Ivy

UPenn is coming up this weekend. So far the weather forecast looks good. Still, I’m bringing a shovel, just in case.

The week began with a few last minute drops from the Sailors. No, you can’t go to a university tournament and stay overnight with just one piece. That’s a team rule, not because they’re expected to win multiple divisions, but the university experience is not for the feint of heart. They’ve got to put some work in. One Dec speech, however masterfully presented, is not enough. But they’re novices. They’ll learn. And of course I lost my debaters somewhere back there, because when you’ve only got a couple of teams, they’re easy to lose. At one point, I had even thought we would be needing a big bus. So much for that.

Still, we have a solid entry of Speecho-Americans. And I’ll be where I can do the most harm, in the backroom tabbing LD. I’ve already begun arguing with CP about the number of rankings, 4 vs 5. With a smaller pool, I prefer the former, for more mutuality. He’s agnostic about actual numbers and wants more choice, with a mathematician’s view of percentages being percentages. His lower 1s are, in his mind, actually 2s in the 4-tiered arrangement, and he feels that isn’t right. But do we end up with less mutuality because the numbers are too small to find matches? Maybe not. In any case, I’ll do what I’m being paid (?) to do, since he’s the tournament director and gets to make the call. And I won’t say a word. Except to blog about it. And, if things go wrong, to whine about it during the entire tournament. And maybe tweet a couple of times or thirty. But otherwise I’ll keep it to myself.

We also have the odd Speecho-American going to Harvard. And boy, is he odd! (Just kidding. Jeesh.) I can’t believe how expensive that is. $50 administration fee? For what? I’m the one who wore his fingers to the bone entering him into JOT. What exactly was administered? Oh, well, complaining about the cost of Harvard is a mug’s game, because people will go even if they get stopped at the door and turned upside down to shake out every last penny. That’s why we picked this weekend for UPenn, back in the day. Which seems to be working out well, overall. A very nice field in PF, which they’ve pushed hard and gotten a solid TOC bid out of, for one thing. And growing numbers everywhere else, it seems. Let’s face it. We run efficiently, it’s a nice layout with a good launching area, and it’s over on Sunday. That’s a good deal. And no administrative fees. The entire entry costs exactly the same as the single kid at Harvard. Makes you wonder…