Monday, August 31, 2015

In which the down is being counted

It’s time for a lot of people to fish or get off the pot. I have now cleared what I could of the debate judge requests at the Pups. We did quite well in VLD and PF, but that’s about it. Late requesters will be looking at empty space. JV LD, on the other hand, is a sad picture. Lots of requests, not lots of judges. The good news is that this is one area (speech is the other) where we should get a lot more from the school itself. But at some point, hireds are a benefit, but not a right. We try, but the best diversity at a tournament usually comes from the entrants themselves. Anyhow, marching orders will be going forward from the official sources to start moving. After all, the tournament is in little more than two weeks. Which is rough for schools that haven’t even started yet (which is most of those around here), but hey, life isn’t fair. Get on it.

Meanwhile, at Byram Hills, there’s debaters a’ plenty, but almost a total zippitude of judging. There will be some hires available, of course, but seriously now, high schools can’t deliver judges the way colleges can, and even colleges can’t, as much as they’d like. Something’s gotta give. If you’re a big program, you need to kick your resources into gear and make them happen. This is true for high school and college tournaments both. It’s one thing for a program travelling a couple of thousand miles to request a judge, but when you’re walking to the tournament? Bring your own, please.


And all’s been quiet on the Bronxian front. Too soon to worry about hires there, although they know they need to be working on it on the back end. I just keep asking them to re-count the rooms. I know they claim to have discovered an extra attic floor with the proverbial slew, not to mention the private dining clubs (or something like that) in the basement, but I still find it hard to believe that all that space has been hidden so long from previous management. Even Soddie never knew about them! Amazing.

No comments: