BDL HS Tournament 4 at Suffolk Law School
2019 — Boston, MA, MA/US
BDL Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show Hideperformance debate friendly
if using framework argument, please be specific as to which one you are using (i.e resolution specific, internal or external framework)
spreading is welcome but please be sure to make clear your main arguments
if you have any other question please feel free to reach out
adesijidemilade@gmail.com
Please add mosieburkebdl@gmail.com to the email chain.
Hello! My name is Mosie (MO-zee), he/him/his. Please use my name instead of “judge”.
Personal and professional background:
I debated for Boston Latin Academy from 2011-2017, and was part of the first team from the Boston Debate League (UDL) to break to Varsity elimination rounds on the national circuit, bid, and qualify to the TOC. I attended Haverford College (B.A. Philosophy, Statistics minor) for my undergraduate studies and Northeastern University (MBA/M.S. Accounting) for graduate school. I currently work as an accountant for a software company in the Boston area. Liv Birnstad and I co-coach the Boston Debate League’s Travel Team, which is composed of students from multiple schools within the Boston UDL.
Short Version:
-Offense-Defense.
-I have experience judging and coaching traditional policy, Kritik, and Performance styles.
-High familiarity with many literature bases for Kritiks. This increases your burden to explain your theory well, and I will not do theoretical work for you.
-I have prioritized developing my understanding of counterplan strategies and competition theory, and I am a better judge for CP/Disad strategies than I have been in previous seasons.
-All speeds OK, please prioritize your flowability. I will say “clear” twice before docking speaks for clarity.
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I have judged 0 tournaments on the intellectual property topic. I coach and write arguments of all styles on the intellectual property topic.
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Longer Version:
Style
Speed is fine, but it should not come at the expense of clarity or flowability. I will say “clear” twice before docking speaks for clarity.
I welcome rounds with numerous off-case positions, but keep in mind that I flow on paper and I need pen time.
Make my job easy! If you bury important arguments in an unclear wall of noise because you’re speeding through your blocks, I probably won’t catch them. Example: if your 2AC frontline against a core counterplan includes 4-5 uncarded arguments before you read evidence, you should read those uncarded arguments more slowly than you would read the highlighted lines in a card.
Cross-examination should be conducted intentionally and strategically. It should not be an attempt to phrase gross mischaracterizations of your opponents’ arguments as questions. Don't be cruel, disrespectful, or belittling. CX where both debaters are continuously talking at the same time is a pet peeve.
The 2NR and 2AR should prioritize persuasiveness and focus on condensing the debate where possible. They should not just be a list of semi-conceded arguments.
In the absence of guidance from tournament admin I follow NSDA guidelines for evidence violations, including card clipping, improper citation, and misrepresentation of evidence.
Please take steps to minimize tech delays. Set up the email chain and check your internet connection before the round start time. You should be able to reply-all and attach a document without significantly delaying the round. Putting cards in a doc before your speech is prep time.
Case
I love a robust case debate! Neg teams should aim to have a variety of arguments on each important case page. Impact defense usually isn’t sufficient to contest an advantage scenario on its own. State good usually isn’t a sufficient case answer against a K aff. Most 2NRs should spend time on the case.
I find alt cause arguments more persuasive than recutting solvency evidence to make a counterplan that addresses the alt causes.
Please extend the substance of your case arguments, instead of “dropped A1 means nuke war, case outweighs on magnitude.”
Overviews should accomplish specific goals, and if your overview does not have a purpose I would rather it not be present in your speech. If there is a lengthy overview on a flow, please tell me during your roadmap.
Topicality & Theory
I love these debates when they are intentional and clever, and I strongly dislike these debates when they’re just an exercise in reading blocks. I was a 1N who took the T page in every round, and I will appreciate your strategic concessions, decisionmaking, and tricks.
I will vote on theory arguments if you win them. If your theory argument is silly, I will find it less persuasive and it will be more difficult to win.
Kritiks
I am well-versed in most K literature frequently used in debates (and you should ask if you'd like to know about my familiarity with your specific K author). This has 2 important implications for K teams:
1. I will know what you’re talking about when you explain and use the details of your theory. I will reward solid understanding of theoretical nuances that are relevant to your K if you communicate them and use them strategically.
2. I will not extrapolate the details of your theory for you. It is important that you clearly communicate the theoretical nuances you're using to make your arguments. “Ontology means we win” isn’t a complete argument, even though I know how to connect those dots.
Performance is 100% fine by me. If you incorporate a performance as part of your aff's methodology, I will evaluate is as I would any other methodology, so please incorporate it in later speeches and make sure I know why it's important.
In Policy aff vs K 2NR debates, the team that wins framework will usually win the round.
Counterplans
I’ve recently made a significant effort to improve my understanding of these debates after identifying it as a weak point in my judging and coaching abilities. I have a new appreciation for competition debates, process CPs, conditionality, and the like, and I’m looking forward to judging more counterplan/disad strategies! Please slow down a little on the frontlines that are rapid-fire analytics and the 2AC/2NC theory blocks.
I can conceptually come to terms with 2NC counterplans in response to 2AC add-ons, but I don’t like them very much, and I would prefer to avoid debates that require new cards going into the 2NR/2AR.
On theory debates about counterplan planks, perm severance & intrinsicness, etc. I will default to reject the argument until you make an argument for reject the team.
Disadvantages & Impact Comparison
I want to understand your scenario as early in the debate as possible, so please make it clear and explain the link chain. You should have an explanation of the story of the disadvantage that is as concrete and jargon-free as possible, especially at the top of the 2NR.
Impact comparison should be composed of persuasive arguments, not a magnitude-probability-timeframe-turns case checklist.
Semifinalist at NAUDL in 2018
Qualified for NSDA in 2017/2018
Debated 6 years in the Boston Debate League
Email: forges.f.bla2@gmail.com
4 years policy debate experience at Ronald Reagan High School. In college but not debating.
Plans ( or the lack thereof) - Plans are cool. Not having a plan is also cool. I'd like to think that I'll vote on whatever kind of aff you run, plan or not, as long as it has some impacts and a way to solve them. I ran affs with plans (of sorts), but I enjoyed a lot of non-plan affs that I ran into. Just make sure that if its a no-plan aff you make sure I understand the theory behind it, as well as what it is you do do. An explanation of the role of the ballot would be helpful.
I'm also throwing performance under the no-plan umbrella. It's fine too.
Kritiks - I like kritiks. I ran them. I think it's really annoying when they're really generic, but really fun if they're really specific. I'm also not a fan of jargon, since it's pretty useless unless you have background knowledge about the specific K. Even if I do understand it, I find that often it's a poor substitute for more specific explanation. I might know the phrases you're using, but if I don't know what it has to do with the aff it's pretty useless.
Counterplans and Disadvantages - I have no particular feelings or thoughts about these. They are useful arguments.
Theory - I'll vote on it. Not necessarily as a reason to reject the team though, so prove that. Go slow or I can't flow it and you won't win on it.
Topicality - I went for topicality a lot, but I'm not sure if that means I'll vote on it more because I think it's a fun argument or less because I have higher standards for it. Make sure you develop it fully throughout the debate - I'll be hard-pressed to vote for a topicality violation that the block spent 30 seconds on. I default to competing interpretations, but I can be persuaded otherwise. Go slow.
For speaks, I guess just be clear and persuasive. Go a bit slower on tags and cites and/or do something fairly obvious when going to the next card. It gets really difficult to flow and keep things in order when everything is the same speed and there's no sign of when a card begins and ends.
Be respectful to everyone in the room. Flashing is prep. I'll say clear a couple times if you're unclear. I'll probably stop trying to flow after that. I'm really bad at timing so I prefer not to do it. I'll default to the debaters being in charge of timing. Or you could take the risk having me time and see which team ends up with a couple extra minutes of prep (I love a good gamble).
Ask me whatever other questions you have before the round.
Hello, I'm Julie and I've judged Policy, Congress, PF, Speech etc. at the TOC, national qualifiers and at the Massachusetts state and local level for a decade.
Policy: If you are amazing at spreading, I have a hard time understanding at the highest velocity, so try to remember to slow it down. I'm willing to have a debater persuade me of a technical violation, but it's not of default focus for me, so articulate it clearly.
Congress: I highly value mutual respect for one another in my chambers, so please be persuasive while also being respectful. Argue the issues, not the people. I immensely dislike rudeness as I think it's a malady of the times.
Thanks,
Important note for in-person tournaments only: I am disabled and use a trained service dog. If you’re in a room with me, there will be a dog quietly laying under my chair. The dog will not touch you, get close to you, or acknowledge your existence at all.
That being said, IF YOU HAVE A FEAR OF DOGS SO BAD YOU CANNOT BE IN A ROOM WITH ONE, please tell someone so they can assign you a different judge.
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Current Affiliation: Boston Debate League
Background: Debated PF in Eastern Europe for seven years, been judging policy and PF in Boston for seven more.
Rounds judged this year: n/a
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Background:
- I'm a pretty standard tab judge. I'm happy to vote on any sort of issue as long as as there is decent weighing and impact analysis explaining to me why I should vote for it.
- That being said, I will drop arguments that are clearly offensive (racist/ableist/homophobic/etc.)
- It is important to me that you extend your arguments if you want me to vote on them: I very strongly tend towards the flow and voting on positions that have been present throughout the debate.
- Jargon and spreading are totally fine with me. I do flow much better if you help me out with good organization - signposting and roadmaps are always fantastic.
- I strongly prefer being presented with a framework: I strongly dislike brining my own values into a debate. It makes the round very hard to adjudicate.
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Subjective preferences:
(I try not to vote on these, but I do want to acknowledge my personal biases!)
- The kind of round I like listening to best sticks very closely to the topic: stock issues, disadvantages, counterplans, counterwarrants, topicality, etc.
- I'm more inclined to vote on a Kritik if you relate them to what is currently happening in the room (or at least explain why they're relevant)
- I can and will vote on theory if the need arises, I just personally find it tedious and I won't enjoy the round as much.
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Stylistic notes and speaker points:
- I prefer you use variation in your tone in order to highlight important issues. This will have a positive effect on your speaks.
- Overly hostile behavior is unpleasant. Talking over each other in cross-ex, raising your voice in an attempt to threaten or silence, or making rude comments about your opponents themselves rather than their arguments will lower your speaks the more you do them.
- While jargon and spreading is good ***with me***, I do ask that you clear it with everyone in the room first and offer accommodations if anyone needs them.