Well, that caused a bit of a stir. I don’t think the conflict/strike document will catch much flak, as there isn’t anything about it that’s really controversial. But the suggestion that judges (and competitors) need to be reined in has raised some dust. I’m still working my way through the aftermath, and I’ll report on it here. What I’d like to have is some sort of code of behavior that won’t restrict open discussion from the judges, but will set at least some general boundaries of what is and isn’t expected of them. Between that and MJP, which I’m getting back to in order to sum it up and have done with it, I should end up with a little packet of my own for tournaments, on preffing and conflicts and the like. And, heaven forbid, also a rather genuine vade mecum for tabroom. (I’ll wait while you look up vade mecum.) I’m quickly moving away from the original website to a printable document; maybe I’ll have something ready by the end of next week. Going beyond just that little packet, if you add the tabroom guide and maybe one or two other things I’ve written in the past, you do end up with a tidy little guide to tournament management. I’ll probably end up publishing it at some point, just to have it all in one place. Much like the Ultimate version of Nostrum. If one has legacies, one should make them accessible.
So much bile, so little time.
Last Saturday was the MHL Blowout, the final event of the MHL season, which started back in September with our opening one-day workshop (another one of my legacies—no, I’m not going anywhere, but I’m in the mood to take credit for some stuff today, probably because I'm tired of winter, which may be a non sequitor but at least it’s my non sequitor, so you can deal with it or go read someone else’s blog). We do some fun things at the Blowout, tinkering with the rounds with so-called superpowers drawn from a hat (or in this case at Bronx Science, drawn from leftover Harvard tournament trophies), and for round 3, introducing new topics. We announced them, then gave everyone 30 minutes to research them. They were: LD: Throwing Justin Bieber off a bridge is morally justified; PF: The Disney Corporation should eliminate its Princess promotions for the sake of gender equality; and Policy: Given a machine that perfectly diagnoses mental illness, the US should require all citizens to be tested with it. I got that last one from a parli tournament motion. The second was an obvious (to me) twist on the March PF rez, and as for the first one, well, I realize that there may not be a valid neg position, but so it goes. We also give out awards to all the novices as a reward for sticking with it all year. Each award is named by their own team, related to some quirk or another of the individual, and I read them off with whatever drama I am able to sum up extemporaneously. I’m happy to report that this year none of them were negative (“Ass-hat of the year,” for instance), nor so pornographic that I am in fear as I announce it of being arrested for child abuse.
And so off we go into Lakeland this weekend, the last invitational. Then there’s the CFL qualifier and then State and NDCA. I would like CatNats to come after that, but that depends on the Sailors. Of course, at the moment, with or without March looming, it still feels like the middle of winter. It’s not even Mardi Gras yet.
Feh!
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