Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sartre Wars

Jean Paul Sartre has never made too big of a splash in debate. Debaters have tended toward the post - Sartrean french intellectual crowd (Foucault, Deleuze) or the Guy Debord (and the Baudrillardian d/e/volution of Debord ) strain of thinking. Even still, it was too much to resist re-posting this attempt to combine french philosphy and S P A C E.

Early Days of "the K" # 7: Georgia BN vs Texas BE - 2NR AND 2AR

This is the final installment of the 1995 NDT Octafinals debate between Georgia BN and Texas BE.

The 2NR - Jon Brody from Texas:


Post 2NR Commentary from Brian McBride and Joel Rollins:


The 2AR from Georgia's Paul Barseness:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs. Texas BE - 2AR from UTNIF on Vimeo.


Post 2AR Commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs Texas BE - Post 2AR Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.

A Few UTNIF Announcements


Tell your friends to pull themselves together and send in their applications. Don't find yourself in the midst of some giant monstrosity of a lab at another workshop. Join us in Austin for some hard work and good fun. A few things to keep in mind and pass on to your friends and teammates:

1. Remember that the initial registration deadline is May 1. After May 1 applications will still be accepted but there is a late registration fee added to the tuition price of $100.

2. There are still a few spaces left in the Sophomore Select lab taught by Nick Fiori and Brian McBride (and assisted by Flynn Makuch.) Please contact J.V. Reed (jv.reed@mail.utexas.edu) to inquire about applying. One of Fiori's teams from Damien just won the NDCA National Tournament, so if you think you could benefit from the instruction of a champion coach, you might want to take this opportunity.

3. Consider the 6 Week Summer Survivors. At $5200 it is one of the best deals around for a time-expansive summer camp experience. Ricky Garner, former CEDA National Champion and current coach for Harvard debate, is a hard working instructor who will work the lab hard as well. If you want a close-knit, intensive summer experience in a lab that will dig deep and cut a copious amount of high quality cards, this lab is for you. Led with 6 week survivor alum and former NAUDL and NFL champion Misael Gonzalez, the Survivors is not to be missed.

4. The Session 1 Topic Intensive lab will be taught by the University of Oklahoma's Blake Johnson and Claire McKinney of the Kinkaid school. A solid pairing that will be capable of leading students to both policy and kritikal successes.

5. The Session 2 Topic Intensive lab will be taught by Blake Johnson and former Georgetown University debater Max Hantel. Again, a pairing well-schooled in both policy and kritikal styles of debating.


Monday, April 25, 2011

Early Days of "the K" # 6: Georgia BN vs Texas BE - 1AR

Georgia BN vs. Texas BE in the 1995 NDT Octafinals. Here is the 1AR from Georgia's Len Neighbors and post - speech commentary by Brian McBride and Joel Rollins.

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs Texas BE - 1AR from UTNIF on Vimeo.

Post 1 AR Commentary from Rollins and McBride:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs Texas BE - Post 1AR Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Early Days of "the K" # 5: Georgia BN vs Texas BE - 1NR

Here is the 1NR from Texas' Eric Emerson. This is a 1995 Octafinals debate between Georgia BN and Texas BE:

Georgia BN vs. Texas BE 1NR from UTNIF on Vimeo.



Post 1NR Commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs Texas BE Post 1NR Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Early Days of "the K" # 4: Georgia BN vs Texas BE 2NC

The 1995 Octafinals debate between Georgia BN and Texas BE continues with the 2NC from Texas' Jon Brody :

1995 NDT Octafinals. Georgia BN vs Texas BE 2NC from UTNIF on Vimeo.



Post-2NC Commentary by Brian McBride and Joel Rollins:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs Texas BE - Post 2NC Commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride from UTNIF on Vimeo.



Cross Examination of Jon Brody by Paul Barseness:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs Texas BE CX of the 2NC from UTNIF on Vimeo.



Post CX Commentary by Brian McBride and Joel Rollins:

1995 NDT. Georgia BN vs. Texas BE Post CX of 2NC Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Congratulations to Nick Fiori and Damien College Prep for their NDCA National Championship!

Congratulations to Nick Fiori and the Damien College Prep team of Pablo Gannon and Nadeem Farooqi on their NDCA National Championship!

Pablo Gannon was also named top speaker at the tournament.

Nick Fiori will be teaching in the UTNIF Sophomore Select in the first session of this summer's UTNIF and the UTNIF Skills Intensive Session 2.


Monday, April 18, 2011

Early Days of "the K" # 3: Georgia BN vs Texas BE 2AC

The the 2AC from Georgia's Paul Barseness, and, the Cross Examination of the 2AC by Eric Emerson of Texas. Both videos are followed by a commentary video from Rollins, McBride, Reed. Later in his debate career, Barseness would become an NDT finalist with Dan Davis. Eric Emerson is currently the Director of Debate at the Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas.



NDT 1995 - Octafinals - Georgia BN vs Texas BE 2AC - Paul Barseness:

Wayback Machine: 1995 NDT. Texas v Georgia. 2AC from UTNIF on Vimeo.



Post 2AC Commentary by Joel Rollins, Brian McBride, J.V. Reed:

1995 NDT Octafinals. Georgia BN vs Texas BE- Post 2AC Commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride from UTNIF on Vimeo.



NDT 1995 - Octafinals - Georgia BN vs Texas BE. CX of the 2AC - Eric Emerson CX's Paul Barseness:

Wayback Machine: 1995 NDT. Texas v Georgia. CX of the 2AC. from UTNIF on Vimeo.



Post CX of the 2AC Commentary by Joel Rollins, Brian McBride, J.V. Reed:

1995 NDT Georgia BN vs. Texas BE POST CX OF 2AC Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Early Days of "the K" # 2 - Texas BE vs Georgia BN 1995

The series continues with the 1NC from Texas' Eric Emerson, and, the Cross Examination of the 1NC by Len Neighbors from Georgia. Both videos are followed by a commentary video from Rollins, McBride, Reed.



NDT 1995 - Octafinals - Georgia BN vs Texas BE 1NC:

Wayback Machine: 1995 NDT. Texas v Georgia. 1NC from UTNIF on Vimeo.


1995 NDT Georgia BN vs Texas BE - Post 1NC Commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride:

Georgia BN vs Texas BE Post 1NC Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.





NDT 1995 - Octafinals - Georgia BN vs Texas BE Cross Ex of the 1NC:

1995 NDT Georgia BN vs Texas BE CX of the 1NC from UTNIF on Vimeo.


1995 NDT Georgia BN vs Texas BE - Commentary on the CX of the 1NC by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride:

Texas Be vs Georgia BN - Post CX of 1NC Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.

Early Days of "the K" #1 - Texas BE vs Georgia BN 1995 National Debate Tournament

Today we are beginning a series of posts that will be of some historical interest to all you other debate nerds out there. We have dusted off and digitized an old VHS tape of a 1995 NDT Octafinals debate between the Georgia team of Paul Barseness and Len Neighbors and the Texas team of Jon Brody and Eric Emerson.

Each day, a new speech of the debate will be posted here along with another video post with commentary by Joel Rollins, Director of Debate at the University of Texas, Brian McBride, former University of Texas debater and current coach at USC, and myself, J.V. Reed, former Texas debater, current Texas coach, and director of the UTNIF (only occasional commentary by me, anyway, chiming in as the disembodied voice sounding off from behind the camera.)

The goal of this project isn't to laud the past and lament the present state of debate, or to re-live the good old days. The idea was to take an old debate featuring two very accomplished teams, watch it, critique it, and think a bit about where debating conventions were at in 1995 and what they've become in 2011. We think the results are thought provoking and make for an enjoyable viewing experience.

It is particularly interesting to have a window into the past and to see how K debating has changed on the Aff and the Neg. Debate conventions evolve rather quickly, often for the better. Even still, it is worthwhile to revisit old debates and see what might be learned from their juxtaposition with the debates we are currently competing in, coaching for and judging. At the time of this debate "the K" as an argument form had only been around for about 2 years. Because, the University of Texas was the chief instigator of this argumentative turn, this debate provides a good example of early K debate practices for review. The use of Foucauldian theory in debate, now quite commonplace, was a new innovation at the time this video was shot.

We hope you enjoy watching this series as much as we enjoyed making it.

Below, I will provide some basic introductory context for the debate featured in this series.

Year - 1995
Tournament - NDT
Host - West Georgia College

This debate is an OCTAFINALS debate. The title cards are incorrect - it is not the Quarters. (The editor for this project was summarily fired.)

Texas BE was the Number 5 First Round At Large team at the NDT. Georgia BN was the Number 13 First Round At Large team at the NDT.

Georgia BN was having a great tournament, racking up 7 wins and 18 ballots to earn the 3rd seed. Texas BE had emerged from the prelim's a bit bruised, as the 19th seed with 5 wins and 14 ballots.

Texas BE had won a close Double Octafinal debate vs the Emory team of Jamie McKown and Charlie Henn. Georgia BN had advanced through the Doubles without debating.

As anyone who has attended the NDT can attest, the level of competition and intensity is quite high. The intensity is further magnified by the sense that the debate one is judging or competing in, could be the competitors' very last debate ever. This debate had a senior on both of the teams competing - Jon Brody, the 2n from Texas, and, Len Neighbors, the 1A from Georgia.

The topic - RESOLVED: That the federal government should substantially change rules and/or statutes governing criminal procedure in federal courts in one or more of the following areas: pretrial detention, sentencing.

I believe that Georgia's affirmative was a new Aff, although they had run it earlier in the tournament. The Georgia Aff is concerned with the sentencing rules for attorneys who are held in contempt of court. Some attorneys are subject to what is called "summary sentencing" in which they are sentenced for their contempt offense, right there in the court, on the spot, by the same judge who has held them in contempt. Or at least that's what I gathered from listening to the 1AC.

You'll notice that much of the commentary from Joel and Brian in this first video revolves around the strategic value of this particular Aff vs. a Foucaultian "Disciplinary Power" argument. It was no secret that Brody and Emerson's preferred negative argument was Disciplinary Power, and Georgia's decision to run this particular Aff reflected that intel about Texas' typical 2NRs. For audiences new to this debate, the commentary should become clearer once the 1NC speech has been posted.

Viewers will likely get the most out of this series by flowing the debate, just as one would if you were an in-person spectator.

That's probably enough to get this thing started, so I will shut up for now and let the games begin!

The 1AC:

Wayback Machine: 1995 NDT Texas v Georgia - 1AC from UTNIF on Vimeo.


Post 1AC commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride:

Georgia BN vs Texas BE Post 1AC Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.




CX of the 1AC:

Wayback Machine: 1995 NDT. Texas v Georgia. CX of 1AC from UTNIF on Vimeo.


Post CX Commentary by Joel Rollins and Brian McBride:

Georgia BN vs Texas BE Post 1AC Cross Ex Commentary from UTNIF on Vimeo.