James Colston

James Colston and Audrey Covey from Neosho High School in Neosho, Missouri won the 2005 NFL Ted Turner Public Forum National Championship in June.

Recently, 2005 NFL Ted Turner Public Forum National Champion James Colston answered some questions for PFDebate about winning the National Championship and his plans for the future.

1. At what point did you think that winning the National Championship could actually happen?

We got our first down so early that the thought of actually even getting to finals didn’t occur to us until it actually happened. We were both obviously hoping, but we were too worried about possibly being eliminated in the next round to get too far ahead of ourselves. We knew we were capable of doing well, but we had too much respect for everyone else to assume anything.

2. Did you feel that the competition was harder this year or last year?

The competition is getting better every year. You could even tell at intrastate tournaments that people are actually starting to take it seriously. In the beginning few people considered public forum a “real” event. Even though it is still changing, I don’t think that Public Forum can be ignored. The strategies and the competition are going to get tougher every year.

3. Did you enjoy your time in Philadelphia or Salt Lake City more? Championship aside.

I personally enjoyed Salt Lake City more. The city was clean, safe, and the temperature was far superior to Philly. There’s probably a lot more to do in Philadelphia, but SLC just seemed more comfortable and laid back.