A Debater’s Life: What’s Your Favorite Tournament?
The number of district tournaments and state championships are winding down, and the TOC, the NCFL, and Nationals are on the horizon. We’re starting to get sentimental about a season almost over. It seems fitting to bring back that classic conversation starter: what are your favorite tournaments?
Here’s to a very lengthy and light-hearted discussion. Post a list of your favorites; that is, your favorite tournament in each of categories listed below. If you want to go a step further, don’t just list names, explain why each tournament won you over in each category. (Your choices needn’t be limited to national circuit tournaments, nor to tournaments you’ve experienced this season. Local competitions, regional events, round robins, and championship tournaments are all fair game!)
Make the case for your favorites. People who are shaping their schedules for next year are reading. If you participated in the similar discussion on this web site in September, participate again! If you didn’t participate last time, participate this time. Enjoy!
BEST AWARDS
BEST COMPETITION
BEST HOSPITALITY
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE
BEST JUDGING
BEST TRADITIONS
MOST FUN
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE
OVERALL FAVORITE
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70 Responses to “A Debater’s Life: What’s Your Favorite Tournament?”
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Posted from: 68.226.97.161
April 14th, 2005 20:57
i’ll use the “paradigm sheet” and move on to recap
BEST AWARDS: harvard
BEST COMPETITION: the glenbrooks no doubt
BEST HOSPITALITY: yale–i love adam chilton
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: yale
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: yale–the campus is beautiful
BEST JUDGING: consistently per round the best judging i’ve had overall was at yale–however i’m sure the best overall pool at a tournament i attended was the glenbrooks
BEST TRADITIONS: harvard
MOST FUN: arizona state and yale
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: ASU–close to home
OVERALL FAVORITE:
i have a top three
1. ASU
2. yale
3. harvard
ASU and Harvard have alot to do with the fact that my team was present for alot of the tournaments, and i believe that my best tournametns always come when i have more support. yale was extremely fun because of the people that i knew there and the expedience and fun of the tournament, you guys may ride me for it, but those are my top three.
Posted from: 128.227.3.56
April 14th, 2005 21:11
BEST AWARDS: NFLs….pewter statues…can’t beat that unless you count Emory’s cabinet as the ONLY award they give
BEST COMPETITION: NFLs/Glenbrooks(early year)/Harvard (late year)….that’s in the opinion of a former extemper
BEST HOSPITALITY: NFLs…they give you free stuff including free ice cream on finals days and let you take pictures with lincoln
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Emory you have to love watching Melissa Wade get as excited as she does at awards
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Emory on breaks day (emory campus is amazing) or Glenbrooks (mainly because I really like chicago area)
BEST JUDGING: NFL later break rounds but not finals
BEST TRADITIONS: either the NFLs with their long postings thrown over balconies or Emory with their slow reading off of competitors and panels in breaks (until the posting you’re not on then both suck)
MOST FUN: any national other than berkeley was up there
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: NFLs (before id ever attended a competition id watched the videos so i had a big image of it before ever going to it…and semis or better was my first debate goal set and last one reached)
OVERALL FAVORITE: NFLs
and in the name of negativity about just mentioned favorite
worst venue: NFLs 2003 Atlanta….prep room 30 minute walk from speaking room…in Atlanta heat…walking in a suit to a room with the air conditioning turned off and then having a 5 hour wait to next prelim
Posted from: 69.140.173.204
April 14th, 2005 21:11
BEST AWARDS: Apple Valley
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks or early Texas tournies
BEST HOSPITALITY: Didn’t go this year but… Vassar?
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Princton
BEST JUDGING: CBI
MOST FUN: Harvard
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Harvard, my last one.
Posted from: 64.166.225.41
April 14th, 2005 21:12
BEST AWARDS: The Glenbrooks
BEST COMPETITION: The Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Apple Valley
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Greenhill
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Blake or Berkeley
BEST JUDGING: Greenhill
BEST TRADITIONS: Emory (not really this year though)
MOST FUN: Berkeley
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Berkeley
OVERALL FAVORITE: The Glenbrooks
Posted from: 68.110.162.251
April 14th, 2005 21:13
BEST AWARDS: st marks
BEST COMPETITION: glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: lexington
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: st.marks
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: stanford
BEST JUDGING: St. Marks
BEST TRADITIONS: emory
MOST FUN: Berkeley
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Berkeley
OVERALL FAVORITE: St. Marks
I think the tournaments that had really solid judges this past year were vbt, lexington, glenbrooks, St. marks, and (in my rounds, at least) stanford and UT.
Posted from: 162.84.240.201
April 14th, 2005 21:17
BEST AWARDS-Glenbrooks, no doubt
BEST COMPETITION-Skyway RR, or Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY-Marx, Apple Valley, Blake
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF-Blake and Marx
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE-Stanford (Jamba Juice and warm weather in February wins me over)
BEST JUDGING-VBT by far
BEST TRADITIONS-the soup can at Hen Hud? I don’t go for the traditions, really…
MOST FUN-Blake, Marx and Harvard
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE-Wake Forest, I guess?
OVERALL FAVORITE-Blake and VBT
and to add a necessary addition: BEST WEATHER- Emory :-/
Posted from: 204.210.37.132
April 14th, 2005 21:18
best awards: iowa round robin
best competition: cbi
best hospitality: lexington/round robin
best tournament staff: lexington/round robin
best venue: blake or berkeley
best judging: tie between blake and cbi
best traditions: the bronco invitational (the rancho bernardo tournament–a big policy debater named yoav grossman dressed in a blue horse outfit gives out the trophies and gives everyone who got an award a big hug)
most fun: berkeley
most sentimental value: blake
overall: blake
Posted from: 204.210.37.132
April 14th, 2005 21:19
best tournament staff actually goes to marx
Posted from: 24.205.68.149
April 14th, 2005 21:19
Mmm. This is tough.
BEST AWARDS: Minneapple. Those apples are darned cute.
BEST COMPETITION: Yeeargh [this is tough]… Gbrooks.
BEST HOSPITALITY: Er? At the Glenbrooks, Sam Abba lent me his printer to use for my last minute case revisions. That’s not really hospitality on the part of the tournament, but it sure was nice.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: No clue. Skip.
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Berkeley. Berkeley berkeley berkeley. One additional word: crepes.
BEST JUDGING: Gbrooks.
BEST TRADITIONS: I haven’t been in this activity long enough to be really aware of tournament traditions, just my team’s, which means the crepe place at Berkeley wins again.
MOST FUN: Berkeley. Whee!
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Wake.
OVERALL FAVORITE: Though this doesn’t make any sense because it didn’t appear above, Marx. Can we have all our tournaments in hotels?
I guess I’ll get the feel of more east coast tournaments when I judge/tag along there next year. Shrug.
P.S. I’m just reading this bit about how I shouldn’t limit myself to national circuit tournaments, which is why I’m now compelled to say that the Worlds Schools Championships, which I attended with two of my teammates this year, would definitely win for Best Hospitality and Traditions, and Overall Favorite, if I were to include it. Hopefully it’ll gain more promenence in coming years among the American debate circuit, where parli is only a secondary debate event for many of our most talented competitors. Anyway - I’ll leave the pitch ’til Nationals. Great thread!
Posted from: 70.241.66.64
April 14th, 2005 21:23
Hmmm.. of the limited tournaments I went to…
BEST AWARDS: St. Marks
BEST COMPETITION: St. Marks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Vestavia
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Any tournament Mrs. Boyd ran (Marks, Grapevine, etc.)
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Isidore Newman and Greenhill have great campuses (private schools, what a trend…)
BEST JUDGING: TFA STATE (It was phenominal this year!)
BEST TRADITIONS: TFA State. got to bring home the big one for the school.
MOST FUN: UT
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: St Marks/TFA State
OVERALL FAVORITE: St Marks (most fun ppl were there. Tedrowho, Miller, MSJ, Schreiber, ERose, Levi, etc.)
Posted from: 151.202.56.185
April 14th, 2005 21:27
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Stanford
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Blake
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Stanford
BEST TRADITIONS: easily Hen Hud
BEST JUDGING: Blake
MOST FUN: Stanford
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Princeton
OVERALL FAVORITE: Blake
Posted from: 66.218.240.111
April 14th, 2005 21:28
BEST AWARDS: Iowa Hawkeye
BEST COMPETITION: Stanford
BEST HOSPITALITY: Hendrick Hudson
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: VBT
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Blake/Edie Holiday Classic
BEST JUDGING: VBT
BEST TRADITIONS: NFL Nationals
MOST FUN: VBT
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: VBT
OVERALL FAVORITE: VBT
Posted from: 66.218.240.111
April 14th, 2005 21:31
Emory was fun, but that was mostly because of Ashan… the tournament itself and weather therein left a lot to be desired.
Posted from: 162.84.240.201
April 14th, 2005 21:37
Several other things have come to mind:
other best weather: Columbia
other best judging: Vassar RR
other best hospitality: CBI
Posted from: 67.124.252.163
April 14th, 2005 21:52
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Greenhill, they always treat everyone well. Maybe that’s because it’s generally the first tournament of the year so I’m always really psyched when i go there though.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Glenbrooks, although the Stanford crew really improved things this year
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Glenbrooks
BEST TRADITIONS: Emory
BEST JUDGING: Stanford RR…I also thought Valley had really phenomenal judging
MOST FUN: Valley
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Berkeley
OVERALL FAVORITE: Glenbrooks
Posted from: 204.210.37.132
April 14th, 2005 22:03
by the way, if we’re talking about travel schedules (again, my subjective recommendations, please don’t jump on me):
absolutely amazing–blake, marx, cbi
slighly less amazing, definitely worth going to–valley, glenbrooks, stanford, berkeley, cps, vbt, iowa rr
even less amazing, but probably still worth it–greenhill (i had a bad experience, lots of people like it), lexington
not so amazing–apple valley, wake forest, emory (though it’s certainly good if you’re just there to have fun)
Posted from: 66.87.79.121
April 15th, 2005 00:38
I haven’t really traveled far and wide (stayed in CA except for ASU).
Of the tournaments I’ve been to, Berkeley has the best location (it’s in Berkeley!), and CPS wins everything else - awesome judging, free food, runs AHEAD of schedule, and it has a big hill down which you can ride Razors and bloody your hands.
Posted from: 205.188.116.10
April 15th, 2005 03:31
BEST AWARDS: Glenbrooks….I think my coach left out the semi-final trophy our policy guys got for weeks. They seriously are like academy awards.
BEST COMPETITION: Again, Glenbrooks. Almost everyone is there.
BEST HOSPITALITY: Lexington…housing=awesome. Maybe that’s just ’cause they’re my friends, but ah well.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Lexington or VBT. That one’s pretty self-explanatory!
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Probably Woodward…the campus is really awesome and the outrounds are held in the best Hilton ever.
BEST JUDGING: VB RR and VBT, hands down.
BEST TRADITIONS: Hen Hud.
MOST FUN: VB RR, VBT, or Lexington.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: VB RR, Woodward, and Wake Forest.
OVERALL FAVORITE: VBT and the VB RR.
Posted from: 68.117.34.146
April 15th, 2005 07:17
BEST AWARDS: I didn’t win enough of these to give a well-informed opinion. However, my award from Harvard is pretty and shiny and I can put candy in it.
BEST COMPETITION: As much as I really hate to give this tournament any credit, probably the Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: I’m actually not going until later today, but I’m pretty sure the Midwest Warmup is going to pwn this one
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Apple Valley. Anybody who knows me at all knows this is a complete lie. Probably Highland Park though- Dave McGinnis is a g
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Blake, mostly because of all the crazy people in costume running around the hotel. that was tight.
BEST JUDGING: The judging at Mark’s pretty much rocked my face off. Especially round 4.
BEST TRADITIONS: I pulled off my traditional sucking at the Glenbrooks- does that count?
MOST FUN: Harvard. Man, liberation feels good. The Skyway was also a huge party.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Harvard. my first pretend bid evar yayyyyyyyy
OVERALL FAVORITE: While Harvard was personally the most worthwhile experience of my debate career, I’d recommend St. Mark’s
Posted from: 151.202.56.185
April 15th, 2005 07:17
to echo what many have said, if you count RRs, the Stanford and Vassar RRs had AMAZING judging this year
Posted from: 134.84.94.206
April 15th, 2005 07:32
Dear Alex Smith,
Thank you for your input on the “not so amazing” tournies. I will immediately contact the directors of the Emory and Wake Forest tournaments. After that, you can inform us how you would “repair” the two octos bids and quarters bid tournaments.
Assistant Coach from the “old order” - Tim Hogan
Posted from: 205.196.188.100
April 15th, 2005 08:01
BEST AWARDS: isidore newman, because i can eat (and drink) off of my awards
BEST COMPETITION: greenhill
BEST HOSPITALITY: st. marks, mmmm….prepacked meals, plus debating in hotel rooms was awesome
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: dunno
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: greenhill, gotta love those peacocks
BEST JUDGING: greenhill
BEST TRADITIONS: no clue
MOST FUN: any tournament with jeremy dudley, st. marks
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: isidore newman, where i achieved the most success
OVERALL FAVORITE: isidore newman
Posted from: 129.237.94.167
April 15th, 2005 08:32
Forget the different categories, just write BLAKE! You sleep in the building in which you compete (that’s like, game over right there), it has incredible competition for LD, an excellent staff, there’s a parade that occurs on the Saturday of the tournament, it’s in wonderful Minneapolis. It’s pretty much heaven. Plus, it’s great practice having a Dec. tournament on the Jan/Feb topic. six great rounds on the topic (which in my case was the quals topic) before anyone else gets a chance. pretty fantastic.
Posted from: 205.202.156.252
April 15th, 2005 08:58
There are lots of wonderful tournaments, but I’ve always really liked Blake, Valley, and Cedar Rapids Washington. CR Wash is smaller but still very competitive and their George Washington busts are quite nice to win. Valley–well, it’s usually first for us, and I just like the people there and always have. It’s always highly competitive.
I think the toughest competition overall, however, is at Blake, as well as the best overall venue. It’s an amazing tournament, and the people in Minnesota debate are just wonderful, hard-working, friendly folks: coaches, judges, competitors–Minnesota is just quality debate.
Paul Bellus and his staff do a great job at the Iowa Junior Round Robin, especially with extra hospitality above and beyond the norm, and I would be remiss in not mentioning the TOC, which has always been a very well run, incredibly hospitable, and highly competitive tournament. Dr. Patterson, Minh Luong–it’s always great to see them.
On our local circuit, I really enjoy Omaha Westside, because some national folks do come in for this one, and it has always just been a favorite tournament of mine.
I enjoy the tournaments I get to work tab with Bietz quite a lot because I don’t have to do much since Bietz is a tabroom whiz. I also really enjoy working with Scott Tomsu, assistant coach at Westside, at a lot of the Nebraska tournaments.
Overall, my favorite tournaments are Blake, the TOC, and NCFL. NCFL because it was the first nationals I ever went to, and although the tournament has some imperfections, like the misery of starting by getting up at 5 a.m. (or earlier) on Saturday, it’s still a great national tournament, and it is run very efficiently. Plus we’ve had a little success there, and you always like the tournaments where things just seems to go well.
And I will mention Greenhill too. We only went there a couple of times, but everything was just first-rate.
Fred Robertson
Posted from: 208.42.163.11
April 15th, 2005 09:21
BEST AWARDS: Caucus. Whose goal isn’t to get a bigger bust each year you go?
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: St. Marks
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Blake cause Bietz is there
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Blake. Like people said, every round is in the hotel, the only reason you ever have to go outside is to watch the parade they have every night
BEST JUDGING: Blake, Glenbrooks
BEST TRADITIONS: Emory
MOST FUN: Blake and the Skyway Challenge
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: TOC for lots of reasons!
OVERALL FAVORITE: Blake
Posted from: 24.155.128.5
April 15th, 2005 09:52
BEST AWARDS: NFL or TOC
BEST COMPETITION: GLENBROOKS- jsut look at the past 2 years and teh semifinalist and how many of them advanced in outrounds at toc
BEST JUDGIN: TOC or Greenhill- AT invsests a lot of pride and money in his judge pool and does an extremely good job of running a damn good tournament
BEST HOSPITALITY: Greenhil gives you free food and has peacocks and lots of other cool exciting things
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: I hear glenbrooks is pretty darn good, but if a good staff is one which runs an on-time tournament than greenhill takes the cake here due to having the creator of the most-used tab program in the tab room
MOST FUN: either greenhill or nationals
MOST SENTIMENTAL: probably for me UIL Distrcits because it was my first repeat title
BEST VENUE: i hear blake is really nice, so its probably a tie with blake, st. marks and greenhill’s peacocks
OVERALL FAVORITE: like alex smith i had a bad experience at ghill but had too many good experiences to look at the bad ones!!! rooming next to edina was hot
Posted from: 128.220.251.100
April 15th, 2005 09:53
I’ll omit CBI from my list for obvious bias, but I’m honored that it has made a few people’s lists - hopefully that’ll increase in the future.
Also, I’ll leave out the TOC, NFL/CFL Nationals and other tournaments (like the Greenhill RR) which aren’t accessible to everyone…If you have the opportunity, though, I think the TOC has been the most fun tournament I’ve attended; the last 5 years’ I’ve been at the TOC (as a coach and competitor) have produced different memories, different stories, and an amazing trip to the Waffle House - it’s just a wonderful weekend with lots of fun and sentimental value.
BEST AWARDS - Harvard’s silver platters
BEST COMPETITION - Greenhill’s pool is consistently impressive
BEST HOSPITALITY - Tournaments in the Northeast which house students (Yale, Monticello, Hendrick Hudson, etc.) make travel affordable
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF - Aaron Timmons’ accomodations for judge preferencing and openness in tab is very appreciated
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE - That cafeteria where you wait for rounds at Wake Forest…there’s something about the beginning of a debate season that gives Wake a uniquely special feel.
BEST JUDGING - The VBT
BEST TRADITIONS - The Barkley Forum’s “B” and “F” coding which apparently they’ve now abdicated =o( They should be brought back!!!
MOST FUN - Wake Forest, because of promise and optimism of a new season, the particulars of the Adam’s Mark’s interior courtyard, and the interesting restaurants in the area have made each of the last 6 years I’ve spent at Wake very enjoyable.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE - I’m going to cheat and say the CBI/CBRR, just because it’s my debate baby :)
OVERALL FAVORITE - The TOC (breaking the rule again)…from landing over the bluegrass to the Waffle House to Jerry’s Subs during the Derby to the competitive yet fun atmosphere to Holzer hitting Ryan O’Hara in the face at wall ball; don’t miss it if you can!
Posted from: 204.210.37.132
April 15th, 2005 10:14
I think honesty (even when it hurts sometimes) is a good thing. I also think most kids have a finite amount of money to travel with and have to choose their tournaments carefully. I’d rather tell kids my preferences about tournaments (with the caveat that these preferences are subjective) and risk offending someone than have someone go to a tournament they end up being unhappy with.
Posted from: 204.98.2.20
April 15th, 2005 10:50
Granted that I’m not a real travler of Circut tournaments, but I still think Blue Key Florida should be considered for Hospitality, at least this last year. And UofF is a pretty good venue. So, I’m giving Overall Favorite to Blue Key, because while it may not have the BEST in everything else, it’s a pretty well-rounded tournament.
Posted from: 199.80.243.184
April 15th, 2005 11:25
On the issue of honesty and labeling tournaments “not so hot”: I’m actually not so sure that “honesty” the way it is used here is really that productive or good. The people (like Pam Cady-Wycoff and others at Apple Valley) who run these tournaments devote enormous amounts of time and effort into putting on fun and educational experiences for students. PC and others don’t run the Minneapple to make a profit, they run it because they are committed to educating students and giving back to the debate community. Given that (and given that there aren’t any students, including Alex, who have any idea what it’s like to organize and run a tournament of that magnitude), I think they need to be thanked more for what they do and shown some more respect than they usually are (not just on this thread, but in general). Even if all we really care about is making tournaments “better” (whatever that means), I think maybe e-mailing PC (or Melissa Wade or whoever runs Wake Forest) and making positive suggestions is more effective than criticizing tournaments in a public forum.
That said, I actually disagree with Alex that Apple Valley isn’t a pretty awesome tournament. My opinion may be biased because I did pretty well there this year, but I know even after my sophomore year, when I believe I went 3-3 at the tournament, I raved about it to lots of my friends in the community (I couldn’t go my junior year). I got very good judging this year, the tournament was always run efficiently and on time, the staff was very friendly, and I know the staff goes out of its way to ensure that out-of-state students get housing (they helped house a ton of MSJ debaters this year, for example). I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good traveling tournament.
Posted from: 67.83.96.79
April 15th, 2005 11:29
Greenhill was without question the best “regular season” tournament I’ve been to–on par with the TOC.
Posted from: 128.220.251.100
April 15th, 2005 11:30
I want to echo the support of Apple Valley - I would rate it as a “must attend” from my experience. The competition is impressive, the judging is solid (especially considering the tournaments available on the November/December topic), and Ms. Wycoff and the AV staff deserve credit for running a great open tab and furnishing fair outround panels!!
Posted from: 207.172.150.102
April 15th, 2005 11:32
I agree with everything Dan said. Although I personally didn’t necessarily get the best draw at Apple Valley in terms of judging compared to some others (I got 3 good judges in 6 rounds, which is still better than most tournaments), I still think the tournament is awesome. The tournament is extremely accommodating (the family that housed our team this year was terrific), runs on time (it was over by 10 PM Saturday), and makes an effort to accommodate competitors’ judging preferences with strikes. I would recommend it to anyone who can make it out there.
Posted from: 146.115.115.110
April 15th, 2005 12:05
BEST AWARDS: Vestavia
BEST COMPETITION: St. Marks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Vassar
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Lexington (i’m biased)
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: St. Marks
BEST JUDGING: Vassar
BEST TRADITIONS: MA State
MOST FUN: Vassar
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Manchester
OVERALL FAVORITE: Vassar
Posted from: 209.6.251.110
April 15th, 2005 12:14
“BEST HOSPITALITY: Lexington…housing=awesome. Maybe that’s just ’cause they’re my friends, but ah well.”
Thanks Alison!
Lex next year you are sooo staying @ my house again. : )
Posted from: 134.173.93.214
April 15th, 2005 12:31
BEST AWARDS: Glenbrooks
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Blake
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Blake
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Berkeley
BEST JUDGING: overall- Blake outrounds- Berkeley
BEST TRADITIONS: Emory
MOST FUN: Berkeley
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Berkeley
OVERALL FAVORITE: Berkeley
Posted from: 204.147.92.3
April 15th, 2005 12:58
BEST AWARDS: Nationals…any tournament that ends with a bust of Lincoln is solid.
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Apple Valley, without a doubt. The tournament is single-flighted, and judges food is great, and PC and co. are great hosts.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Apple Valley. ON-TIME and well run!
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Hmmm, well Oklahoma Nationals was great, especially late elim rounds. Debating Rick in the regent’s private boardroom was great. Otherwise I used to love it when Blake’s rounds were in the offices rather than hotel rooms.
BEST JUDGING: Apple Valley
BEST TRADITIONS: The Tab Room Turkey Award at Blake is always good for a laugh, but the most regal and classy traditions are those of the NFL awards ceremony. Also, the fact that coaches from around the state vote for who judges the tournament means you don’t have to worry about losing with a hack judge in the back of the room.
MOST FUN: Blake. Staying at the Hyatt in downtown Minneapolis and going out to eat with the team the night before a tournament, plus it’s right after I finish my finals and am off from school for a month.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Minnesota State Tournament. My first “big win” in high school and the longest running Minnesota State High School League event(over 100 years.!) Coming from a school that didn’t have the means to travel much on the circuit this was always the biggest tournament of the year.
OVERALL FAVORITE: Blake. It’s a high-caliber tournament with great debaters and judging, as well as downtown Minneapolis in the midst of the holiday season. I’m done with finals, ready to go home for a few days for Christmas, and have had great experiences there. Especially now that the Round Robin has been added to the end of the tournament it’s a truly special experience.
Posted from: 129.15.111.101
April 15th, 2005 13:05
BEST AWARDS-St. Marks
BEST COMPETITION-Greenhill/TOC [tie]
BEST HOSPITALITY- Mich did a very good job at Colorado
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF-
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE-Berkeley
BEST JUDGING-Greenhill
BEST TRADITIONS-Emory (still hate the tournament)
MOST FUN-Berkeley
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE-Greenhill/TOC [tie]
OVERALL FAVORITE-TOC
Posted from: 63.231.186.23
April 15th, 2005 13:05
BEST AWARDS: Iowa RR
BEST COMPETITION: TOC or Glenbrooks
BEST HOSPITALITY: Vassar RR
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Greenhill
BEST JUDGING: St. Marks
BEST TRADITIONS: Emory (like Dan said, not so much this year)
MOST FUN: Blake
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Valley
OVERALL FAVORITE: St. Marks
Posted from: 205.188.116.10
April 15th, 2005 13:07
Haha, yay Sonia, can’t wait!
Posted from: 199.80.150.65
April 15th, 2005 13:15
I should actually add a caveat to mine (not that it really matters) - while I think Greenhill had the best pre-lim judging (from what I’ve seen), I think St. Mark’s had the best outround judging (especially since it gave debaters strike sheets for panels for quarters/semis/finals).
Posted from: 128.12.53.89
April 15th, 2005 13:42
I agree with Sheehan… dissing AV is not cool, that tourney is awesome.
Posted from: 207.172.73.161
April 15th, 2005 15:34
Well skipping everything but awards b/c we all know thats what really matters anyways ‘_’;; (jk but no one wants to hear a novices opinion on everything else). So the best awards has to be Bishop Guertin, I don’t know how you beat a 10 pound crystal trophy ^^
Posted from: 66.15.175.130
April 15th, 2005 16:32
best awards: old school st. marx hats or old school glenbrook rr ussr antiques — no joke
best competition: greenhill or glenbrooks
best hospitality: lots of tourneys
best tournament staff: vbt
best venue/ambiance: stanford, used to be colorado when i was running it. thx seamus!
best judging: greehill or vbt
most fun: any tourney where i see all my peeps at the same time
most sentimental value: tfa state and old school colorado tournament
overall favorites: greenhill and vbt
Posted from: 64.134.126.112
April 15th, 2005 17:53
look, i really liked apple valley in a lot of ways. i thought it was really well run, mrs. wycoff is the nicest person ever, the food provided was pretty good, i liked being able to see ballots after my rounds, i got to go to erin granlund’s rockin party, and i’ll even say that judge assignment is very good in prelims that need good judging. i even think it’s worth going to, on balance (though, like greenhill, i didn’t have a very good time there). i will stand by two things though:
1) i thought that i PERSONALLY had really poor judging in several prelims and one very poor judge in doubles. this is probably bad luck to some extent, and there were lots of great judges there. again, i’m probably the victim of a bad experience.
2) i think that, as an informational service, vbd ought to be open to divergent voices about what tournaments people consider good so that people can make informed decsisions about what tournaments to attend. i personally consider saving some kid looking to craft a travel schedule hundreds of dollars more important than not hurting people’s feelings. i’m sorry if that sounds insensitive, but debate is expensive and people only get to go to so many tournaments. i think paying several hundred dollars entitles me to be critical sometimes.
Posted from: 68.117.63.96
April 15th, 2005 19:12
And since Apple Valley provides the best bang for your buck in terms of hospitality, food, judging, it’s pretty clear that if a debater wants to wisely spend his/her money to travel, AV seems like the best option.
Posted from: 24.9.178.42
April 15th, 2005 22:14
“And since Apple Valley provides the best bang for your buck”
that…might…just…beg the question…
Posted from: 12.216.99.157
April 16th, 2005 00:45
BEST AWARDS - Emory. I mean, who wouldn’t want a picture of a key?
BEST COMPETITION - Definately CR Wash. There’s a really small pool (only about 60 people this year I think) but lots of intense debaters/schools.
BEST HOSPITALITY - That’s not even a question, the Iowa RR. I mean, they even take everyone out to a movie.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF - Iowa RR
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE - Berkeley. 1. It’s Berkeley. 2. Telegraph Avenue (I’ll spare the details. If anyone has never been to Telegraph avenue, to realize how amazing it is, and that they’ve never experienced it, would only cause them to become depressed and go cry themself to sleep.)
BEST JUDGING - Blake. Out of 9 judges, 7 were hella-legit
BEST TRADITIONS - Pshhh, traditions. The only real tradition on the Valley team is that someone comes back from any tournament in the trunk.
MOST FUN - I don’t know, now that Louie Sloven is no longer on the Valley team, all tournaments are significantly less fun. The Glennbrooks was nice.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE - Blake. Last year I saw Jed Glickstien debate for the first time, and I saw 3 of his outrounds. All three were far better than any debate I’d ever seen.
OVERALL FAVORITE - Blake. Amazing judging, amazing outrounds to watch, cool people to hang out with, and it’s held in a hotel! You can even walk down the street to Poncheros. And the Tabroom Tukey Award never fails to amaze me.
Posted from: 67.169.191.28
April 16th, 2005 00:58
i think its hilarious how alex smith only cites the “best tournaments ever” as the ones he cleared at or did well at. what a great condition for becoming the “best tournament ever” haha. i didn’t clear at tons of places and i still think that greenhill is the best tournament in the country.
Posted from: 12.216.99.157
April 16th, 2005 01:02
BEST AWARDS - Emory. I mean, who wouldn’t want a picture of a key?
BEST COMPETITION - Definately CR Wash. There’s a really small pool (only about 60 people this year I think) but lots of intense debaters/schools.
BEST HOSPITALITY - That’s not even a question, the Iowa RR. I mean, they even take everyone out to a movie.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF - Iowa RR
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE - Berkeley. 1. It’s Berkeley. 2. Telegraph Avenue (I’ll spare the details. If anyone has never been to Telegraph avenue, to realize how amazing it is, and that they’ve never experienced it, would only cause them to become depressed and go cry themself to sleep.)
BEST JUDGING - Blake. Out of 9 judges, 7 were hella-legit
BEST TRADITIONS - Pshhh, traditions. The only real tradition on the Valley team is that someone comes back from any tournament in the trunk.
MOST FUN - I don’t know, now that Louie Sloven is no longer on the Valley team, all tournaments are significantly less fun. The Glennbrooks was nice.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE - Blake. Last year I saw Jed Glickstien debate for the first time, and I saw 3 of his outrounds. All three were far better than any debate I’d ever seen.
OVERALL FAVORITE - Blake. Amazing judging, amazing outrounds to watch, cool people to hang out with, and it’s held in a hotel! You can even walk down the street to Poncheros. And the Tabroom Tukey Award never fails to amaze me.
Posted from: 209.30.23.224
April 16th, 2005 07:45
ITS CHIPOTLE!! chipotle’s down the street from the hotel at blake, not panchero’s!! i would know, because i walked in 14 degree weather with NO JACKET for it. and it was ice cold by the time i walked back (lol) - i’m from texas so it’s a big deal for me. but its okay, because panchero’s is also pretty good. but not as good as chipotle. anyway, i think the best tournament evar for awards, competition, hospitality, tournament staff, venue/ambience, judging, traditions, fun, sentimental value, and overall favorite has one clear choice: THE DUNCANVILLE CITY OF CHAMPIONS. (no explanation is necessary. it just IS.)
Posted from: 24.95.250.33
April 16th, 2005 14:26
“OVERALL FAVORITE - The TOC (breaking the rule again)…from landing over the bluegrass to the Waffle House to Jerry’s Subs during the Derby to the competitive yet fun atmosphere to Holzer hitting Ryan O’Hara in the face at wall ball; don’t miss it if you can!”
It was Jersey Mike’s we went to to watch the Derby, and for the record it wasn’t my fault that the ball hit Ryan in the face… to anyone that knows Ryan they can understand it was an act of God that was meant to happen.
Posted from: 67.83.102.109
April 16th, 2005 16:41
best awards: morristown in new jersey cuz they have neat pens attached…
Posted from: 152.163.100.203
April 16th, 2005 16:42
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks fer sher
BEST TROPHIES: Caucus- the gavel and the busts are insanely sweet
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Blake and Skyway RR- what is hotter than something run by Bietz? OR the Vassar RR, which was so well done by JCruz and should def. not be left out
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Greenhill. How gorgeous IS that school?
BEST JUDGING: GLENBROOKS. If anyone knows about my judging there, they will understand.
MOST FUN: Stanford, despite not clearing haha
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Apple Valley. It’s been my fav since I was a soph.
OVERALL FAVORITE: Glenbrooks
Posted from: 152.163.100.203
April 16th, 2005 16:43
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks fer sher
BEST TROPHIES: Caucus- the gavel and the busts are insanely sweet
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Blake and Skyway RR- what is hotter than something run by Bietz? OR the Vassar RR, which was so well done by JCruz and should def. not be left out
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Greenhill. How gorgeous IS that school?
BEST JUDGING: GLENBROOKS. If anyone knows about my judging there, they will understand.
MOST FUN: Stanford, despite not clearing haha
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Apple Valley. It’s been my fav since I was a soph.
OVERALL FAVORITE: Glenbrooks
Posted from: 68.157.3.248
April 16th, 2005 17:26
Best Competition:Glenbrooks
Best Trophies: Stanford (IPODS!!!) and MBA (Those Eagles Are SICK!!!)
Tournament Staff: HenHud, Princeton, Glenbrooks
Best Venue/Ambiance: YALE! Awesome campus and the immediate area is great
Best Judging: Glenbrooks and HENHUD (Great flow judges) and Woodward was pretty good
Most Fun: Outside the tourney was Yale, inside was Princeton
Most Sentimental Value: FL Blue Key
Overall Favorite: Henhud
Posted from: 170.215.98.117
April 16th, 2005 17:34
BEST COMPETITION: Glenbrooks
BEST TROPHIES: Caucus
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: North Carolina State–judged JV PUBLIC FORUM EVERY ROUND
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Crestian…Florida is beautiful in January
BEST JUDGING: Blake
MOST FUN: Valley…Ernie’s brothers house is AMAZING
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Caucus
OVERALL FAVORITE: Valley
Posted from: 207.172.150.102
April 16th, 2005 17:38
There’s such thing as JV public forum? If so, Steve, you’re the most legit JV public forum judge ever.
Posted from: 129.81.63.31
April 16th, 2005 18:05
Best Awards: The Glenbrooks (The Iowa and Greenhill RRs should also be commended for their awards)
Best Competition: Greenhill
Best Hospitality: VBT
Best Tournament Staff: Greenhill and VBT
Best Venue/Ambiance: Greenhill
Best Judging: Greenhill and VBT
Best Traditions: The Glenbrooks?
Most Fun: Greenhill
Most Sentimental Favorite: The Glenbrooks
Overall Favorite: Greenhill
Posted from: 129.81.63.31
April 16th, 2005 18:09
*Most Sentimental Value
Posted from: 67.113.5.224
April 16th, 2005 19:49
Voices RR at paly…
hands down
Posted from: 24.23.149.121
April 16th, 2005 23:34
Best Awards: Voices RR
Best Competition: Voices RR
Best Hospitality: Voices RR
Best Tournament Staff: Voices RR
Best Venue/Ambiance: Voices RR
Best Judging: Voices RR
Best Traditions: Voices RR
Most Fun: Voices RR
Most Sentimental Favorite: Voices RR
Overall Favorite: Voices RR
Posted from: 128.12.53.89
April 17th, 2005 04:45
Leiter and Byron speak the truth.
<3
Posted from: 67.124.49.254
April 17th, 2005 11:05
I’d like to echo Will but also add that Voices has the best NASCAR trophies around.
Posted from: 24.6.18.181
April 17th, 2005 12:13
I won’t include non-bid tournaments because RRs tend to have a significantly higher concentration of good competition and judging. Also, listing them wouldn’t be of much help to people who are determining their travel schedules since you can’t really choose to attend certain round robins until they invite you. However, I would like to say that CBI has some of the best judging/competition and that the Iowa RR had amazing hospitality/awards.
BEST AWARDS: Apple Valley
BEST COMPETITION: quantity-Glenbrooks, % of pool-Greenhill
BEST HOSPITALITY: Apple Valley (the housing option is awesome)
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: hard to say, but Greenhill, St. Mark’s, and Apple Valley were all really well run (I’m sure I’m forgetting others)
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Berkeley (I echo the comment about crepes)
BEST JUDGING: prelims of St. Mark’s, outrounds of Berkeley
MOST FUN: Berkeley
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: Greenhill
OVERALL FAVORITE: Greenhill/Berkeley
Posted from: 66.87.88.5
April 17th, 2005 14:03
I’ve competed mostly on the california circuit and haven’t had the opportunity to attend the big circuit names outside of the state so here are my personal favorite california tournaments.
BEST AWARDS: I’ve never broken there but I’ve always wanted a CPS trophy :)
BEST COMPETITION: Stanford…the competition was truely intense this year and I enjoyed all of my rounds.
BEST HOSPITALITY: CPS hands down. This is probably the most accomadating tournament I’ve been to ever. Plus there’s free food - a benefit unavailable anywhere else I attended this year.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: Tie between Stanford and CPS…CPS ran earlier which is certainly a feat but stanford deserves honorable mention because its staff could check each of the rounds going to make sure things ran smoothly which is a feat for such a big tournament.
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Berkeley…For the last two years, I’ve had at least 1 round in the engineering building. I’m hoping its a sign.
BEST JUDGING: Stanford
BEST TRADITIONS: League Debate (ok…fine laugh). The awards speech at the end is always warm and cozy.
MOST FUN: Berkeley because its our team trip.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: CPS is what got me hooked onto debate my freshman year and the tournament that introduced me to varsity debate sophomore year.
OVERALL FAVORITE: CPS. It’s always been my personal favorite and I’ve always made it a point to attend every year. In summary, CPS rocks. Long live CPS!
Posted from: 143.229.132.226
April 18th, 2005 15:05
I’ll refrain from mentioning the Vassar Round Robin, since I’m biased, but I think it could get props in all of those categories. ;o) (And I appreciate those who gave it a shout out above! You rock.)
I’m also going to leave out VBT, in case I appear to have a conflict of interest. (Not because I’m the VB staff, mind you, but because I won the “Friend of Victor” Award, which would easily tip every award in VBT’s favor.) Nonetheless, I think VBT rocks and you should come.
Anyway, the task at hand:
BEST AWARDS: Nationals, the NCFL, and St. Mark’s all had pretty awesome awards. Lexington’s new awards this year for both the tournament and round robin were all awesome. (The Ikea vases at the Skyway were also pretty neat, in all honesty.)
BEST COMPETITION: Greenhill, St. Mark’s, and Emory probably most cleanly fit this bill. The move to accept more entries per school into St. Mark’s was controversial, but I’m glad I’ll be able to take five students from Bronx Science to experience a true octas-level tournament next year. Lexington had the best and most concentrated competition in the Northeast this year.
BEST HOSPITALITY: I’ll answer this question in terms of food, and the presentation of such. The hospitality at Hen Hud is unmatched, thanks to an army of really neat parents who stock the judges’ lounge like no other. Apple Valley and Greenhill also had absurdly nice people treating us like kings and queens at mealtime; this level of kindness was experienced in all aspects of all three tournaments. The same should be said as well about the Lexington Round Robin and CBI.
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF: This is really tough, because I’ve been bowled over by the care and individual attention of a wide variety of tournament directors and their staff, and this care frequently bleeds over to other aspects of the tournament (hospitality, ambiance, judging, traditions, and so on). I’ll single out a few people, though.
Mike Bietz made the Skyway one of the most laid-back, enjoyable, and original tournaments I’ve ever attended. Lynne Coyne bent over backwards to make Lexington (and its new round robin) an “event” more than just a “tournament.” Pam Cady Wycoff was absurdly accommodating and nice to us this year - our first time at the tournament - and Apple Valley will definitely be a part of the Bronx schedule in future years. Jane Boyd is incredibly cool and one of the liveliest and most helpful tab room directors ever. Jim Menick is a machine: he single-handledly manages a very large tournament and manages to shoehorn in a few corny jokes and crappy prizes along the way. Finally, Pat Fitch was so helpful in making plans for CBI and making our stay comfortable that it’s almost ridiculous.
BEST VENUE/AMBIANCE: Greenhill. Hands down. Peacocks! A warm weekend in Texas! Aaron Timmons, as implied under my picks for “best hospitality,” goes out of his way to create a great atmosphere for one of the earliest tournaments of the year.
For honorable mentions, when you’re on the campus and not in town, Yale is pretty rockin’. Also, while the venue changes, the ambiance at Nationals in general is amazing. It *feels* like a national championship. I know some bemoan the week-long schedule; I think it’s awesome and gives the tournament the feel of a convention. (Nerd alert!)
The atmosphere at St. Mark’s and Blake are wonderful. The Holidazzle parade is awesome!
BEST JUDGING: St. Mark’s use of MJP guaranteed, at least in our case, that the only complaints we could have about judging were our own fault. Last season, Hen Hud had the best judging overall of any tournament I’ve attended that season or this season. Blake and Greenhill also had awesome judging.
BEST TRADITIONS: Hen Hud’s traveling soup can and the keys, named tutorials, and invitations to judges (sorry, “professors”) to serve as critics of the late tutorials make this category easy.
MOST FUN: Blake and St. Mark’s are just awesome: great people, nice amounts of downtime, and an atmosphere conducive to hanging out, catching up, and enjoying oneself. If nothing else, Harvard is a lot of fun. Liz Rogers calls it the “U.S. Open” of debate. The block scheduling of rounds allows for a lot of downtime to explore the snowy streets surrounding Harvard Square and get little packages of sushi from the market down the street from Cambridge Rindge. Hen Hud and Lexington are also a lot of fun.
Getting a guided tour by Bietz of Edina, Eagan, and the surrounding area and taking a day trip to the Mall of America on our trip to Apple Valley was also pretty ridiculously amazing.
CBI was a ton of fun this year, and not just because of the awesome restaurant at which Pat wines and dines us.
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE: The aforementioned Apple Valley excursion makes it an entry into this category, but the clear frontrunners are Lakeland’s Westchester Classic and Emory.
OVERALL FAVORITE: Lexington, St. Mark’s, Hen Hud, Apple Valley, and Blake/Skyway.
Posted from: 24.6.18.181
April 18th, 2005 15:34
Jon’s post reminded me that I forgot to add that CBI’s practically incomparable hospitality deserves recognition.
Posted from: 24.9.178.42
April 21st, 2005 13:54
Jon pestered me into putting up my local list of best tournaments, so unless you’re from Denver area (or CO at all, for that matter), you’ll be lost. so……..
BEST AWARDS–i guess unique would be CSU (a box of chocolates); but the best would be either golden mullen or wheatridge.
BEST COMPETITION–creek/east or our freaking nat quals district
BEST JUDGING–creek/east or CSU (i got ALL flow judges at CSU. in CO)
BEST TOURNAMENT STAFF–cheyenne east. no doubt.
MOST FUN–cheyenne central
MOST SENTIMENTAL VALUE–cheyenne central or cherry creek
OVERALL FAVORITE–cheyenne central
i know i put cheyenne central up a lot. here’s why: every year, for some reason, we take a HUGE team up there. plus, because it’s overnight and out of state, everybody goes crazy. this year, we lured a kid from our team into our dark room and threw outback coasters at him for a good 20 minutes. and, i had a terrible prelim draw (all novices and tristen cramer) but then i had one of the hardest elim draws ever (tristen cramer again, michael arnold, and miriah dobbs). it was muy excellente.
cheyenne east was run so well i peed a little. two drops came out.
Posted from: 216.17.5.65
October 9th, 2005 08:40
I just love Blake. There’s something about debating in hotel rooms… It didn’t hurt that our team witnessed an epic rap battle between Kevin Troy and Bryce Nyeggen.