Roth,+Oliver

About Me: Graduated from Scarsdale High School in '09, and coached for the team for a few years after that. I now judge at 5 tournaments a year max.

SPEED: Do not go exceptionally fast in front of me. I don't like excessive speed, and I cannot flow it. I will say clear when i am 100% unable to comprehend you. That means just because I am not saying clear, it does not mean I am getting everything you are saying. If you want a 29 or above, you need to go slow enough to be persuasive. Things like tempo, enunciation, and flavor of speech affect how I will treat an argument, and will affect your speaks.

THEORY: Don't run frivolous theory. By this, I mean, if you can respond to args without theory or T.

RVIs: Go real slow and be persuasive on the RVI debate cuz I cant deal with the pile of one sentence blips that RVI debates usually consist of.

EXTENSIONS: Extensions in front of me MUST INCLUDE a warrant and the EXPLICIT implication of the argument in the round. If it's not there, I probably wont grant you it. I lower my standards slightly for dropped arguments, but not much--certainly the implication must be clear either way.

DISCLOSURE THEORY: I intervene against disclosure theory. You can take a gamble and run it in front of me anyway, just know that I will only vote for it once I, Oliver Roth, personally believe it is a good standard for the activity. If you fail to convince me, you will lose.

TRICKS: I love them. Smart, substantive tricks are great. Dumb tricks...less great. Theory tricks are usually dumb, but not always.

MULTIPLE POSITIONS: It is fine to run multiple offs/theory shells (though, remember, I advise against the shell form) in front of me, but know this: If there are more than 5 positions (Cases, Offs, Interps, Counter Interps) in the round, I will be very unlikely to sift through them to resolve the debate. Your job is to make my decision easy. If I have to sift through more than 5 sheets of paper to determine the winner, you have not done your job. I will exclude positions based on my preference if i have to in order to consolidate the round if there are more than 5 positions.

SPEAKS: My speaks are based on fluency and strategy. If your arguments are clear, fully developed, and you have a good in-round strategy, I have no reason to give you low speaks. Adapting to my paradigm as outlined above will help you get good speaks. I will probably give you no less than a 25/26 unless you are for some reason actively offensive or rude.

OUTROUND PANELS: I am inevitably the odd-judge-out on sone occasions (where the other judges are more open to speed, theory, etc). I understand that in these cases, it may not be strategic to adapt strictly to my paradigm. That being said...if I am the odd-judge-out on your panel, throw me a bone. If the round is becoming a theory shit-show, give me a way to vote without sifting through the shit. You WILL win my ballot if you heed to this advice. Spend at least 10-20 seconds in each speech pandering to me. If you do, I will ignore whatever atrocities are going on elsewhere on the flow, and will focus on the issues you throw my way.

INTERVENTION: I reserve the right to intervene if I think it's appropriate. If you are going to run a position that you think I may have a problem with, ask me. Just because it isn't referenced in here doesn't mean I will listen to it. I only added the above section about disclosure theory after having intervened against the position for the first time. Ask me, I'm honest about my biases (or at least I try to be).

Any questions to clarify, expand on, or add to my preferences are welcome to be asked before the round.