A Nice Flight with a Rough Landing

Yesterday was a pretty band day by most accounts except for the end result. The weather was great and we all looked great too. We even had hot dogs before we left. But something I feared from the beginning with our new innovative show was that it may just go over some of the judges heads and last night it did just that. South Carolina is just not a place where new ideas and innovation often go rewarded. Things just chug along as they have for many, many years for the most part. The band's placement, 3rd in the top class, was not nearly as disappointing to me as was the score. It was an 82. 423. The band that won the show scored over a 90 and that is great for them. I guess my confusion comes from that fact that just a week ago we were second to that same group by only 1.3 points. I guess we got 8 points worse this week. Of course we didn't. We were actually better this week in many aspects. It is just time to perfect the show and quit accepting mediocrity especially at rehearsals. The show is on the field and now is the time to find something else inside to take it to the next level. And yes, I do pick the show so the ultimate responsibility for the show being criticized or praised lays on myself. But I know I just can't do the status quo and hope we win. I chose to go for it time and time again and in the end my bands may not always win but I will guarantee you this...THEY ARE ALWAYS REMEMBERED! Perhaps one day I will just buy my shows out of a catalog and take a break and make it much easier. Perhaps one day I won't wear a suit to contests any more either. But then how would you tell my band from the others. If everybody wore white T-shirts and shorts, you could still always know who was directed by Jon Brady. As the title of this post state, nothing ruins a nice flight like a bad landing.