Three days later, Santa Clara Invitational is finally over. Although Paly didn't win the tournament, we brought home some serious metal. Here's the results:
We cleared 7 novii into elims, and of those, two (sidharth and Andrew) got into semis! We also cleared three varsity lders into elims, with Ben (me) and Sosi dropping in octas, but Himmat Singh dropping in quarters after having a bye in octas. 3/4 of our speechies cleared to finals, and how they did remains unknown. Alex and Greg in policy both cleared to quarters.
At last count, Himatt was 5th speaker overall, Ben 10th and Sosi 11th. Greg Dunn in Policy also won 1st speaker!
Even though we didn't win the tournament like we used to, it was still a good weekend for Paly debate.
13 December 2010
11 December 2010
more scu
Second day is over! Finally! We had at least 4 hours of trig homework/doing nothing between each round, but we have survived! Here are the stats/updates:Ben (me) and Himmat Singh are definitely going to elimination (playoff) rounds, and we are currently unsure about Sosi and Haelin, both of whom did very well. Freshman Kevin Zhang came extremely close and missed elimination rounds by a hair in his final round. 3/4 of our speechies, inlcuding Kat and Elena in duo and Isabel in OPP broke to FINALS. It looks as if Paly will dominate this tournament again, continuing our long-standing tradition.
SCU refresh
Paly debate is rocking the Santa Clara debate tournament. Palo Alto has a long history of winning this tournament, and we expect to win it again this year. Ben Hawthorne (me) is going undefeated so far (YAY!), and the rest of Paly isn't far behind. It appears as if we're going to send at least 6 people to the elimination rounds. Paly's policy squad is also doing well, with Alex Lenail and Greg Dunn going 3-1.
Right now, we are in the middle of a four hour break in between rounds (FOUR HOURS!! We will only debate 3 rounds today!)The reason for our terribly long break between our rounds is because the speechies have to go to their rounds. Speaking of which, Paly speech is also rocking Santa Clara, with Kat and Elena having done either 1st or 3rd in their round, and Rebecca doing the same.
We have 30 minutes until our next round. I'll keep posting stats as the day goes on. Photos of us are coming soon.
Right now, we are in the middle of a four hour break in between rounds (FOUR HOURS!! We will only debate 3 rounds today!)The reason for our terribly long break between our rounds is because the speechies have to go to their rounds. Speaking of which, Paly speech is also rocking Santa Clara, with Kat and Elena having done either 1st or 3rd in their round, and Rebecca doing the same.
We have 30 minutes until our next round. I'll keep posting stats as the day goes on. Photos of us are coming soon.
01 December 2010
In defense of the bandwagon
With the recent overwhelming victory of the SF giants in the world series, there has been a great backlash against so-called "fair weather fans", i.e. those who only root for their team when they are winning. Equal hate has been directed against those who jump on the bandwagon to root for their team, even though they can hardly name a single player.
Admittedly, I fall into the category of bandwagon fan. I am incapable of naming more than a handful of players on the Giants (or any other major-league team), but I was a huge fan as the Giants won the series. As one of these, I can say that those who bitterly fight bandwagon fans are ruining sports, both for the bandwagoners and themselves.
Sports have never been intended to be for an elite club only, one who memorizes the Giants roster while checking their fantasy football, baseball and basketball teams. Rather, sports are there for the masses, including those who can't name a single football play but love to watch the Cardinal crush opponents. Sports have always been the circus part of the "bread and circuses" appeal to the masses (circuses refers to Roman chariot racing, not Barnum and Bailey). Sport fanatics trying to exclude those who don't diligently follow every game are trying to defeat the purpose of sport, public entertainment.
Finally, there's no problem with "fair-weather fans", those who only start watching their team when the team is winning. This is perfectly reasonable. Nobody likes a terrible team, not even the diehards who boast about following the Giants even while they were losing. It's unreasonable to expect someone who has better things to do than watch sports their whole life to follow a team even when doing so gives them no enjoyment.
Sport-diehards doing nothing but hurt themselves when they tell everyday folk who don't follow sports obsessively that they aren't
"real fans" and make them stop following the sports.
Admittedly, I fall into the category of bandwagon fan. I am incapable of naming more than a handful of players on the Giants (or any other major-league team), but I was a huge fan as the Giants won the series. As one of these, I can say that those who bitterly fight bandwagon fans are ruining sports, both for the bandwagoners and themselves.
Sports have never been intended to be for an elite club only, one who memorizes the Giants roster while checking their fantasy football, baseball and basketball teams. Rather, sports are there for the masses, including those who can't name a single football play but love to watch the Cardinal crush opponents. Sports have always been the circus part of the "bread and circuses" appeal to the masses (circuses refers to Roman chariot racing, not Barnum and Bailey). Sport fanatics trying to exclude those who don't diligently follow every game are trying to defeat the purpose of sport, public entertainment.
Finally, there's no problem with "fair-weather fans", those who only start watching their team when the team is winning. This is perfectly reasonable. Nobody likes a terrible team, not even the diehards who boast about following the Giants even while they were losing. It's unreasonable to expect someone who has better things to do than watch sports their whole life to follow a team even when doing so gives them no enjoyment.
Sport-diehards doing nothing but hurt themselves when they tell everyday folk who don't follow sports obsessively that they aren't
"real fans" and make them stop following the sports.
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