Post #MD

1500 blog entries? The mind boggles. Hell, the mind bloggles. That’s over five years’ worth, going back to July of 2004.

What a colossal waste of typing.

While I’ve been in the debate business for a lot longer than that, the years covered by CL have been pretty interesting on their. LD, my main business, has changed quite a bit. It has definitely moved into tougher, more complex ground at its most competitive levels, but it has held its own as open to lay audiences at regional and younger levels. Its numbers remain strong. The clarion call that X is the end of LD life as we know it has been shouted from the rooftops a number of times, but LD goes on. What a lot of people seem to forget is that most people in the activity are not at its most competitive levels because, well, they go to school once in a while and that sort of takes up a bit of their time. The VCA well knows that I love the casual and learning debater every bit as much as I like the $ircuit monster, if not more, and I’m happy that newbies keep coming in the region, and that I’ve done my bit to provide events for them. I absolutely feel that I’ve been instrumental in opening many novice events in the region, while helping create events for second-years that won’t send them into a state of permanent depression. That’s good stuff. Still, there is some trickle-down from the $ircuitous competitive arena, and it would be disingenuous of me to ignore it. We now post round results immediately, as well as elim brackets. A case without decent evidence is like a bicycle without a fish. People now know a lot more about what happens in tab rooms and how it affects them. People know what some of the influential folks in the activity are thinking, and have access to them and help participate in decisions. Schisms remain where they probably ought not be, but perhaps that is human nature more than debate nature. Maybe some changes have been dubious in nature, but as I say, none of them have brought down the house, and it’s been fun documenting them here and commenting on them.

This would be a great moment for me to announce that I’m quitting blogging, or quitting coaching, or quitting podcasting, or quitting tabbing, or quitting something, please, put us out of our misery. But, alas, none of that is going to happen. I now have all of three new debate Sailors as I get close to passing the Speechonauts to a new coach (while keeping my hand in marginally, just for the fun of it). These noobs strike me as an especially promising bunch, and I can’t wait to see how they do. I have tab room commitments through till kingdom come that I look forward to fulfilling them because I have both a lot of fun running tab rooms and a good head for it. (Interested in joining one of them? The door is usually open. Come on by if you want to learn, especially at MHLs where we could use an extra hand—provided you’ve got an extra judge, which we usually need more). I haven’t tortured O’C half enough yet, and that “Rude” tag is always just waiting. And there’s always something going on that I feel I’d like to write about, and write about it I will.

So, I’m sorry for having inflicted 1500 blog posts on you, but it ain’t over till it’s over. And it’s not as if any of you spalpeens pay for it or anything. Not once has anyone put a dollar in an envelope and sent it to my email. I may be willing to do it without getting paid for it, but if you want me to stop, they you are going to have to pay me. A lot. That’s just the way it is.

Ciao!