Well folks, the real world and a real career has caught up to me.
I will be leaving Iowa to take a job at an Ohio law firm. It's been a lot of fun sparring. Having been called a Republican jackass in the same 30-day span as being called a yellow-bellied liberal, I figure I touched everyone in some way.
My two last points:
1. The Iowa Mock Trial team finished in a tie for second place at the National Championship Tournament. Ravi Narayan and Kathryn Beary earned All-American honors. The Hawkeyes were 4 points away from being undefeated.
Those with a little school pride should know that a judge, from Des Moines, was surprised to learn that the University of Iowa "could hang" with the University of California-Berkeley. Hang we did; in fact, we took both ballots.
Since 1998 the University of Iowa Mock Trial team has qualified for the National Championship Tournament. Since 1999 we have finished in the top 15 (7 in the top 5) and won back-to-back national championships in 2002 & 2003.
Despite our success the team struggles for funding and recognition on campus. Unlike Debate we have no permanent practice facility; yet, every year we are a national championship contender. Interested students should check out the UIMT Web site.
Congrats to all of the hardworking students!
This year's case was named in memory of Brooke Walton, a former UI student killed by a drunk driver.
2. I will be moving back to:
http://midnightsprint.blogspot.com for those that are interested in talking about law, the war on terror, or anything else that comes to mind.
Thanks.
neal
Showing posts with label mock trial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mock trial. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
A Black and Gold Xmas
It was, yet again, another great weekend to be a Hawkeye. A capacity crowd packed into Carver-Hawkeye Arena to watch the top-ranked Hawks beat second-ranked Iowa State. The gridiron Hawkeyes were selected to a New Year's Day bowl game. What could be better start to the holiday season? A large golden phallus.
On Friday night 250 undergraduate students from around the country poured into the Iowa City for the 8th Annual Cornshucker Challenge. The prize at stake? An erect golden ear of corn soldered to a base. All in all, the trophy stands just under two feet tall. The Corn, as it is affectionately called on the mock trial circuit, has, of course, been the subject of many inappropriate jokes over the last seven years - including three senior ladies from Oxford, Ohio intimating fellatio in front of 250 competitors. Not since it's inaugural season has the Cornshucker Challenge been won by the University of Iowa, leaving the Corn to be defiled on campuses across the country. Like the aging whore that it is, the Corn is looking used and abused. It hooks now; the kernels are tarnished; and the base and gold-leaf are worn and cracked. This past weekend was the retirement party for the Corn. She was replaced with a newer, more expensive, and double-corned trophy.
Just like at the birth of the Corn, the University of Iowa mock trial team won the Cornshucker Challenge. The team went undefeated and several students won personal awards. Congratulations to everyone and thank you to all the attorneys, law students, and non-competing mock trial members that helped out.
On Friday night 250 undergraduate students from around the country poured into the Iowa City for the 8th Annual Cornshucker Challenge. The prize at stake? An erect golden ear of corn soldered to a base. All in all, the trophy stands just under two feet tall. The Corn, as it is affectionately called on the mock trial circuit, has, of course, been the subject of many inappropriate jokes over the last seven years - including three senior ladies from Oxford, Ohio intimating fellatio in front of 250 competitors. Not since it's inaugural season has the Cornshucker Challenge been won by the University of Iowa, leaving the Corn to be defiled on campuses across the country. Like the aging whore that it is, the Corn is looking used and abused. It hooks now; the kernels are tarnished; and the base and gold-leaf are worn and cracked. This past weekend was the retirement party for the Corn. She was replaced with a newer, more expensive, and double-corned trophy.
Just like at the birth of the Corn, the University of Iowa mock trial team won the Cornshucker Challenge. The team went undefeated and several students won personal awards. Congratulations to everyone and thank you to all the attorneys, law students, and non-competing mock trial members that helped out.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Shameless Plug and the Bowl Season
On December 6th and 7th, the University of Iowa Mock Trial team will be hosting its annual competition on campus. Some of the best teams in the country will be present. If you are interested at all about mock trial - it's a great public speaking, drama, and analytical thinking activity - come check us out at the IMU and EPB this weekend. If you know any local lawyers or journalism professors/TAs that might be interested in judging a defamation case let me know.
Now for something completely different...
I'm always torn this time of year when it comes to collegiate football. The BCS systems is a crock of shit. Too much weight is given to pre-season polls which swoon over brand-name institutions. If you don't start in the top 10, it's almost impossible to get into the championship game under the current system. The purest in me says, damn it use a tournament just every other collegiate sport or competitive activity.
But here's my dilemma. I love the bowl season. It's like the grand finale during the 4th of July fireworks display. The teams have weeks to prepare and the waiting only makes the games that much better. The beauty of college sports is the ever-present hope that the underdog will succeed. The bowl season gives you ample opportunity to see the over-rated favorite get crushed or the last-second field goal that sends bitter rivals to their knees in tears.
Yeah it's over-commercialized. So what if it relies on a computer program no one understands and bowls chose teams based on revenue. The games are good. More importantly, the sheer number of quality games makes off-season almost bearable. I'll admit that this season will be sweeter than last season when the Hawkeyes stayed home, but that didn't affect my ability to spend dozens of hours watching college football last winter.
Besides, once college football is over we are left with Hawkeye basketball to keep our sports fix alive, which is the real reason people in Iowa get depressed in the winter.
Now for something completely different...
I'm always torn this time of year when it comes to collegiate football. The BCS systems is a crock of shit. Too much weight is given to pre-season polls which swoon over brand-name institutions. If you don't start in the top 10, it's almost impossible to get into the championship game under the current system. The purest in me says, damn it use a tournament just every other collegiate sport or competitive activity.
But here's my dilemma. I love the bowl season. It's like the grand finale during the 4th of July fireworks display. The teams have weeks to prepare and the waiting only makes the games that much better. The beauty of college sports is the ever-present hope that the underdog will succeed. The bowl season gives you ample opportunity to see the over-rated favorite get crushed or the last-second field goal that sends bitter rivals to their knees in tears.
Yeah it's over-commercialized. So what if it relies on a computer program no one understands and bowls chose teams based on revenue. The games are good. More importantly, the sheer number of quality games makes off-season almost bearable. I'll admit that this season will be sweeter than last season when the Hawkeyes stayed home, but that didn't affect my ability to spend dozens of hours watching college football last winter.
Besides, once college football is over we are left with Hawkeye basketball to keep our sports fix alive, which is the real reason people in Iowa get depressed in the winter.
Monday, November 10, 2008
A Great Weekend to be a Hawkeye!
By now every corner of Hawkeye nation has heard the echo of the victory drums after this weekend's historic upset of Penn State. Fans and players alike braved the cold weather under the common banner of black and antique gold, the same banner that both parties raised as thousands flooded the field after the game-winning field goal of Daniel Murray split the uprights and gave the Hawkeyes their biggest upset in the Kirk Ferentz era.
Three hundred miles to the north of Iowa City a bevy of undergraduate Hawkeyes braved the cold for a different, yet competitive, purpose. Over thirty University of Iowa students climbed into a caravan of University Fleet Services vehicles Friday morning and drove to the Twin Cities. They returned in the dark of Sunday night victorious, even dominant. However, unlike their Kinnick-playing brethren the victory of these students will go unnoticed. Their efforts will not be covered by web sites or newspapers. Their representation of the black and gold means little to anyone but their peers and parents. The title of "undefeated tournament champion," and placing four teams in the top ten of a forty-four team tournament will, for no other reason than they don't play at Kinnick or Carver, earn these students absolutely no respect from the University community.
Every year upwards of fifty University of Iowa students compete in a season that lasts longer than college football and college basketball combined. They spend an average of nine hours a week, all extra-curricular, honing their skills and practicing while balancing their heavy course loads and jobs. By the end of their season these students will have traveled to both coasts and many cities in between, sometimes four to five weekends in a row. Unlike their west campus peers, they pay for almost all of the expenses out of their own pockets -whereas most of their adversaries boast school-provided budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars. Distinct from their west-side peers, these students graduate - many with multiple degrees, and with honors. Contrary to their peers who play at Kinnick and Carver, over the last ten years this competitive Hawkeye squad has not only made it into post-season play, they have consistently placed with high honors.
Even though their banners are not hung from the rafters of Carver; their accolades are not carved in brick, marble, or metal; their plentiful stock of trophies and medals gather dust in an unadorned cabinet, or various apartments closets, rather than being displayed with the fanfare of a three-story hall of fame; and even though their historical back-to-back national championships and seven year national top five finishes streak will not be used to recruit anyone to our institution, these students will continue to strive for greatness and will work tirelessly to uphold the name of "The University of Iowa." The University of Iowa Mock Trial students have pride in what they do for the University community, even if the substantial majority of campus and alumni refuse to honor their accomplishes and efforts. They bleed Black and Gold just as much as every person that was able to watch the football team win at Kinnick this weekend; and they deserve the same recognition for their accomplishments and success just as much as those that wear an Iowa jersey.
To all the students that competed over the last month in St. Louis, Des Moines, Washington D.C., Mt. Vernon, and St. Paul, that continue to earn the respect of other schools across the country, and uphold the level of competitiveness associated with "The University of Iowa", I would like to say, "Thank you. Keep doing what you do." It truly was a great weekend to be a Hawkeye!
Three hundred miles to the north of Iowa City a bevy of undergraduate Hawkeyes braved the cold for a different, yet competitive, purpose. Over thirty University of Iowa students climbed into a caravan of University Fleet Services vehicles Friday morning and drove to the Twin Cities. They returned in the dark of Sunday night victorious, even dominant. However, unlike their Kinnick-playing brethren the victory of these students will go unnoticed. Their efforts will not be covered by web sites or newspapers. Their representation of the black and gold means little to anyone but their peers and parents. The title of "undefeated tournament champion," and placing four teams in the top ten of a forty-four team tournament will, for no other reason than they don't play at Kinnick or Carver, earn these students absolutely no respect from the University community.
Every year upwards of fifty University of Iowa students compete in a season that lasts longer than college football and college basketball combined. They spend an average of nine hours a week, all extra-curricular, honing their skills and practicing while balancing their heavy course loads and jobs. By the end of their season these students will have traveled to both coasts and many cities in between, sometimes four to five weekends in a row. Unlike their west campus peers, they pay for almost all of the expenses out of their own pockets -whereas most of their adversaries boast school-provided budgets in the tens of thousands of dollars. Distinct from their west-side peers, these students graduate - many with multiple degrees, and with honors. Contrary to their peers who play at Kinnick and Carver, over the last ten years this competitive Hawkeye squad has not only made it into post-season play, they have consistently placed with high honors.
Even though their banners are not hung from the rafters of Carver; their accolades are not carved in brick, marble, or metal; their plentiful stock of trophies and medals gather dust in an unadorned cabinet, or various apartments closets, rather than being displayed with the fanfare of a three-story hall of fame; and even though their historical back-to-back national championships and seven year national top five finishes streak will not be used to recruit anyone to our institution, these students will continue to strive for greatness and will work tirelessly to uphold the name of "The University of Iowa." The University of Iowa Mock Trial students have pride in what they do for the University community, even if the substantial majority of campus and alumni refuse to honor their accomplishes and efforts. They bleed Black and Gold just as much as every person that was able to watch the football team win at Kinnick this weekend; and they deserve the same recognition for their accomplishments and success just as much as those that wear an Iowa jersey.
To all the students that competed over the last month in St. Louis, Des Moines, Washington D.C., Mt. Vernon, and St. Paul, that continue to earn the respect of other schools across the country, and uphold the level of competitiveness associated with "The University of Iowa", I would like to say, "Thank you. Keep doing what you do." It truly was a great weekend to be a Hawkeye!
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