Yale Report

We had an unexpected, but welcomed guest, Dean Jonathan Ezell, along with us on this tournament. The Dean decided that it was time to see just what R-MA Debate does on one of these large national-circuit tournaments and was very pleased at the respect our team garners on the national level, the professionalism of our students, and the sheer magnitude of what a national circuit tournament entails.

Leaving R-MA at 1315 hrs, we settled down to delightful sack lunches as we rolled the Debate Bus through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania... stopping for gas and snacks around 1700 hrs. Pressing on through the rest of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, past New York (always the Tappan Zee Bridge), and into Connecticut, we stopped for authentic dinner food at the Athenian Diner about 30 minutes (half a Herndon) away from New Haven. We always like to stop at an authentic regional restaurant to load up on comfort food and get acclimated to a new area. Rolling into the hotel (always Holiday Inn Express), we started the team meeting around 2230 and got the assessment that we were six shoes shy of a full wardrobe, as well as numerous umbrellas were missing. Not bad for 14 teenagers. Getting into bed at 2300 for lights out, the students stayed asleep until wake up at 0700 and breakfast at 0800.

We then commenced, with the help of Coach Burt, a 4-round Round Robin in Public Forum while Da Czar worked with the Speech students beside the pool for the poor acoustics and sound distractions (if they can speak in a pool, they can speak in a round).

Heading into New Haven for Registration and a late lunch around 1400hrs, the students were dropped off to explore the city and find the best places to eat with the Assistant Coach, while the Dean and Czar tried with some success to find a restaurant where you could park a bus (GoodFellas... a mafia-themed restaurant that played on the overhead flatscreens Casino, Goodfellas, Scarface, and another mafia flick all at the same time). Picking up the team after their traditional photo outside the Skull and Bones around 1600hrs, we took the public forum teams and the Assistant Coach to the Cooperative Arts High School where PF rounds would be held. Then the speechies and Da Czar headed back to the hotel for rounds with Mr. Pratt, who came up to help out and Da Czar. Picking up the PF Squad around 9 p.m., the team had some authentic New York/Haven pizza before heading to bed at 10p for the next day.

Rising at 6:00 a.m., the entire team headed to New Haven and Yale for the Saturday competition. Rising early, we secured our traditional parking space at the gate of Yale, under the arch, where the bus remained until we left campus at 9:00 p.m. With Mr. Pratt's chase vehicle minivan, were were able to shuttle Public Forum to the Cooperative Arts High School and get our lone Congressor, Jackson McGraw, across campus for his long day in chambers. Settling in with the Speechers, at Yale, we rolled them out for their rounds and got them into the rooms. As it was the first speech outing for many of them, they were nervous but excited. To quote Dominque Attanasio at her first tournament, "I was incredibly scared just before it was my turn to speak; but I didn't want to let the team down and I got up and did it. And it felt WONDERFUL!" Andre Butler said, "That round was flawless and I held them from the moment I got up." Evan Pionkowski said, "It was my first time with a new piece, but I felt like I was connecting." Ryan Black said, "This beats LARPA (Live Action Role Play). But the costumes could be better."

With Da Czar rolling around New Haven in the chase vehicle, getting sandwiches, water, and students dropped off where they needed to be, the tournament ran faster than ever for him. To quote: "I got lost, lost, and lost even with GPS." Leaving campus at 9:00 p.m., following a New Haven dinner, we returned to the hotel to await postings. Veteran Brennan Morris double-broke into Quarters for Oratory and Extemp.

Coming to Yale early on Sunday morning, we again hit our parking sweet spot, got Brennan to his rounds, and waited for the news and did homework. Breaking past Quarters in both events, Oratory and Extemp, Brennan was busy being in two different rooms across campus at the same time in the same speaking order. Dropping at Semis, we were able to head back to R-MA around 1400hrs and get on campus around 2300hrs.

Yale is our farthest circuit tournament, but was a great success for our students, breaking into semis in two events and then having a good win/loss record in debate, plus testing out new pieces at the national circuit, we look forward to our next local tournament on October 8 at Battlefield High School.

Thanks to Dean Ezell, Mr. Pratt, and Lauren Burt for making Yale a smooth tournament and a memorable one.

MVP: Brennan Morris
Novice MVP: Andre Butler (receiving the Yale sweatshirt for a rank of "1" in his first round.
Trouper: the team of Nell and Gerber