Scott Deatherage Passes Away

Executive Director of National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, former director of debate at Northwestern University, many times national debate champion coach.

From http://cedadebate.org/forum/open-topic-any-issue/scott-deatherage/

From Scott's Family:

Greetings friends,

As most of you know by now, Scott passed away very early this morning. In his last two days, he was surrounded by friends and loved ones. Scott's family is still working to deal with the immediate practical challenges of this tragedy, and has not yet set a time or place for a funeral or memorial service. Plans for those events, however, are in the works for the near future, and we will make sure you are all informed as soon as they are finalized. Thank you all for your continued patience and support -- it has meant the world to Scott's family.

From Dan Shalmon:

All -

Just received word from the hospital that Scott has passed away.

The plan was to take him off of life support early this morning. To be clear, I do not know if they removed life support or not; only that Scott has passed away. Regardless, I am pasting my earlier Facebook-only update from 8pm for those who missed it. Thanks to Erin Simpson who pointed out that some people do not or cannot use social networking websites. There are a lot of redundant e-mail lists and I don't know who reads stuff on Facebook, so I'm just trying to ping everyone I think may have missed the info before. I apologize for any information overload that results.
>>>
Current as of 8pm 12/24/2009
I spent today at the hospital with Scott, so this information is first-hand and current as of the date/time above. If it contradicts what you've heard, you are likely dealing with well-intentioned but erroneous information.

After listening to all the medical and spiritual advice on offer, Scott's family decided to take him off of life support early on the morning of the 25th. I can say with 100% certainty that the best medical minds, including several debate community members believe everything that could be done for him has been done.

There has been no change in his neurological condition; he is still unresponsive and there is no measurable activity in his brain. He is bleeding quite a bit and several of his organ systems have failed. Without large doses of medicine and machines to breathe and maintain his blood pressure, he is likely to pass away very quickly.

We did our best to relay messages from friends who loved Scott and wanted to say goodbye. We read him text messages, placed notes in his bed, held phones to his ear, and thought loving thoughts in his direction all day. There weren't many of us here, but the debate community was present and showed Duck as much love and admiration as possible.

It's Christmas, and we're losing a great man. Mourn the loss but celebrate the gifts he imparted in life.

From a Northwestern Debate alum, also an MD. I don't have permission to use his name, so I didn't.

I also just spoke with Duck's sister and she's doing amazingly well under the circumstances. She told me pretty much all of the medical events happening, and she gave me the green light to let everyone know what's going on with the medical details if that helps you. Please feel free to fwd this to any and all of his friends that need or want to know more details.

Scott suffered from a sudden rupture of the blood vessels surrounding his esophagus (variceal bleeding), which is very difficult to control. He had also been suffering from a severe gastric ulcer for quite some time. My understanding based on what his sister told me was that he called 911 and by the time they arrived, Scott had already gone into cardiac arrest from blood loss. He was revived and transferred to the ER then the ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He underwent several invasive, emergent procedures and surgeries as well as many blood transfusions, and he is hemodynamically stable but in very critical condition. The surgeons were able to control the bleeding, but the duck had gone without oxygen for quite some time.

As most of you know, then, his sister told me that his neurologic status is not good. He remains intubated in the intensive care unit on life support and artificial blood pressure support. She tells me that his pupils are non-reactive and that all of the physicians involved in his care -- at this point -- do not expect him to have any meaningful recovery.

She, as his eldest sibling, is also his healthcare proxy. She thanks us all immensely for our thoughts and prayers, and she says she has some very difficult decisions to make in the next day or two. Please continue to think about her and pray for everyone involved during this difficult time.

I know he meant and means so much to all of us, and he touched us all in different but very profound ways. He was my mentor, confidant and friend, and I am very VERY glad to have seen him only four days ago when we celebrated and had a wonderful dinner together. I miss him very much already. If I can help answer any of the medical questions, please feel free to email me directly. God bless.

From Mike Burshteyn:

Here are the words that sparked a life-long passion for me:

1) Choose. No matter the speech or the argument
2) Offense. Don’t ask, argue. Anticipate your opponents warrant and undermine its credibility before they develop an dexplanationn in the first instance – the 1ac is about the 2AR – don’t answer the argument as it is but as it will be
3) Clash – the most difficult. Competing credibilities. One argument – the nexus question
4) Control the ground of the debate –=– its always about the link The link is the springboard from which virtually every objection of your opponent is to be addressed. If the negative says alternative causality – answer it with a robust defense of your link and solvency arguments. Frame uniqueness arguments in terms of linkage – say tpa is key to us leadership – say the plan derails that repair
5) Cover smart – technique is not debating. Form can never substitute for substance. Coverage is about CHOOSING the RIGHT arguments. Knowing where the nexis question is located. Rebuttle thinking should begin and end with an anticipation of where the nexus question lies
6) Make every argument count. If you cannot visualize how a particular argument can help in the last rebuttal, don’t invest in it. The best strategies are SEAMLESS. WHERE EACH ARGUMENT IN THE 1NC HAS A REALTIONSHIP TO EVERY OTHER 1NC ARGUMENT. It makes it the hardest for the affirmative – a single mistake can determine the outcome
7) Anticipate and know – he knew where the debate would be better than the other team knew where the debate would be. He knew more about their arguments than they did. He figured out where the opposition desired to be in their last rebuttal
“every day you must do better than the day before”
“win or lose, you will never regret working hard, making sacrifices, being disciplined, or focusing too much. Success is measured by what we have done to prepare for competition”
Style and substance are fundamentally inseperable. The three modes of proof = ethos, credibility, logos. Ethos is the most important – the credibility of your argument is most important. The way the judge feels about your argument is important. Juddges want to vote for strong, well reasoned, well evidenced arguments – but they are not simply machines. – its not an information processessor – what the judge thinks and feels is important – make the judge want to vote for you.
9) judge the debate – think about why your opponent has won the debate. Devote the first 30 seconds of 2nr and 2ar prep time to this – if the judge is going to resolve the nexus question, which side will it go towards- figure out the strength of your opponents position on the nexus question
a) give the other team credit. No, you are NOT ahead on every single answer – that’s the solution to the black, white, grey conundrum
b) think about the 1ac – it is a key that unlocks the secrets that are code for the 2ar
c) 2NR is NOT about answering the 1ar – It is about answering the 2AR. Think about how 1ar arguments will flow into paragraphs and establish a world for the 2ar.
10) Narrate the debate. Write a ballot for the judge. It’s a substantive process of argument and evidence comparison. The narration weaves back and forth between the offensive link argumenttce between what you define and the defensive arguments of what the other team defines – evidencec comparison is about plagerize – the process of comparison is not the process of citations or claims, it’s a comparison process that tests the competing credibility of warrents. – keep comparisons centered on the nexus question
11) Teamwork – Michael Jordan “the talent wins games, but the teamwork wins championships” “the past is relevant only insofar as it informs the future” (the duck) pat rielly “the truly great actors go out of their way to ensure that supporting actors are brilliant because they want the play to be great.” Jaime Coven “it is important to respect both your teammates and your opponents. Friendships can make victory last forever.” Phil Jackson “ we alone can destroy our championship opportunity
12) Prepare to win ... its about the details. Its about brainstorming. Strategizing. Research. Practice. Block writing. Strategies. Preparing to win at the championship level means taking EVERY REALISTIC THREAT SERIOUSLY – the teams, the arguments, the strategies, their options. It means babysitting the judges – that they know you are there and you care. It means managing preparation effectively. It means in critical situations – while most competitors in the tournament are busy hobnobbing, the critical teams are preparing for critical instances. At crunch time, you have to have focus. It means preparing for the next debate effectively – especially on elim day. ONE DEBATE AT A TIME. We didn’t approach it as lets be 13 and one in December, we approached it as lets get this game, lets get this game. It means discipline, focus, and concentration. All must rise to a level unlike that you had before. “Confidence is only borne out of one thing – demonstrated ability. You cannot dream up confidence. You cannot fabricate it. You cannot wish it. You have to earn it.” YOU HAVE NO BIRTHRIGHT BUT YOU MUST EARN YOUR SUCCESS the octofinals is NOT round seven. THERE ARE NO AWARDS FOR FIRST PLACE ON DAY ONE – THEY ARE GIVEN ON THE LAST DAY, NOT THE FIRST DAY.
13) Focus and concentration – these are the keys. Together they unlock the secrets. The secrets are the fundamentals – choice, clash, offense, before the rest. Louganis “ you always want your opponent to have a carreer day. Because that will elevate your performance to a level that you did not know you were capable of.” Chris Evert “ single mindedness, that’s what it takes to be a champion.”
14) Greatness. Only two names are engraved on whatever trophy there is in question. Hundreds have been great – it's about commitment, it's about character – it's about hard work and team work.
Louganis – “Victory is not necessarily a gold medal.”
Carl Lewis – “It's all about the journey, its not about the outcome.”

Quote on the wall at UNI – Never be afraid of taking calculated risks in your work and your personal life. Be willing to work harder and longer at your craft than the next person. Never settle for being good at something when you can be great. Learn to be hard on yourself when you didn’t give it your best and easy on yourself when your best isn’t quite good enough. Know that failing means only that you did not achieve your desired goal. That the sooner you take the word can't out of your vocabulary the better off your life will be.