[GFCA] Speech Tab Proposal - Open for Comments

[Jeffrey Miller]

Hi,

So this doesn't get lost in our inboxes, I will start the discussion.
Although I think this proposal is a significant improvement to our current
tabulation process, one by law still stands out to me.

Currently, our tabulation process puts a lot of value on preliminary
rounds.  Currently, final rankings are based off finals rankings + prelim
rankings (drop low).  This is not a normal tab process for any tournament
outside the state I've ever been to.

However, I think the proposal fixes a lot of this.   For instance, in order
to advance from Quarters or Semis to the next elimination round, the top
three in each section advances RATHER than prelim rounds + elim round
rankings - lowest ranking total.   The proposed method of top 3 in each
section makes a lot of sense and places value on the elimination round
rather than on preliminary rounds (something that exists in debate and ALL
OTHER activities/sports - for instance, the top seed in football doesn't
get anything besides homefield advantage in the playoffs to help them).

The problem I see though is that the final rankings *still include* preliminary
rankings in the final rankings.  I do not think *all* rounds matter.  I
think only finals matters.  To compare to debate, if the top seed gets a W
in every round, but loses on a 2-1 in finals - they still lose.  In speech,
if you get all 1's in preliminary rounds, but a 3,2,1 in finals and places
2nd in finals - they should place 2nd in finals.  I could use other sports
or academic activities as an analogy - but debate was the easiest.

I'm interested to see where other coaches stand on the issue of "do all
rounds matter" in final rankings or do just "final rounds matter"?

I will preempt one response that I thought of to my question and that
response is "final round judging is unpredictable in speech events."  I
think Lyndsey's addition to the "Final Round Speech Judge Recommendations
<http://www.gaspeechanddebate.org/speechfinalsjudge>" solve this - for
those who are not aware or haven't read the checklists - Lyndsey created an
additional step for Speech schools at State.  Every speech school is now
required to recommend at least one judge for a final round based on their
experience and expertise.   This solves "unpredictable/unqualified judging
in elims at state".
-- 
Jeffrey Miller
Marist School
Director of Speech & Debate
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