Ask Cruz: Volume XI

NEW YORK, N.Y. — I was surprised by how many people e-mailed me demanding to know where “Ask Cruz” was this past Monday. The answer? It was in my brain, eager to get on to a blog post, but kept up there because of a heinous problem at the airport with Continental. But, hey, that’s life. I’m preparing to direct the tab room at the Newark Debates this weekend — and will probably include some trivia right on the schematics — so don’t be surprised if next Monday’s article is Newark-themed.

As always, you can post further queries regarding debate trivia right here on VBD, and I’ll select a few to answer in my next installment. Alternatively, you can e-mail me directly.

Nick Bubb asks, “I know Jason Baldwin is the only person to appear in the final round of the TOC twice. Has anyone ever appeared in the final round of Nationals twice?”

Yes. A perhaps little-known fact: Andrew Jacobs of Downers Grove was twice defeated in the final round of Nationals. In 1984, he lost to David Yalof of Bronx Science. In 1985, he lost to Patrick Bannon of Regis. Rough!

David Vivera asks, “Has there ever been a major round robin (i.e. Greenhill/MBA/Big Bronx) that has invited more than one debater from the same school to play ball….? (i.e., two competitors invited from Team X to participate in the same round robin.)”

Yes, and, in fact, it’s not as uncommon as you might think. While, the format of the MBA Round Robin — there are no pods — makes two entries from a school impossible, the Greenhill and Bronx Round Robins both have two pods. (Greenhill has sixteen participants, Bronx has twelve.) Thus, having two entries from the same school is possible.

This year’s Greenhill Round Robin featured two pairs of same-school debaters: Hockaday’s Joan Gass and Lindsay Dolan, and Colleyville Heritage’s Arti Bhatia and Rahim Sayani. Trinity Prep’s Jake Nebel and Ravi Sankar both debated in this year’s Bronx Round Robin. Two years ago, Corbin Cass and David Weeks were a ballot away from closing out the Bronx Round Robin.

Paras Kumar asks, “This is one I really am curious about. Has there ever been a freshman that has qualled to the TOC? If so, who and how did they do?”

As noted in Ask Cruz: Volume III, there have been three freshmen to attend the TOC.

Isidore Newman’s Justin Osofsky was the first; Hendrick Hudson’s Craig Gilbert was the second. This past season, St. Louis Park’s Catherine Tarsney became the third.

Justin went on to win such tournaments as the New York City Invitational (”Big Bronx”), the Glenbrooks, and Nationals. Craig — who later competed for Horace Mann, though was still affiliated with the Hen Hud team — no longer debates. Catherine is now a sophomore. So far this season, she has defended her Iowa Caucus title, won the Dowling Catholic Paradigm, and was in finals at Omaha-Westside.

To answer your direct question, since it’s a matter of public record: Justin cleared as a freshman. Craig went 2-5. Catherine went 4-3.

These three names get cited a lot, but actually, there was a fourth freshman who qualified. Maria Arhancet of Taylor qualified to the TOC as a novice, earning her first bid at the Isidore Newman Classic. She chose not to attend the tournament. She later transferred to Ladue Horton Watkins in Missouri and became less active in national circuit debate.

Zak Pyzik asks, “Has there ever been an NFL Nat Champ that didnt qual or get an at large to TOC?”

The National Champions from 1981 to 1985 failed to qualify to the TOC because there was not a Lincoln-Douglas division at the TOC.

Okay, I can hear the cricket noise that follows a failed joke. Actually, that wasn’t really a joke. But, yeah. Anyway. The most recent National Champion to not attend the TOC was Dan Vukelich of Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School. He won in 1996.

Julian Switala asks, “Who gave you Blade Runner?”

The five-disc, twenty-fifth anniversary Ultimate Edition of Blade Runner: The Final Cut was a gift from my parents for the holidays. It’s unquestionably my favorite film outside of the Star Wars universe. And the briefcase the DVDs come in kind of resemble the briefcase Adam Torson used in high school, which makes it that much cooler.

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Jon Cruz isn’t all that surprised about Sean Young.

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