A Tale of Two Academic Teams

Chapter 10: The Road to Isidore Newman

The non-Congressional female players all meet at lunch the next day, concerned about Sadie's unhealthy obsessions.

"There's something really fishy with you, Sadie. These past few weeks, all you seem to talk about is..." Rebecca starts.

"Yes, I know, Grapevine and DCC" Sadie sighs.

"You must stop, please; this is getting on our nerves!" Daisy warns Sadie. "I get it, we all played poorly except for Chantal"

"You said it so yourself that tournament grids were inconsistent. For me this means my files vs the topics, for you it means bad schematic (i.e., who you play against) luck, for everyone bad judging luck. This year, to give myself the best shot at competing in most tournaments, I am taking AP US Government because, last season, my then-weakness in domestic topics made me play poorly at times" Chantal harangues the other girls. 

"If you had any idea of what we all have to endure in debate games... for me, it would be opponents rattling off elaborate theoretical and critical arguments at blistering speeds, with little regard, if any, to the resolution" Daisy rants about her experience of LD rounds.

"You can be lucky, Chantal, that at least extemp still has some respect for how grounded the speeches' contents must be to their topics, and whether their content can be understood by the audience: our policy opponents often use jargon-coated evidence to support dubious arguments that, as with LD, disregard the resolution and are delivered exceedingly fast" Rebecca adds to this chorus of complaints. "There's a reason why I look up to Chantal and Sadie before that, and honestly, they aren't that different in how they approach their events"

Rebecca is right. The main reason why the coach, last season, kept comparing me to Florence, especially when I used to perform well, is because Flo, and I as well, always tended to ensure that any argument she put forth and defended was grounded in facts and logic, as well as any evidence used to support them. In short, substance, Sadie reflects on her first season on the team.

"Maybe it has occurred to you that some circuits will favor a certain playstyle over another. It might have worked well for us in our own circuit, but everything's bigger in Texas and not just field sizes. While we can handle JPG and Bolton just fine, we're going to need more than that for Southside and, more importantly, Isidore Newman" Sadie responds to her teammates.

"Exactly. We all have our issues about the game, but our playstyle is more useful in everyday speaking" Rebecca adds.

While it may seem that the worst of her anxiety issues is past her, she feels her zone of confidence is still very local. However, between quiz bowl, debate practice, and her own studies, she wonders how much money she has left after she decided to use the money from coaching DCC towards her therapy co-pay (her parents' insurance covers therapy).

Weeks later, she checks on DCC, on which, during the weeks after Grapevine, and even one week after Teurlings Catholic, she obsessed over. Whereas the Venomous Agendas had JPG that weekend, DCC, on the other hand, makes a request to her.

"How have things been for you guys over in Michigan?" Sadie asks DCC's players.

"It's our turn to ask for a practice round. We have one last tournament before the MIFA state championship, Holt" DCC's players both plead with them.

While she asks Joe for his availabilities prior to JPG as for a second round, Joe rushes to Sadie's home. In the meantime, she keeps doing some changes to her opening statement...

"Do people on DCC's debate team know about us, or they seem too focused on LD?" Sadie asks the Shamrocks (i.e. DCC players).

"You guys are the only debaters we know from out-of-state. There might be a returning LD player or two that could be asking questions about how we improved on last season, but all they know about you is you coach us. They know nothing about your tournament grid" Francis answers Sadie's question.