Updated - Fall 2020

Number of years judging: 12

For the email chain: philipdipiazza@gmail.com

I want to be on the email chain, but I am not going to “read-along” during constructives. I may reference particular cards during cross-ex if they are being discussed, and I will probably read cards that are important or being contested in the final rebuttals. But it’s the job of the debaters to explain, contextualize, and impact the warrants in any piece of evidence. I will always try to frame my decision based on the explanations on the flow (or lack thereof).

Like every judge I look for smart, well-reasoned arguments. I’ll admit a certain proclivity for critical argumentation, but it isn’t an exclusive preference (I think there’s something valuable to be said about “policy as performance”). Most of what I have to say can be applied to whatever approach debaters choose to take in the round. Do what you’re good at, and I will do my best to render a careful, well thought-out decision.

I view every speech in the debate as a rhetorical artifact. Teams can generate clash over questions of an argument’s substance, its theoretical legitimacy, or its intrinsic philosophical or ideological commitments.

I think spin control is extremely important in debate rounds and compelling explanations will certainly be rewarded. And while quantity and quality are also not exclusive I would definitely prefer less cards and more story in any given debate as the round progresses. I also like seeing the major issues in the debate compartmentalized and key arguments flagged.

As for the standard array of arguments, there's nothing I can really say that you shouldn't already know. I like strong internal link stories and nuanced impact comparisons. I really don't care for "risk of link means you vote Aff/Neg" arguments on sketchy positions; if I don't get it I'm not voting for it. My standard for competition is that it’s the Negative’s job to prove why rejecting the Aff is necessary which means more than just presenting an alternative or methodology that solves better – I think this is the best way to preserve clash in these kinds of debates. Please be sure to explain your position and its relation to the other arguments in the round.

KRITIK LINKS ARE STILL IMPORTANT. Don’t assume you’ll always have one, and don’t over-rely on extending a “theory of power” at the top of the flow. Both of these are and should be mutually reinforcing. This is especially important for the way I evaluate permutations. Theories of power should also be explained deliberately and with an intent to persuade.

I think the topic is important and I appreciate teams that find new and creative approaches to the resolution, but that doesn’t mean you have to read a plan text or defend the USFG. Framework is debatable (my judging record on this question is probably 50/50). A lot of this depends on the skills of the debaters in the room. This should not come as a surprise, but the people who are better at debating tend to win my framework ballot. Take your arguments to the next level, and you'll be in a much stronger position.

Two other things that are worth noting: 1) I flow on paper…probably doesn’t mean anything, but it might mean something to you. 2) There's a fine line between intensity and rudeness, so please be mindful of this.

Richard A. Garner | Director of Speech & Debate | University of Houston | ragarner@uh.edu

Framework: Neg: topical version is very helpful; aff: probably okay if you defend the government doing a topical thing. One should be able to defend their model of debate. I put this issue first because it’s probably what you really care about. Everything else is alphabetical.

Case debate: Turning the case is my favorite thing to judge. Uniqueness is good here, but not always necessary with comparative evidence.

CPs/Competition/Theory: Comparisons win theory debates, along with impacts. I’m not sure that states or international CPs compete, but no one has ever put this to the test in front of me so it’s hard to say. No strong feelings about consultation or conditioning either way. K affs probably shift competition questions that rely on FIAT. Won't kick the CP unless you tell me to. Non-arbitrary interpretations are ideal.

Critiques: I understand these and am fine with them (understatement). From both the aff and neg, I enjoy narrative coherence, specific application, and alternative debates. New things under the sun are wonderful to see, but so too the old, artisanal ways upon occasion.

Disadvantages: I tend to think risk probability is never 100% absent drops, and that each internal link reduces certainty. Can have zero risk (though if the CP solves 100% of the case … probably need offense). Don’t tend to think that impacts automatically/100% turn case, or vice versa; instead, comparisons are evaluating risk probability bubbles/multiple competing worlds.

Judge Space: Judges are human beings, not argument processing machines; enjoyable debates matter. Evidence comparison is the highest art. Debaters’ flowing/line-by-line is generally terrible; embedded clash is nice, but at its root it depends on an organized approach to the flow. Drops: before the burden of rejoinder attains, there must be a full argument (claim/warrant/implication). I am displeased by a) subpoints with no b) subpoints, and by "Is anyone not ready?" because it is a linguistic abomination (see: bit.ly/yea-nay). I read a lot of cards, but, paradoxically, only in proportion to the quality of evidence comparison. Highlighting: needs to make grammatical sense; don’t use debate-abbreviation highlighting (ok: United States; not: neoliberalism). If I cannot understand the highlighting, I will not read the rest of the card for context.

Logistics: Add me to the email chain. I don’t read speech docs during the debate.

*Principles: Without getting too philosophical, I try to evaluate the round via the concepts the debaters in the round deploy (immanent construction) and I try to check my personal beliefs at the door (impersonality). These principles structure all other positions herein.

Speaker Points: I approximate community norms, and adjust each year appropriately.

Topicality: I evaluate it first. I enjoy T debates, and lean more towards ‘better interpretation for debate’ than ‘we have the most evidence’.

Brief Debate CV:

South Garland (competitor): 1995-1999

NYU (competitor): 1999-2003

Emory: 2003-2004

NYU/Columbia: 2004-2005

Harvard: 2006-2015

Houston: 2013-present

*

Random Poem (updated 3/30/23):

Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village.

downtown Manhattan, clear winter noon, and I’ve been up all night, talking, talking, reading the Kaddish aloud, listening to Ray Charles blues shout blind on the phonograph

the rhythm the rhythm—and your memory in my head three years after—And read Adonais’ last triumphant stanzas aloud—wept, realizing how we suffer—

And how Death is that remedy all singers dream of, sing, remember, prophesy as in the Hebrew Anthem, or the Buddhist Book of Answers—and my own imagination of a withered leaf—at dawn—

Dreaming back thru life, Your time—and mine accelerating toward Apocalypse,

the final moment—the flower burning in the Day—and what comes after,

looking back on the mind itself that saw an American city

a flash away, and the great dream of Me or China, or you and a phantom Russia, or a crumpled bed that never existed—

like a poem in the dark—escaped back to Oblivion—

No more to say, and nothing to weep for but the Beings in the Dream, trapped in its disappearance,

sighing, screaming with it, buying and selling pieces of phantom, worshipping each other,

worshipping the God included in it all—longing or inevitability?—while it lasts, a Vision—anything more?

*

Previously

Dunya Mikhail, "The End of the World," The Iraqi Nights (3/30/23)

Sakutaro Hagiwara, "A Useless Book" (8/1/19)

Catullus, 101 (1/4/18)

e.e. cummings, "O sweet spontaneous" (1/4/18)

&c

Joshua Gonzalez

8th place in US Extemp my first time at NSDA Nationals.

iykyk...

Erik Holland

University of Texas at Austin

I've been a member of this community for over 15 years and, as such, there is little I haven't done, seen, or heard in a debate. I primarily debated critical/performance based arguments (at least in my latter years) but I've coached things on all places along the spectrum. If you’re doing something tricky or reading some complex lit, fine, but you need to SLOW DOWN and EXPLAIN your argument in a way that does not simply recycle the jargon within your evidence. I detest framework debates and would much prefer that teams try to engage each other in meaningful debate/discussion instead of trying to define or limit each others’ abilities to advocate a particular vision of the activity. I am very unlikely to vote on some fixed interpretation about how debate should be played, performed or enacted. I still believe that pushing limits can take place within the context of the resolution.  I'm not saying you need a plan text or a defense of the usfg, but there should, at a minimum, be a coherent explanation as to why your arguments are a response to or engagement with the topic.  I reward creativity, humor and wit, and I truly believe that it is important for debaters to continually push the activity to its limit whenever possible, but don’t pursue this for the sole purpose of gaining my ballot. The easiest way to win my ballot is to be the best debaters in the room. This means that you should always choose the argumentation that you are most comfortable with instead of trying to adapt your argument choice to appease me. If you are more comfortable with a counterplan and disad strategy, this should be your move rather than trying to roll with some K you read for the first time minutes before the start of the debate.  Again, my preference is that you engage the other team's arguments on their level rather than defining them out of the discussion but there are a variety of ways to accomplish this.

I do not often read evidence unless there is an issue of contestation regarding evidence read. I feel it is the job of the debaters to explain the warrants in their evidence in a sufficient manner that does not require me calling for cards.  

I’m a communication studies phd student with an emphasis on rhetoric and cultural studies (particularly the rhetoric of pop culture) as well as argument theory, so my exposure to critical literature is fairly deep but not exhaustive. If it's a postmodern (whatever that means) or a poststructuralist theorist, there's a good chance I've read something that they've written but don't make any assumptions that my reading of the work in question mirrors yours.

One final note:  This seems so obvious to me, but I would appreciate it if you treated the other people in the room with a minimum level of respect.  Debate can be an intense activity and the competitive spirit has a way of moving people to behave in particular ways that they might not otherwise in different social settings.  I get that.  But this is no excuse for treating your opponents, partner, me, or even yourself as less-than.  I have no problem with giving you extremely low speaker points (or even a loss) if I perceive your behavior to be particularly nasty.  

PUBLIC FORUM

My background is in college policy debate (NDT/CEDA) both as a competitor and judge. The takeaway here for you as a debater is that I keep a pretty good written flow of the debate but does not mean you can sacrifice clarity for speed. If your arguments are unclear, then I do not flow them. If your opponent does not answer an argument you made during the round you win that argument. You can win an argument and still lose the round if your opponent explains why an argument they are winning is more important to my overall decision.Thus, it is up to you to explain in the debate why if you win that particular argument you should win the round. As a college Professor I generally keep up with current events, so you want to frame your arguments based upon what is happening in the world. The most important thing for you to know to get my ballot is that my decision is highly influenced on how arguments are explained and justified during the debate rather than thru evidence alone. While I do think that at certain levels you must have evidenceto substantiate the core claims you make in the debate, good crossfire questions and well-developed explanations and comparisons are often the key to persuading me to vote for one side over the other. Other than just be polite and civil and enjoy the debate.

POLICY

Hi. I have judged many, many debates (college policy CEDA/NDT) over the years but very few in recent years. My preference lies with policy debates in which I judge impacts based on relative risk. I like good evidence, but I try not to read too much after the debate. I keep a good flow and am good with speed, as long as it has some clarity. I also welcome critical arguments, and I hold them to the same standards of evidence and arguments as policy or theory arguments.

For me, debate is a game and part of that game is that the rules are set up by the debaters. The universal is that the debaters are grounded by a model of argument: claim = data + warrant. As long as those standards are met, I am game for anything. I try to intercede as little as possible, but will step in to fill voids left by the debaters.

In term of theory I am pretty traditional. For example, it will be hard for you to convince me the T is not a voting issue. Theory issues, for me, are all about arguing over the rules of the game. I want rules that make the game most fair, inside the current round and beyond the round. Things like fairness, and division of ground then, are very important to argue in front of me.

Good luck and have fun.

Overview: These are my defaults. Everything is up for debate. Please add me to the email chain phildebate@gmail.com

First, I consider myself an argument critic. By this I mean I might vote on an argument that I do not agree with or one I think is untrue because in the context of the round one team persuades me. This means that I tend to fall on the side of tech over truth.

Second, I understand debate by argument. There is a trend in debate to replace argument with author names. The community has begun referencing authors instead of the argument that the evidence is meant to strengthen. This is a bad trend, in my mind, and should be limited to necessity.

Third, I will not now, nor will I ever, stop a debate if I think that someone is clipping or cross reading. While I think this is cheating I think it is up to the debaters in the round to make an argument and then for me to judge that argument based on the available evidence and render a decision. However, if you are caught clipping when I judge I will give you a loss and zero speaker points. .

Fourth, Speaker-Points are dumb. Preffing judges based on the speaker points they give is even dumber. It has long been the case that weak judges give high speaks in order to be preffed. It is unfortunate that judges of color have had to resort to giving debaters higher points than they deserve to get into debates. I will do my best to maintain the community norm.

Topicality: Yes, I vote on it. It is always a voter. Topicality debates are about competing interpretations and the benefits of those interpretations. It is incumbent upon the debaters to do impact calculus of their advantages (these are the reasons to prefer aka standards) vs. the advantages of the counter-interpretation and the disadvantages to your interpretation. In other words, to win topicality you need win that your interpretation is better for debate than your opponents. This formula is true for ALL theory arguments if you plan to win them in front of me.

Framework: Yes, I vote on it. Framework is, to me, a criticism of the affirmatives method. What does this mean for you? It means that I am less persuaded by arguments like debate is a game and fairness claims. I tend to think of fairness, strategically, and my default is to say that fairness almost never outweighs education. I have voted on fairness as a terminal impact before and will likely do so again but the threshold to beat a team going for fairness is often very low and this gets even lower when the affirmative rightly points out that fairness claims are rooted in protecting privilege. If you are negative and you are going for framework my suggestion is that you make sure to have as many ways to negate the affirmatives offense as possible in the 2nr; this includes switch side debate solves your offense and topical version of your aff. If you do that and then win an internal link into education you will likely win my ballot.

I default to utilitarian ethics when making judgments about what action/vote is most beneficial. If you would like me to use some other method of evaluation that needs to be explained and it needs to be upfront.

Counterplans-You should read one. Counterplans compete through net benefits.

*Presumption never flips aff. I know there is a redefinition of Presumption as “less change” but this is a misunderstanding of presumption. Presumption, simply put, is that the existing state of affairs, policies, programs should continue unless adequate reasons are given for change. Now like everything in this philosophy this is a default. To say that presumption flips affirmative is just to say that the affirmative has achieved their prima facia burden to prove that the SQ needs change.

*Counterplan theory: My default is that conditionality is the state that counterplans naturally exist. Because I believe counterplans are merely a test of the intrinsicness of the affirmatives advantages it means that I also default to judge kick. This means that there is little chance that I will vote outright on conditionality bad. Instead, I will assess that the Negative is now “stuck” with a counter-advocacy that alters the debate in corresponding ways.

Criticisms: Criticisms function much like counterplans and disads, insofar, as they should have an alternative and link and impact. I can be persuaded that K’s do not need an alternative. With that being said, if you are going for a K without an alternative then you need to have a lot of defense against the affirmative. Some of that defense can come in the form of the k itself (serial policy failure or impacts are inevitable arguments) but some of it SHOULD also be specific to the plan.

Any questions just ask. Good Luck!

Edits - minor 11/13/14

Director of Speech & Debate - University of Houston

Previously coaching at (Iowa, Miami (Ohio), Wake Forest)

As of the 2014 Shirley - I have judged (according to Debateresults + tabroom):

475 - College Debates

I have voted AFF in 226 of those debates (47.5%)

I have voted NEG in 249 of those debates (52.4%)

First rule of judging - judging is subjective. 
Second rule of judging - get over it. 

Judge philosophies are in fact an attempt to compensate for this inevitably subjective activity. We try to minimize personal opinions, but in the end who you vote for is more than often related to how you feel and the style of the debaters as much as it is about any particular argument. You have to convince the judge (me) to vote for you. This is as subjective as really any other activity. 

T - A paradox - I am a bad judge for T. I love T debates. 

Competing interpretations doesn't make much sense to me because the aff can't win on T. Reasonability is largely good (I am not a good judge for trivial interpretations like "and/or means both") - see above re: subjectivity. Reasonability is also a good answer to most affirmative theory complaints.

Legal topics are ideal for T debates, given that the law is all about definition. I find these questions interesting, but in order to win on T with me as a judge, you typically need to have insightful argument and some decent evidence about the educational harm (and not just to negative ground) of the affirmative's interpretation. These arguments, of course, can take many forms, but be careful.

Avoid specification arguments. Please. While implementation might be 90% of whatever, ASPEC is still not a reason to reject the affirmative. 

I think T is an important check against non-topical affs, you have to read a plan and defend the federal government and your plan, reading the resolutions does not seem to be enough. Switch-side debate is a good thing. 

Framework/Non-plan Topicality arguments - 

Framework debates are not fun. I judge them a lot.I think that these debates have both gotten stale and also very detached from the actual arguments at hand. Both sides would do well to connect their arguments to the actual positions relevant to their debate. My previous statements about reasonability tend to apply in these questions as well. A small advantage to an very limiting interpretation is often not enough for me to justify a ballot. 

The best framework debates don't read the Shively card.

My suggestion is to try to have a good interpretation that takes the middle ground, this will make me much more sympathetic and open to listening to your arguments. A violation is often overlooked by both sides, but is often where the crux of the decision lies - don't neglect this (or the "we meet")

Theory – I think in general most aff theory arguments are reasons to reject the argument not the team. That means theory is rarely rarely a voting issue for me.

Conditionality - I think conditionality is a good and necessary thing. Dispositionality is not a thing. I am open to kicking CPs on my own (without the encouragement of the negative) - I do indeed possess that power.

PICS (or whatever) is not a reason to reject the team, only the position, in these cases if the CP goes away the aff would still win. 

International agent fiat, in some cases, may be a legitimate test of the necessity of USFG action.

50 State Fiat - eh?

Disads – Politics DAs are my favorite.

I won’t vote on 1% risk.

Magnitude and probability are far more important than timeframe.

"DA turns the case" by itself is not a full argument.

Also "DA turns the case" is often wrong, the DA impact must complicate the aff's ability to solve or access the internal link to the impact, not just be the same impact. The aff should point this out. 

Don't read a bunch of new impacts in the block unless you've got a real reason to do so. Most teams won't have a reason beyond, we didn't feel like answering their arguments.

Case debate. I think debate should be more in depth debating of the specifics of an aff, I will reward hard work and understanding on the topic, which is often demonstrated in good case debating. The more specific your strategy is, the better.

Reading impact defense to all of their impacts does not count as a case debate (maybe necessary, but certainly not sufficient).

There are rules for debating the case - http://goo.gl/FliJY The treaties topic was awesome because of case debates. 

CPs – Most are good. I really like a smart advantage CP. Consult CPs and Condition CPs are cheating. How much cheating? It depends. See above on theory. 

Ks - 

Critiques are often times strategic and I also think can be won very easily because the aff doesn’t attack the argument at its weaknesses. Weakness include, the alternative, the links to the aff (and not to the law, society, etc), other stuff. I often end up voting for Ks when the aff fails to contest these issues.

Framework arguments are usually underdeveloped on off-case Ks, this makes me not vote on these arguments.

Like any other argument, it has to be well explained. I also have an inherent distaste for generic backfile Ks (or consult CPs or Framework ....) that you have resurrected year after year because you were too lazy to do any work. I like debating new topics, don’t just cut one new Zizek book and consider your work done. 

As an academic, I think I know a bit about critical theory and so forth -as a rhetorician there are things I like by trade - critiques of rhetoric, language and discourse, well executed understandings of theory, that is to say criticism of actual instances of things that are objectionable. Things that I don't like (or understand very well) include vague psychoanalytic theory (ie Zizek) or rabbit-holes of very complicated post-structuralism - the event of the non-part or something. 

Other things – I don’t like reading a lot of cards after the debate, although I know I will at times, I change my mind on this every couple of months. Right now, I'll probably skim a lot of cards and read some carefully.

I will also probably be open to getting emailed your evidence during the debate, but won't really want to look at it until the end of the debate. Maybe during CX or prep to figure out something I missed. Maybe. I do think it is incumbent on the teams in the debate to communicate to the judge verbally, not via email.

If I have to reconstruct the debate I might not see it like you think it happened. The final speeches MUST do this for me. 

I've taken to answering some questions in CX, particularly informative questions, especially if I think an answer might be confusing. How many perms? I'll answer. If you are just wrong about something, I might say something. 

I'm very emotive during debates, you should look up and see if I'm scowling or nodding, this can be a clue (to what? I don't know, but to something).

Underviews are the worst thing ever. 

I also think the 1NR should not be used to make new arguments. It is a rebuttal not a constructive.

Terms that have lost meaning to me - "Role of the Ballot," "the debate space" (more later)

Speaker Points – I think I give fairly good points, simply because I think most debaters deserve a chance at clearing if they have the wins.

My scale goes something like this;

26.5 and below – bad debating,

26.6 - 27 - Needs a lot of work,

27 -27.5 – average, but has a way to go,

27.5-28 - better than average, some things to work on,

28-28.5 – Good varsity debating.

28.6 - 29 - Very good - should be in contention for a speaker award.

29-29.5 – Excellent debating 

29.6 - 29.9 - Almost Gabe.

30 – Gabe

I will punish your speaker points for lack of clarity, rudeness, or inappropriate language (these issues could also result in a loss). 

I think clipping is bad, though I'm not sure what the threshold is to warrant a ballot. These questions stop the debate. If you are making an accusation of cheating, I will decide the debate on that question. You need to be fairly certain to make this kind of claim, so be ready to explain.

Sarah Topp – Trinity University

Judge Philosophy – 2012-2013

I have been judging college debate since 2003. Over that time I have seen a lot of debates and voted for many different types of arguments. I, of course, like some arguments and styles more than others, but I think most things are debatable. In the list below are general tendencies or thoughts I have that may help you win my ballot.

What is Debate: If no one offers a counter-metaphor or ideology of the debate space, I tend to think of it as a competitive and educational space in which 2 teams argue about the relative advantages and disadvantages of a position. I genuinely value learning new topics every year, so I enjoy debates that increase my knowledge of the year’s topic. However, because this is an activity to which I have dedicated my life and I think introspection is important, I can also find value in debating about debate. Since these two can oftentimes be in direct competition with one another, I do my best to evaluate the relative loss or gain of fairness and education in any given round. I think in general I am more persuaded by arguments about what gives us the best portable skills to be better people outside of debate than I am about debate being a game. (Although you could persuade me that debate should be viewed as a game…).

Arguments and evidence: An argument consists of a claim, some data and a warrant. Incomplete arguments and unsupported claims won’t get you very far. *Good* evidence matters. One piece of great evidence can beat 5 pieces of shoddily highlighted evidence easily. Analytical arguments, especially those illustrating problems in internal link chains and indicting authors and sources, will get you far.

Specific Argument stuff:

Topicality – Affs generally need evidence/a counter-interpretation. It doesn’t make sense to go for reasonability without an interp because there is no way to prove you are reasonably topical without it.

Counterplans – Negs tend to be in a tough spot reading CPs that try to solve the aff better than the aff. They’re not unwinnable, but it’s an uphill battle. It is possible to win conditionality bad in front of me, but difficult to win pics bad or no neg fiat. Delay, states, consult, condition, and other “cheater” types are really debatable.

Kritiks – I tend to think most framework debates are nonstarters. This is not because framework is actually irrelevant but because people tend to do such a bad job contextualizing it in the round and often fail to make a comprehensible and reasonable impact claim. It is difficult to win method doesn’t matter.

Case debate – Yes please! Neg can win no risk of aff. Neg can also win aff solves so little that a small DA outweighs.

In round stuff:

Saving speech docs is a part of your prep time. The timer will keep running until you have saved your document.

You need to mark cards as you read. This seems so obvious, but it is not sufficient to just say “Stopping at [insert word here].” You actually need to change the speech doc to signify where you are stopping.

Please clean up after yourself. The workers on campus or in the hotels in which we debate aren’t paid enough to pick up all of the trash and mess we leave behind.

If you have any questions. Please ask.

Derek Ziegler

Updated September 2016  

Meta:

Debate should be entertaining and fun but also equitable for all teams to execute argument. I'm fairly open to most styles / lines of argument. I tend to reward smart technical choices over the "truth" of the debate itself - because of this, a majority of my RFD's deviate from what's below in a lot of ways, but assuming everyone's on top of their game, the stuff below tells you how I lean. 

Top Suggestions for Points / More Likely Wins:

-Control a narrative - explain stories in final rebuttels and use plenty of even if statements - explain why some narratives you've developed outweigh others (if we control the direction of the link, uniqueness matters less, etc.). 

-Speaker resolution of major themes > quick extension of analytics / ev. I often flow debates in "chunks" of major components and often read these wholistically. I reward intentioned rhetorical decisions to resolve issues more than I do the presence of evidence even when that evidence is more tehnically correct.

-I prefer verticle over horizontal spread - read fewer off in a 1NC (as in, 3-4 off is more useful than 8-10) and consolidate the block.

-I really like line-in-the-sand moments. Some of the highest speaks I've given happen when a block decides that a single impact turn is where the debate is going, or when a 1AR decides that they will win with one advantage and 3 minutes of link debate on a DA. I also have a tendency to reward the swing with points, even if it's a miss. 

-I'm a debate optimist - I like friendly quips - have a disagreement, have fun with that disagreement, attack ideas and not people and everything is great.

T:

Affs should advocate the topic - what it means for the aff to advocate the topic is up for debate. Limits are good. Contrived interpretations are bad. Competing interps makes a ton of sense. Contextual ev increasingly matters more for me.

The K:

No real aversions here - method / framework should be clearly identified by both sides, 'tricks' should be robust, I should understand the argument. I default to the aff getting to weigh their plan but having to justify methodological assumptions of the 1AC. Affs don't read disads to alternatives enough; negatives don't explain alternatives enough. 

You won't like your speaker points if the thesis of the link debate is "they didn't use our starting point."  You will like your speaker points if the link debate is thorough, implicates the efficacy of both the plan and the discursive strategy of the 1AC, and the alternative provides a meaningful departure from that stuff.

Counterplans:

Most CP's aren't cheating. Almost every CP that results in the aff or modifies process is not competitive. Negs need to win uniqueness to net benefits - "links less" = aff on presumption 9 out of 10 times. Affs should be reading more add-ons in the 2AC as disads to the CP; negatives should be doing more comparison work between potential solvency deficit vs risk of the net benefit. 

Disads:

You should read them (plural). Probability controls impact calculus for me, though this calculus changes if you're convingingly ahead on why the disad turns or takes out the case. 

Case Debates:

Negs don't go for solvency arguments enough - if you want to control the try or die narrative, convince me that the aff does little.  

It's really hard to get below a 29.5 from me if more than half of the block is case debate. I'm much more interested in hearing robust case turns over impact defense or whatever K is popular at that moment. I really like 1AR's that jettison unnecessary arguments / consolidate down to only the most relevant case impacts to open up more time to beat a disad. 

Condo:

I really only vote on this if neg team has dropped it / barely remembered it was said. Beyond concession, I mostly vote on theory if a debate was made impossible and not just harder, and my threshold for impossible is pretty high. General rule of thumb: affs win condo debates when they're about potential abuse, negs win condo debates when they're about in-round abuse. 

Theory:

New rebuttel arguments are almost universally allowed to answer theory arguments that took less than 5 seconds to say.

If you plan on going for theory as a reason a team loses a debate, you should have a reason why they should lose the debate and not just reasons for why what they did kinda sucked.

General Things:

Prep stops when the flash drive leaves the computer / when speech doc has been emailed. Ethics challenges require verifiable proof. More than likely, at any given moment, I desire additional caffeine - do with this information as you will.