Area E Marching Contest

[mellopwn1]

agreed.

 

I don't think we should be minimizing the hard work of any program. I think Langham worked as hard as any other band in their area, if not more so. Saying that they did not deserve to advance is a horrible thing to say. Every kid DESERVES to march in the Alamodome on November 2nd. Yes, they might not be enjoying the same level of success and quality in their program lately, but that is probably not the kids' fault. Director changes, economic hardship, and missteps during the creative design process are what bring down a band. There is no way you can say that Langham doesn't have some kids that can play...they were the State Honor Band just a couple years ago. I didn't attend Area E yesterday, but something tells me they probably put on a fantastic show and you guys are just bitter because they outplaced "Band x" that you either attend or support.

[katsmeow]

I think ALL the bands were great last night and should be proud of their performances and all their hard work leading up to that point. I'm glad I was there to see it. I was there supporting the Clements band where my daughter is a senior. One of the judges said of them "it was a very emotional finals performance" and I agree, I could feel it. I'm just glad my daughter got to experience that one more time before she graduates. Congrats to everyone.

Edited October 24, 2010 by katsmeow

[princess]

agreed.

 

Wow, Morgan. You give a beautiful, moving account of your band's success yesterday and then ruin it with that very tacky comment. You really had the spirit of what this competition is supposed to be about in your story. What you don't understand is what the judges are looking for vs what the audience sees. Therefore, it is unsportsmanlike and totally out of line to make or agree with comments like you did. You totally negated the beauty of your heartfelt posting.

[Guest]

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2010 by Fortissimo

[the terminator]

Kids you guys need to GROW UP!!! Seriously when you talk smack the only one that looks bad is yourself. And I think everyone at one point or another doesn't agree with judges/refs. To put down anyone is disgraceful enough, focus on yourselves and not others. To be honest who cares what judges think of your show or how they rank it. That is all secondary to how YOU FEEL AND HOW YOU FELT ABOUT YOUR PERFORMANCE!!! If you gave it your all, and played and marched of 8 minutes of perfection that is what matters the most.

 

@Fortissimo: Look I know you meant well but there were just so much problem with your post. You said you won't name names, but you did right before when you mentioned Cinco Ranch. And I understand you expect your band to only improve for the future, but doesn't everyone. Also about Langham Creek "You want to try harder" Are you serious??? Do you think those kids didn't put the same effort that you did, the heart and soul and passion that you did. It's one thing to question the judges, but you cannot question someone's heart because you might not agree with what the judge think. All I'm going to say is I get where your coming from, at one point or another we were all dumb high school kids, but seriously try to grow up its a part of life, and to be a leader you need to take command of your own group before worrying about other bands.

[king_leonides]

Thanks, Fortissimo. Yes, I have been watching your shows for 5 years now, and that was simply the best performance ever by that band. I think the program has tremendous upside. Let's hope that this year's underclassmen will get to see the Alamodome in 2012.

 

I went back, and looked at some of the old videos of when I marched (before cell phones, literally. ) The precursor to Bands of America was Festival of States, which was held each year in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the 70's and early 80's, the best bands at Festival of States were Falls Church, from Virginia, and West Genessee, from New York. I compared the SLHS show from last night, to Falls Church's best show, from 1980, when they finsihed 4th in the nation. I honestly think SLHS show was better. The SLHS show had better percussion, and the drill was definitely more complex and demanding. Falls Church may have had more power, but SLHS had more balance. (Now Genesee was probably better than SLHS, but Genesee that was the equivalent to Avon today. They were untouchable.)

 

Which segways back into my 2 original points from my earlier post: 1) Marching bands have improved dramatically in quality, over the past 30 years. There are a multitude of reasons behind this, so I won't list them here. 2) There are a lot of tremendous shows that will not be performed at state finals this year, which is really sad, at many levels. This makes it extremely hard for the judges to pick the 4-7 bands from each area, who get the priviledge of performing at state finals. That is perhaps the biggeste reason why the UIL should expand the opportunities, for bands to perform at the state level.

[dcjudge]

Thanks, Fortissimo. Yes, I have been watching your shows for 5 years now, and that was simply the best performance ever by that band. I think the program has tremendous upside. Let's hope that this year's underclassmen will get to see the Alamodome in 2012.

 

I went back, and looked at some of the old videos of when I marched (before cell phones, literally. ) The precursor to Bands of America was Festival of States, which was held each year in St. Petersburg, Florida. In the 70's and early 80's, the best bands at Festival of States were Falls Church, from Virginia, and West Genessee, from New York. I compared the SLHS show from last night, to Falls Church's best show, from 1980, when they finsihed 4th in the nation. I honestly think SLHS show was better. The SLHS show had better percussion, and the drill was definitely more complex and demanding. Falls Church may have had more power, but SLHS had more balance. (Now Genesee was probably better than SLHS, but Genesee that was the equivalent to Avon today. They were untouchable.)

 

Which segways back into my 2 original points from my earlier post: 1) Marching bands have improved dramatically in quality, over the past 30 years. There are a multitude of reasons behind this, so I won't list them here. 2) There are a lot of tremendous shows that will not be performed at state finals this year, which is really sad, at many levels. This makes it extremely hard for the judges to pick the 4-7 bands from each area, who get the priviledge of performing at state finals. That is perhaps the biggeste reason why the UIL should expand the opportunities, for bands to perform at the state level.

 

 

How would you propose the UIL expand to more bands...my god the first band performs at 7:30 AM the last at 5:45 9 hours of 5A bands...???

 

Im sorry but Langham plays....they play to exactly what the sheets say for this contest....and morgan your whole statement is invalidated by your jab at Langham so there ya go...this whole discussion is quite immature. Things are cyclical in nature....after seeing everyone besides Langham did you think Seven Lakes should have won..been in top 4?

Maybe maybe not.....but in the end sometimes we have to go with what the results are and move on

[princess]

Anyone know what the final rankings were?

[longhorn2190]

How would you propose the UIL expand to more bands...my god the first band performs at 7:30 AM the last at 5:45 9 hours of 5A bands...???

They could make state a yearly thing for everybody like they used to before 1992.

[mellopwn1]

They could make state a yearly thing for everybody like they used to before 1992.

 

While I completely support this idea, UIL very blatantly states it's rationale for the "Every Other Year" format on it's homepage (or at least they used to), so I think it would be quite the task to convince them otherwise.

[the terminator]

They could make state a yearly thing for everybody like they used to before 1992.

 

But wouldn't that be like 150 bands or so. How the heck are you going to organize that, plus you have to account for hotels and practice space. Just seems like a logistic nightmare to me.

[king_leonides]

How would you propose the UIL expand to more bands...my god the first band performs at 7:30 AM the last at 5:45 9 hours of 5A bands...???

 

Again, here is the schedule that Ohio uses - this is the example I cited earlier:

 

http://www.davidsonbands.org/OMEA%20Docume...%20Schedule.pdf

 

They 2 use different stadiums, and have the contests at both stadiums on 2 different weekends. (Of course, their stadiums do not have domes on them - but Ohio has no domes.) This gives them ample room to hold contest each year, in all 4 classifications in that state - AA, A, B and C. And with that schedule no bands perform in the morning - the earliest performance time is 12 P.M. The latest that any band peforms is 10 P.M. There is no preliminary competition - each band only performs once. And altogether, 115 bands perform at state finals this year, across all 3 classes. That's almost twice the number that will perform at UIL Finals, in a typical year.

 

Should we adopt that schedule in Texas? Not necessarily. Are there aspects of this schedule that we should consider using? Definitely.

Edited October 24, 2010 by king_leonides

[dcjudge]

Again, here is the schedule that Ohio uses - this is the example I cited earlier:

 

http://www.davidsonbands.org/OMEA%20Docume...%20Schedule.pdf

 

They 2 use different stadiums, and have the contests at both stadiums on 2 different weekends. (Of course, their stadiums do not have domes on them - but Ohio has no domes.) This gives them ample room to hold contest each year, in all 4 classifications in that state - AA, A, B and C. And with that schedule no bands perform in the morning - the earliest performance time is 12 P.M. The latest that any band peforms is 10 P.M. There is no preliminary competition - each band only performs once. And altogether, 115 bands perform at state finals this year, across all 3 classes. That's almost twice the number that will perform at UIL Finals, in a typical year.

 

Should we adopt that schedule in Texas? Not necessarily. Are there aspects of this schedule that we should consider using? Definitely.

 

There are 256 5A High Schools in tx alone...by the way what you posted is completely voluntary...no qualifier...not all schools in Ohio or anyother state have mandatory UIL contest like we do...so myth busted!

[brigantes]

This is what I can tell you about the Area E Finals....every single band was excellent! What a great night.

 

I'm a Cy-Fair parent and I can tell you there is nothing worse that 5th place when 4 bands are moving on to State...lol! I did think our band had earned one of those spots, but I also commend the bands who were selected by the judges to progress. Clements was fantastic and I loved Langham's clever show. Very happy to see Creek and JV and so many other CFISD programs in the finals. All of the Katy programs were very strong. There were no slouches in this very elite top 10 group.

 

Most of all, I'm proud of Cy-Fair band kids who gave Clements a 'standing' when they entered to perform at Finals and who screamed in support of their fellow CFISD schools (especially Creek and Woods). And they carried on the Fair tradition of crazy stand cheers ("tiki tiki ta ta") while waiting for judging results. (This cheer was something we had to explain to some of the parents from other schools sitting around us. I think no one disputes Cy-Fair is the wild and crazy Animal House of Area E. )

 

This is it for us...our youngest is a senior. It's been GRAND!

[Straight9]

I'm am very aware of how much heart and soul those kids put into their shows. Every single band member sweats and works very hard to complete their finished product that is out on the field. Band programs are stronger than others, and sometimes that isn't always shown in the band placements.

[king_leonides]

There are 256 5A High Schools in tx alone...by the way what you posted is completely voluntary...no qualifier...not all schools in Ohio or anyother state have mandatory UIL contest like we do...so myth busted!

 

Umm... I marched in those shows, so I can tell you that they are no "myths."

 

Did I state or imply that all 256 5A bands in this state should be at Finals? No, I did not. I gave this approach as a method to expand the number of bands that do make Finals in this state. It also open the way to have competitions at all 5 classifications in a single year.

 

Where is it written that UIL needs to have the entire contest, for a particular class, on the same day? And at the same stadium? It says that nowhere. That is an artificial rule that UIL has created for itself.

[longhorn2190]

But wouldn't that be like 150 bands or so. How the heck are you going to organize that, plus you have to account for hotels and practice space. Just seems like a logistic nightmare to me.

 

Have it over a week. UIL is already on weird days (monday and tuesday) but why not just stagger the events like they are now, but just moreso so like 1A and 2A could be on monday, then 3A-5A having their own days. And there is usually a week between UIL state and BOA grand nationals, so you won't have big bands having to make the choice to do one or the other. And personally, my high school band went to San Antonio around that time every year anyway because we either went to UIL State or BOA Super regionals.

[Guest]

what i dont understand is why Clements is even in our area....they aren't even physically in west houston. Whatever. Clements is a good band and without them our area wouldn't nearly be as good.

 

I think UIL does their competiton every other year is to make it special. Most band prorgams would die doing BOA and UIL in the same year, and since the scoring systems are so different bands would have to choose. SL didn't do well at Lone Star and Friendswood becuase our show was designed to do well at area and next year we won't do well at katy becuase our show will be designed with BOA in mind. Also, if UIL is a every year thing you'll never have the best bands becuase not all of them will be going the same year. If you are a band director and you know everyone whose good will be participating in UIL instead of BOA, you'll jump at the chance to do BOA in hopes that you'll place much higher up than you normally would. Other bands would catch on too, making only half of the good bands show up for either event.

 

I agree that area should be like regionals. There should be a bar set (albiet a bar thats really hard to achieve), and if you achieve it, you should go. The elephant in the room is that everyone knows that some bands leaving certain areas this year wouldn't have even made finals in others. Thats not "Fair" if your in a really hard area (like e ) The entire point of this thing is to promote excellence, not "excellenter". If a band is excellent, it shouldn't matter who is in their area.

Edited October 25, 2010 by Fortissimo

[MrBandDad]

There are 256 5A High Schools in tx alone...by the way what you posted is completely voluntary...no qualifier...not all schools in Ohio or anyother state have mandatory UIL contest like we do...so myth busted!

 

How about from Area you take the top 10 finalist to State (70 Bands). Have a 2 Day Prelim followed by the Top 15 on the 2nd night. This could be done over a Friday Saturday so the Sunday UIL rule would not be a problem. 3A would be on one weekend and 5A on another or at 2 locations on the same weekend. This way you will get all the best bands into the State Contest. Yes you will have some that may not need to be there but I would rather that than leaving some really good bands out.

[Xenon]

How about from Area you take the top 10 finalist to State (70 Bands). Have a 2 Day Prelim followed by the Top 15 on the 2nd night. This could be done over a Friday Saturday so the Sunday UIL rule would not be a problem. 3A would be on one weekend and 5A on another or at 2 locations on the same weekend. This way you will get all the best bands into the State Contest. Yes you will have some that may not need to be there but I would rather that than leaving some really good bands out.

 

The problem is that the number one reason that we don't have State every year is due to districts complaining that they qualify all the time but don't have the money to spend to send the band. But they can't possibly qualify and not attend... So, they ahve to force all those who do want to go and do have the money into this system.

[dcjudge]

How about from Area you take the top 10 finalist to State (70 Bands). Have a 2 Day Prelim followed by the Top 15 on the 2nd night. This could be done over a Friday Saturday so the Sunday UIL rule would not be a problem. 3A would be on one weekend and 5A on another or at 2 locations on the same weekend. This way you will get all the best bands into the State Contest. Yes you will have some that may not need to be there but I would rather that than leaving some really good bands out.

 

 

Um and those band swould all miss football games...look at the Katy schools they HAD to go to football games the day of Area.....there is no way Supers would ok this....no way....sorry

[MrBandDad]

The problem is that the number one reason that we don't have State every year is due to districts complaining that they qualify all the time but don't have the money to spend to send the band. But they can't possibly qualify and not attend... So, they ahve to force all those who do want to go and do have the money into this system.

 

 

Then use my system every other year. If you cannot afford to go then we have less than 70 Bands to State.

[TxRaider13]

Then use my system every other year. If you cannot afford to go then we have less than 70 Bands to State.

 

 

Their is a city pride factor when sending a local school to state/area. Some cities just can't afford to send the band to state every year. The current way allows for more schools to attend area and state so more kids get to have the experience.

[king_leonides]

what i dont understand is why Clements is even in our area....they aren't even physically in west houston. Whatever. Clements is a good band and without them our area wouldn't nearly be as good.

 

Technically, Area E is not West Houston. It just appears that way. Area E includes HISD, which stretches all the way east to the Ship Channel. It only seems like "West Houston", because quite frankly, the only bands that qualify for Area are for West Houston. The only HISD 5A band that has qualified for the past two years has been Westside, which ironically is from the west side of that school district. All the other qualifiers came from Fort Bend, Katy, Cy Fair, and Alief. (Waltrip also earned a 1, in 4A.)

 

HISD should produce more than 2 bands with a 1 at regions. It is the largest school district in this state. But music education has languished badly in that district. There are numerous reasons behind this - and I am way too tired tonight, to branch off into that tangent.

[Guest]

Um and those band swould all miss football games...look at the Katy schools they HAD to go to football games the day of Area.....there is no way Supers would ok this....no way....sorry

 

I know cinco had a game that day....SL had their homecomming game friday and got home at 11:30 and had to wake up at 4:45 becuase prelims were at 10. ridiculus