State Quals: Public Forum
First, a little backstory.
The first debate tourney, I did Parlimentary with Christine. It was an absolute debacle. The first words I said to her the monday after were "I'm sorry, but I'm not working with you again." I then took Justin as my partner, switched to Public Forum, and we went with... well, not the best track record. But we had fun at least. Then, however, Justin dropped Debate a month before State Qualifiers, so I was in the market for a new partner. The only person qualified for Debate who didn't already hate me (because let's face it, I'm not the most popular guy on the team) was Christine, so it looked like I was going to have to break my vow. Then after IE Qualifiers, we were informed that if we win just one round at Debate Quals, I would make my next Degree and give us an extra two entries for Nationals. Given my track record with Justin, I was a bit doubtful I could do it, but decided to go ahead with it.
We went undefeated. We took 2nd place by the most minute margin through the seeding.
Round 1: Mostly a definitions battle. Our opponents didn't like our definitions and kept challenging them, but ours apparently won.
Round 2: Our opponents didn't even define anything. That, and they were really rude which loses points with the judges.
Round 3: Our opponents didn't even challenge our definitions, which voided half of their case.
Round 4: We were able to spin our opponent's case in our favor.
Round 5: A serious uphill battle. Our opponents kept on twisting our words and such, but the judges apparently saw through them.
Honestly, changing back to Christine made all the difference. We just worked a lot better together as a team than me and Justin did. That, and she was a lot less arrogant with me this time around (no more of that "Just say whatever I tell you to!" crap anymore). Apparently the combination of my friendly demeanor and her aggressive one worked really well for the judges.
What does this all mean? Don't make any plans to see me from April 20-23, because I will be in Fullerton for State Championships, biatch!
The first debate tourney, I did Parlimentary with Christine. It was an absolute debacle. The first words I said to her the monday after were "I'm sorry, but I'm not working with you again." I then took Justin as my partner, switched to Public Forum, and we went with... well, not the best track record. But we had fun at least. Then, however, Justin dropped Debate a month before State Qualifiers, so I was in the market for a new partner. The only person qualified for Debate who didn't already hate me (because let's face it, I'm not the most popular guy on the team) was Christine, so it looked like I was going to have to break my vow. Then after IE Qualifiers, we were informed that if we win just one round at Debate Quals, I would make my next Degree and give us an extra two entries for Nationals. Given my track record with Justin, I was a bit doubtful I could do it, but decided to go ahead with it.
We went undefeated. We took 2nd place by the most minute margin through the seeding.
Round 1: Mostly a definitions battle. Our opponents didn't like our definitions and kept challenging them, but ours apparently won.
Round 2: Our opponents didn't even define anything. That, and they were really rude which loses points with the judges.
Round 3: Our opponents didn't even challenge our definitions, which voided half of their case.
Round 4: We were able to spin our opponent's case in our favor.
Round 5: A serious uphill battle. Our opponents kept on twisting our words and such, but the judges apparently saw through them.
Honestly, changing back to Christine made all the difference. We just worked a lot better together as a team than me and Justin did. That, and she was a lot less arrogant with me this time around (no more of that "Just say whatever I tell you to!" crap anymore). Apparently the combination of my friendly demeanor and her aggressive one worked really well for the judges.
What does this all mean? Don't make any plans to see me from April 20-23, because I will be in Fullerton for State Championships, biatch!