Moving right along (we’re going to pretend last week never happened, not because something horrible transpired but because something predictably mediocre transpired which is of no real interest to anyone in the VCA)…
6. Bid fetish
As the years go on, the bid-counting and the desire to attend tournaments that have bids exclusively has become absurd. There are a couple of problems:
First, only tournaments that have TOC bids are truly able to have their tournaments be effective fundraisers.
Second, students who do not travel or do not care about the TOC are seen as second-class debaters by the national circuit.
Third, tournaments that do have bids are able scale back on providing a good experience while at the same time raise their prices because the bids are seen as so valuable.
7. Local / National circuit bifurcation
Teams that are exclusively national circuit or that are exclusively local have made the gap between the two circuits wider than ever. We talk bad about each other and tell stories that embellish the problems with the “other.” To local circuit coaches and teams, the national circuit is ruining debate. To national circuit coaches and teams, the local circuit is backwards and lame.
I certainly respect the fact that some people will make choices about how they want their team to be. The problem arises when the justification for choosing which circuit on which you debate has to be because of something wrong with the other type. I don’t like that my students have to feel uncomfortable when we debate at home, and I feel bad that more local schools don’t attend our TOCqualifier.
I am a firm believer in the idea that all forensics, when seriously practiced, is educational. I am also a believer that seriously practiced does not begin and end with the accumulation of TOC bids. And since I’ve had a decent enough number of bids accumulated over the years, and decent experiences over the years down in Kentucky, anything I say negatively can not be ascribed to any sort of sour grapes. I’m all in favor of the TOC, when kept in perspective. The thing is, TOC is to general debate as speed metal is to general music. Speed metal is hard and complicated, but not necessarily better than any other kind of music and, in the scope of music in general, is just one small genre. Some people like speed metal, and some don’t. That it does require technical competence underlies its value to its proponents (as compared to, say, an awful lot of garage-band stuff that my cats could play in their sleep, and often do). To do it well you have to be a solidly good musician. But that doesn’t mean solidly good musicians must only do speed metal, or that there is no value in other music. Adherents of the genre (or the TOC) may make this claim, but anyone who is not an adherent can readily see that obsession for what it is.
I’ve discussed TOC obsession often in the past. I am sort of forgiving when it comes to students being obsessed with the TOC, insofar as they are young and inexperienced, but when coaches are TOC-obsessed, it’s another matter altogether. It is coaches who make decisions of where their teams participate. It is coaches who explain to their team why top debaters should appear at non-bid tournaments. It is coaches who are responsible for the life of the activity over the long term. The TOC is in no way, shape or form inherently interested in the life of the activity over the long term, as compared to, say, the NFL, which has forensic life over the long term as its mandate (in which it succeeds/fails in varying degrees). Many individuals involved in TOC are, of course, interested in that deeper aspect, but that is simply not why TOC exists. TOC celebrates entirely the competitive aspects of the activity. There is nothing wrong with this, but as Soddie used to say, competition is a means to the end and not the end itself. Feel free to pursue that end, young padawan, but it is the journey that is the real goal. (Soddie never said that last sentence, however, to my knowledge. It’s his successor who sees everything in terms of George Lucas.)
I wonder about what MB is saying about tournaments as a result of bid fever. I mean, I have run a quarters-bid tournament for years now. To be honest, I have tried to make it better every year. To be honest, I did have to raise prices a couple of years ago to cover custodial costs. And to be honest, it is a fund-raiser for me. But I don’t believe that possession of bids is inextricably linked to a declining experience. I work my own and a lot of other bid tournaments, and most of us actively work to improve each year (especially the colleges, under CP’s gentle persuasion). I’ll go back to what I said above. Since I also support a lot of non-bid tournaments (and run one entire non-bid league for younglings with O’C), I firmly believe it is up to the coaches to support these tournaments and to make sure their students see the value in attending. And it’s not hard to work these into a general schematic of participation for a team. My general sense is that the hardest thing for your average debater to be is a sophomore or a junior. At the varsity level, there’s an awful lot of people who are just more experienced, which counts for a lot. And bid tournaments attract people who are just more adept than the average yabbo. Non-bid tournaments around here tend to be broadly supported by second- and third-year students, making the fields lively, even ones, with a sprinkling of novices getting their heads handed to them as they dive in over their heads, and a sprinkling of strong seniors who keep the sophomores and juniors honest. These are excellent tournaments, with excellent experiences for the participants. Your team is too good to support your small regional tournaments? That’s great. The good news is, with that attitude, in a few years your activity will be dead, or at least dying. I mean, in the northeast policy is absolutely down to dying embers, and one big reason is people not supporting local events. (Including mine, so I speak to this with some authority, having abandoned policy after many years at my own tournament. Lack of policy bids made some regional teams decide I wasn’t worth it. Now I offer novice LD and sell out. What would you have done?) At the point where you prefer to spend a lot of money to travel really far to chase a bid, you create a situation in the future where you might have no choice, if you want to compete, but to spend a lot of money to travel really far just to debate, much less earn bids. Local tournaments are the activity’s lifeblood. Lose ‘em, and you may lose the activity. Again, it’s up to the coaches to keep that from happening. (Any coach who thinks I’ve got it wrong should follow the policy coaches’ discussion on NDCA’s listserver.)
This is a great subject. I’ll continue next time. By the way, it’s total accident that I happen to be addressing this after TOC weekend. Really. I look forward to revisiting Kentucky some time in the very near future, and I know I will enjoy the experience as I always do. I am, in other words, a fan of speed metal. But I am also a fan of pretty much every other music (except some of the stuff Bietz likes). I think that all coaches need to be fans of every other music. One note just ain’t enough.
More tomorrow.
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