The season continues, beaten down but not bowed

So now we settle down into sorting things out.

O’C and Stefan had a long correspondence about the combining of Lakeland and the MHL Grand Championships, most of which sort of flew by me. Mostly Lakeland will be Lakeland, with some MHL froufrou. It’s going to be fun to have a summary two-day event to mark the end of the season, even though from Stefan’s point of view, a summary two-day event to mark the end of February would have been more desirable. I know what it’s like to cancel a tournament. At least he did so for the storm of the century. Canceling a tournament and then having a couple of cumulus clouds over the horizon be the only sign of weather is very, very depressing. I remember the year I canceled Bump, on a Thursday. That Friday I woke up to over a foot of snow in my driveway. I couldn’t even make it to my car. I fell into a snowdrift and had to be rescued by the local sanitation department. I was overjoyed. I’m sure Stefan felt likewise, although as far as I know, he didn’t have to be rescued by anyone.

This weekend is CFL Grands, which around here is very tough. Six LD slots for about twelve excellent LDers. It’s quite a bloodbath. If there’s over twenty entries, which looks likely, JV and I need to assign 3 judges per panel. Very tough. I, for one, am praying for a field of 19. Please join me in that prayer. Last year, with only 2 judges per panel, we single-flighted and finished even before the Declaimers. It was like waking up to a foot of snow after you’ve canceled your tournament!

Speaking of the CFL, this week the officers get together to celebrate the end of the season with a nice farewell dinner. Farewell, 2009-10! Or at least farewell to the Catholics of 2009-10! Since I can’t do Omaha, this really will be my last Catholic weekend for a while. Any Sailors who qualify realize that they will be CatNatting without me. None of them seem too upset by the prospect. They’re so eager to go to Omaha at any cost that they’ll do anything, even abandon me in a snowdrift until the sanitation department comes along and rescues me. No offense to Omaha, by the way. If Omaha didn’t exist, I would be among the first to invent it. May you ever rule the waves!

After that, there’s Byram Hills, then my probably abridged attendance at Districts thanks to jury nullification duty. So, stuff keeps happening, at least up through the send-off at Lakeland. Life goes on, in other words, while preparing for the Great American Disney Hoo-Ha. I mean, it is all about the Disney Hoo-Ha. Everything else is just…debate.