World of Pageantry

San Pedro. Wow!

No kidding....Darnella Davidson's magic touch strikes again. Wish I could bottle whatever it is and spray it on my students everyday in rehearsal!

So, 4 months later: thoughts or predictions on SCSBOA 1A?

Well the final grid is up so we know that Cabrillo, San Pedro, and Lancaster have all scored over 70 at least twice and Charter Oak got there this weekend and Highland was there a few weeks ago.

Hard to make any comparisons between San Pedro and these others because I don't think any of them have ever been at the same show as San Pedro. Head to head Cabrillo beat Lancaster once then they tied, then Lancaster won. Cabrillo has beaten Highland every show they've had together, but Highland and Lancaster keep jumping around each other. Charter Oak also hasn't seen these groups head to head so who really knows until they do.

All of that said, there is still another full week of rehearsing to do, never know what can happen in that time. Many of the groups in 1A have made big strides in improvement within a week throughout the season already....some of them might be at their plateau point, others might still have another jump left in them....

In any case there are some really neat shows to see and prove that while being small definitely has its disadvantages in marching band, we can still put on a great show with fewer bodies.

Norman

I predict there will be lots of drum breaks, some long chords, lots of cheering for girls throwing stuff in the air and catching them (most of the time) and I predict that there will be a short woodwind 16th note run featurette somewhere in the middle, followed by some more drum breaks and long chords. Did I mention, long chords and drum breaks?

Come on music people, challenge these kids!!! I don't blame the kids for the boring shows on the field, I blame teaching staff and scsboa! Maybe have your horn players play more than 8th notes and whole notes. How about less dancing horn and drum lines and more notes. Since they're musicians and all. Be Mozart!!! No such thing as too many notes!

We already have winter drum line and colorguard stuff, let's feature those horn players during the fall. This is ridiculous!

Besides the previous post, I'm looking forward to championships! Lots of great bands who worked hard for many hours. Good skill to all bands performing!

Hey Joel,

Good Skill to you and your kids! Wish I could say we'd be joining you, but this is the 3rd time we've come in 13th on the Grid.

Daniel

ODannyBoi wrote:Hey Joel,

Good Skill to you and your kids! Wish I could say we'd be joining you, but this is the 3rd time we've come in 13th on the Grid.

Daniel

Ugh. And I don't think this, by any means, is representative of the excellence of your band. I'd love to see a prelims/finals format that includes more groups, or a points system format based on the "important tournaments," or a regional prelims/semis/finals format...or at the VERY least, a wild card tournament between 13th place to 19th place, with the top two bands getting a chance to go to finals with 14 bands instead of 12. But...that's just me.

Alan

airons0678 wrote: Ugh. And I don't think this, by any means, is representative of the excellence of your band. I'd love to see a prelims/finals format that includes more groups, or a points system format based on the "important tournaments," or a regional prelims/semis/finals format...or at the VERY least, a wild card tournament between 13th place to 19th place, with the top two bands getting a chance to go to finals with 14 bands instead of 12. But...that's just me.

Alan

Thanks Alan, that's very kind of you to say. It's a bit heart breaking for my kids because there are several bands going to championships that we either beat directly or out scored that last weekend. They just outscored us A LOT in the weeks leading up to Savanna weekend (as my kids call it).

That being said, how do I know it wasn't just a bad day for Littlerock or that Moorpark's panel wasn't just calibrated a bit lower than Savanna. True, we're talking about scores in different boxes, but anyone on the FASC would tell you that this is exactly WHY they use a three score qualification.

And to be sure, Littlerock had bus problems, which their kids shouldn't be penalized for. They arrived to the show WAY late. Yorba Linda even gave up their spot and went on early to give Littlerock extra time.

And of course beyond those factors you mentioned, there are also factors like weather differences affecting intonation differently at different times at different sites, the possibility that one show was windy and another wasn't, the size and the shape of a given stadium being more or less forgiving to different sizes of groups (or how their show is designed), or a site's 2A division starting at 10am versus one that starts at 1:30 and so on. Heck, these differences can sometimes be seen within one division at the same show! This is just the nature of this game, and we have to know that going in.

I just think it can be done better. SCSBOA made some GREAT strides with the system they have now. But now it's time to reassess. (I guess this is done at board meetings? Make sure you attend it! I won't. I'm not a director. But YOU should.)

Alan