I mentioned yesterday that the Monticello tournament has
been cancelled. I was thinking about it, and as I recall it, I’ve been going to
this one without a break for over 20 years. When I first starting judging, when
my daughter was a novice (complaining that I dressed too weird to sit in the
back of the room), Monti had a semis bid, and lots of divisions, including in
LD JV and Varsity. They were big divisions, and over the years my team did very
well in them. One year I went, and the person who was going to tab the thing
couldn’t make it. Rose J-T saw me in the auditorium and asked if I wouldn’t
mind, making this one of the earliest tab jobs I had. It became a regular
business, that I would handle their pairings. Plus for a while we held a one-day tournament there every year under
the auspices of the Mid-Hudson League. Districts were there once or twice too. So
I’ve always had a lot of Monticello in my schedule.
There is a decent hotel near the race track, but early on I always
stayed at the downtown EconoLodge. My favorite memory of the place was one
night there was some sort of violent disturbance, and the main desk called my
room to ask me to go find out what was happening and report back to them. This,
of course, was the last time I stayed at said EconoLodge.
Monti got its TOC bids stripped away because of politics on
the board, and not for anything having to do with the quality of the
tournament. Back then, politics on the board were vicious, mendacious and
positively putrid. I was on the board for a while, and the whole experience
left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Overall, as I’ve written over the years,
while there are some positive aspects to the TOC, its influence overall in
debate has not been positive. But that’s another story. The point is, without
its bids, Monti slowly lost business. Granted, it is off the beaten path, but
you get on a bus and there you are, which is true of virtually all the
tournaments anyone around here goes to. The bid-only mindset is what really
killed it. Honestly, it’s been hanging by a thread for years. It’s no surprise
that the thread finally snapped.
I look at my calendar nowadays and, unlike a decade ago, I
do not see a regional tournament there every weekend. Our once vibrant area is
not what it used to be. I understand that there is ebb and flow, but it’s not
like the debaters aren’t there. But leadership of those debaters is not what it
used to be. The Mid-Hudson League, for example, was run by the various coaches
in the region, all of them in the tab room filling out index cards. I sort of
got the impression that they weren’t necessarily all terribly fond of one
another, but they got the job done of providing rounds to all their students.
Today? Rounds are a lot rarer. Which means people have to travel a lot further.
Which means that money is tighter. None of which is a good thing.
Anyhow, RIP Monticello. Rose J-T will try to salvage
something, perhaps on another weekend, and I hope she’s successful. I mean,
well, second favorite memory: One year, we were done with the tournament and
decided to eat before leaving town. We went to the local Chinese restaurant.
The special of the day was corned beef and cabbage.
‘Nuff said.
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