A Tale of Two Academic Teams

Chapter 19: Debate's Last Stand

This game is fiercely competitive, however, this time around, TJHSST dominates science while the Venomous Agendas dominate history, with arts and literature being much more wide open. And yet, it seems like, as they go along, there are questions locking both teams into a buzzer race. Like the next-to-last tossup. At this point, the Venomous Agendas are trailing by 45 points. The high-pressure situation makes Sadie's heart beat loudly in her chest, and her thoughts race against the clock. If I answer either tossup incorrectly, we're toast, and it will also reflect poorly on the debate world... Never mind that Bellarmine didn't, last year, make it to the top-20, and neither Boston Latin nor Greenhill B were even in the top-100.

While both teams' literature players seem to be ready to buzz in at any time, they feel like they must wait for the right opportunity to do so. Both are sweating as the moderator reads faster. Sadie's racing thoughts stop when Anna buzzes in, 3 words before the power mark, and beating the opponent by a split-second.

"Anne Frank!" Anna then shouts, feeling at the top of her game.

"Fifteen. For ten points each..."

The Venomous Agendas then proceed to answer all 3 bonus parts correctly. But, with the game tied, now everyone is on the edge of their seats, with only five seconds on the clock. And every player wondering if the moderator will start reading the next tossup before the bell rings or not.

Plus Warren is watching the bracket on the companion app, realizing the winner of this game would go on to play the winner of the game between Boston Latin and DCC A. He crosses his fingers that the Venomous Agendas would play the Wolfpack again, believing DCC A to be a stronger opponent than Boston Latin.

"Final tossup..." Hector starts reading the question, with the bell ringing while the first clue isn't finished.

The moderator starts spreading after the bell rings, leaving everyone dumbfounded, since they can't understand anything the moderator is saying. Except for the policy and LD players in the audience. I get HSNCT moderators speak faster than conversational speed, but never would I have imagined a quiz bowl mod to spread like a policy or LD player at an inter-state tournament! Sadie thinks furiously.

"Protest; the moderator has been reading the question too quickly for us to understand anything!" Sadie shouts, her face turning red, and, because of her line of sight, addresses the audience as well. "Now you understand what spreading feels like in policy or progressive Lincoln-Douglas rounds!"

"Please stand by while we get a set of replacement questions" Hector, visibly embarrassed by having to throw out a question because of a protest, announces, while leaving the room.

And... DCC A wins, 370-295. So either we play DCC or TJHSST will, Warren thinks, while the crowd is gasping at Sadie dropping the word spreading.

"Spreading?" a surprised spectator asks, having never heard of spreading in the context of talking speed.

"Spreading is just very fast talking. And that's why I don't play policy or progressive Lincoln-Douglas" Sadie answers the spectator.

The audience then laughs with the players but stop laughing when the moderator returns with additional questions in tow. Because the game is tied, and there was one regulation tossup left to go, the protest is allowed to proceed.

"The real final tossup!" Hector announces, while the emotions still run high from this final tossup read too quickly for their own good. "The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 and its signatories pledged to ban substances destroying this atmospheric layer"

And now I'm reminded not so much of past tournaments, but of older games I watched for flowing exercises, where people argued prison overcrowding led to breaches of the Montreal Protocol, which then leads to the destruction of the ozone layer, Sadie thinks before buzzing in.