Mock Trial participants benefitted from luck as well as skill

This past weekend, the UA Mock Trial went to Nationals. There was a big front page headline celebrating it and their preparation. (“”Trial team trains for nationals,”” April 14, 2009) However, that does not tell the whole story.

What they did tell you is for the first time in three years they qualified for nationals, but in reality this is the first time in three years the rules changed. You see, logically, the best possible teams should be able to compete at the national competition.

But each school is limited to two qualifying teams to advance to the national qualifier. This means that teams that could not make it on their own get the beneficial math to allow them to get to Nationals.

This is precisely what happened for the UA Mock Trial team. They were the 33rd team to receive a bid to nationals after that many spots were dropped. They proved they lacked the skill to compete at the tournament in Memphis, beating only teams who had a final record of 2-6 and getting demolished by a team with a 4-4 record.

This miraculous luck led them to the national tournament. They represented us well finishing 23rd of 24 teams with a final record of 1-7. We should be proud that our front-page mock leaders ran out of mock luck when it counted.

Mike Harmon

UA alumnus