New Blogger worse than Old Blogger. Just like New Coke. Feh!

I can’t for the life of me figure out why the posts here, which I write willy-nilly but like to post at 7:30 pm, and therefore schedule for that time, are not being posted automatically, while the Grinwout’s posts, which I set for automatic publication at roughly three-hour intervals during the day, roll out without a hitch. (And yes, I know that the previous sentence would get me in trouble with a lot of present-day English teachers who think that commas are the tool of the devil, but I maintain that each one is in its proper place and that the sentence parses perfectly.) Maybe Google just likes Grinwout’s more than CL. Could be. I guess for the time being I’ll just post the damned things as I write them. There’s no real reason not to.

Speaking of Grinwout’s, if you’re reading this in Lexington because you’re bored because they couldn’t find a round in which you were even remotely preferred, go read that instead. It’ll hold you for a while.

You might have noticed in the comments that the uninymous Glenn explained that in his region, there is little or no difference between the speech and debate experiences. I think that this is widely true. Or at least in many regions, work is done to minimize the differences. I know there are regions where students debate one half of the year and speechify the other half of the year, and the tournaments are designed to make that a reality. I remember talking with a displaced Texan (I think it was a Texan) who said that at his local debate tournaments they worked in extemp somehow, an all-in-one one-day affair, and I really liked that but it would be hard to do the same here. We kicked it around, however, for a possible MHL event some day. I bemoan the lack of a need for debate students, at least LDers, to know what’s going on in the world. If they do, it’s a lagniappe. Even PF only requires that you know about the topic at hand, but at least a little preparedness doesn’t hurt, so that when the new topic is released you are not totally clueless. One of the things I’m working into my new curriculum is not a recommended program for keeping up with the news but a mandate. Anyhow, the idea that one could go to a tournament and do both a debate activity and extemp on the same day is mighty appealing to me. The students might not embrace it so gleefully, however. Or the judges, for that matter. Oh, well. What's the Coachean Life if it isn't full of dreams?