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2013 BOA San Antonio Super Regional


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I figure that since all three of the early regionals are done, we might as well start looking ahead. BOA SA is only a few weeks away, and there's a good chance people won't see many of the bands again until they see the finished (or mostly finished) products at San Antonio. Here are the participants as of 10/03. A total of SIXTY-FIVE bands have signed up, including all of the heavy hitters in the state of Texas, as well as Blue Springs from Missouri, who is a very strong possibility for finals both here and at nationals (though I haven't seen their show this year). This is probably the largest regional ever and *maybe* the most competitive ever as well. Honestly, with the recent turn of events at BOA Allen, I have no idea what to expect. I'm gonna have to wait to see the on-demand videos from Allen, which will probably take until next week to upload!

 

 

Participants as of 10/03

 

Aledo H.S., TX
Alvin H.S., TX
Anderson H.S., TX
Azle H.S., TX
Blue Springs H.S., MO
Brazoswood H.S., TX
Calallen H.S., TX
Cedar Park H.S., TX
Cedar Ridge H.S., TX
Claudia Taylor Johnson H.S., TX
Coppell H.S., TX
Cy-Fair H.S., TX
Dickinson H.S., TX
Douglas MacArthur H.S., TX
Flower Mound H.S., TX
Floresville H.S., TX
Grulla H.S., TX
H.M. King H.S., TX
Haltom H.S., TX
Harlingen South H.S., TX
Hebron H.S., TX
Hendrickson H.S., TX
Hidalgo H.S., TX
James Bowie H.S., TX
James E. Taylor H.S., TX
James Martin H.S., TX
Keller Central H.S., TX
Keller H.S., TX
Kempner H.S., TX
L.D. Bell H.S., TX
Lake Travis H.S., TX
Leander H.S., TX
Lehman H.S., TX
Llano H.S., TX
Lopez H.S., TX
Macarthur H.S., TX
Mansfield H.S., TX
Marcus H.S., TX
Morton Ranch H.S., TX
North Shore Senior H.S., TX
Pearsall H.S., TX
Pflugerville H.S., TX
Plano East Senior H.S., TX
Richland H.S., TX
Rio Grande City H.S., TX
Robert E. Lee H.S., TX
Ronald Reagan H.S., TX
Round Rock H.S., TX
Rouse H.S., TX
San Angelo Central H.S., TX
Sandra Day O'Connor H.S., TX
Seven Lakes H.S., TX
Spring H.S., TX
The Woodlands College Park H.S., TX
The Woodlands H.S., TX
Tom C. Clark H.S., TX
United H.S., TX
Vandegrift H.S., TX
Vista Ridge H.S., TX
Wagner H.S., TX
Waller H.S., TX
Weslaco H.S., TX
Westlake H.S., TX
William H. Taft H.S., TX
Winston Churchill H.S., TX

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My finalist locks: Half of the list.  ;)

 

But in all seriousness, as of right now, I'm pretty sure the top 6 will be Woodlands, Marcus, Hebron, LD Bell, CTJ, and Bowie in no order (trying to guess them in order would be hopeless).

 

I'm sure other safe bets for finalists would be Reagan, Cedar Park, Flower Mound, Round Rock, and probably Westlake.

 

And like everyone, I'm VERY interested in how Cedar Ridge does. They did extremely well at Conroe, but that was still an early season competition. So I'm quite curious to see how they will do...

 

I didn't even notice Blue Springs was participating, that's pretty cool! I can't wait to see them perform!

 

I really hope Coppell is able to secure a spot in finals. They were excellent musically at BOA Allen.

 

I posted this somewhere else, but while it is a bit of a long shot, I think Keller Central has a real legitimate shot at making finals if they continue improving all the way to San Antonio. They really were excellent at BOA Allen and I was surprised with how good they were. I don't expect them to make finals, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

 

Other bands I see possibly making finals are Plano East, Spring, Richland, Leander, Vandergrift, Anderson, Keller, College Park, Churchill, Mansfield, Henderickson, and Pflugerville.

 

This is going to be one heck of a Super Regional. Each year seems to get more competitive than the last. I can't wait to see how this unfolds.

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I don't mind baiting people with my preliminary thoughts. I won't bother mentioning shows I haven't really seen yet. (This includes Marcus and Bell, as well as a whole host of others). Going through the list, I realize I haven't seen many shows from groups that are typically strong contenders for finals.

 

*Finalists unless heck freezes over*

 

The Woodlands

James Bowie

Claudia Taylor Johnson

Hebron

Round Rock

 

(I sort of put these in order of what I would expect for placements, though Hebron could play hopscotch with both CTJ and Bowie, who I think sounded a bit weaker than their competitors at BOA Austin, though they have plenty of other things going for them). Having seen a live, direct comparison of TW and Hebron at Conroe (second-to-last and last performances, respectively), I don't know if Hebron will come out on top. I can't recall a recent time when TW hasn't added over 10 points to their early regional score. They are (or at least were) the definition of a late-blooming band. If they keep up the trend, the late season score will be in the mid-90s, which would be expected of a national champion, though who knows what will end up happening. At the very least, I can attest that TW is the strongest TX group I have seen so far this year. Of course, this is just my opinion.)

 

*Probable Finalists* (random order)

 

Cedar Ridge

Cedar Park

Vandegrift

Flower Mound

Ronald Reagan

 

Other ones, I have no idea. Need to see the BOA Allen stuff. Add Marcus and Bell, and you've already got 12 of the 14 spots taken. You have to sort of judge on potential, which can be difficult. I expect some drastic changes between now and then. Also, I'd like to applaud the prelims judges at this event. Judging 65 bands sounds absolutely miserable. A band has really got to stick out and proclaim itself as a finalist.

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I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am for this contest. I mean, this is in every way a grand nationals of the south! I don't know how I could possibly pick 14 bands and say "that's who I think will make finals." There's just no way! The level of talent across the entire state of Texas has been uniformly raised exponentially. It's as if somebody took the master volume panel (replaced with a "master talent" panel) and just kicked it up 5 notches! IT'S INSANE! I have a feeling this is going to be, top to bottom, one of greatest overall contests BOA has seen in years, if not its entire history. I mean, just making finals is going to be such a dogfight that every single finalist band could probably make grand national finals. Just think about those last 4 spots. SO many bands could take them. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a band that has made finals at San Antonio every year for a decade that suddenly misses this year (we already saw a similar situation last year with Winston Churchill). This is just going to be nuts. I have to buy this DVD!

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I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am for this contest. I mean, this is in every way a grand nationals of the south! I don't know how I could possibly pick 14 bands and say "that's who I think will make finals." There's just no way! The level of talent across the entire state of Texas has been uniformly raised exponentially. It's as if somebody took the master volume panel (replaced with a "master talent" panel) and just kicked it up 5 notches! IT'S INSANE! I have a feeling this is going to be, top to bottom, one of greatest overall contests BOA has seen in years, if not its entire history. I mean, just making finals is going to be such a dogfight that every single finalist band could probably make grand national finals. Just think about those last 4 spots. SO many bands could take them. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a band that has made finals at San Antonio every year for a decade that suddenly misses this year (we already saw a similar situation last year with Winston Churchill). This is just going to be nuts. I have to buy this DVD!

 

I understand where you're coming from with a "usual" band missing finals. (Hebron BOA SA 2011) Usually though you see it in the early season unusually low scores. Like this example Hebron was 10th at Arlington but the acutal score was WAY lower than 9th and they continued to score low throughout the season. The numbers don't lie! :D

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I think we have a pretty obvious top 5--Marcus, Woodlands, Bell, CTJ, Hebron (no particular order).

 

Predicting 6th is where I run into trouble.. Has Round Rock widened the gap with Vandegrift since BOA Austin? Will Cedar Park rise over both Round Rock and Vandegrift? Will Cedar Ridge WOW everyone once again and place 6th? What will the fate of Reagan and Flower Mound be?

 

SO many possibilities!! It's a great thing that this regional has 14 finalists, otherwise this contest would be consistently harder than Nationals, in my opinion. 

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I think we have a pretty obvious top 5--Marcus, Woodlands, Bell, CTJ, Hebron (no particular order).

 

Predicting 6th is where I run into trouble.. Has Round Rock widened the gap with Vandegrift since BOA Austin? Will Cedar Park rise over both Round Rock and Vandegrift? Will Cedar Ridge WOW everyone once again and place 6th? What will the fate of Reagan and Flower Mound be?

 

SO many possibilities!! It's a great thing that this regional has 14 finalists, otherwise this contest would be consistently harder than Nationals, in my opinion. 

 

 

Ok not to call anyone out. And it's not just you. But I feel like Cedar Ridge doesn't get that much love. Like I mean they placed 3rd at Conroe!!! And they won music over The woodlands, CTJ and Hebron! Guys how do you not call them a for sure finalist at SA? C'mon now.

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Ok not to call anyone out. And it's not just you. But I feel like Cedar Ridge doesn't get that much love. Like I mean they placed 3rd at Conroe!!! And they won music over The woodlands, CTJ and Hebron! Guys how do you not call them a for sure finalist at SA? C'mon now.

I have nothing against Cedar Ridge. Last year they also placed very, very well at Conroe, and then missed finals at San Antonio by quite a bit, indicating they most likely peaked early. Historically, bands like CTJ and Woodlands, especially Woodlands, have shows that are brilliantly designed but are a beautiful disaster in the early season due to the insane visual/overall demand that their shows have. By the time San Antonio rolls around, CTJ/The Woodlands are MUCH more comfortable performing their visual, which then allows for some incredible playing as well. The same can be said about Hebron this year. Their music book is jaw-droppingly demanding (the most demanding I've seen all year, in my opinion) and has some moments that are ridiculously exposed. They struggled with tears at the beginning of the season and even at Conroe. Those that have seen the difference between Hebron at Conroe and Hebron at DFW can agree that their show is just one that needs time to grow and develop.. One week of rehearsal made an insane difference musically. 

 

For the Top 5 at San Antonio the past few years, "slow and steady" has been the name of the game; Suffer in the early season in hopes of being unbelievably glorious in November. And it is definitely working for them, in my opinion. 

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Ok not to call anyone out. And it's not just you. But I feel like Cedar Ridge doesn't get that much love. Like I mean they placed 3rd at Conroe!!! And they won music over The woodlands, CTJ and Hebron! Guys how do you not call them a for sure finalist at SA? C'mon now.

 

Uhh... almost every post on this topic in some way mentions Cedar Ridge in a good light. The person you quoted even wrote "Will Cedar Ridge WOW everyone once again and place 6th?" The reason people aren't calling Cedar Ridge a 100% without a doubt lock for finals is because Cedar Ridge has just very recently become a serious BOA San Antonio finalists contender, which makes it very hard to predict how they will ultimately do at San Antonio. Another reason people aren't necessarily calling them a shoe-in for finals is Conroe was an early season competition. Late season results are often WAY different than early season results, because bands like Cedar Park, Reagan, etc. blow past bands that may have beaten them in an early season competition like Conroe. Bands have beaten regular BOA San Antonio finalists in early regionals several times, but they usually can't keep up with the rate those bands improve throughout the season. However, most people (including myself) very much expect Cedar Ridge to hold their own and not only make finals but do very well in finals.

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uh, not quite. CTJ opened in 2008, made San Antonio finals in 2010 and then was a national finalist in 2011. Not trying to knock down Cedar Ridge, just stating the facts.

But in Cedar Ridge's defense, CTJ's roots were from one of the most successful and innovative BOA bands in that last decade. I'm DEFINITELY not saying that the Reagan split was an easy thing to bounce back from, but the kids were already hard workers from their experiences at Reagan, so as long as they got a good staff (which they obviously did), CTJ was kind of bound to do this well. I don't know much about the history of Cedar Ridge, but I'm assuming they had to build their program from the ground up. You could argue that CTJ had an advantage that Cedar Ridge never had. But at the end of the day, who cares? Both bands have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. It IS pretty impressive how much both of them have improved in such short periods of time, regardless of what their roots are.

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But in Cedar Ridge's defense, CTJ's roots were from one of the most successful and innovative BOA bands in that last decade. I'm DEFINITELY not saying that the Reagan split was an easy thing to bounce back from, but the kids were already hard workers from their experiences at Reagan, so as long as they got a good staff (which they obviously did), CTJ was kind of bound to do this well. I don't know much about the history of Cedar Ridge, but I'm assuming they had to build their program from the ground up. You could argue that CTJ had an advantage that Cedar Ridge never had. But at the end of the day, who cares? Both bands have worked extremely hard to get where they are today. It IS pretty impressive how much both of them have improved in such short periods of time, regardless of what their roots are.

this is very true, my post came across way more demeaning than I intended :blink: . My apologies!

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Cedar Ridge opened in 2010, is in its 4th year of existence, and graduated its 1st senior class last year! The students split from Round Rock High (which only recently became somewhat of a powerhouse) and Stony Point which has not competed at a high level. I'd say they are coming along quite nicely.

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Cedar Ridge opened in 2010, is in its 4th year of existence, and graduated its 1st senior class last year! The students split from Round Rock High (which only recently became somewhat of a powerhouse) and Stony Point which has not competed at a high level. I'd say they are coming along quite nicely.

 

Well RR has been around for a while and more of a UIL style. They changed over to a BOA style band in 2010 with a change in staff. So for a band that just recently changed in that sense making finals in 2011 and 2012 at San Antonio is no small feat.

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Westlake's show seems promising . . . Does anyone know how much they have progressed since BOA Austin? They had a fairly good show that seemed only 2 movements long and incomplete . . .

That was their first 3 movements, and I am highly biased, but I would definitely count them in for finals. Westlake generally stays under the radar for majority of the year until the last few competitions, with the exception of 2011

 

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I think we have a pretty obvious top 5--Marcus, Woodlands, Bell, CTJ, Hebron (no particular order).

 Don't forget James Bowie! I'd say those bands will take the top six spots most likely.

 

 

But another thing, can somebody please explain to me why bands like Marcus, LD Bell, TWHS, and Bowie all keep video recordings of their shows off of the internet? You search any of those bands on youtube and you can't even find a single football game performance, and I'm 99% sure it's done on purpose. I honestly can't make a good judgment call for predictions until I've seen the performances but there are none available.

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If Cedar Park makes finals, I will have to shake my head........ The show is pretty boring overall. The music is played well, but the show is horribly drained of creativity. I know they only have 10 color guard members, but I am annoyed that they still receive such high scores at a BOA competition -  where bands are judged on the total effect of their performance, not just music and marching. When other bands are rearranging white rectangles, using railroad crossings, swinging on swing sets, and using acrobatic performers, it shows you just how far the world of marching band has become. It is truly an art form. Tossing a couple of flags every now and then and having some people jump of a staircase  is a pretty cheap attempt at expressing the artfulness of music like Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet". I hope they are not guaranteed a spot, like many of you have predicted, simply because of their name. Cedar Ridge outshines them for sure.

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 Don't forget James Bowie! I'd say those bands will take the top six spots most likely.

 

 

But another thing, can somebody please explain to me why bands like Marcus, LD Bell, TWHS, and Bowie all keep video recordings of their shows off of the internet? You search any of those bands on youtube and you can't even find a single football game performance, and I'm 99% sure it's done on purpose. I honestly can't make a good judgment call for predictions until I've seen the performances but there are none available.

good god... how could I forget?!?!

 

Sometimes its due to music rights....sometimes its due to the "protection of artistic vision," if you will. HQ vids of TW and Bowie are usually released at the end of the season. Marcus and Bell videos: some years good videos get posted and are removed, other times they stay up.

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If Cedar Park makes finals, I will have to shake my head........ The show is pretty boring overall. The music is played well, but the show is horribly drained of creativity. I know they only have 10 color guard members, but I am annoyed that they still receive such high scores at a BOA competition -  where bands are judged on the total effect of their performance, not just music and marching. When other bands are rearranging white rectangles, using railroad crossings, swinging on swing sets, and using acrobatic performers, it shows you just how far the world of marching band has become. It is truly an art form. Tossing a couple of flags every now and then and having some people jump of a staircase  is a pretty cheap attempt at expressing the artfulness of music like Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet". I hope they are not guaranteed a spot, like many of you have predicted, simply because of their name. Cedar Ridge outshines them for sure.

I hate to be the guy that just responds to every little thing but I'm sorry, I couldn't help it with this one... I had written a huge rant in response to this special little post about how disrespectful I think it is to say you will shake your head if a band makes finals and how rude it is to openly say you hope a band doesn't earn a finals spot, but you know what, let's just try to keep this forum positive from here on out.

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