Danpod Posted October 1, 2011 Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Via the TxBands Live Blog: Class AAAA: Music - James Bowie Visual - L.D. Bell General Effect - James Bowie Class AAA: Music - Legacy Visual - Legacy General Effect - Richland Class AA: Music - Aledo Visual - Aledo General Effect - Wakeland Class A: Music - Palestine Visual - Palestine General Effect - Palestine Placements Awards.... Class A: 1st Place - Palestine Class AA: 1st Place - Wakeland 2nd Place - Aledo 3rd Place - Western Hills Class AAA: 1st Place - Legacy 2nd Place - Richland 3rd Place - Pflugerville Class AAAA: 1st Place - James Bowie 2nd Place - L.D. Bell 3rd Place - Flower Mound The 10 Finalists, Random Order.... Martin H.S. Keller H.S. Richland H.S. Berkner H.S. Hebron H.S. L.D. Bell H.S. Flower Mound H.S. James Bowie H.S. Legacy H.S. Winston Churchill H.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpod Posted October 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Storylines: - James Bowie H.S. wins Class AAAA; 2nd BOA Regional Class Championship in school history. - Two Class AAA bands, Legacy and Richland, make Finals along with eight Class AAAA bands. - Flower Mound H.S. makes BOA Regional Finals for the first time. - Wakeland and Palestine H.S. win Class Championships, will perform in Exhibition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpod Posted October 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Breaking News: The Top Five from Prelims, in no confirmable order: James Bowie L.D. Bell Flower Mound Legacy Richland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpod Posted October 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2011 Finals Performance Order: 7:30 Palestine (Exhibition) 7:45 Keller 8:00 Churchill 8:15 Berkner 8:30 Hebron 8:45 Martin 9:00 Richland 9:15 Legacy 9:30 James Bowie 9:45 L.D. Bell 10:00 Flower Mound 10:15 Wakeland (Exhibition) 10:30 University of Texas-Arlington Band Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oagcplayer Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 I believe that it is a travesty that the 8th Place AAAA band scored higher overall than the 3rd Place AAA Band or even the top 2 AA bands. BOA should be embarrassed of a result that simply says "you need to be a big school or you have no chance at competing on an even level". I realize and accept the fact that larger bands may be more impressive due to volume of sound and will automatically have a slight advantage, but this is extreme. Hate to say it, but if I'm the director of one of the smaller bands, I tell BOA to go take a flying leap and fill my spot (and entry $) with someone else. Best of class awards are nice, but it's obvious that this year's smaller schools have no chance to be competetive in the overall grand scheme of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpod Posted October 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 I believe that it is a travesty that the 8th Place AAAA band scored higher overall than the 3rd Place AAA Band or even the top 2 AA bands. BOA should be embarrassed of a result that simply says "you need to be a big school or you have no chance at competing on an even level". I realize and accept the fact that larger bands may be more impressive due to volume of sound and will automatically have a slight advantage, but this is extreme. Hate to say it, but if I'm the director of one of the smaller bands, I tell BOA to go take a flying leap and fill my spot (and entry $) with someone else. Best of class awards are nice, but it's obvious that this year's smaller schools have no chance to be competetive in the overall grand scheme of things. Classes are divided by school enrollment, not by band size. As far as saying that small programs have "no chance to be competitive", I suggest you go talk to the 15 kids from Jackson Academy who performed at the BOA San Antonio Super Regional a few years ago. They performed in exhibition and had the loudest crowd reaction because people fell in love with them. I'm sure that those kids will remember that moment for the rest of their lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellopwn1 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) I believe that it is a travesty that the 8th Place AAAA band scored higher overall than the 3rd Place AAA Band or even the top 2 AA bands. BOA should be embarrassed of a result that simply says "you need to be a big school or you have no chance at competing on an even level". I realize and accept the fact that larger bands may be more impressive due to volume of sound and will automatically have a slight advantage, but this is extreme. Hate to say it, but if I'm the director of one of the smaller bands, I tell BOA to go take a flying leap and fill my spot (and entry $) with someone else. Best of class awards are nice, but it's obvious that this year's smaller schools have no chance to be competetive in the overall grand scheme of things. 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. Edited October 2, 2011 by mellopwn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oagcplayer Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 mellopwn1 - I understand what you're saying, but 8 out of 10!?!?!?!? Sorry, that is just an extreme ratio. I still can't believe the 8th place band in AAAA "outperformed" other bands in smaller classifications. Wakeland won AA and they weren't better? Neither was Pflugerville? Yeah, right. Danpod - I believe classes are set by number of performers that are 10th - 12th graders within the band. And you said it best - they performed in exhibition. They may have gotten the crowd to love them, but have no chance in the actual competition (although I would consider 15 to be an extreme amount). And BTW, UIL criteria can be a joke for someone who simply wants to be entertained, versus someone who looks for a technically precise show that is as boring as can be. Call it general effect or simply entertainment value, but UIL needs to figure out how to weigh that in the scoring. Otherwise, as band directors develop shows for UIL competition and not for entertainment value, more people will leave for the concession stand at halftime of the football game, and fine arts as we know it will fall further down the list of importance to school districts that are cutting budgets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellopwn1 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) I still can't believe the 8th place band in AAAA "outperformed" other bands in smaller classifications. Wakeland won AA and they weren't better? Neither was Pflugerville? Yeah, right. 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. Edited October 2, 2011 by mellopwn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oagcplayer Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Ragneo - that simply justifies the statement that the smaller bands have no chance to compete, especially if schools are getting bonus points for their exceptional history. Hopefully, I'm wrong, but if BOA suddenly starts to see a decrease in entries from these types of schools, just remember you read it here first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpod Posted October 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Live Blog is giving results right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsaxplayer61 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 What an amazing night! I'm so happy for the Bowie Band. Those kids must be crazy happy and congrats to the rest of the finalist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montoya Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) Can anyone confirm how big Wakeland's band is? Seems to me they're pretty huge. Pflugerville seems pretty big to me also. The point is, small band, medium band, big band, it doesn't matter. Play your horn, march your dot, and you'll be rewarded for it. Edited October 2, 2011 by Montoya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amusicman Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Was Bell's guard huge like it has been? It looked pretty small from the pictures in the blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellopwn1 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 (edited) Was Bell's guard huge like it has been? It looked pretty small from the pictures in the blog. 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. Edited October 2, 2011 by mellopwn1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoppipolla Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Can anyone confirm how big Wakeland's band is? Seems to me they're pretty huge. Pflugerville seems pretty big to me also. The point is, small band, medium band, big band, it doesn't matter. Play your horn, march your dot, and you'll be rewarded for it. I can confirm on Wakeland - they have about 20 guard, and are marching about 130, 140 winds. Probably around 15 battery percussion, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zdafoe Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Flower Mound has no history whatsoever in BOA, yet they made top five? Heck, I'm sure most people expected them to not make finals this year. And also remember that both of the 3A bands that made it to finals made the top five as well. And when Monday comes, I want you to look at how many bands that Wakeland or Pflugerville beat that were 4A--I'm sure those 4A bands were pretty big, and didn't get rewarded for it. I was one of those folks who didn't expect Flower Mound to make finals, but when I saw their performance yesterday live I was amazed! They've always had a really tone concept and marching technique, sometimes the programming and/or visual design got in the way some years, but this year they really stepped it up. The guard really sold the show, and the band just played and marched the heck out of the program. Congrats guys!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbui Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Danpod - I believe classes are set by number of performers that are 10th - 12th graders within the band. And you said it best - they performed in exhibition. They may have gotten the crowd to love them, but have no chance in the actual competition (although I would consider 15 to be an extreme amount). BOA classification is determined between 10-12th grades within the school size not band size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenon Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 And you said it best - they performed in exhibition. They may have gotten the crowd to love them, but have no chance in the actual competition (although I would consider 15 to be an extreme amount). Jackson Academy 1993. JA (smallest band in BOA GN Finals history) with 39 members at BOA Grand Nationals Finals placed 8th, one place above Duncanville (largest band in BOA GN Finals history) with ~350. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medina5012 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 I was one of those folks who didn't expect Flower Mound to make finals, but when I saw their performance yesterday live I was amazed! They've always had a really tone concept and marching technique, sometimes the programming and/or visual design got in the way some years, but this year they really stepped it up. The guard really sold the show, and the band just played and marched the heck out of the program. Congrats guys!! Thank you very much. I'm in the Flower Mound band and we were just about as shocked as everyone else was when we found out we made finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpod Posted October 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Danpod - I believe classes are set by number of performers that are 10th - 12th graders within the band. And you said it best - they performed in exhibition. They may have gotten the crowd to love them, but have no chance in the actual competition (although I would consider 15 to be an extreme amount). Wrong. That was the basis of your argument? Misinformation? Wow. School size in Grades 10 - 12. NOT number of performers that are in Grades 10 - 12. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takigan Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Another Story Line while we're still on topic. Bowie is the first band other than LD Bell and Marcus to win this Regional since Ronald Reagan in 2005. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudBandDad Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Ragneo - that simply justifies the statement that the smaller bands have no chance to compete, especially if schools are getting bonus points for their exceptional history. Hopefully, I'm wrong, but if BOA suddenly starts to see a decrease in entries from these types of schools, just remember you read it here first. I hope you are wrong, too! (no disrespect intended) These results show that bands from all classifications can compete: 2010 BOA Woodlands - Finals Winner - Class AAA band. 2nd - Class AAA. 3rd - Class A band. 4th - went to the highest ranked Class AAAA band. This may not hold true for all competitions, but it shows it can be done and not all competitions are dominated by AAAA bands. Judges should score on execution and not size/reputation, but neither of those elements are easy for humans to ignore. There is always going to be debate in such a subjectively scored contest; but, there is precedence that you don't have to be classified as a big band to get a good or even a great score. -- PBD <H1 class=itemTitle> </H1> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kankooku Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 I was suprised that Martin High School, Flower MOund HIgh School, and Mansfield Legacy pulled it off this year.. This year is chock full of suprises that surpised me... UNfortunatly.. Mansfield got 12th.... but i give congratz to the Mansfield legacy band for making 5th in finals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drummantx Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Where can we find full results at? I'm interested to see the prelims placements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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