Registration for the Extemp TOC concluded several hours ago and Extemp Central can provide some information about this year’s eighth annual Extemp Tournament of Champions (TOC) at Northwestern University. This year’s tournament has 69 competitors, which is twenty more than last year’s competition. Tournament directors are attributing this to increased Texas participation in this year’s field and the lack of swine flu scares. The expanded field will allow the tournament to break to quarter-finals on Sunday. Also, unlike last year’s competition, all rounds will be held at Northwestern’s campus tomorrow and Sunday.
For those unfamiliar with the TOC, the tournament has six preliminary rounds of competition. Each round has two judges and competitors have their lowest prelim rank dropped. The first four preliminary rounds are preset and the last two are power matched. In elimination rounds, the tournament utilizes five judge panels (seven for finals) and open cross-examination. For competitors who do not make elimination rounds, there is a supplemental impromptu competition that they can enter.
There are several notable judges who have come to help this year’s TOC. A few of them are:
*Dr. Steve Moss
*Jason Warren
*Harry Strong
*Billy Strong
*Weston Elkins
The schedule of this year’s TOC can be found on its main page. Since tomorrow is just preliminary rounds, the schematics do not include names, and breaks are not announced until Sunday morning, there will not be much live coverage tomorrow from the event. However, if a wireless connection can be secured, Extemp Central will provide up-to-date information about breaks, pairings, and awards on Sunday.
Good luck to those competing in this year’s TOC and we hope that those left home can gain insight into the event from our live coverage.