Heartache & Heartbreak

It's not supposed to work out this way.

Typically, when kids work their tails off, compete fairly, and see a large amount of success over the course of the season, you expect it to come to an end near one of their main goals. For the area's best, that's a trip to the State Finals in Peoria, and for many others, it's simply a trip into the Sectional final rounds.

But because speech is subjective, and the judges for the post season are hired – having no clue what took place during the regular season - last Saturday's Sectional at Freeport was bitter evidence of the randomness that often takes pl...