The unreport

I see that Jules has posted E3 over at Nostrum Nation. I also see that he was up at Harvard over the weekend. As the VCA knows, I was down at the unharvard (after an unusually extended bus trip, which I reported on yesterday). I prefer my location, to tell you the truth. Anyhow, here's how it played out.

First of all, for reasons that elude me, we lost some people due to a snowstorm that was over about 4 days before the tournament started, but I couldn’t do much about that. My theory is that if Monticello can make it to the tournament, anyone can make it to the tournament. I mean, the only reason the Montwegians don’t normally have classes on the 4th of July is because the school is closed because of snow, so if they can show up on Presidents’ weekend, so can you.

Central staging for the tournament was at a student center, so there were comfy chairs and wireless and many restaurants (I recommend the creperie and the assemble-your-own-pasta). Because of the generous number of good judges the Uns had hired, we were able to single flight all the debate rounds, which does make for easy going for those judges. And because we had the time to do it, we had generous breaks, especially in the novice division (which I believe, theoretically, should always have the most generous breaks possible). Of course, the much publicized cheese steaks (or, in some cases, cheeseless steaks) had a major flaw, viz., lack of greasy onions, but this did not stop me from devouring one in about two minutes flat. Next year I’ll bring my own greasy onions; I’m sure I’ve got some lying around somewhere.

For Saturday I wore my Disneyland shirt to get CP in the mood for WDW (I so want to see him upside down on the Aerosmith coaster to the sounds of “Walk This Way”). The Sailors had a full contingent of Speecho-Americans and debaters, and SuperSquirrel managed to win her division (not bad), while the young S-As got their first taste of university performing. One thing I noticed is that we have managed to collect a couple of students whose mouths are set on the Endless mode; I am not one for listening to anyone’s endless monologue, not even when the monologist is one of my own students. The more you say, the less likely I will listen to you, and vice versa. Good rule for life, by the way. You should take it to heart even if you don’t wear a sailor suit.

Anyhow, this was my first Unharvard in more than a decade, and I have no recourse but to point out that the last time we were there we also won it. Which is not the reason I will return next year, however. What I like about it is that it is a sane tournament, nicely run by the Uns (Ali H is a marvel), reasonably priced with the proceeds supporting urban debate, with good judging. My guess is that people will sooner or later realize that, even with the best physical operation possible, breaking a minority of the down-twos is not the best situation for most debaters. Nor is spending as much money as you can the best situation for most schools. Oh well, suit yourself. I know where I’ll be.