In which the teeming masses come out in the proverbial bazillions

Holy cannoli! It was a busy Saturday, wasn’t it?

Let’s go in order. Byram Hills, with its combination varsity prep and Academy divisions, is a little short of 200. Looking at the entrants, this seems pretty solid to me, which means we’ll kick off locally with a nice little bang. I guess Benk knew what he was doing. Or maybe, following JV's lead, he just didn’t want to play footsies with the February weather. Can't blame him for that.

Yale looks as if they were offering Black Friday sales. I know it’s a popular tournament, but nearly 2000 entries popular? Amazing. I’ve watched the Pups go from absolute zero back in the 90s to one of the best and most popular in the business. Some of this might accrue to people wanting to visit an Ivy on the school dime, but the number of repeat schools demonstrates the real draw: a well run tournament year after year. And certainly one of my favorites. And now that JV and I know that a certain restaurant has opened a new branch there, right near the campus… Oh, yeah!

And finally Big Bronx. I can’t say that, deep down, I wasn’t worried. We so associate tournaments with their directors, and for that matter, we associate programs with their directors, because we see so often that when a director moves on, the program expires. But I’ve been working with the Bronx since April, and they’ve insisted that forensics is a priority for the school, and that they will carry on with firm resolve. And I’ve been trying to get that message out to people. But in the event, would people commit? Would the Usual Suspects believe that the resolve was there, and that a good tournament could be had? Lord knows that, once upon a time, the Usual Ss had abandoned Bronx in droves, requiring years of rebuilding. Would it happen again? No. Early numbers, over 1200, are bigger than ever. Any of us who thought we might have an unexpected weekend off can start thinking otherwise. The game is on!

So now we’re starting to comb through, looking for shenanigans and, in some cases, henanigans. Next weekend or so we’ll start clearing the decks, which means that, as promised, people who didn’t sign up in the first minute will still get access. I mean, debate isn’t a horse race. It’s not who gets there first who wins. It’s who bribes the most judges. 

It’s who wears the sharpest outfit. 

It’s who slips the guy in the tabroom a couple of tickets to The Book of Mormon.

You know what I mean.