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Re: Early release

I worked during the day. Now I'm at Lawrence-Dumont stadium.  I have a cold
drink in one hand and a plastic tray of nachos and flourescent orange cheese
sauce in the other.  The AA Wichita Wranglers are playing Midland and I want
to know if old Pedro Guerrero (listed as eligible for Midland) is actually
gonna drag his big butt into the box and take a swing that night.

Back home on the coffee table are a few stacks of paper.  One is all my
college crap.  Course schedules, teaching schedule, plan of study, old parking
ticket bill from the controller's office, etc.

The other is a stack of debate crap.  Mainly cards that the debaters have
turned in from their summer research efforts and a few that I cut.  Some of
the stuff is plain-old backfile material (warming updates, a-life answers,
etc.) the rest is stuff that we decided was probably gonna be useful
regardless of which topic on the list wins.

I am not at the stadium alone.  A few of the debaters are with me enjoying the
game and the weather.  This is quality time.  Everyone gets to know each
other.  We talk baseball, we talk weather, we talk about what they can expect
in school, and we talk about debate.

They ask me questions about counterplans and about disads and we wish Johnny
Damon didn't get called up to the Royals and we wonder why Chad Strickland is
catching instead of Sal Fasano.  And slowly the field is covered in shadow and
the lights come on and the game progresses.

Sometimes the Taco Bell "K-Man" actually does strike out and we head to Taco
Bell with our ticket stubs and get a free coke.  And we talk about speed
drills, time management, potential partner pairings, permutations, music,
cars, family, and whether Taco Shop is better or worse than Taco Bell.

When I get home I turn on the fan, walk the dog, grab a cold one out of the
fridge, and turn on the tv.  Sometimes a debater will be over there.  And they
will worry aloud about whether they will be fast enough, or they will tell
lies about how good they were in high school, or they will ask about the
toughest rounds I ever debated, or they will try to strike up a conversation
about intrinsicness, or they will marvel at the Mandy Romero homerun in the
sixth inning.

And it will be some of the best squad-building time of the year.  And while I
talk with them and sweat in the heat with my feet resting on top of that stack
of debate crap we will get to know each other and we will talk a lot of
debate.  And a lot will be learned about debate.  At a nice, slow, August
rate.

That ev. will have to be reblocked, copied, and filed.  But luckily, I
basically have a month to get around to it. And that is perfectly alright with
me.  Call me lazy if you want to, but I have always enjoyed my Augusts.

Sure, if the topic came out early, I could still wait until September to fire
up the evidence machinery.  Though I might sound lazy, I don't want my squad
to commit competitive suicide.  We would be working instead, just like the
rest of you, and we would be missing some good flag football, a lot of
baseball, and some much needed relaxation.

One perspective.
Carson Brackney
Asst Dir of Speech and Debate
Wichita State U
Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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