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Posted

Is anybody else a little bit concerned about this -- in particular, its implementation at San Antonio Super Regional Finals performances, where there are often more than 7 groups in contention for a "medal"? It's too early to tell if there's a pattern, but there have been 14 San Antonio Super Regionals since 2003, and 2016 was the first time since 2004 that the bands scoring in the top half in prelims were identical to the bands scoring in the top half in finals. In fact, 2004 is the only other time this has happened, and probably back then it was due to a relatively weak field. (L.D. Bell, Stephen F. Austin, and The Woodlands were all absent.) I suppose what concerns me is the very strong signal (conscious or unconscious) that the scheduling sends to the adjudication panel in Finals. Obviously, I understand how crappy it is when a first place group performs first in Finals and their nearest competitor performs last, but the trade-off might be that a group that has an uncharacteristically weak performance in prelims (or gets an unsympathetic panel) has a tougher time redeeming itself. I've never had a problem with this set-up at regular regionals, because they typically aren't as a competitive near the top, but the SA Super Regional is an entirely different beast.

 

If it keeps up like this, and that's a big if, I suppose that the lesson is that preliminary performances at Super Regionals and semi-finals performances at Nationals have just become a lot more important. The days of groups dropping from 3rd to 8th or 7th to 13th might be over (or at least rarer). Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting observation, especially since next year's San Antonio Super Regional will be even more competitive than usual with the addition of the 10-times-in-a-row-National-Medalist-3-times-in-a-row-National-Champion Avon Marching Band from Avon, Indiana.

Posted

Yes, Avon is coming down to BOA SA. The Southern Grand Nationals indeed!

 

And yes, the fact that both SA and GN this year had 0 movement between the two halves in Finals is concerning. That was always the risk associated with this change.

Posted

The same happened at Atlanta and St Louis. And more often than not, there was a sizable score gap at the break. I think the top half bottom half draw is problematic and creates gaps where they don't exist. It's also caused unnecessary score inflation throughout the whole season. I personally would want to see all events go to a full draw regardless of placement. There's no doubt that it could screw a band in the first spot, but the bands in the middle can get more accurately scored and placed.

Posted
  On 1/30/2017 at 5:40 PM, principalagent said:

The same happened at Atlanta and St Louis. And more often than not, there was a sizable score gap at the break. I think the top half bottom half draw is problematic and creates gaps where they don't exist. It's also caused unnecessary score inflation throughout the whole season. I personally would want to see all events go to a full draw regardless of placement. There's no doubt that it could screw a band in the first spot, but the bands in the middle can get more accurately scored and placed.

 

It's such a mixed bag. I see G'nats 2015 with Hebron going first and I'm all about top-half/bottom-half. Then I see G'nats 2016 with CTJ going first and decry the policy.

Posted

Whatever format they use will be seen as unfair or unfavorable for someone. It's always going to be an issue. The main thing is to be ready to win when you get there and bring it - prelims or finals! And the truth is that some of the bands that make the finals only have the goal of making the finals. 14th, maybe better, is just fine for some of the bottom-halfers of the super regionals and the point spread from bottom to top can be an 8+ point difference. There will always be at least 2 battles - the one at the top to medal and the one at the bottom to make the finals.

Posted
  On 2/4/2017 at 4:46 PM, HardcoreTXBandFanatic said:

What happened to Hebron at 2015 G'Nats again? Musta slipped my mind

 

Many people believe that Hebron, who won the semifinals competition, only lost in finals because they drew the first performance slot and Broken Arrow drew the last performance spot, resulting in a 10-band gap between the two. With the top half/bottom half draw, Hebron would have performed 7th and Broken Arrow 12th, potentially giving the judges a more accurate comparison between the two bands.

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