Great job tonight! You know how you did! You focused and did exactly what we talked about all day in rehearsal. YOU WERE ON! BIG TIME! Everyone in that stadium knows how you did! EVERYONE! You took a major step in reaching the Dynasty level! Unfortunately, a few of the judges didn’t agree. They will, give them time!
One of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous quotes is important when we deal with the subjectivity of judging. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Building a dynasty is very difficult. We are clearly accomplishing our goals and doing it. Along the way there are speed bumps. Tonight was one of those. Whatever the reason, we are getting low scores. Perhaps it is our lack of precision, our lack of focus which is affecting our “getting it done”. Perhaps we are totally doing a great job and for whatever reasons, the numbers aren’t reflecting it. We have a ton of horn snaps, starts and stops, tempo changes, accellerandos, transitions, and very difficult music. We designed this show to win the class. It is a challenging show. Perhaps we just haven’t peaked yet. Perhaps we are a few inches from the gold in our marching band gold mine, and have to dig for another week to reach it. We have 3 big rehearsals left, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. We need to focus and get the most out of ourselves this week. We just need to max out our precision so that the judges see us for what we are, an incredible, championship band. Remember, the marching band season is a marathon which doesn’t end until the dome. Last year we were dumped 3 points below Division on this weekend, only to focus and beat them at the dome when they got 3rd place to our 2nd place! Stay focused! Stay the course!
Those speed bumps in life define us. How we handle things that come at us defines us. It is easy to be great when things are amazing. How we handle adversity defines us.
Here is one of my favorite quotes. Nobody knows who said this quote, but it is perfect with dealing with tonight’s result.
“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.”
We have a “positive attitude.” Let’s face it, we define it. Our results are “extraordinary.” We are the talk of the Island, the talk of Roslyn, and soon the talk of the state! Really, we are the talk of everyone who went to that show tonight, that's for sure! We are making big waves in this activity. We love what we do and are great at it! Don’t let 7 people’s decision about what we deserve influence our self-esteem and confidence. Tomorrow they will crown us champions. They will see the light!
Now about tomorrow’s show. We are doing this one USSBA show to try out this circuit. We did one other USSBA show last year at Hicksville and received some great scores. USSBA is part of YEA which is run by the Cadets drum corps. The circuit started in the early 1990s. All the Long Island bands did the USSBA (then called CMBC, cadets marching band cooperative). The Championships were at Giant’s Stadium. When the stadium went to regular grass turf they wouldn’t let the marching bands use it anymore and the CMBC switched their championships to other venues, in Allentown, Atlantic City, and other stadiums. What ensued was an immediate withdrawal of the Long Island bands. With the loss of Giant’s stadium, the Long Island bands all went to the NYSFBC which has the championship at the Carrier Dome. These bands felt that the final venue was crucial and that the dome was a better place to end the season, an indoor venue that ends at the end of October.
The USSBA and the NYSFBC are similar in scoring with one major exception. The NYSFBC puts bands into classes by school size. The USSBA puts bands in classes by the size of band. They then give credit to larger bands and the scores tend to go up as your band size/class goes up. In many parts of the country, if you have a bigger band the General Effect scores reflect it. In most cases, a 140 piece band looks and sounds more exciting than a 40 piece band. Most circuits recognize that. Most circuits put bands into their classes by band size, also feeling that it is unfair to have a 40 piece band perform immediately after a 140 piece band, for that same “General Effect” reason.
Unfortunately, the circuit we are in does not take into consideration the size of the band and actually ignores it in the general effect scores. In fact, Northwestern, the smallest band in our class, is scoring over everyone. They also won the SS2 class two years in a row and have not moved to SS1, a class they clearly belong in. That is another whole issue, bands winning classes and staying in that class for years, winning over and over. A few years ago in the NYSFBC I actually had a judge tell me to cut my band size down to make it more competitive. The NYSFBC seems to reward smaller groups. The Dome is an incredible venue, but I cannot help ponder if we are doing the best for our program by going into an arena that actually makes a point to ignore band size.
I am excited about our band size! A large part of the excitement within a band program is the number of kids in the band. Big bands are exciting. Big bands touch more lives. Isn’t that what it is all about, touching more lives? In addition, with the addition of Giant’s stadium back as a USSBA venue, we should probably think about the possibility of performing in that circuit. The USSBA also has no minimum show requirement and is a more relaxed in terms of timing and penalties which will take alot of stress off our pit parents. In the early 90s the CMBC had a dozen or so bands. Now they are called the USSBA and have over 700 bands in their circuit. Some Long Island bands do exclusively compete in the USSBA and you will see them at this weekend’s show.
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