unfair advantage in debateing

Apology: I acknowledge that my links did not work I will include them in this round. My understanding of my opponents points: It seems to me that my opponents main point is that I have not shown that my reason is the reason for what my statistics show and he provides 1)alternative reasons and 2)reason why my reason isn't the reason: 1)the alternative reasons he mentions are a)forfeiture of instigators (2 points), and b)contender knows what he is up against 2) My reason is invalid because most people make up their mind before the last round. I hope I have adequately understood and represented my opponent if I have not he should correct me in his next round. Rebuttal: 1)alternative reasons: a)forfeiture of instigator: My opponent mentions the average instigator finishes 28 of all debates as opposed to contender finished 47. These numbers are hard to work with they tell us instigator is less likely to finish but do not tell us how much more likely they are to finish. If my opponent could show what % of all debates are forfeited and what % of those forfeitures were contender we would have what to work with hopefully he can come up with these vital #'s next round till then there is not much that these #'s show as far as I can tell. My opponent also states in his reason section a reason. this reason doesn't resound strongly with me perhaps it is some what true but does not mach the tremendous gap in the nearly 2:1 difference in winnings of contender compared to instigator. Further more there are reasons that instigator should have higher winning rate such as having unlimited preparation/research time. b)contender knows what he is up against: I argue that: a)This is not always true, the instigator will often purposely hid his argument and just state the resolution. b)The gap of nearly 2:1 is to large to be attributed to these factors alone. 2)Why my reason isn't a reason: He claims my reason is not a valid reason bec. most voters have decided before the last round. I hope this isn't true as that itself would be unfair. I furthermore question how many debaters would be willing to give up their last round bec. the voters already decided any way. lastly even if sometimes it happens it doesn't always happen. He further points to the fact that the last round often has less then other rounds as evidence of his claim. My response as follows: b1)We don't have statistics on this. so we don't even know the extent to which it is true. My personal experience tells me it's not so prevalent to a large extent. Normally I would go with Ore_Ele as he has much more experience, but the fact that he has a bias here prevents me from doing so. I suppose the best solution is for the reader to make the best conclusion he can on this matter, as it is unclear. b2)The most probable reason that it is shorter is bec. much of what there is to be said has already been said not bec. it is not important. b3)The debaters may not utilize the last round bec. they themselves are unaware of it's affect in swaying the mind of readers. I will stop here as it is unclear to me what my opponent is showing from the, shortness in the last round, before I continue discussing it I would like to have it clarified. Is he saying since it is short it doesn't matter or the fact that it is short shows that it doesn't matter. Argument: My argument can be broken up into 3 parts: (They should not be taken individually rather as a combined unit. ) 1)Reason 2)statistical 3)actual case examples were the last word swayed the voters. The links of part 3 were unfortunately broken in the previous round so I repeat them here. The content of the debate is irrelevant to this debate what is relevant is the points I make regarding them. . http://www.debate.org... I am focusing on the better argument section. note those who voted in my favor where 2 of the senior, well known and well respected debaters on ddo, cliff. stamp and Roy lathem who is one of the best debaters on this site. both of them voted in my favor and gave detailed reasons for doing so. Despite this I lost the debate bec. some kids couldn't keep the entirety of the debate in their mind and where swayed by "the last word". (. http://www.debate.org... my opponent did not even debate much (instead just harped on definitions) then in the final round after which I could not respond, he won. . http://www.debate.org... see comments after debate where it is clear the damage of not having last word. ) . http://www.debate.org... Note in round 4 my entire last argument was completely dropped. Not a word. I pointed this out in the debate itself in round 5. yet none of the voters realized this glaring drop. The only plausible explanation is they forgot and were swayed by the power of "the last word". This combined with reasoning and statistics are the crux of my argument.