Glenbrooks, recently

I have a love-hate relationship with the largest speech and debate tournament in the country.

I love it because the Glenbrooks is such a great competitive opportunity that is so close to Wisconsin. I hate it because by being so large it often attracts members of the debate community who probably should not be in the division that they are – or at least judging wise. (e.g. Stocks judges in varsity policy)

I love it because we can get some of the best LD critics in the country without having to travel more than two hours. I hate it because I never get used more than a round because I’m not a well known coach/individual. This either means that I’m struck a lot (either out of perceived – or perhaps real – incompetence; or that the tab room does not designate me as acceptable enough to deal with important rounds).

I love it because I get to see people from the National Circuit that I rarely get a chance to see. I hate it because I never get a chance to hang out with them there.

I could go on, but I think that gets the point across.

Google Battle

Use Google to determine which of two terms is more popular on the Internet. Who is the more popular painter, Van Gogh or Rembrandt? The Beatles or the Stones?

I used Google battle to determine that Wisconsin is the most popular school in the Big Ten.

Google battle result:
wisconsin : 298
michigan : 249

Google battle result:
wisconsin : 294
minnesota : 231

Google battle result:
wisconsin : 208
ohio state : 104

Play around with Google Battle for yourself here

The Great 14 States…. that I visted

create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks.

All I Want For Christmas is…

For College Football to play out like this:

Notre Dame to beat USC on Saturday.
Florida to beat Arkansas in the SEC title game
West Virginia to take the Big East title
Nebraska to take the Big 12 Championship

because that would likely setup the following BCS Bowls:

National Championship: Michigan v. Ohio State
Sugar: Flordia v. Notre Dame
Rose: Wisconsin v. USC
Fiesta: Nebraska v. Boise State
Orange: West Virginia v. Geogria Tech

And then I’d get to go to the Rose Bowl. However, this is unlikely – because its an explicit violation of BCS selection procedures (we can’t have three teams from the Big Ten). There is some possibility though that if the above situation happens, the Badgers can end up as either a 4# or #5 – which would force the NCAA to determine which rule matters most (4 – Auto Qual) or no three teams. WhileHence the blog to Santa. Come on Santa… I’ve been a good boy all year, can the Badgers be in the Rose Bowl by some miracle? Pretty, pretty please?

Because probably only Santa can deliver, the rest of you are still going to have to supply presents elsewhere. Might I suggest plane tickets to Orlando?

The End

I just finished directing my first debate tournament and let me tell you – directing an entire tourament is way more work than helping tab. I am very glad its over, and I don’t think that I’ll do it again. I simply don’t have a team, coaching staff, or an alumni base large enough to ensure a smooth tournament operation. As a result, I’m doing things like copying ballots – making it harder for me to resolve big issues and hoping that the people that I rely on for help are doing things the way I want them to be done. Thankfully – there are some really helpful, generous, and smart coaches around the state who did help and did things “my way” most of the time.

I think too that this is the beginning of the end of my involvement in debate. At the end of the tournament on Saturday I noticed that I am not having as much fun as I did when I worked with Memorial – which makes it harder to justify spending a significant amount of time doing this activity, especially now that I have less time to devote to non-school related activities. Specifically – my best PF team doesn’t care about winning and my best policy team doesn’t care to come talk to me about anything. This makes me want to stop participating in the activity. I come from a long distance to help these kids, and they don’t want any help. Part of the fun of being a coach is helping kids make blocks and arguments. Neither things can occur if kids don’t come to me or want to win.