70 years going on 71 Years of Excellence

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JLGORMAN
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Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 7:35 pm
Location: Killeen, TX

70 years going on 71 Years of Excellence

Post by JLGORMAN » Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:14 pm

Last night on the 18th of Nov I turned into the streaming of the UIL Region 21 Marching Contest from Carthage, TX. I know that most folks will say how can you do this without paying for it. The simple answer is that the Streaming is being tracked through the UIL which is part of the Education System of the University of Texas . The UIL is an Educational Organization and thus has a approval from the State Board of Education to Stream the Marching Contests at no cost to schools and Bands in TX. Thus parents can see their kids perform. Please understand this is only for UIL performances and not for Invitational Performances such as BOA or USBands.
The title of this stream is about the Longest Continual rating of 1st Division(Superior) in UIL Marching Contest. That title goes to the Lobo Band of Longview High School in East TX which has received 1st Division Awards in Marching from UIL every fall since 1950. Thus 70 straight years on the field. The Sweepstakes Award requires the Bands who receive the award to receive 1st Division Ratings in not only Marching but also Concert and Sightreading Contests. Longview has won this award 50 years in a row from 1970 to the present. For many folks this seems like no Big Thing, however in our part of the Country winning 1st Division Award is a Big Thing.
Longview is an unabashed Military Precision Drill Band and is one of the over 100 Military Marching HS Bands in TX this year. Their uniforms are Forest Green and Black with WHITE SHOES, which their judges say allows for the Movement of the feet to be noticed better.
For those directors who are asking what makes a Ratings Contest So difficult, let us look at a few things. TX, OK, AR and MS all have State Championships ran by the educational folks and we co not have Marching Band Circuits. UIL requires all Marching Contest Judges to Have received a minimum of 5 consecutive 1st Division Marching Ratings for their own Band before they can judge Marching Band contests. Also UIL Region contests have all three judges determing the Rating of Each Band in the Contests. Bands that receive 1st Division Ratings in Region advance to UIL Area Contest on 5 Dec with Bands in Class 2A, 4A & 6A advancing from Area to the Alamodome for SMC on 12 dec. 2020 . While Longview has an enviable record of 71 years of Superior Performance, they have another 14 years to go to pass Plainview HS which has 84 years of 1st Division Marching Awards until 2018 when they were awarded a
2nd Division Marching Award at their Marching Contest, and people in the Plains areas near Lubbock were sorry to see this record stop.
Deep in the Heart of Texas. Home of the III Mobile Armored Corps and the 1st Cavalry Division, serving America in Iraq

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