For Those Who Just Mocked, We Salute You

Friday I had the distinct pleasure of watching Park’s Mock Trial compete and win the State Finals. The trial was held in Annapolis and Judge Joseph Murphy, Maryland’s Chief Judge of the Court of Special Appeals, presided over the case. I watched via webstream which was an up and down experience, but a bit more about that later.

Park’s team has enjoyed great success under Coach Tina Forbush, assisted this year by Tony Asdourian. In eleven years, Park has won two championships and has had two second-place finishes. As you watch the competition unfold, you realize that the preparation must be intense, and I imagine our coaches facilitated this task masterfully. The first thing I noticed as I started watching was how quickly you forget that these are high school students competing in a fictional situation. Both teams delivered a professional performance.

Our role at the championship match was the plaintiff. Our three attorneys, Eli Block, Tanika Lynch, and Daniel Stern were nothing short of brilliant. I can say without reservation that based on our championship record, our defense team must be just as able.

The Park attorneys questioned their witnesses with precision and grace—two qualities that many professional litigators would benefit from having. They were poised and their manners were impeccable. You never lost sight of the fact that this was a competition, but one of the most heartwarming moments came when the judges retired to reach a verdict and both teams congratulated each other in what seemed to be a most genuine manner.

Judge Murphy asked the attorneys some tough questions, and on top of that they had to examine ‘hostile’ witnesses, which is never easy, but these kids never flinched. There were a few moments for each team where they had to back track, rethink their approach and proceed, and our team rose to the occasion each time. I highly recommend that you check this out at http://www.courts.state.md.us/education/mocktrial.html (Watch the timer on the video; the trial begins just after 10:00.)

So Park brings home a state championship. You won’t read about it in The Sun—although you can read about an awful lot of lacrosse, softball, and baseball games that happened on Friday. Local schools were even webstreaming lacrosse games on that afternoon. I love high school sports and think they’re great, but the Park kids were doing something equally, if not more, spectacular. This was truly a battle of wits and guile. I watched on the edge of my seat, and almost jumped out of it at one point during the closing argument that I believed sealed the victory. I have no idea if any of these competitors will go on to be practicing attorneys, but I do know that using their analytical skills, powers of inquiry and oration, command and poise will serve them well for a lifetime.

Way to go Park Mock Trial Team---You Rock!

Fantasy and The Ties that Bind

Well at least I made you look. Fantasy refers to fantasy baseball of course. It’s a term which makes me very uncomfortable but we’ll get to that later. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Fantasy baseball, well, I envy you. Fantasy baseball (“Fantasy”) is an opportunity for a group of 8-12 regular people to draft real major league baseball players and create a team. Your team competes against your league mates’ teams and the outcomes are based on the stats of the real baseball players--and this is supposed to be fun.

As the real baseball season kicks off this week, so do countless Fantasy leagues, including one that was conceived at The Park School 10 years ago. The group, which originally consisted of students and faculty, is still going strong a decade later after the students graduated from Park, and graduated from college, and moved on to graduate school and professional lives. (The faculty members are still stuck here.) In speaking to two of the founding members of this Park league, history teachers Peter Warren and John Kessinger, I learned some important stuff (and never mind about the unimportant stuff). The important stuff was that the following folks have participated in this league: Adam Dunn ’02, Dan Flamholz ’02, Robbie Gross ’02, Brian London ’02, Zac Milner ’03, Tyler Rorison ’03, Ben Hyman ’06, Dan McGill ’10, science teacher Elliott Huntsman, Upper School principal Mike McGill, and, who it seems is Commissioner for Life, Ben Jacobs ’02.

No matter how you feel about Fantasy, how great is it that these teachers and students (now alumni) are still at it? Most schools promote the significance of the teacher-student relationship for obvious reasons. This league is one tangible example that speaks to friendship and real connections. I’m sure for all of them it is also a great time, well except maybe for Ben. Being the Commissioner is a non-stop headache. More about that in a moment. Peter and John were quick to point out that Ben was perfect for this role in that he was masterful in dispute resolution. So I wish the league Happy Tenth Anniversary, and Ben a dispute-free year or at least one day without trouble.

I must confess that Fantasy has played a sordid role in my life as well. I am so old that to me this habit is known as Rotisserie baseball. Like poor Ben, I served as Commissioner of my league, but Commissioner only. When I did have a team for a few brief weeks, the conflict it caused when my Fantasy players competed with the Orioles was too much to bear. I ran the league for many years with law school pals. Talk about disputes! But these Fantasy ties do bind us, and now I am the silent co-owner of a team with longtime Park friend, Michael Stiller ’85. He’s the brains, and I run the in-stadium promotions.

So this season is just beginning for Fantasy baseball, Major League Baseball, and Park baseball. Fantasies about Fantasy abound. Whether your life is empty enough that you play or full enough that you don’t, take a look around at the ties that bind you to friends and mentors, Park or otherwise, and celebrate them.