When summer started out, I was feeling very excited of things to come in the following season. One of the things I was most excited for was finally getting to attend The Glenbrooks tournament. In all my years in this activity, this tournament has been one of the looming holes of my career.
First, I'll start by saying a HUGE shout out to the people running the show, and particularly the hands that make it happen behind the scenes. It was very well run and the most punctual tournament I have ever attended, excluding NFL and NCFL. Well done and I appreciate what you folks do there!
I was very excited to see some of the nations best programs come together for this tournament, the only one of its kind in the first half of the year. The one big, very obvious absence was James Logan HS. It would have been nice to see them there, otherwise the competition was outrageous.
I couldn't be at this tournament and not document the fun of the weekend. If you haven't done so, I would recommend following us on Instagram @3PSpeech. At any major tournaments that our coaches are attending, you should expect us to post the breaking rounds as they get put up. We want you to experience the competition if you aren't there.
So after a couple rounds off on the first morning, in which I spent hanging out with the Wilkins brothers, I got to judge a few events. They used me sparingly until giving me a final round ballot for Oratory... which I will say right now is the best I've ever seen in person.
I want to take this moment to give a gripe about something that happened at the tournament. This is in no way meant to take away anything from other competitors who made it to any level, mostly to express my sadness for a piece that didn't make it further than it did. DONT KILL ME! :)
Brent O'Connor. If you didn't know him, or happen to watch him in last year's NFL finals, remember the name. This kid will be top 3 at Nats this year. I'm forgetting the name of the piece, I want to say something like "My War With Grandpa". He created a masterpiece with it. You can tell it's well coached, but that would mean nothing without Brent's crazy good ability to adapt to the audience. The most memorable part of the piece (and I won't ruin it!) punches you in the mouth... even if you know it's about to, it doesn't miss. His HI is exactly where the trend of this event is going. I'd be shocked if he wasn't the national champion, and would just feel robbed for him if he doesn't hit stage... but those are just my personal feelings at this point of the season.
ORATORY!
The room was full of talent. Do doubt all 6 were great. It came down to nitpicking in picking who to place. I won't divulge any of my personal placements on here, but I will at least tell you about who I gave first. Liam Feroli- "Some Pie With That?"
The kid was meant for this OO. I have never felt so much passion and natural emotion in my time doing this activity. Everything was just so him that you couldn't even give yourself time to find things to be critical of. Again, another premature prediction, stage.
I wish I could have seen more while I was there. I heard amazing things about Duo and DI. Shout out to Hailey Woolverton for taking down DI! It's a pleasure to see you being a forensic beast!
My biggest regret: Not watching DI sems!
Signing off!