Azbel,+Sam

I debated for Trinity Prep for 1 year and Lake Highland Prep 3 years, qualing my senior year. I am the head LD coach for Byram Hills High School in New York. Here are some of my preferences.

__**Remember: These are just my preferences and things that I default to. Any of these defaults can be changed by making arguments to the**__ **contrary****!**

= = =__**UPDATE FOR TOC 2017:**__=
 * i've realized that I'm not the best at flowing, especially short, blippy dumps. If you are going for something important, make sure to slow down for it, tell me to circle it, etc.** **Its on you if I don't get it.**

__**Short Version:**__ -I think that debaters are the best when they read what they are most comfortable with. **Contrary to common belief,** I don't really have strong preferences about anything and believe that debaters do best when reading what they are strongest at. Do whatever you are comfortable with, and I will do my best to understand and evaluate your arguments.

__**Some things you should know:**__

- I will potentially vote on any argument made in round unless it is blatantly offensive - I default to truth testing - If no one makes an argument as to which way I should presume, I will default to risk of offense instead of randomly presuming for one side over the other. - tricks are cool - policy args are cool, but I just kinda get bored when the debate turns into a full on card fest - framework args are cool - K's are cool - CX is binding - I'm not a fan of embedded clash. It is the debaters job to cross apply arguments and I believe that the judge randomly cross applying implications of arguments for the debaters is considered intervention. __**- For some reason people think I hate Kritiks because I didn't really read them when I was a debater. This is false! I read a bunch of K's my senior year, and I actually enjoy judging good K debates!**__ - I have taken a recent liking to high theory K arguments. I am fairly well-read on this stuff, but would appreciate a good explanation of your arguments if you intend to read them

__**Theory Stuff:**__ - the "must" plank in Offensive Counter interps needs to be justified - I default to text of the interp - I default to competing interps - paragraph theory is cool - Reading theory for solely strategic purposes is fine - I don't think that I meets trigger an RVI unless told so

__**Speaker points**__: I will average a 28.5 and adjust them based on the quality of the pool in the tournament

__**Random things:**__

- Slow down on tags, plan text, theory interps, etc. - Being funny = happy judge - don't be mean - saying offensive stuff will get me pretty upset and get you pretty bad speaker points.

-**HAVE FUN AND LEARN SOMETHING WHILE YOU ARE AT IT!**