To the debaters...

...who are being snarky on the forum...

Really, you know who you are and if you haven't looked- -- go take a peak -- I'll be here when you get back...



OK... no, you've seen how hubby and I are ruining debate. How the end of free speech and all that is good and smiley will end as a result of hubby and I helping to run one national tournament.

come on folks. Get a grip.

I want to know where you were 8 or 9 years ago?? In middle school or something, right??

I was part of a group that formed to discuss having a national tournament that included a qualification process. Hubby wrote the f-ing rules that started the whole damm thing. It was all his idea. Ask your coach -- he was in the forming group as well (but other circumstances may have impaired his memory).

In fact, the original board was democratically elected -- from people who cared enough about this activity to want to have a qualification based national tournament. Hubby and I are the only remaining board members who WERE ELECTED. We appointed the others and everyone in between.

I want to know where you were 7 years ago at the first tournament? I was paying my own way to Walla Walla to help out... or the next year when we drove ourselves out and paid our own expenses because NPTE was too poor to do so.

I want to know where you were in 2005? If you were at the tournament at all, you were outside the room where we were trying to determine how to interpret an ambiguously worded rule. We argued about it for quite a while, but we came to an agreement. Any of the 5 alternative interpretations would have been seen by an outsider like a 'rule change' (unless, of course we went with your own interpretation... ). It was far from any kind of clandestine secret meeting intended to screw over some debater or another... Really, if you want bad decisions and unethical behavior, look at some other national tournament I won't name ('cuz I'm not like that AND some of their f-ups are public knowledge too).

I want to know where you were during the last few business meetings of the already democratic debate championships? I know you weren't in the meeting working to make a better organization -- no, that would have interrupted your drinking time. I've been at most of them. Ask around about how functional that group is. I won't speak ill of them here, as they are trying to make a good debate tournament just like we are -- and under similar circumstances. Suffice it to say that there were many reasons we started a new organization.

I want to know where your cowardly coach has been for the past few years. If they've had a problem with hubby and I, he knows how to contact us. Further, for someone who calls himself our friend, he sure doesn't act like it. He could have voiced his concerns to us at any time. Our group has been VERY open to input, so you could have spoken to us about your concerns yourself. But, posting on the form is more fun... and doesn't require actually having to answer the questions we've had when we've previously discussed the issue.

I want to know where you were Saturday night -- oh yea, you were drinking while hubby and I were setting up the tournament for today, to make sure things ran on time. In fact, we're still working and sober while you are at the hotel drinking and posting stupid stuff on forums. I won't even comment on the fact that your cowardly coach was probably drinking with you like usual (good idea? -- drinking with undergrads when you are supposed to be the one in charge hmm --- y'all make the call...) and posting on the forum.

Where were you Sunday morning? I was here at 8:30 and sober because I waned to make sure you had a good tournament. You rolled in, ate some breakfast and proceeded to debate and complain -- it was just convenient for you th at you could do so at the same time.

Where were you Sunday afternoon? I was in a long and thoughtful meeting about how to correct an error made two rounds ago. We discussed and debated several alternatives and finally decided that the costs of the only real fix (essentially rolling the tournament back two rounds) wasn't worth the cost to the whole tournament. You complain that we had a long meeting, would you have rather had us decide quickly, cover it up and move on without any comment? In the end, we decided to apologize and get on with the tournament. As it was, we got back to the hotel at 2 AM -- would you like to still be debating today??

Here's the truth -- Hubby was using a really bad tab program that made an error -- and you think it is the end of the world. You debated a team 6 rankings better than you wouldn't have otherwise debated -- get over it. You lost the round. You'd have had to hit them sometime and if you couldn't beat them you wouldn't be national champs. Face the facts, your debate career is over ---- 'tis the season, people will be ending their careers left and right over the next three weeks -- you aren't the first and wouldn't be the last.

For your information, hubby got messed over way back by some screwy rules, so did he complain about it in public and demand the resignation of the people in charge?? No, he started this tournament you want to drive him out of. In fact, the stuff you like so much about this current tournament was a direct result of that -- don't tell me he isn't connected to debate and doesn't know it... he wrote the rules. It really doesn't get much better than that.

And the implication that being married somehow disqualifies one or both of us from serving on the board -- look around at many departments and other academic organizations -- couples occasionally work together to accomplish tasks. It doesn't mean that we vote as a block (like you'd know what happens) and it certainly doesn't mean that we have some kind of bizarre control over things.

I take the implication that I blindly follow hubby as a personal insult. Really, if you knew me at all, you'd know it wasn't the case. Further,the reason financial institutions don't allow relatives to serve as peers in positions of trust is because they are worried about embezzlement. F-ck, hubby and I are lucky to get all of our expenses back every year. Many years we've paid for the pens you twirl ourselves.... I can't even calculate how much money the tournament probably owes me. Neither of us is in control of the group's check book.

In fact, we've been doing most of the work (at large personal sacrifice) BECAUSE we want to let those coaches with teams in the tournament have the time to coach their teams... we get no thrill from having that kind of responsibility, really, we should be writing our dissertations and getting on with our lives. Instead, we spend our time and personal energy so that your entitled little asses can enjoy a tournament... and you turn around and attack us.

nice.

also -- for the record, the new user who is defending us DOES know what they are talking about... they were in the tab room for most of the tournament.