I did LD for 2 years and coached for another two at Pittsburgh Central Catholic. I am now coaching debate at Oakland Catholic High School, and this is my first year back in a few years.

I'll vote on anything. However, if you're going to go for something, it must be extended in each speech. You should try and write my ballot for me at the end of the round by giving me 2-3 of your best arguments and going for them. If I look confused it is because I am confused, so try to not do that. I pay attention to cross x, but I don't flow it.

Be confident but don't be rude, there's a big big difference. I prefer that you have more offensive (your flow) than defensive arguments (your opponents flow), but you need to have both in order to win the round.

I will let you know if you are going too fast.

If you have any specific questions let me know and I'll be sure to answer them before the round.

I'm a tab judge, I'm never going to intervene or complete arguments for the debaters in front of me. What's made important in the round is what I'll make important on my ballot. I'm fine with speed, as long as the debaters articulate. I understand K and rhetorical arguments, and am willing to vote for whatever makes the most logical sense in the round, regardless of morals (i.e., I'll vote for an argument that kills more people if the debater can tell me why that makes the most sense).

I know debate theory and will always point out an error in link chain, though I won't vote there unless opponent also points it out.

I like voters, clash points, and world comparison.

I've been judging for the past 3 years on the local level (Western PA).

My judge paradigm is limited only by what I can understand, because I don't really have any preferences concerning how students should debate or how the round should play out. If you take sufficient time explain your arguments then you can do whatever your want. Speed is fine as long as I can flow (can follow the slower end of what is considered "spreading" but not ridiculous speeds). Still debaters should preference clarity over speed. If a point is especially important, slow down. Succinct, clear points in the voting issues helps me complete the flow (or absence of flow).

I was my school's debate coach for five years and have been judging both public forum and Lincoln Douglas debates during that time period.  I am now retired but continue to judge for my former team. 

While I am ok with speed, please do not spread and be careful that you enunciate clearly.  If I can't understand what you are saying, I won't be able to flow your speech and I will be frustrated at the end of the round. 

I do work my way down the flow and prefer that debaters argue in the order of the flow.  I do pay attention to dropped points but only if there is additional commentary on why the drop is important. Organizational skills matter so please go in the order that items were mentioned and try not to bounce around. If a round is close, I do consider voting issues to be a good way to break ties so please leave yourself enough time to include them.

I also expect all competitors to be respectful of each other. I will dock points for outwardly rude or arrogant behavior.

I am a parent judge, traditional, have been judging primarily PF and LD for the past five years.

You can stand or sit when you speak. Reading is fine, but please speak clearly.

Please, keep it civil and respect everyone in the room.

Hey, just wanted to say this is my first time back judging since COVID began, so I don't have any experience on this topic in-round, you could consider me casually knowledgeable about this topic, as it is adjacent to many of my interests, but some details you think may be base topic knowledge I might not have been exposed to yet.

Below is my paradigm from 2020, i doubt my preferences have changed much from then. But I will say that if you try to run politics shells, or international relations scenarios, I will not be able to help myself from simply just believing your authors are getting paid to talk out their asses. I genuinely don't think accurate predictions can be made in those realms in this current context, so as a judge I will very begrudgingly listen and look visibly upset if you put me through these arguments. You're gambling on me if you choose to run an argument like that, im not just gonna give you want cause you happen to have a card from this morning or whatever.

I will not shake your hand after the round. I mean no disrespect but y'all keep getting me sick. Just think about how many hands you've shaken by round 5, and how many hands your opponents have shaken. Its unsettling. (Yes this part is unedited from 2020, i was right that we are all disgusting)

I debated throughout high school and have been judging since (four years). I studied History and Philosophy of Science, and Sociology at Pitt. I've competed in and judged national break rounds. I'm experienced in running and evaluating traditional or critical arguments. Feel safe to run whatever arguments and frameworks you wish, but I am not without some preferences.

I would prefer to see unique arguments in the round, things like politics disads or the states counterplan are run in the same exact way so often it becomes horrible to sit through and often ends the same. However, I would strongly prefer you running your generics that you know well over poorly running something you aren't used to. On a similar point, in the past I've seen a lot of rounds ruined by trying to run four or five off case arguments at a sub-par level. I would much rather see a directed, thought-out, and well-debated round, and I think it would serve you best strategically as well. At the end of the day, you know your files and many of your opponents better than I do.

The arguments I have a bias towards are low magnitude - high probability affs that address structural violence and I typically prefer those frameworks and how they affect the debate. K's are probably going to win impact and link debates on me a little more than some other judges because I find a lot of their claims to be true, thus I think one of the best ways to defend against them is on the framework flow, an alt debate, or having a critical edge of your own. But again, stick with what you know, these are debates you could easily lose through inexperience.

EMAIL: nickpweb@gmail.com

My paradigm isn't very complicated, but you'll notice that I'm a bit different that your average judge out on circuit these days. I'm pretty old school. At my core I'm a policy maker. I'm not a fan of critical arguments however, if they can be explained as a policy option then go for it. However, if I wanted to judge a round about how great the world would be if we were all just nicer to each other, then I'd be over in the LD pool. I have voted on both critical affs and negative K arguments, but I have a lower tolerance for them. Speaking of LD, I'm going to add on some LD specific stuff at the bottom.

I will never say that I'm a Tab judge. I'm just not. I will not make any excuses for that. I think it's unrealistic to assume anyone comes to a round with no biases. For example, I spent 20 years as a meteorologist. I have a degree in Atmospheric Sciences and was on television for most of that 20 years. SO, I will evaluate ANY warming arguments both for and against with a great degree of scrutiny. If you're going to run climate arguments in one my rounds you had better know your stuff because I will almost guarantee that I know the material much better than you do and I did it for a living and I won't accept half-baked or poorly understood arguments. Just because you can read something doesn't mean I have to accept it as truth especially if I know better, no matter WHAT your opponent says. THAT is the real world.

Politics arguments...understand that you can run them but know this, I am a complete non-believer in the theory of political capital. I don't believe it exists, nor will I ever be convinced that it exists. I do however believe that decisions are made and will be made with political considerations as a key motivator. That however doesn't mean that a president's ability to get something passed is impacted by some immeasurable, unquantifiable power metric that has no threshold where success or failure can be predicted.

Are you getting the idea that I'm a real world kind of judge? Good, because that's me in a nutshell. I love high quality, well researched discussions on what ifs, but they need to be based on real science, realistic scenarios, or at least scenarios with impacts that can be reached with a quality link chain. This year's resolution is EXTREMELY tangible and has so many real world implications that you should treat it as such. If we end up in the weeds talking about garbage that's only important to half a dozen people in a fringe think tank located in the broom closet of a lost downtown community college, then don't waste 90 minutes of my time.

Okay, enough with the I hate stuff. How about what I like. Well constructed arguments with strong links, well thought out analysis and clearly delivered. I like debaters that look like they're having fun. This is verbal gladiatorial games, and that's why we love it. Keep it cordial. Make it light when you can and engage with the judges when it's appropriate. We have to spend a good amount of time in a room together, so let's make the best of it. In the end, one team will win, and one team will lose, but we should all feel like we spent meaningful, entertaining, and educational time together.

With regard to LD since I judge that occasionally, like I said above, I'm a bit old school and that applies here as well. I DO NOT like my LD to be like my policy. They are different events for a reason. I detest progressive LD with a passion because every time I've judged it, it has turned into really poorly done policy debate. I'm a traditional LD judge that enjoys the value clash. I'm sure that will come as a disappointment to many of you, but it is what it is. Spreading in LD is unnecessary. I've been judging policy for nearly 20 years so It's not like I can't handle it. I just don't like it in LD. Just like I mentioned above, if you read it, I like clear analysis. Strategic arguments are worth their weight in gold...and speaker points. Keep it fun. Keep it fair. Keep it entertaining.