The Video Doesn't Lie!

Today was an incredible day for the band.  We played our show in full uniform at the pep rally, which was moved outside for the first time.  It was unbelievable. The entire event was so great outside.  The support of our students for all the sports, cheerleaders, step team, and band was so strong, it totally amazed me.  We have a great school and I was so proud to be a teacher in Roslyn.  Then I posted the video to our youtube account so that we could fix some problems for tomorrow's homecoming performance and competition at Copiague.  THE BAND IS SO INCREDIBLE.....JUST LOOK AT THAT VIDEO!  And the video comments from band members started flowing.  Our band IS a bunch of geniuses.  I was amazed at the comments and the things that the band members found that needed to be fixed!  And the positive support of each other was absolutely amazing.  I have never been more proud to be a band director.  I have been teaching a long time and have never felt this way.  No matter what happens today, let's not let the impressions of 6 people keep us from realizing the great strides we are taking as a band.  We will get those scores eventually!  Aim high, be patient.  We are building a dynasty and are ahead of schedule with our long term goal sheet, look at it, it's at the bottom of the website.  Check out the link to our youtube account with the comments.  Link to it from the roslynband.com website.  I am so psyched about tomorrow!  

Last Night's Show Recap - What happened with the scores?

We know how we performed. Everyone knows how we performed. We were amazing. Remember that feeling on the field and how you felt walking off the field. I could see it in your eyes. I could feel the energy, enthusiasm, and pride beaming off every one of you! I could see it in the audience during and after the performance. The Roslyn Marching Bulldogs are one of the top bands on Long Island. Simply put, we are building a dynasty. Everyone knows it!

So what happened with the scores? Well, simply put, five of the six judges consistently and unusually had us two or three tenths of a point in second place. Go figure. It is unusual to see that kind of consistency between judges? Very unusual. That speaks for itself. Need I say more? Some judges are still judging the Roslyn band of 3 or 4 years ago. They might think yesterday's performance was a "fluke". Or they simply are just not ready to reward us for what we are doing out there. Ask anyone who has regularly competed in a judged environment. Subjectivity in judging can be very tough. They make all the calls. They decide everything. It is not basketball, where if you get it in the basket it is 2 or three points. They decide if you are even on the court. They decide if there is even a ball in your game. They have control of all the scoring. All of it. We overblew a little bit, the entire music judging team took that and ran with it, telling us that was the reason we were down. They used that to dump us. That is their right, they are the judges and don't feel bad or upset about it. These are top notch judges and we just have to convince them of band's progress and excellence. Remember, these judges will crown us champions! Don't complain, move on!

Now let us get to the sixth judge, the ensemble visual judge, who judges drill, ensemble marching, and colorguard. This judge did something that no other judge did, something that is very, very telling and gives us a view of where we will be and where we are going. He had us in second place at the show, over everyone except Arlington, a National Class Band! Here we go, he made the call! Good for him. I told the band this week that we are one of the top bands on the Island, that we are, right now. I told the band that you have to know that, feel that, and the scores will eventually come. Five judges were reluctant to call it, one did. Amazing, sit back and think about that for a minute......That judge watched the entire show, judged it, put down numbers and we were SECOND IN THE SHOW TO A NATIONAL CLASS BAND! Ponder that, pretty cool! Here we go!

As we go on, let's take care of our problems, tweak and fix the mistakes, and bring all 6 judges to that conclusion, that we are a band poised to move to the National Class in the next two or three years. Our goal is to win our class at the dome, and the fact that one judge realized should excite and pump you up! That is a very significant score by one of the top judges at the Dome each year.

So lets move on, clean our show, and convince the other judges, which will be a new slate at Copiague, that we are what we are. One of the top bands on Long Island!