by Logan Scisco
With the 2009-2010 season underway it appears as if we are in for a wild ride. With three national circuit tournaments completed there is no clear favorite for who will claim the NFL National Championship in Kansas City, Missouri. As the National Points write up in this edition will show, there has not been a competitor so far this season to accumulate points at multiple national circuit tournaments, although some competitors have attended more than one. Whether this differences are due to different geographic norms, inconsistency, or lack of travel due to the economy it is too early to tell. However, the Ex Files staff sends out a large congratulations to all of the finalists in this year’s national circuit tournaments and to Emily Martin, Aaron Lutkowitz, and Dillon Huff for their victories at Wake, Yale, and St. Mark’s.
As most loyal readers can attest, this year has already seen some changes at Extemp Central, especially in the last month. We hope that you enjoy our daily “top five” news stories and an expansion of the weekly questions offered from ten to twenty, being divided on Tuesday and Wednesday between United States and International topics. Also, we hope that you are finding the weekly news quiz helpful so that you can brush up on events that happened during the previous week. Extemp Central also looks forward to offering live coverage of the Montgomery Bell Extemp Round Robin in a few months and at the Extemp TOC later next semester. We are also looking into the possibility of offering live coverage at NFL Nationals, although logistics are still being worked out.
In this issue, The Ex Files has a Glenbrooks preview with last year’s champion Stacey Chen, describes major events taking place in the National Points Race, provides an editor’s corner column on what significance statements are, and provides an updated topic brief on the healthcare debate. The staff of The Ex Files wishes everyone good luck who is competing at Glenbrooks and George Mason as the semester draws to a close. After George Mason, stay updated to Extemp Central for the release of the MBA Sweet Sixteen and a breakdown of the competitors who will be attending.
With the Wake Forest National Early Bird less than two weeks away, extempers across the country are preparing for the beginning of the 2009-2010 season. Last season saw California emerge as a stronger extemp power, with Bellarmine College Prep’s impressive showing at NFL Nationals and saw Stacey Chen of North Allegheny Senior High School emerge as the first official Extemp Cental National Points Race champion. North Allegheny Senior High School also managed to narrowly edge out Bellarmine College Prep for the National Team Points Race.
It is hard to imagine that the 2008-2009 competitive year is nearing its end. From Wake Forest to Albany, New York, the season has provided many twists and turns for extempers all across the country. Next week all eyes will converge on Birmingham, Alabama for the extemp version of “glory’s last shot.” NFL will the time when many seniors give the final extemp speeches of their careers and for many that dream will come to an end well before the final round. However, all achievements of personal glory can be seen as relative. For some, simply making the national tournament is the culmination of a career of hard work, while for others anything less than a national championship will result in disappointment.
After a bit of a delay, the next edition of The Ex Files is here. The national invitational portion of the 2008-2009 season is finished and many competitors are currently preparing for national tournaments, national qualifiers, and/or state championship competitions. The staff of The Ex Files wishes competitors doing each of these the best of luck. For those who have had their season ended, The Ex Files hopes that you will still read this, and future editions, to learn more about extemporaneous speaking and can better hone your performance for the 2009-2010 season.
The first semester of the season has come and gone and Extemp Question Central is happy to be part of it. After the recent tournaments at Glenbrooks and George Mason University, the National Points Race standings have seen more of a shakeup and the second half of the year looks to be even more exciting, with nationals only six months away.