Debate update

A fair and unbias look at the 2006 S.N.O.W Debate Tournament from fair and unbias debater...


First - our record. We finished the initial rounds with a 4 & 2 record. Which was just good enough to make the playoffs. We should have been 5 & 1 though... how do I say this nice... the judges only have thirty minutes of instruction... and that’s really not long enough...

Anyways, as I was saying, we made the playoffs (8 out of 25 teams with the best records advance) and immediately faced the number one seed (top ranked team) in our first debate. We won. Now we would face (the next afternoon) one of the three teams still surviving… A showdown waited…

Next morning: 9: 35 AM. We arrive at the debate site. It’s about 38 degrees and partly sunny – however – the cool New Hampshire winter air reek’s the smells of death and disputation. I don’t know if that’s a good omen… but then again, you never know I guess…

Bad sign #1. Debate partner faints. One minute he’s leaning up against a cabinet watching a speech duo – and the next (insert “THUD!!”) he’s laying on his back with his feet up in the air. Quite literately I immediately see our chances of winning decrease by a substantial margin. “Aidan! " I whispered (must I add quietly?). "What happened?"

Aidan who was still lying on the floor with his feet still protruding up into the atmosphere like the late twin towers – looks at me and says – “what, what?”

“WHAT!?” I feel like shouting but I refrain… “What? This is no “what” this is the final four! The ceawmose! The fight for the last bag of jellybeans!”

He looks back blankly

Bad sign #2. I get stuck timing for impromptu. Ok… this is bad. I walk into a room to watch one speech – and I stay for the next hour… And just so you’ll know and understand. Impromptu speech’s are among the mind-numbing, ear-wrenching, gut- well… you get the point.

Heap Big Bad sign #3. Intelligence is indicating that the team we’re scheduled to debate is doing the same plan as us – with a twist… What’s the twist? (you may ask…) Well… That’s the question! What!?!

Bad sign #4. It’s time to debate - and Aidan can’t talk because he's feeling deathly sick. This problem though is minor compared to the fact though that the color of the carpet is a revolting baby blue!

We lost. It was a close match but they (the opposing Negative team) managed to stay on the offensive throughout most of the round while we spent too much time having to rebut their points. The team that beat us went on to win first place overall, so it’s not like this is a lost debate to commit harri karia over. And in the end – it didn’t really too (too) much. We finished number 4 (technically #3) And there’s no big advantage to winning #1 –(we already qualified for semi finals by finishing in the final 8 ) except everyone gets to hear your plan – and then goes home and get's evidence against it… Of which crime, I must plead guilty.

Next time….

{A Debate Guru Meditating on his 1AC}