they'll be consistent this year too!

Ha, never thought I'd see the day that Duncanville plays Soundtrack music....not that there's anything wrong with it. To me, it is a sign of some welcome change in their show design. Sounds like it will be great!

Yeah, I tend to think that Reagan missing finals this year would be a major upset. However, who knows about Churchill and McNeil...they are part of the bloodbath that is going to take place for the last two spots in finals. One month from now is going to be a very exciting day for marching band, methinks.

http://www.danielmontoyajr.com/clients

While Dripping Springs might have it on Cedar Park visually (their drill design is quite stale in my opinion), I still think Cedar Park has the upper hand on Dripping Springs musically. That might not end up mattering much in the end, though, since UIL rewards execution over design. It's going to be a very interesting year for us all here in Texas!

2012 4A 1 Richard Armstrong Waxahachie HS 2012 4A 2 Stacey Dunn Southwest HS 2012 4A 3 Alyson Keller Liberty HS 2012 4A 4 Steve Wessels Cedar Park HS 2012 4A 5 Keith Lancaster Dripping Springs HS 2012 4A 6 Gregory Hames Pearce HS 2012 4A 7 Todd Dixon Wylie HS 2012 2A 1 Chris Brannan Queen City HS 2012 2A 2 Carol Turner Krum HS 2012 2A 3 George Little New Diana HS 2012 2A 4 Angela Cavender Howe HS 2012 2A 5 Jennifer Webber Cisco HS 2012 2A 6 Daniel Todd Crane HS 2012 2A 7 Jerry Whorton Winona HS 2012 3C 1 Rick Brockway Westbrook MS 2012 3C 2 Greg Countryman Fort Settlement MS 2012 3C 3 Nathaniel Neugent Howard MS 2012 3C 4 Ryan Johnstone Aledo MS 2012 3C 5 Michael Dick Cook MS 2012 3C 6 Jason Tucker Rice MS 2012 3C 7 Amanda Brodie Pritchard York JH 2012 2C 1 Joel Ashbrook Coppell MS North 2012 2C 2 Benjamin Katz Clark MS 2012 2C 3 Tony Smith North Oaks MS 2012 2C 4 Jason Brents Coppell MS East 2012 2C 5 Marty Nelson Arbor Creek MS 2012 2C 6 James Smith North Ridge MS 2012 2C 7 Kim Rosenberg Jackson MS