I think this story is missing a lot of information. Let's look carefully at the bit about the chair-throwing:
Hardy and others are also disappointed with what they perceive as a lack of civility and decorum at recent competitions, and believe that the alternative-style debaters have contributed to this environment. “Judges have been very angry, coaches have screamed and yelled. People have given profanity-laced tirades, thrown furniture, and both sides of the ideological divide have used racial slurs,” he said.
"People" have done these things. What people? Hardy believes that the debaters have "contributed to this environment." That could mean that people got mad about the alternative debaters and they were the ones throwing chairs at THEM.
I have the feeling this is a long, complicated, interesting story that merits a feature-length piece. This isn't it.
