In which we get ever closer to the new season

I’m sort of getting pants ants in anticipation of a tournament this weekend. It’s been ages.

Management of Byram Hills has been minimal. Benk is doing fine on his end, and all I’ve had to do is look every now and then to see that we weren’t attacked by drops. We did lose some PF academicians, but tossed in a couple of BHers to replace them, so while that division will be small, it will run. The rest look quite adequate. Benk’s idea to hold a RR in the morning seems to have been a good one. As a matter of fact, his belief that varsity divisions could hold their own is also proving out. Anyhow, he still has to pod up the RR, and then we can do the pairings. He’ll be in situ on his own for this, but RRs are the proverbial piece of cake, assuming everyone shows up to judge as they’re supposed to. Mostly one uses RRs to sit around planning dinners for the rest of a tournament.

I also won’t be going to the Bronx RRs, for that matter. Again, it can all be set up long distance, so why bother? And for all I know, there will be someone there capable of sticking a thumb in if the dam breaks. The Bronxwegian folks been handling the RR details all on their own. And most details, for that matter, which is as it should be. I’ve just been driving tabroom. Works for me!

I heard from McLean over the weekend, telling me he’s planning a WDW trip. I was full of advice, of course. As a strong proponent of touringplans.com and the Unofficial Guide, that is always my first suggestion. Then it was recommending a few must-sees. M is something of a Disney cynic, which is not unusual. For his first time (and maybe his last) I recommend the proverbial open mind. If you go in hoping for the best, it’ll be pretty good. I’ve seen plenty of people get converted over the years. If you go in looking to hate the place, you might still get converted, but it’s not as likely. It’s easy to get lost in problems, if you want to, chief among these being long lines. Hence touringplans.com. As a matter of fact, our Disney travel agency throws in a subscription for free. Good idea. If you are planning your own DisAd, let me know. The very very first thing I’d do is point you to that travel agency. You can’t plan a Disney trip too far in advance. Hell, I’ve already got my April couple of research days all figured out to within an inch of their lives. Planning is half the fun. Just like with debate tournaments. Except with WDW, when you get there, you get the other half of the fun, while with debate tournaments, when you get there, you wonder why you haven’t taken up pottery instead.