Sign up here: First Debate Tournament of 2008

Originally posted by TheDuckster
Any news on when the matches begin?

Check your U2U. We can start a practice round soon.

The roster is full? Oh well, maybe next time...
Good luck, one and all.

reply to post by jsobecky


I never knew you were interested!!!!

I will make sure I let you know next time my friend...

Would love to have you jump in...

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis

Add me to that list as well. I wish I had seen this thread in time... would have loved to participate.

reply to post by semperfortis


Thanks, semper, although I don't know how much fight I have left after 15 years of marriage.

[edit on 2-2-2008 by jsobecky]

If all those who wished they made it in time were counted as well as alternates ... how close would that be to extending the bracket to include them?

Is that just not feasible?

Just curious, since, there seems to be a lot on standby and/or disappointed.

Just checking in with you guys. I've been sick as a dog this weekend, and instead of resting up I've been laying on cold concrete replacing a motor mount that broke Friday night, so I haven't been terribly active, but those of you who have challenge matches coming up will have your threads open later this evening.

There will be call for backups. I see several people have already spoken up for that- anyone else who is interested, by all means speak up.

reply to post by The Vagabond


Hey Vaga!

I've accepted my buddy's (few posts above) proposal to spar with him. We contacted each other via U2U's. Haven't heard back from him in a while.

Side Note: Sorry to hear that you're sick Vaga. I've been staving off alot of sickness in the last while. Usually around this time of year, I end up snagging the tail-end of somebodies cold or flu; down for the 10 count at that point...Gack! So far soooo good. (knocking on wood)

~Ducky~

Next time around I would love to get in on this as well.

[edit on 3-2-2008 by Animal]

I would most like to participate vagabond. Hope I can do so without making an arse of myself.

It is my sad duty to announce that several fighters have been disqualified from this tournament for non-participation in their practice debates.

Kenshiro2012 and GUNSINWAR have been removed from this tournament roster.
Jsobecky and damajikninja have been added to the roster.

1. semperfortis 14
2. Loki 11
3. MemoryShock 11
4. Argos 6
5. GAOTU789 5
6. Skyfloating 5 (match underway, may gain 2 or lose 2)
7. TruthWithin 4
8. budski 4
9. illusionsaregrander 3
10. NYK537 2
11. FreeThinkerIdealist 2
12. Sublime620 1
13. Northern
14. LDragonFire
15. dominusluciferi
16. TLomon
17. bodrul (match underway- may gain 2)
18. jitombe
19. TheDuckster
20. thesaint
21. whatukno (challenge match underway, may gain 2)
22. Parabol
23. jsobecky
24. damajikninja

OMG some of my best friends on the forum are entered. I wish I had seen this sooner. I would love to participate but alas you win some you loose some, please count me in on the next one! Best of luck to all of you and if I can help any of you in any way catch me in chat or U2U me anytime.

Click here for more information.

I am disappointed to have won the way I did...

I would like to remind everyone here that, in some cases, its' not about the winning or losing, but providing a well thought discussion by which to sharpen our minds. There is nothing like being given a topic that you don't agree with and attempting to convince someone that it is holy writ....

I am personally disappointed that kenshiro was unable to complete the debate because I was excited about the topic and wanted to spar.....please remember that if you accept a debate, then you are obligated at the very least to communicate to your opponent as well as The Vagabond if something comes up that prevents you in any way from continuing.

Don't take a debate if you think that there is a reasonable chance that you may forfeit!! It's just polite...

That said....I'm just going to be forced to assume that the strength of my arguement was what scared kenshiro away.....

I have been informed that Northern will not be able to participate in the tournament. Animal has been added to the roster.

We need more backups!

Matches that will affect ranking for the tournament must be started by the 7th. If you are waiting on me for something, remind me! If you're waiting on something else, quit waiting and get going.


1. semperfortis 14
2. Loki 11
3. MemoryShock 11
4. Argos 6
5. GAOTU789 5
6. Skyfloating 5 (match underway, may gain 2 or lose 2)
7. TruthWithin 4
8. budski 4
9. illusionsaregrander 3
10. NYK537 2
11. FreeThinkerIdealist 2
12. Sublime620 1
13. LDragonFire
14. dominusluciferi
15. TLomon
16. bodrul (match underway- may gain 2)
17. jitombe
18. TheDuckster
19. thesaint
20. whatukno (challenge match underway, may gain 2)
21. Parabol
22. jsobecky
23. damajikninja
24. Animal

Originally posted by semperfortis
TLomon,

It is random and assigned, HOWEVER...

I have seen instances where if both debaters agree, the "Pro and Con" have been switched...

For the sake of fairness, in a tournament you can not pick your topic, that just makes sense. If you could I would argue Criminal Justice each time..

It's really all up to TheVagabond as the tournament master he is very fair and open as you can see...

I rather prefer random in my case and I don't think I have ever chosen a side either. Makes it a lot more exciting and WAY more challenging. I have argued a number of times on something I absolutely DO NOT believe... It's fun...

Semper

I would seriously be interested in participating in the debates(even as an alternate) were it not for the random assignment of debate subject thrown at me to which I have no conviction(or at least a logical tilt), or passion. I question the expected breadth and depth of the debates without considering this. How do we expect to convince anyone in such a short time, when one feels opposite, or does not care(B. Spears was mentioned earlier) to the subject matter to start with. A couple days of furious googling cannot compensate for the years of knowledge, and its attendent position, passion to the subject matter.

Most of us are not used car salesman(forgive me if anyone here is) pitching and selling a story we don't believe in. Aside from developing one's debating skills as a mere technical excercise, one would be expected to have a tough time convincing oneself, never mind the debate opponent nor the forum audience. Besides one needs to be convinced by the opposing debater taking the opposing view, and not BEFORE the start of the debate. I cannot possibly imagine Ron Paul convincingly taking the side of the expanded role of the federal government, and Obama opposing it.

Correct me if I am wrong but the awsome(it really was) debate between TheVagabond and semperfortis was based on such inherent personal conviction to the debate subject, and if I am wrong about this, well, you guys are helluva car salesmen, or was it a busy "pen" followed by hasty action of the "sword". Perhaps for the future debates, a mutual agreement between the debaters can be entertained as far as picking debate subjects are concerned, or in the least, chosen from a long list(plenty of potential subjects judging from various ATS forums) in line with one's own attitudinal proclivity.

[edit on 5-2-2008 by NeedToNo]

Sweet! I just saw my name on the roster!

Ok, so this is my first time on the debate list... what happens next? I'll go read all the forum stickies I can find...

reply to post by damajikninja



What happens next? I recommend finding a practice or challenge match post haste!!

It needs to begin by the 7th, per The Vagabond, and would be a great way for you to get a feel for the process. Also, read up on past debates to see all the different styles employed by various fighters....

reply to post by NeedToNo

Correct me if I am wrong but the awsome(it really was) debate between TheVagabond and semperfortis was based on such inherent personal conviction to the debate subject

You would be mistaken about that...

In all of my debates, I have had to argue a side I was not convicted on in about 50% of the time...

The idea is to win the debate..... You are "fighting" your opponent, not the debate topic... Now in order to do that, you must present a valid argument and in good form with lots of research, but it really is all about the opponent.

In simpler terms, one uses the debate topic to defeat the opponent.

Hope that makes sense.

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


Great point. It's really about learning how to learn. To understand the structure and composition of arguments This way you can learn to debate any point, regardless of the topic.