scores of omea state marching finals

[Sptubas]

south point got a 2 it was tough though before us grove city performed and that didnt help us out so wat was the score for other bands

[buckfan84]

The format in which these are set is interesting at best. I cannot believe that a Class B Band follows a AA Band. If anyone thinks that there is no bias in judging, think of how you feel after you see a band that blows the stands down and has 200 kids marching and some of those kids are actually running from point A to point B. You cant tell me that there is no way you are not influenced by that.

I applaud the smaller bands that are able to actually put on a show where you know all of the kids are playing rather than marching at a pace that gives them "general effect." That is where I would differ from current judges. I think it should be easy for a large group therefore I would judge them harder.

Now, I am not saying that all large bands shouldn't win. I know at the OSU competition there were some large bands that really pushed the envelope and that is what I would expect from a large band. But, I also saw a huge band that stood still on impact points in their music and I think they were awarded a better rating than I would have given them.

Also. remember this, did you entertain? did you make your parents happy? did you have a good time traveling to all of these competitions? did you make friends that you will never forget? did you learn? If your answer to ANY of these questions is yes, then that is far superior to any judges rating.

[dragonsfan24]

bucksfan - this is the biggest reason I am against the format OMEA uses at state. sure it's nice to have as many people there to see the little bands as the big bands, but having gone to state contest in concert band (in class C and B) after the likes of Thomas Worthington's Wind Ensemble (which is a VERY good AA group), Gahanna-Lincoln's Symphonic Band (another fantastic group), and even Grove City Freshmen Band (which could outplay some of the top notch programs down here), it's very intimidating.

I would love to see a format like Kentucky MEA uses for marching band. they have separated contest sites for 1A-2A and 3A-5A, which in OMEA terms would end up a site for C-B and a site for A-AA. this way, there is a little less nerves for the kids, and there can be a more even judging standard.

this year for Marshall's Tri-State Band Festival, we are having a separate set of judges and awards for Class A (our small class), including having a Class A Grand Champion, and then having a new set of judges for the AA-AAA classes, and a separate Grand Champion for them, just to give the Class A bands a more even shot.

I want to congratulate South Point, and all Southeastern Ohio schools who participated in OMEA State Finals, no matter what rating they received!

[Focused]

Green also received a two.... I'm not especially fond of the format either, but especially proud of the area bands that participated..

Green performed extremely well, and I congratulate them for their outstanding performance.

[Tartanblue]

Alright...i hardly ever post on this forum but here goes...Using who you are performing after is a cop out for getting a 2 at state. I have seen small bands go after bigger bands and still get a 1. East even did it once after going after a double A band and they were class C.

Honestly I am not suprised to see that Green even got a 2 at state this year, the times I seen them some were out of step longer than what they should have...they had a nice sound horn wise but marching didn't look all that sharp.

[buckfan84]

Now I am not one to argue with a SEOP Staff person, but Tartanblue, you could not be more wrong.

Again, when you put 200 kids on a field and then a band of 60 after them there is a problem there. Yeah, it is possible to get a I but not very likely. Of the bands that qualified last year. I believe there were around 150. Of those 150 THIRTEEN of those bands were Class C. Of those 13 only 4 rec'd a superior rating. By comparison, the majority of the Class AA band rec's a I rating.

Ohio used to separate the Class C and B Bands while A and AA performed elsewhere. They stopped doing this because the gate was not big enough to justify having 2 different sites. But then they did something very strange and set up 2 different sites, Columbus and Dayton and made them all classes. Before you think it, yes many more bands used to qualify but there are not as many followers or parents that come for the small groups. I know at the Buckeye Classic, the boosters were concerned that they were not going to sell all of the food they had purchased but as soon as the large bands showed up, guess what? Sold out. That is where all the money is in these contests. Gates and admissions.

As for Green, I would guess that many judges disagree with your assessment of their band. I saw them last year and was amazed by what they did and knew they had beat some pretty awesome groups. I though they were a shoe in for a I. They also got a II last year. You see, it isn't like a game. A band is at the whim of a judge so if he/she has just seen a Central Crossing or Grove City, your small group is going to pale by comparison. I am not the only person that feels this way, there are many directors out there with the same concern. I know when I went to the Sate Conference on judging, this was brought up many times by directors of large and small bands alike.

So yes, it does make a difference of band performance placement in contests. If it didn't most, rather all but one that I am aware of, would not have Class C, then B, then A and finally AA perform in that order. This would be like asking The Div 6 State Champ to take on the Div 1 State Champ to see who is the best. I can answer that question also, the Div 6 team is going to lose nine, if not ten, time out of ten.

[SoPoTenors]

i have to agree with both sides. We went on right after Grove city, who did a fantasic job, and they were very intimidating. We felt it an injustice to procede them. But with that comes the drive to out preform them. I wouldn't call myself a realist by any means but we aren't going to out preform Grove city. The point is that the intimidation of proceding an excellent band carries over into the focus and intensity to do just as good a job.

[wemufans]

Now I am not one to argue with a SEOP Staff person, but Tartanblue, you could not be more wrong.

Again, when you put 200 kids on a field and then a band of 60 after them there is a problem there. Yeah, it is possible to get a I but not very likely. Of the bands that qualified last year. I believe there were around 150. Of those 150 THIRTEEN of those bands were Class C. Of those 13 only 4 rec'd a superior rating. By comparison, the majority of the Class AA band rec's a I rating.

Ohio used to separate the Class C and B Bands while A and AA performed elsewhere. They stopped doing this because the gate was not big enough to justify having 2 different sites. But then they did something very strange and set up 2 different sites, Columbus and Dayton and made them all classes. Before you think it, yes many more bands used to qualify but there are not as many followers or parents that come for the small groups. I know at the Buckeye Classic, the boosters were concerned that they were not going to sell all of the food they had purchased but as soon as the large bands showed up, guess what? Sold out. That is where all the money is in these contests. Gates and admissions.

As for Green, I would guess that many judges disagree with your assessment of their band. I saw them last year and was amazed by what they did and knew they had beat some pretty awesome groups. I though they were a shoe in for a I. They also got a II last year. You see, it isn't like a game. A band is at the whim of a judge so if he/she has just seen a Central Crossing or Grove City, your small group is going to pale by comparison. I am not the only person that feels this way, there are many directors out there with the same concern. I know when I went to the Sate Conference on judging, this was brought up many times by directors of large and small bands alike.

So yes, it does make a difference of band performance placement in contests. If it didn't most, rather all but one that I am aware of, would not have Class C, then B, then A and finally AA perform in that order. This would be like asking The Div 6 State Champ to take on the Div 1 State Champ to see who is the best. I can answer that question also, the Div 6 team is going to lose nine, if not ten, time out of ten.

Grove City had like 256 kids and a school of about 1700 kids to choose from for the band. They only march 10-12 graders according to one fan. Our total enrollment at South Point is like 420 and we march 56. This includes 8th graders. Our whole district in about 1700 hundred kids K-12.

[buckfan84]

My point exactly!!!

[keggracp]

northwest was the first band to perform of the day on October 25. There overall grade was a II. There drumline got a I, which was awesome.

[buckfan84]

Just as an example, here is Grove City from 2007. I have then posted a video of South Point. Please realize that in no way am I taking anything away from SP. They are a GREAT group. I only want to show what it may have been like to go after a band like this.

Link to Grove City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJGGPj9Fc5s


Link to South Point. Please note there are almost as many in the Auxiliary for GC as there are in SP's band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjm0IpjysNk

[Sawdust]

Buckfan is right on the money on this one. Its like watching an NBA team then watching a D4 High school State championship team. They should separate them as to size. AA and A on one day, B and C on another day. Separate the sessions so that all AA are in morning, A in the evening, ect....
Judges are human, they tend to compare what one band does previously to the next. It would be hard for anyone to judge a band with 50 members with the same objectivity after watching a 175 member band perform just minutes before.

[DrumLady09]

I personally didn't feel much injustice going on after Grove City.
It made me want to perform that much harder.
But even if we did go out and kick butt after Grove City, and even if there was the slightest bit of comparison, we still didn't give the same caliber of persomance to get a 1, nor did any of the other bands from our area.
I don't think we got a 2 because of who we followed; we got a 2 because we aren't on the same level of the larger bands in Ohio like Medina, Grove City, Lakota West, Central Crossing, etc.
Do I think OMEA should fix the order of the bands?--well yeah, I think that could change everyone's(the crowds) judgement of our's (so. po.'s) and Green's performances a little. But I still think we gave a 2 performance to their and all the other group's Superior performances, and I totally trust the State Finals judges. I think they knew what they were doing that weekend, and I doubt much bias with scores. They're going to judge on you on your sound and your marching to your size. They're not going to judge you to Grove City's sound or marching.

[ampage]

Waterford got a one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sharp2693]

marietta got a 1

[Spider1]

Final results are now listed:

http://www.reynoldsburgband.com/omeasmb ... sults.html