Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 22:44:55 EDT
From: Joel Young <joelyoung120@hotmail.com>
Subject: My Debate Partner - Chapters 11 & 12

MY DEBATE PARTNER

Chapter Eleven

Philosophically, I agree with the old adage that, "Winning isn't
everything."  The older I get, the more wisdom I see in this saying.  After
all, for every winner, there are usually multiple losers.  And feeling like
a looser is never good for anyone.  Philosophical beliefs aside, however, I
have to admit that when I was sixteen and on a winning streak, it felt
glorious!

During November and December of my Junior year in High School, our Varsity
Debate team cleaned up.  We beat all of the local High Schools, and took
first place in both the District and Regional competitions.  My Debate
partner and boyfriend, David McAndrew, and I decided that we'd prepare for
each Debate by having plenty of sex in the days before a competition.
Then, we'd go to bed early - and separately - the night before.  That way,
we reasoned, I'd have a shot at concentrating on the Debate instead of
dreaming about sex with him, and he'd be more able to withstand an
unexpected challenge if his mind and body were rested.  It was a crazy
plan, really, but it seemed to work.

Our plan was tested the week of the Regional competition.  His parents had
to go to California for a week, and David and I arranged for him to stay at
my house.  We shared my room and certainly followed through on the plenty
of sex part of our plan.  Going to bed early and separately was difficult
the night before the competition itself, but I kept repeating the words of
our coach, Mrs. Weber, in my mind: "Keep your personal affairs out of you
team's tournament time."  For the first time that week, I made David use
the sleeping bag that he had brought with him.

With the win at Regionals, we were flying high.  I was on top of the world.
I had the man of my dreams telling me everyday how much he loved me.  I had
fabulous sex anytime I wanted it. I was winning competition after
competition, and our peers at school finally started giving the Debate team
some respect.  We certainly weren't heroes like the Jocks, but considering
the miserable record of our school's football team that year, there were
those who wanted to support a winner, any winner - even a winning Debate
team.

After winning Regionals, we were invited to the State Competition to be
held four days before Christmas in the State capital. The State Competition
was on a Thursday, and it would end the Debate season for the school year.
The next day, Friday, was the end of the first semester and the last day of
school before Christmas break.  There would be only a half day of classes
in the morning, with a Christmas Choir Concert instead of third hour at the
end of the morning.  My parents and I were leaving immediately after school
on Friday for a holiday trip to Acapulco, Mexico.  I sort of wanted to go,
but I tried to beg off.  I didn't want to leave David.

Arguing with my parents was useless.  There was no way my parents would let
me stay home over Christmas by myself or with friends.  We would be back
from Mexico the day after New Year's, leaving me one day to get ready to go
back to school.  I consoled myself by planning to get the perfect tan with
which to drive David crazy.  Not that I thought that much about Mexico.  I
was too focused on Debate.

I wanted to win State so badly.  Despite all of the good things that had
happened to me recently, I felt like I had to have that title.  I tried to
argue myself out of wanting it so bad.  I told myself I was greedy and
unappreciative of all that I have been given.  I forced myself to repeat,
"State doesn't matter that much.  I don't have to win." But the closer it
came to State, the more I wanted to win.  Fortunately or unfortunately,
David was the same way.  Frequently, we would decided not to have sex just
so we could spend more time at the library - afraid we'd miss finding the
one piece of evidence that would put us over the top.

The week before State was not fun.  David was drawing into himself, and I
barely noticed.  We spent hours together, but had no personal time for us.
I still melted into mush when I'd stare at his beauty, but the relationship
had taken on a new focus.  We had to work.  We had to prepare.  We had to
win.

The Friday before the competition, I arrived home, alone, after school.  I
got myself a healthy snack of yogurt and an apple.  I almost never looked
at the mail when I got home because it was always for my parents.
Recently, however, I'd started receiving recruitment materials from
colleges.  I decided to see if there was anything worthwhile to read in the
mail while I had my snack.  I went to the mail box and saw my
self-addressed envelope returned to me from the New Paradigms Newsletter.
I opened the letter standing in the December cold on my porch.  The letter
read:


     Dear Mr. Young,

     Thank you for your expression of interest in the New Paradigms
Newsletter.  We
     would be most happy to add you to our list of subscribers.

     We write our Newsletter for a very limited audience of the most
forward thinking
     economic philosophers in North America today.  We publish only four
times a
     year: February and March; October and November.  Please remit our
annual
     subscription fee of $185.00 in US currency if you wish to begin
receiving the our
     publication.

     Very Truly Yours,

     Edward Fayheid Smith
     Editor and Publisher

     I was mad, and I spoke out loud.  "Yea, right.  Like I'd spend $185.00
for your high brow rag!  Thanks for nothing, Eddie Smith."

He had given me no help, not even a lousy photocopy of the one article I
wanted to see. I went inside, threw the letter on the table with the rest
of the mail, and I ate my snack.

I finally decided my New Paradigms Newsletter plan had been stupid in the
first place.  What did I really expect to find, anyway?  The magic piece of
evidence with which to win State?  Proof that Kettering doctored up
evidence?  Not very likely on either count, I thought.
  I decided I might tell David about what I'd done, so I stashed the letter
in my evidence case.

Chapter Twelve

Many management consultants today make huge amounts of money teaching
people how to achieve their own goals.  They make success sound so easy:
Figure out what it is you truly want, visualize you achievement of it, work
backwards to plan all the steps you must take to achieve your goal, then
work your plan.  I think this process came naturally to me as a Junior in
High School.  Back then, I wanted to win the State Debate tournament so
bad, I could not only visualize it, I could taste it!  I knew exactly what
it would take to win, and my partner and boyfriend, David McAndrew, and I
worked our asses off trying to make sure that we would win.

We left for the State Debate Competition on Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m.,
four days before Christmas.  I barely got any sleep the night before. I was
just too excited.  I slipped out of the house, without eating breakfast,
when Mrs. Weber's station wagon pulled into the driveway.  I knew I
couldn't eat.  I was afraid I'd throw up.  Mrs. Weber asked how I'd slept
and if I'd eaten.  I told her the truth.  She was not pleased, but she let
it go.

In the car, it was just Mrs. Weber, Jim, Sara, David and me.  The Junior
Varsity had been eliminated at Regionals.  We had asked Eric if he wanted
to come along with us to State, but he turned us down.  I think it was an
ego thing.

We drove along the freeway, and I was more nervous than I'd ever been in my
life.  Everyone seemed very quiet.  We were all thinking about the same
thing - winning State.  I was sitting in the front with Mrs. Weber.  I
turned around and saw Jim and Sara huddled together for support in the back
seat.  David was sitting in the far back seat by himself.  What I wouldn't
have given to crawl back there with him.

We arrived about 7:30 that morning.  The competition was in the Language
Arts building of the State University.  To add interest to the competition,
there were new rules.
  Each team member got to question one member from the other team for two
minutes following their opponent's first speech.  First negative questioned
first affirmative, second affirmative questioned first negative and so on
until the rebuttal rounds.  I was very pleased with the new rules,
believing that it would showcase David's deadly analytical skills.

We were all business when we entered the reception room.  We immediately
checked out the competition. We had seen many of the teams before.  It was
torture waiting around for the first draws to be posted.  I knew we would
have to face Kettering if we were to win, but I prayed it would not be in
the early rounds.  Luck was with us.  We received our assignments for the
first two rounds, and we didn't draw Kettering.

I relaxed a great deal ten minutes into our first Debate.  It was really
nothing new.  I had done this a hundred times before.  The question period
made for an interesting addition, and I found myself having fun.  David was
brilliant as usual, and he pelted our opponents with his hard hitting
questions, making mince meat of their weaker arguments.  I found myself
dreaming of a naked victory celebration with him that night.  Maybe, I'd
surprise him.

The second round brought me back to reality.  Our opponents were tough,
very tough.  They countered each and every one of our attacks on their
proposals.  The did so calmly and coolly, engendering my respect with each
key point they made.  We battled speech by speech, and in the end, I had no
idea if we had won or lost.  I did know, however, that if we lost, it was
fair and square.

We went back to the reception area about 10:30 a.m.  Jim and Sara were
pleased with their morning performance.  They said things had gone well.

The top eight schools from the morning Debates would proceed on to the
quarter finals.  Speaker points would break any ties.  Teams not making it
to the quarter finals would participate in a "Bonus Round," (referred to as
the Looser's Round by the participants), or they could observe the quarter
finals.  The quarter finals were at 11:00.  Then there was lunch, followed
by the semifinals at 1:30.  The two surviving schools from the semifinals
would face each other for the State Championship in the main auditorium.
This would include two Debates, as each school's affirmative and negative
teams had to face their challenger.  The two final Debates were at 3:00
p.m. and 4:15 p.m. The awards ceremony was to take place in the same
auditorium at 5:30 p.m.  It made for a long day.

When the officials posted the quarter finalists in the front of the room,
there was a mad rush of people trying to squeeze in all at once.  We
decided to wait.  We'd know soon enough anyway.

Moments later, one of our opponents from the second round came over to our
table.  "Congratulations," he said.  "You're in the quarters."

We tried not to show our excitement too much, but we were definitely
charged up.  There were high fives' all around.

"D'you make it?" I asked the guy who had told us of our placement.

"I think you knocked us out of the running," he said with a dry expression.
"By the way, you're up against Freeland.  They're a good team, but you can
take'em."

I liked this guy.  I though that if we had gone to the same school, we'd
probably be good friends.

Jim and Sara were also up against Freeland in the quarter finals.  It was
designed that way on purpose.  Mrs. Weber collected us from our table and
ushered us to our rooms.

"Focus, focus, focus," was her advice as we moved along the wide corridors
to our quarterfinal rooms.  She said that she wouldn't watch this round, or
the semi finals if we made it.  "But dynamite couldn't blast me from the
auditorium if you guys make it to the finals.  And, by the way, you can do
it.  Just remember to....

"FOCUS," the four of us shouted in unison, cutting off Mrs. Weber.

David and I had a fabulous quarterfinal round.  Freeland had tried to be
different by avoiding all the classic proposals that had made the rounds
during the season.  Unfortunately for them, they didn't seem to have very
good answers to our attacks.  David was in his glory.  He rose to the
challenge of analyzing some new ideas, knocking each one down, methodically
and thoroughly.  We won hands down.

Lunch, however, was another torture.  I was way too keyed up to eat.  Jim
and Sara weren't quite sure whether or not they had defeated the Freeland
negative team.  We decided it was a toss up if we'd make it to semi's.  I
tried to force myself to consume a sandwich at David's urging, but I
couldn't.  He, however, scarfed down three.  At 1:15, they posted the
results.  Mrs Weber pushed to the front of the line and read the posting.
She turned around, beaming.  When she had made it back to our table, she
was holding up two fingers.

"Two more, guys, and its all yours! she said.

"Who are we up against in the semi's? I asked.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed.  "I forgot to check."  She literally ran back
to the posting, then ran back to us.  If Mrs. Weber was so nervous that she
forgot to check out the competition, I knew she must be on edge.  I wanted
to win for her.  I owed her so much.

"You got East Pointe Country Day.  Kettering got Reed City," she told us.
The semifinalists were really no surprise.  We were the same schools who
had taken first, second, third and fourth place at our first invitational
back in October.  I burned inside with determination not to take fourth
this time.

David casually put his arm around me, sending tingles up and down my spine.
I literally shook right there at the table, in front of everyone. I quickly
moved away from his touch.  "Later," I told him without thinking.  "After
we win."

Sara saw our exchange.  She grabbed me by the arm and took me outside.
"You need a quick constitutional," she said.

We walked around the building, and I wanted to tell her about David and me.
I knew better, however.  Not that she wouldn't accept us, for I knew she
would.  Hell, she probably had guessed.  She and Jim had almost lived with
us for the last four months.  But those personal feelings and discussions
had to be squashed.  I couldn't allow myself to be distracted.  I had to
focus.  As we walked together, I somehow knew that Mrs. Weber had enlisted
Sara's help in keeping my mind on the Debate instead of other things.

The walk helped to clear my head, and we went back in.  David and I headed
for our room.  We arrived at the same time as the Country Day team and the
judge.

Country Day had volunteered to provide all of the time keepers for the
State Competition.  Since most of the time keepers had finished their
duties, Country Day had a room full of spectators.  Several of their girls
started admiring David.  They whispered, pointed at him and then giggled
amongst themselves.  I really couldn't blame them.  He was not just
handsome.  He was what you'd call "drop dead gorgeous." Knowing that he was
totally mine, however, I didn't feel even a twinge of jealousy.

The Debate was our toughest of the day so far.  Despite their incredibly
outdated and pretentious name, Country Day knew their stuff.  Their insipid
uniforms were awful, but their performance was impressive.  In fairness, I
though David and I were pretty darned good ourselves.  And the question
round helped us again.  I managed to put the first affirmative speaker on
the defensive, and she and her partner spent way too much time trying to
recover one of their weaker arguments.  Meanwhile, David attacked their
stronger ones with evidence that was just on target.  When it was over, I
thought we had a decent shot at the finals.

After the Debate, the County Day girl who had been admiring David the most
came up directly to him.  "I'd be scared to get in a parked car with you."
she said coyly.  "I think you'd persuade me to give you whatever you
wanted."

"Please, don't be scared, Miss," he said.  "You'd be perfectly safe.  I
already have everything I'd ever want to find in a parked car."

It took her a moment, but when she finally figured out that David had
insulted her, she turned and flitted away.  Before she had gone too far,
she turned back toward David.  "Creep!" she taunted.

"G-r-e-a-t rebuttal technique!  D'you learn that in Country Day Debate
class?" he whipped back.

She gave a disgusted grunt, and left the room with the other Country Day
debutantes.

Mrs. Weber was outside the room when we came out.  Having finished before
us, Jim and Sara were with her.  David and I nodded in a fairly confident
manner, letting them know we had a good chance.  Jim and Sara shrugged
their shoulders in unison, and we knew they considered their round somewhat
of a toss up.  Without saying a word, we all knew each other's assessments
of our chances to make the finals.

Mrs. Weber herded us back to the reception area where the finalists would
be announced.  "If you make it," she said, "you may have only a few minutes
before you're on stage in the auditorium.  So start psyching yourself up
now.  Assume your heading for the finals, and focus."

They didn't post the finalists.  They decided to announce them from the
platform.  Although most of the schools had already been eliminated, the
room was packed.  The sense of excitement was building.  Everyone was
tense.  One of the officials stepped up to the microphone.

"Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, please.  May I have your attention?  Here's
what you've been waiting for," he said.  "Please join us in the auditorium
in ten minutes for the last two Debates of this season.  We'll be deciding
this year's State Champions, so don't miss it!  Oh, and Coaches, if your
school is in the finals, I need to see you up here immediately after this
announcement.  Okay.  Is everybody ready? ........... I am very pleased to
welcome back to the State finals, last year's champions - L-a-n-s-I-n-g
K-e-t-t-e-r-I-n-g!"

The room exploded in applause, lead by the tournament official at the
microphone.  I looked at the Kettering team.  God, were they smug.

When the applause died down, I felt my stomach in my throat.  I prayed
silently, "Please, God!  Please.  We've worked so hard!"

"And," the official said, "Believe it or not, Kettering will be facing ....
Detroit Josy-ette.  Let's welcome Josy-ette to their very first State
Finals."

There was an immediate, but polite round of applause.

I couldn't believe me ears.  The asshole had insulted us.  Not only had he
mispronounced the name of our school, what the hell did "believe it or
not"' mean?

I looked at our team. It all seemed surreal.  I could tell that Jim, Sara
and David were hugging and rejoicing.  I could tell Mrs. Weber was angry.
I flashed backed to how mad she was at David and me for oversleeping.  Was
that this morning, I wondered?

I felt hot in the face, and adrenalin surged through my veins.

I watched Mrs. Weber walk slowly to the platform.  I think she talked to
the official.  I couldn't hear what they were saying because of the ringing
sound in the room.  Then, I felt two arms reach around me from my back.

David whispered loudly in my right ear, and his breath felt heavy on the
side of my face.  His words pierced through my senses.  "Let's kick their
Kettering asses, Lover!"  My body exploded in electrical charges, and I
blacked out.

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