whidden rant

Yesterday was a fucking stupid day.

So, whidden walks into the bedraces being the undefeated champions for two years straight. They have the fastest bed racer and the most expectations. In the first heat, Whidden beats Brandon Hall by a foot. This, despite the fact that one of the racers had lost her stride and was just hanging on for the lst 15 metres. They still beat Brandon by a foot. Whidden posted a time of 39 seconds and change.

The whole crowd is hyped. That sounds good enough to get us into the semis easily. The reps start attending to the racers, trying to get them pumped up. The racers are in a zone, just waiting to get on again. Then, the semifinalists are called. Whidden is not among them. We haven't even been told of this despite the fact that we had one of the fastest times. I go up to the IRC reps and start to ask why we have not been called up when the team we managed to deafeat by a foot has been called up. At that point, and after much persuading, the IRC rep goes up and asks why we were not in the semis. We get a response that one of our racers stepped into the other lane and due to that a five second penalty had been tacked on to our time. We stand there, stunned. Five seconds. Five seconds in a race where we ran 39 seconds. Five seconds puts us into last spot immediately. We are knocked out.

First of all, if you are going to have such stringent rules, then they have to make sense. In such a fast race, you tack on a max of a second. Five seconds is an eternity in such a race. Who made this rule? Who dropped the ball on that one? Who okayed the rule?

The whole whidden crowd was just stunned. The looks on the faces of the racers, the frosh and the reps said it all. I was fuming. We got fucked. Again. This happens every year to a residence. I am fucking sick of it. The worst fact is that everyone just becomes complacent and tries to be all nice. Fuck that. We got screwed. I want answers. I want a fucking explanation.

But, that's not all of it. We later find out that the real reason for the penalty was that one of the whidden supporters had pumped their fist acrossed the line during the race. Pretty much, the kid was cheering with his/her fists in the air and it crossed the line of the racetrack. The rep saw it, and called it. We got five seconds for that! Five fucking seconds for fist by a spectator that didn't even end up impeding the race!

wtf is that shit? Then, after the winner of the bedraces had been decided, the IRC told us it was their mistake and they were sorry. That's too small a word now buddy. I say sorry when I sneeze. And that, is exactly what that word gets me now, a fistful of spit.

But, the whidden frosh are awesome and they have awesome reps this year. The crowd was on its feet, they remained strong. They walked back and cheered for the racers. They knew what had just happened and they swallowed their pride. The pride of Whidden showed itself today.

What pisses me off the most is that this happens ever year. How is it that an organization on campus cannot gets its act together? Where was their communication? Why were we not told earlier that we had been penalised. Who made the five second penalty rule? Did they know what usual bedrace run times are?

How can you expect anyone to respect you if you consistently fuck up? Why should I show you any respect even though someone gets screwed every year in some competition or other? Give me one good reason. You have none. I want, nay, i demand perfection. Writing the rules, the procedures and planning for any and all contingencies is the easy part. You had four months to do it. Why did you not get it right? What pressures did u have placed upon you? Did you know the racers? No. Did the reps harass you over the summer? No. You had fucking pizza and pop all summer but you couldn't get this right? Please, don't give me excuses. I demand perfection. If even one person walks away from the crowd feeling cheated then you have failed, utterly and miserably. Simple as that.

Wan't this year's theme, One Mac? What happened? When did it change?

today, the irc let me down again. Some of my own friends are like, dude you take it too seriously. Yeah, maybe. But you know what, I look at it as if i'm in the shoes of that 17 year old wearing his obnoxious Matthews shirt in first year. I remember myself as a spectator. And I know damn well, that if that happened to my team, I would be mad. I would feel bad. Losing is one thing. We can take defeat. But defeat at the hands of injustice is a different matter all together. If you don't get that, then you probably haven't lost due of injustice.

But that's cool. You come at us with batons, u better make us bleed. You come at us with guns, u better kill us. Cuz we're Whidden, we will rise again. Today is a new day and we intend to sieze it. Bring your best shot, Whidden pride will prevail.

the orange never fades.. infact, it engrains itself into you. bring the ruckus... we're whidden and we're ready!

WHIDDEN WHIDDEN WHIDDEN!!

.. can i get a bash?