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Underdog Bands This Year?


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I think some might be surprised by Plano Senior's show this year...    and they will go to Area this year if they qualify (new band director) .   Not sure they can compete with the top dogs,  but the parts of their show I've seen, they sound awesome (Carmina Burana).  If they can clean up their marching a bit  (and finish the show!) it will be great!  (I have no kids in the band this year, I just caught their performance). 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think Prosper has the show design for a great finish in San Antonio, maybe not finals but I wouldn't be shocked to see them end up in the teens or twenties somewhere.  

 

Regardless of that, they grabbed my attention fully this year with their show, love it.  Can't wait to see another more recent video of it.  

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Just a few quick thoughts on the "Underdog" Title:

By rule, you can call every single band that didn't win a competition or caption or classification, an underdog. I don't think placements should be what classifies people as underdogs. To me, it's the crop. By that, I mean how many students are they rolling through their program, how many middle schoolers, and another very large aspect is the amount of money going to each program. Unfortunately Oklahoma has drastically reduced spending on such things, and if you watch Broken Aarows show this year, they definitely aren't the group to DRIVE by with just their music and visual. I know money doesn't affect the quality of bands, but it affects what those bands can use. For example, Tarpon Springs would not be Tarpon Springs if they were operating on an inner Dallas schools intake. I know that's a crazy thing to compare, but if you look at it, I don't think there's a single case of where the best band has a very very low spending for marching arts. For me, especially in BOA, the underdogs are the bands that go out there and just march and play, sometimes they don't have a single prop on the field, which is why they're my favorites to watch. Those cats CAN PLAY. They truly can. They often have the most entertaining shows, ones that tell stories. I love the groups that don't spend money on props and put all of their money into making the group better.

 

Here's my final point, I don't like the title "underdog". It implies that the group was worse than the other bands. All bands are amazing and we should talk about every single band the same way, regardless of score or placement.

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Not sure what you mean by underdog anyways. 

 

Just a few quick thoughts on the "Underdog" Title:
By rule, you can call every single band that didn't win a competition or caption or classification, an underdog. I don't think placements should be what classifies people as underdogs. To me, it's the crop. By that, I mean how many students are they rolling through their program, how many middle schoolers, and another very large aspect is the amount of money going to each program. Unfortunately Oklahoma has drastically reduced spending on such things, and if you watch Broken Aarows show this year, they definitely aren't the group to DRIVE by with just their music and visual. I know money doesn't affect the quality of bands, but it affects what those bands can use. For example, Tarpon Springs would not be Tarpon Springs if they were operating on an inner Dallas schools intake. I know that's a crazy thing to compare, but if you look at it, I don't think there's a single case of where the best band has a very very low spending for marching arts. For me, especially in BOA, the underdogs are the bands that go out there and just march and play, sometimes they don't have a single prop on the field, which is why they're my favorites to watch. Those cats CAN PLAY. They truly can. They often have the most entertaining shows, ones that tell stories. I love the groups that don't spend money on props and put all of their money into making the group better.

Here's my final point, I don't like the title "underdog". It implies that the group was worse than the other bands. All bands are amazing and we should talk about every single band the same way, regardless of score or placement.

And it could be what the person said in the quote^

 

or it could mean a band that has never made finals before or made top 5 before.

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My thinking was just that, for example, last year, you could technically call Flowermound an Underdog since they hadn't ever gotten close to what they did in San Antonio. But, they weren't underdogs, because they were just better than everyone. I'm just saying I don't think the word Underdog is very appropriate marching band in most cases.

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My thinking was just that, for example, last year, you could technically call Flowermound an Underdog since they hadn't ever gotten close to what they did in San Antonio. But, they weren't underdogs, because they were just better than everyone. I'm just saying I don't think the word Underdog is very appropriate marching band in most cases.

 

To your point above, perhaps a better description would be a band that was "under the radar" and popped on, or back on, the scene....if so,

that band is Richland in 2016.  Recent struggles....fell off of everyone's radar...then BANG, there they are again with top 2 finishes in 3 contests and an 8th place finish in a very difficult St. Louis super-regional.

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To your point above, perhaps a better description would be a band that was "under the radar" and popped on, or back on, the scene....if so,

that band is Richland in 2016. Recent struggles....fell off of everyone's radar...then BANG, there they are again with top 2 finishes in 3 contests and an 8th place finish in a very difficult St. Louis super-regional.

THANK YOU! I was looking for a more appropriate word for what I was trying to describe. Richland is STUNNING this year. Their percussion has always been one of the best, as they usually win HEB or place highly and of course the PASIC run this year but they've definitely been missing something the past few years. They are incredible this year. I love their show, definitely better to watch than a bunch of go-karts

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I'm not sure if there have been any big surprise appearances this year from bands we've never heard of.

 

But I think Waxahachie had one of the most brilliant seasons they've ever had. I had the pleasure of hearing them live early in the season and they have just a beautiful ensemble sound. Beating Coppell at the Duncanville invitational and taking the music caption from Keller is no joke! They will do great at state next year.

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