Debaters' Choice Awards - New and Improved

[Chris Burk]

I welcome you to the ninth incarnation of the Debaters Choice Awards. Yes, they're back. Most elements remain the same except the biographies are gone.

The Debaters Choice Awards brings the power back to the people themselves - the debaters. Virtually every award in our activity is decided by someone other than a debater. The DCA process allows debaters to voice their opinions.  It's definitely not a scientific poll & the DCAs should be considered completely unofficial.  It's all just for fun and entertainment.  

After an email correspondence with Dylan Quigley of Kansas, I offered to resume the DCAs.  I wish to thank Aaron Kall for originating and administrating the original Awards.  

Here's how it works. Only college debaters should submit a ballot. To be eligible, you need to have competed at least one college CX debate tournament during the 2009-2010 season. Each person should only vote once. Each person should craft an individual ballot; I reserve the right to reject ballots that just merely duplicated other ballots.  I will remove each person's name and email address from each ballot to ensure confidentiality when tabulating the results. Voters have until noon (central time) on May 26, 2010 to submit a ballot via email.  I will post the results of the voting as soon as I can tabulate them all. Please email your ballot to me at debaterschoiceawards at gmail.com

Not everyone will see this message in the CEDA forum so please forward this message to your teammates and friends. Please encourage the college debaters you know to submit a ballot. It's more fun when more people participate.

Any debater, judge or squad that does not wish to be considered may choose to opt out of the DCAs may simply emailing me to indicate such a preference. Please contact me by May 25, 2010 if you wish to opt out of the DCAs.  I will honor any such request when posting the results of the voting.

I will not be posting of biographies of the top ten varsity debaters. The bio statements too frequently caused trouble and offense in the past so I have decided to scrap them. I would also remind everyone that the CEDA Forums are moderated. Offensive posts, even if intended to be humorous, may be deleted.


Chris Burk



DCA 2010 Ballot

1. Best Varsity Debater of the Year?  Please indicate five and rank in order.


2. Best 2A of the year?


3. Best 2N of the year?


4. Best 1N of the year?


5. Best 1A of the year?


6. Speediest debater?


7. Most comprehensible debater?


8. Best theory debater?


9. Best debater at cross examination?


10. Most improved debater?


11. Most underrated team?


12. Best dressed debater?


13. Funniest debater?


14. Best rising sophomore (will be a sophomore during the 2010-2011 season)?


15. Best rising junior (will be a junior during the 2010-2011 season)?


16. Best senior debater next year (will be a senior during the 2010-2011 season)?



TEAMS (Partnerships)

17. Best overall team/partnership? Please indicate five and rank in order.


18. Best team on the Affirmative?


19. Best team on the Negative?


20. Best team running policy arguments?


21. Best team running kritiks?


22. Best team against kritiks / answering kritiks?


23. Team with most flexibility (between kritik and policy)?


24. Team which consistently read the shortest evidence?


25. Team that was most helpful and open during pre-round disclosure?



SQUADS

26. Squad you would most want to debate for, other than your own?


27. Best overall squad?


28. Best squad for novices and rookies?


29. Squad with the highest quality evidence?


30. Best squad at returning citation requests and/or posting accurate & current info to the wiki?


31. Worst squad at returning citation requests and/or posting accurate & current info to the wiki?



JUDGES, TOURNAMENTS and MISC.

32. Best overall judge? Please indicate three and rank in order.


33. Best first year judge? Please indicate three and rank in order.


34. Best overall debate tournament, excluding the NDT & CEDA Nationals?


35. Best tournament hospitality, excluding the NDT & CEDA Nationals?


36. Tournament with the best awards, excluding the NDT & CEDA Nationals?


37. Best tournament host hotel?


38. What topic area do you prefer for next season?


39. Do you prefer policy or kritik?


40. Do you favor imposing time limits (such as the ‘2 hours and 45 minutes’ rule) on rounds & decisions?


41. Would you prefer 6, 7, or 8 preliminary rounds at national-circuit tournaments during the regular season?




Voters have until noon (central time) on May 26, 2010 to submit a ballot via email. Please email your ballot to me at debaterschoiceawards at gmail.com  

[Chris Burk]

Just a reminder. Today is the last full day for debaters to submit a ballot in the Debaters' Choice Awards.  Please help to spread the word.  The deadline is noon (central time) on Wednesday, June 26.  I will be posting the results by the end of the week. 

[Chris Burk]

DCA 2010 Results

29 Ballots Counted (some ballots did not have votes in every category)

I’ve ranked the top three in most categories. I occasionally ranked more when the voting was close. I occasionally ranked less when the result was a landslide.

Thank you to everyone who participated & congratulations to the winners.


Chris Burk



1. Best Varsity Debater of the Year?  Please indicate five and rank in order.
1.   Stephen Weil, Emory - 122 points (21 first place votes)
2.   Matt Fisher, Northwestern -  66 (2)
3.   Eric Lanning, Michigan State - 65 (1)
4.   Stephanie Spies, Northwestern - 57 (2)
5.   Kevin Kallmyer, Mary Washington - 31 (1)
6.   Brian Rubaie, UT Dallas - 24
7.   Nate Cohn, Whitman - 19
8.   Will Sears, Wake Forest - 17
9.   Jim Schultz, West Georgia - 13
10.   Carly Wunderlich, Michigan State - 7
Also receiving votes (alphabetical order):  Cambre, Inamullah, Jacobs, Kearney, Polin, Stone, and Watts.


2. Best 2A of the year?
Stephanie Spies, Northwestern - 15
Brian Rubaie, UT Dallas - 6 (tie)
Kevin Kallmyer, Mary Washington - 6 (tie)


3. Best 2N of the year?
Stephen Weil, Emory - 20
No other person earned 3 or more


4. Best 1N of the year?
Stephanie Spies, Northwestern - 10
Brian Rubaie, UT Dallas - 8 (tie)
Ovais Inamullah, Emory - 8 (tie)


5. Best 1A of the year?
Eric Lanning, Michigan State - 12
Stephen Weil, Emory - 9
Matt Fisher, Northwestern - 6


6. Speediest debater?
Stephanie Spies, Northwestern - 19
No other person earned 3 or more


7. Most comprehensible debater?
Stephen Weil, Emory - 6
Brian Rubaie, UT Dallas - 4
Jim Schultz, West Georgia - 3 (tie)
Mike Kearney, Missouri State - 3 (tie)


8. Best theory debater?
Mike Kearney, Missouri State - 6 (tie)
Stephen Weil, Emory - 6 (tie)
Kevin Kallmyer, Mary Washington - 4


9. Best debater at cross examination?
Jim Schultz, West Georgia - 5
Will Sears, Wake Forest - 3


10. Most improved debater?
Peter Susko, Mary Washington - 5
Sam Crichton, Wake Forest - 3


11. Most underrated team?
Missouri State FK - 6
Mary Washington KS - 4
Iowa SV - 3


12. Best dressed debater?
Jim Schultz, West Georgia - 3 (tie)
Chris Spurlock, Central Oklahoma - 3 (tie)
Best answer: Retroactive vote for Jennings and the dragon shirt


13. Funniest debater?
Mike Kearney, Missouri State - 12 (tie)
Jim Schultz, West Georgia - 12 (tie)


14. Best rising sophomore (will be a sophomore during the 2010-2011 season)?
Rajesh Jegadeesh, Emory – 14
Ross Gordon, Emory – 4
Peyton Lee, Northwestern – 3
Best answer: Jacob Polin


15. Best rising junior (will be a junior during the 2010-2011 season)?
Mike Lacy, Georgia – 7
Mike Carlotti, Wake Forest – 5
Jordan Blumenthal, Northwestern – 4


16. Best senior debater next year (will be a senior during the 2010-2011 season)?
Stephen Weil, Emory – 18
Stephanie Spies, Northwestern – 3
No other person earned 3 or more


TEAMS (Partnerships)

17. Best overall team/partnership? Please indicate five and rank in order.
Emory Inamullah & Weil – 124 points (18 first place votes)
Northwestern Fisher & Spies – 113 (5)
Michigan State Lanning & Wunderlich – 93 ( 8 )
Harvard Jacobs & Parkinson – 31
UT Dallas Baker & Rubaie – 27 (1)
Others receiving votes (in alphabetical order): California BP, California BJ, Mary Washington KS, Missouri State FK, Oklahoma GW, Wake Forest CS, West Georgia BS, Whitman CS.


18. Best team on the Affirmative?
Northwestern Fisher & Spies – 14
UT Dallas Baker & Rubaie – 6
Emory Inamullah & Weil – 5
Michigan State Lanning & Wunderlich – 4


19. Best team on the Negative?
Emory Inamullah & Weil – 19
Michigan State Lanning & Wunderlich – 5
Northwestern Fisher & Spies – 4


20. Best team running policy arguments?
Emory Inamullah & Weil – 16
Northwestern Fisher & Spies – 4
Michigan State Lanning & Wunderlich – 3



21. Best team running kritiks?
Oklahoma Giglio & Watts – 17
Kansas Kennedy & Quigley – 4
West Georgia Boykin & Schultz – 3
Best Answer: Weil went for that Russians aren’t humans argument a bunch. That's basically a K.


22. Best team against kritiks / answering kritiks?
Emory Inamullah & Weil – 16
UT Dallas Baker & Rubaie – 5


23. Team with most flexibility (between kritik and policy)?
UT Dallas Baker & Rubaie – 14
Harvard Jacobs & Parkinson – 5


24. Team which consistently read the shortest evidence?
Michigan State Lanning & Wunderlich – 17
Northwestern Fisher & Spies – 4
Best Answer: “Casey Harrigan”


25. Team that was most helpful and open during pre-round disclosure?
UT Dallas Baker & Rubaie – 6
Mary Washington Kallmyer & Susko – 5


SQUADS

26. Squad you would most want to debate for, other than your own?
Wake Forest – 8
Kansas – 3 (tie)
Michigan State – 3 (tie)


27. Best overall squad?
Emory – 13
Northwestern – 7
Michigan State – 3


28. Best squad for novices and rookies?
Liberty – 9
Oklahoma – 5
Johnson County – 3


29. Squad with the highest quality evidence?
Emory – 7
Northwestern – 6
Harvard – 4


30. Best squad at returning citation requests and/or posting accurate & current info to the wiki?
Whitman – 9
Wake Forest – 3


31. Worst squad at returning citation requests and/or posting accurate & current info to the wiki?
Michigan State – 4 (tie)
Towson – 4 (tie)


JUDGES, TOURNAMENTS and MISC.

32. Best overall judge? Please indicate three and rank in order.
David Height, Emory – 27 (8 first place votes)
Jarrod Atchison, Trinity – 27 (7)
Calum Matheson, Harvard – 18 (3)
Greta Stahl, Michigan State – 13 (3)
Will Repko, Michigan State – 12 (2)
Andrienne Brovero, Mary Washington – 10 (2)


33. Best first year judge? Please indicate three and rank in order.
Seth Gannon, Mary Washington/CSIS – 22 (5)
Kuntal Cholera, UT Dallas – 16 (3)
Alex Lamballe, Wake Forest – 16 (2)
John Warden, Northwestern/CSIS – 14 (3)
Brett Bricker, Kansas – 14 (2)
Best Answer: Vince Binder


34. Best overall debate tournament, excluding the NDT & CEDA Nationals?
Wake Forest – 12
Cal-Berkeley – 5
Texas – 3 (tie)
Harvard – 3 (tie)
UT Dallas – 3 (tie)


35. Best tournament hospitality, excluding the NDT & CEDA Nationals?
Harvard – 15
UT Dallas – 4
Cal-Berkeley – 3


36. Tournament with the best awards, excluding the NDT & CEDA Nationals?
Harvard – 6 (tie)
UT Dallas – 6 (tie)
Texas – 5
West Georgia – 4


37. Best tournament host hotel?
Marriott at Wake Forest – 6
Crowne Plaza at UT Dallas – 5
Raddison at Texas – 4 (tie)
Marriott at Cal-Berkeley – 4 (tie)


38. What topic area do you prefer for next season?
Treaties – 15
Immigration – 8


39. Do you prefer policy or kritik?
Policy – 20
Kritik – 4
Answers kritiked the question itself - 2


40. Do you favor imposing time limits (such as the ‘2 hours and 45 minutes’ rule) on rounds & decisions?
Yes – 19
Maybe, Unsure – 3
No – 6
Best Answer: Yes for prelims, No for elims


41. Would you prefer 6, 7, or 8 preliminary rounds at national-circuit tournaments during the regular season?
Eight rounds – 13 votes
Seven rounds – 14
Six rounds – 2