North Valley

[the_momo]

I figured I might as well give a brief run down of the tournament.

Novice USX which sucks so much I pratically hated it. I went 1,1,4. Yeah which of course means that I am still in novice IE however I am making Foster push me up into senior or I am just flat out not doing extemp again. Either way I lose. I either am expected to win and I do or

Comments

glad you did well

[ddrbpc]

Great jobs in prelims. However i disagree about their decision being illegit. Ive been judge stacked many times, hell districts was judge stacked in my final round. It is never fun debating for a judge who is an ex competitor of yours who happens to dislike you to the fullest. Can't let it stop you though, you must push through. If they didnt like your analysis that is your problem, not theirs. At an invitational last year i argued non normative vs normative, they didnt accept the argument and therefore i lose. Doesnt matter how brilliant my argument was or if it was in fact stupid, if they dont like it they dont have to accept it as a judge. Doesnt matter if it IS warrented and your opponent doesnt touch it. Yes, judges should intervene with opinion but such expectations are surely whimsical at best because in the real world people are biased all the time even if they dont want to be or even if they dont realize they are being so. They judge the round on their criteria even if it is not spoken criteria. They dont have to conform to national standerds nor should they. As far as the whole signing ballot thing before the last speach, I hate that as well, but only cause its kinda a pet peeve. Your job in your final speach is too crystal, and in doing so there are no new reasons for them to vote for you, thus their mind is made up. If you do say something that changes their mind the invention called the eraser can work wonders...and since its obviously a pen decision i guess that would make the technique of scratching out even more important. Again, great job at the tournament and I wish you luck in your future comps.