[eDebate] DCA Debater #8 - KEVIN RABINOWITZ - BIO INCLUDED

[Brent Culpepper]

DCA Debater #8 - KEVIN RABINOWITZ
Kevin received 64 total points



To attempt to explain to you just how committed Kevin was to debate I will
begin with the wily freshman who, the week prior to his first big day of
college, drove to Mike Davis' house in Athens Georgia to get a head start on
the other phenomenal recruits we had coming in that year. The car he drove
to Mike's described him as a debater – it was a rough Mazda 626 with a
bumper sticker that read "Honk if Parts Fall Off." Unfortunately for Kevin,
I was house sitting for the Davis' as they were out of town.  Night number
one of Kevin's arrival in Athens, I take him to meet one John Roberts who
many of you may know as the younger brother of Georgia's resident director
of fun and manager of the 20th floor – Bill Roberts.  Then off to the 283
bar we go.  Kevin has simply never been in a bar before I don't believe.  He
is quite satisfied with his coke while John and I begin to make sure the bar
shows a profit.  The pinnacle of this night was Kevin looking like a deer in
headlights about to get leveled by a semi when he was forced to relieve me
of driving responsibilities – I have now known him for around eight hours.



Kevin's entire first year was grounded in comfort.  He wore the same pair of
pajama pants, blue hoodie and stocking hat that looked like it came straight
from season one of Northern Exposure every day.  Luckily, we all knew Kevin
would develop into one hell of a researcher when Naveen took him under his
wing.  Kevin's first assignment was supposed to be a diplomatic focus DA –
or at least that is what Naveen expected.  Naveen, always one willing to be
understanding of youth, looked at Kevin upon turning in his file and said
"I'm renaming the file – Its new title is the Shitty DA.  But don't worry
about it.  I'm a better researcher than you could ever hope to be and I will
fix it."  Ever since that moment, Kevin developed an uncanny skill to stroke
Naveen's ego in such a way to get him to constantly make all of Kevin's
files useable.



Kevin's first year culminated at Mike Davis' Christmas Party where an
awkwardly dressed goofy acting kid drank himself to the point where at
approximately 9 p.m. he bolted out the door and projectile vomited all over
himself.  Little did Kevin know that he would soon be undressed and cleaned
up by Shannon Holland.  It was then that the boyish crush began and while
laying on the bed in nothing but his boxers Kevin raises his hand into the
air (you get the picture) and declares "I am Robocop."  No one knows why or
how this came to be but at that moment another nick name was added in the
historic lineage of others such as K-Rab, The Rabi and many more.  It wasn't
until almost a year later that Kevin would even consider drinking with me
again.



But once the silence was broken, a young boy's quest for sobriety quickly
turned into a man's obsession with tequila.  It was in his sophomore year
that, Kevin attempted to turn me into an alcoholic.  Seemingly everyday
would begin at around six o'clock with darts, beer and tequila.  Debate
meetings became more interesting while achieving this level of constant
intoxication.  Kevin's debate success did not take a beating with his recent
new habits as he continued to maintain his dominant grasp on the 3-5
division at most tournaments.  Indeed, his crowing achievement was earned at
the district tournament.  Just after a solid run that resulted in a bid to
the NDT, the entire district 6 student population rewarded Kevin with the
title as JV Debater of the Year.  I say this is his crowning achievement
because it is the only award which Kevin earned by himself – not even Jarrod
Atchison can claim credit for developing Kevin's skills to such a high level
as to warrant such an honor.  Following the district tournament, Kevin was
riding his waive of success right into the ADA National Tournament hosted in
Athens that year.  Ed Panetta decided we should test the waters and
consummate our future partnership before the actual marriage took place to
make sure it all worked out.  Well I remember very little about this
tournament.  Except I was out of control.  The morning of Day 1 of the ADA's
prestigious event, I drove the approximate three miles to campus from a
hotel room Kevin somehow got me back to the previous evening.  In the same
white undershirt I partially vomited on the night before, I rolled in to
round one with the aroma of Jameson's Irish Whisky exuding from my pores.  Far
from even being able to contemplate the hangover as I was still wasted, the
worst 1NC of my life would begin. Ed Panetta walks up to Kevin after
interacting with me for a whole 2 seconds – Stares him down and in a moment
of desperation says this line to the young sophomore debater:  "If Brent
shows up in this state tomorrow morning, I am rescinding your scholarship
and you are kicked off of the team."  And so it began.





Now the junior year and the first year we debated together.  The junior year
was full of debauchery that we used to include in these bios but alas.  It
was in this year that Kevin became a force.  His research hit new levels
even without Naveen's aid.  The day we knew things were heading up for Kevin
was prior to the doubles at USC.  We were debating Emory CL.  Kevin did some
work on their affirmative but had always been receptive to coaching prior to
debates.  For the hour preceding the beginning of the doubles, Kevin spoke
to no one, turning away even the advice of Jarrod.  Now as Jarrod, Kevin,
Shawn and I stood outside of the room a drawing of straws to determine who
would go ask Kevin what exactly we were doing in the debate.  Shawn lost
which is ironic considering he wasn't an official member of the squad but
his diplomatic skill made him ideal for the task. Shawn asked, Kevin stared.
This exchanged ensued.  "Shawn – Kevin, What's our offense.

  Kevin  -  A fucking Disad.  Need anything else"

Shawn walked out, grabbed his beer and said a first year just told him to
leave.



Most of you know that Kevin's greatest strength is diplomacy. The NDT pretty
much blew that year for us.  We managed to not clear which turned out to be
awesome.  That evening as Kevin was in the neighborhood of 15 shots in, the
bartender at the Orrington decided to close up shop.  Kevin would have none
of this and invoked his god given art.  He grabbed the bartender and began
to explain with the power of every explitive how he would not be allowed to
close the bar.  Only the presence of Michael Lee and Bill Roberts prevented
an all out assault from occurring.

Now a few bullet points that were constructed in typical Ed Panetta
fashion – he gets his two cents too right?:



1)    We knew Kevin would be successful in debate when we determined
his only interests in life are debate and the Atlanta Hawks.



2)    He's a better person now than when he was a freshman when he
drove his colleague to quit school in the middle of the semester to
enroll in a school where she could build ships for the Iraqi invasion.



3)    It's hard to believe that a kid who never received more than a
27.5 for his first two years in college could win the Copeland award.



4)    His last two significant injuries have been sustained while
walking down stairs and walking across a street.  Both to his ankle
and both requiring medical attention and amazingly achieved while
sober.



5)    Note to people who he judges next year:  ALWAYS make the debate a

trade debate if you want to hold out any chance of winning.



6)    Kevin still has the marks on his back from the 05 NDT when Scott

Deatherage spent 10 minutes in the post debate critique telling Kevin
he had no clue how to win a debate.



7)    Yes it's true he was nothing more than a Jarrod Atchison hand
puppet. His only original idea in four years was to change the donuts
we serve at the high school tournament from Dunkin Donuts to Krispy
Kreme.



I want to conclude with these few more serious comments.  This year was
different.  Kevin is the most motivated individual I've ever met.  He worked
at a level that couldn't even be matched by Naveen.  The privilege of
debating with Kevin for the last two years has been unparralled by any other
experience I have had in my life – not even the CLW can come close to
competing.  It is rare you get to debate with one of your best friends – it
makes all the difference.  He is the best this community has to offer and
deserves far more praise than I can give him in such a bio.  I am proud to
have debated with him and to call him one of the best human beings I've ever
called a friend.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.ndtceda.com/pipermail/edebate/attachments/20070509/8b0ea8b5/attachment.htm