Draak Vader

Pretty sure CTJ isn't even CLOSE to even winded, much less dead so....as you were.....

Yep

Anyone know the full finals placements....even without scores?

Auto-Tune for the new frontier anyone?

What are the BOA rules on putting mics on wind/percussion sections or an individual instrument or instruments? I know soloists usually have a microphone, but what about making your whose section or band sound bigger and louder by using mics? Just wondering...

Round Rock first without Reagan and CTJ? But Itneversnows says Reagan is in...so has anyone actually seen Round Rock's show; I mean in person?

Here's the only list that I could find. http://www.uilmusicregion18.com/index.php/judges/judges-marching

Yep...that was rank order in prelims for Area D. As a side note, L.D. Bell came up a spot short as an alternate in their area after everything was said and done...so no telling what the results wll be for Area D finals tonight.

What was the offensive comment? There's nothing here to give context...offensive how....offensive why..."comment removed." Not a big fan of censorship...in fact, not a fan at all..let's have it...I'll bet we all can take it in stride.

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This was a magnificent year, not only for the five Texas bands in finals, but also for every single member of a Texas band. The Eagle now lives here in Texas, but never forget, it will be up for grabs again next year. Everyone should be proud of what they accomplished this year, but always be mindful, next year comes much sooner than expected.... "Stay classy Texas...."

I told you...

Careful.....

Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know..... It stikes me, though, that the big picture is being missed here. This year, five Texas bands made the trip. All five of those bands made the final twelve bands; five for five, in a rigorous contest made up of 91 bands from around the country. Five Texas bands were in the final group of 12; that's 43% of the finalist bands were Texas bands. Four Texas bands were in the top 10; that's 40% of the top 10 bands were from Texas (with CR very, very close to being there as well). Three of the top 5 bands were Texas bands; that's 60% of the top five bands were from Texas. And, The Woodlands brought home the Eagle.....a Texas band. That is truly an extrodinary, "one for the record books" year for Texas marching bands. Before we all start picking each other apart with the "what ifs" and "woulda, coulda, shoulda", perhaps we should revel in what these five bands accomplished for their schools and how extrodinarily they represented the state. What might have happened will remain a mystery....what did happen was incredible.

All I'm saying is words have meaning and sometimes serrated edges. If you say it, be prepared to defend it...especially if you didn't witness any of the performances. Again just sayin'. I'm done.

Do I have to agree? Did you witness the show? It's an arbitrary number only when those that get the number aren't deemed to deserve said number. It's great to know, though, what the RR kids should and shouldn't care about. Hopefully they're in band for the right reasons by your standards and shouldn't and/or don't care about your jocular comments and their incendiary effects at their expense...again...you know...just sayin'. Please quit while you're ahead.

I don't understand what you don't understand....did you read what I wrote and what I was replying to? My "dig" was not at Round Rock, it was at 'mellopwan' and 'Danpod' and the backhanded smugness that their implication of an inflated score implied. Cool your jets 'ch1k3n123.' I saw Round Rock's show last night at Westlake and I know whereof I speak...

Wow...I sure hope round rock can feel the 'love' through all of that veiled smugness. Would sure hate for those kids to think that what they've accomplished thus-far was being even slightly denigrated. You know...just sayin'....

WOW! I hate that for Spring. What was their semi's placement? I can't see how they could have been very far out of the final 12. We've still got the Woodlands and CTJ though!

Aaah, well I said AFA seemed to have 'shades' of Round Rock's show from last year. Looks like this band has the actual "playbook."

Yep, they sure did and they marched a heck of a show last night in exhibition. They were 17th after prelims so they got close to making finals. I was quite impressed with them as were the folks that were sitting around me.

I agree wholeheartedly; and well said, by the way.

Well, I guess all I can say to that is considering your opinion of Round Rock's shows both last year and this year, it's fortunate for them that you're not a judge.

The 4th place finish for Marcus and the non-inclusion of three or four highly touted bands in finals notwithstanding, I'm not sure that there was anything more surprising than the showing of the Round Rock band. They not only made finals in 11th place after prelims (10th in 4A), but they moved up 4 spots after their finals run to finish 7th, and did that while marching around a sousaphone bell for about a third of their show. When we're talking about bands with a real upward trajectory, I think we're going to have to include Round Rock in that conversation from now on.

A passionate argument indeed, but let me take a stab at a rebuttal... Point 1: "If you look at BOA San Antonio as a 2-day festival and celebration of achievement and not some contest where some bands are being jipped out of their money and time for showing up on Saturday only to be denied a finals spot, then it's not as big of a deal." Perhaps some would disagree, but it would seem to me that a strong argument could be made that this could potentially be considered (primarily, if not exclusively) a 'two day festival' only for the 29 Friday bands (and even this is contingent on whether or not these Friday bands are required to return home due to football obligations). This argument, of course, could and would be negated if one could show that a vast majority, or at least a large number, of the Saturday prelim bands were traveling to San Antonio on Friday, ignoring their Friday school day and possible Friday night football obligations, to 'celebrate the achievement(s)' of their band brethren and then either staying in San Antonio overnight, or going home and coming back on Saturday. What would be a safe guess at that number; 29...17...12...6...1...none; a handful of San Antonio area bands, perhaps? I would be interested to know. Also, I don't believe that the word "jipped" was one that I used in my post. I think I used the word "gouge", and I've still not seen, read, or heard anything that would dissuade me from that position. Mrwood69's assertion that it's a fiscal decision on the part of BOA seems much more persuasive than anything I've seen so far, and it would be hard to overstate the importance of the countervailing fiscal concerns of any and all schools and band programs in the state of Texas at this point in time. Point 2: "Most bands invest in this as a 2-day educational event that includes a mixture of performing, watching other bands perform, eating out and enjoying the venue/location and doing other activities (This is even more the case for Grand Nationals, which is technically a 4-day event)." Regarding the assertion that, "Most bands invest in this as a 2-day educational event...", I will stand on my previous argument. Show me the evidence that a large number of Saturday bands are coming in on Friday to "watch" the Friday folks and enjoying the location and venue and I'll concede the point. Otherwise, no. As for Grand Nationals, I think that's more of an apples and oranges comparison except for, perhaps, Air Force Academy High School's BOA SA participation . Let's face it, San Antonio is mostly a TEXAS super regional. A somewhat compelling argument might be made that at Grand Nats there could be local bands at some distance from Indianapolis and, consequently, these bands could be at a competitive disadvantage at Nationals if they are going home and coming back to Indianapolis versus out of state bands that have traveled and are staying in town, but is there evidence to support this? I don't know, but for a Grand Nationals contest, I doubt it. I would suspect that a large number of those local bands are staying in the Indianapolis area as well. Also, Grand Nats is very much a national contest as opposed to a large, 'super regional' contest. Many of the bands are coming in from out of state and have blocked their entire schedules for that week, saved for an entire season and traveled long, long distances to participate. For most of these bands, it would be impossible for them to go home and come back the next day and there would be no reason for them to do so. Not so for many of the BOA SA bands. Point 3: "Many directors know they aren't going to make finals....and some leave early knowing this (some will budget the money to return just in case, and then use the money on something else if they don't make it) but the directors that choose to stay will plan things to do with their band on Saturday until the announcement, then will stay to watch all of finals (or have separate buses for the students that want to go home and the students that want to stay and watch) should they not make the cut." I agree with you and I'm sure this is true; but how many would forgo the trip back to San Antonio altogether and save their money for next year's show or other, more pressing fiduciary fiscal obligations if they knew for sure that they had no chance at finals? Perhaps none, but wouldn't it be better to let them make their own decision with all of the facts in hand? Point 4: "Your suggestion to prerelease some of the scores is only beneficial to the small number of schools who see this as nothing more than a contest, and also ruins the spirit of the competition for everyone else at the festival. "If you didn't plan on sticking around, you're probably not ready to be here" I think is the bottom line. The crux of the biscuit; whose ox is being gored here? You leap to a conclusion that doesn't necessarily follow when you suggest that the bands who would benefit from this information see this as 'nothing more than a contest'; there are many more pressing things for them to consider, a crucial one being that "money doesn't grow on trees." In addition, I didn't suggest releasing scores to the public at large, merely contacting the individual directors of the bands who are out of contention; a simple text or phone call to the 15 Friday band directors who didn't make it letting them know. How does this 'ruin the spirit of the competition' for everyone else? Does the 'spirit' of the competition rest on these bands laboring under the false hope that they may have a chance? How does providing information that could help a (your words) "small number of bands" make an informed decision become the fulcrum for the entire contest? Unless compelling evidence can be provided to the contrary, the real bottom line here seems to be, "If your prelim is scheduled on Friday and you're unwilling to come back on Saturday in blissful ignorance and spend your money, you're probably not ready to be here. Oh, and the logistics, energy, and travel expenses needed for your band, parents, equipment, et al. to get back here be da#%ed." I yield the floor...

"I feel like this thread is turning into some sort of high stakes gambling game, to predict what the placements of the bands are going to be...." Thus the actual name of the thread, "2011 BOA San Antonio, Predictions?" You could always start a thread about the quality/stand out features of the shows that will be at San Antonio or any other contest though.