can you hear it? it's all around us

date taken: may 8, 2010

photos by: me

subject: St. Thomas Aquinas Mock Trial Seniors, top to bottom:

Lucas Shimizu, Monica Civille, Dara Namazi, Jacques Diambra Odi

On May 4, 2010, I had the great privilege of traveling with the St. Thomas Aquinas Mock Trial team, which represented Guam at the National Mock Trial Competition in Philly. Now I'm sure you're all wondering...did I have a cheesesteak while I was there? The answer is YESANDITWASGOOOOOD. Now that the important stuff is out of the way, let's talk about the peripheral stuff, like the competition.

It's tough to be objective about your team as a coach. You've seen them at their best, you've wagged your finger at them at their worst. You've talked shit about them behind their backs, and sometimes to their face. I'm at least half-joking here. We went through the competition not having a clue about where we were in the standings. Just, couldn't figure it out. Usually, the further you get into the four rounds of competition, you can gauge where you are in the standings based on who you're playing, who they played, etc. Then you get to the announcement of the final two teams, and when your team isn't announced, well, you know you didn't place in the top two. (I know, you are all astounded by my ability to state the obvious and let me just say, it comes with years of practice.) So, then you get to the banquet dinner where they announce the top ten, and the best attorneys and witnesses of the competition. This year, we didn't get any awards, and we didn't place in the top ten. Practice was grueling. The rounds were rough, and traditionally they are harder for Guam than most of the other teams (except CNMI and South Korea) because a bitch of a jetlag hits you at 3 in the afternoon, in the middle of your second round of the day. And of course, we knew when someone performed subpar, it seems to swallow the brilliant things that happen. It's tough being quick and terse with the students to hopefully correct an error before the next round, while appearing enthusiastic and comforting. I suck at it. Really, this is why I don't gamble.

Why am I rambling about the standings and how bad I thought our team sucked? Well, because, as it turns out, we didn't suck at all.

On our last day, we had breakfast at 7 a.m., then hurried back to the hotel to finish packing for our morning flight. I swung by the ballroom where they were handing out the team packets and scoresheets, and the front of the manila envelope summarized its contents. I was perplexed. In fact, I had to sit down and sort it out for myself before I went back upstairs, which I only mention because I could have spent these extra 4-5 minutes doing a sweep of my room and maybe I wouldn't have lost my ipod shuffle. I loved that thing. I won it at one of those bar games at horse n' cow. Dammit.

Where was I? Oh right.

Guam placed 12th in the nation, higher than all the teams we played, two ballots away from placing top 8, and one game from playing in the finals. Yeah. We were that close. Just to put it into perspective, Guam has only placed higher twice before: 10th in 1995, and 2nd in 1998. This fledgling team, twelve years removed from the mock trial boom of the mid-90s, has placed higher than any team Guam has fielded in this century. This is particularly astounding because St. Thomas has only been in existence for 2 years, we had 4 of the 6 seniors of the school on the team, and a total of 9 kids out of the 40+ kids total at St. Thomas. It's a testament to the quality of the school, the amount of work these particular students put in, and the HUGE support system shaped by administration, coaches, and parents. Ultimately though, none of us were in the ring. These amazing students were. I can say with certainty that nothing, not the tiny 7 team local competition, not the monthlong preparation we worked for the national case, could have created this team. The island created it. We don't have mock trial summer camp. We don't have the luxury of driving across state lines for scrimmages with other state champions. We don't have drama coaches developing characters for our witnesses.

The idiosyncracies of living on Guam, our challenges, our worldview. That's what we have. Guam is competitive dammit. I wish more of our students knew this. I wish the rest of the island recognized this.

I have trouble articulating how much this team means to me.

Thankfully, there is some heartfelt music out there that I think sums it all up.

Jay-Z - 99 Problems