Debate: Another two bite the dust

There is real agony in canceling a debate tournament. So much aggravation goes into making it happen, in corralling judges and lining up concessions, in making the event attractive enough that people will sign up, sometimes in setting up housing and meals. Even a little one-dayer like an MHL has its angst, although that doesn’t compare with an invitational.

So falls the first (well, O’C is probably calling it the 7th or something, or more likely the VIIth) Vassar tournament. It’s tough enough to have carved out this weekend and got everything set up both on campus and at a nearby school for the MHL, and then to have to stop. I feel for everyone involved, especially Alex and the People’s Champion, the students doing all the work. But, they had no choice. And there’s always next year. Both the invitational and the MHL are Sandy casualties.

The thing is, NYC is pretty much out of commission this week, as are most of the other schools in the region. Everything is simply shut down. Making arrangements for buses is hard enough when you have roads, much less when you’re wondering if you can even make it. Mass transportation remains spotty. On my drive to the DJ I see occasional lights, but at least half of my county seems to be in the dark, and I have yet to venture onto any of the less traveled roads. At least I can come in and charge up and catch up on the world a little bit, but at home we have candles and a stove and hot water, but that’s it, yet that’s more than a lot of people. There is still a question if things everywhere will be back to normal by next week. I’ve already got the willies thinking about Bump, and have adjusted the registration cutoff accordingly. I’m betting that it will happen, but I’m not betting a lot. I just don’t know. It’s as simple as that. The school play would have been this weekend, so we might be sharing the venue—the mind quakes. I just talked to the trophy guy and told him to soldier on. Worst case scenario, we’re ready real early next year.

On the other end of this, I had my young ‘uns ready to debate Saturday, one of them for the first time. Since they’re middle schoolers, they can’t participate everywhere, so missing an outing is painful. Obviously we didn’t meet this week, so that’s also a bummer.

Oy.