OCC wins Nationball 2012
Taking home the brand new trophy, OCC came out on top of this year's Nationball. | Olivia Blinn/THE CHIMES
Off Campus Community clenched the victory at this year’s game of Nationball, snatching the title from last year’s winner, Hope Hall.
Although the final match between OCC and Horton Hall in Chase Gymnasium was tight, OCC pulled ahead during the last few moments. Cheers erupted from the gym floor as the winners jumped up and down, screaming in triumph.
Despite the new wristbands and waiver rules, Nationball was still packed — and even when the games had commenced, there were wristbands left over.
OCC won 1,000 dorm points and bragging rights for the next year. For the first time, the winner of Nationball received a trophy, and OCC raised it high for the camera after their victory.
Drama-filled qualifying rounds
In order to choose two teams to play each other, the Biola Eagle spun the wheel of a bicycle that had different colors in the front tire and pointed to a color. For the first round, the eagle chose the color yellow to kick off the first round of Nationball. Thus Sigma Hall played Hope Hall – the reigning champions. Hope battled to victory.
Second, OCC played Stewart Hall. In spite of Hart Hall allying itself with Stewart against OCC, the off-campus students still won.
Third, Stewart returned the favor and took the floor with Hart. Stewart was asked to leave so Hart could play alone. Both Stewart and Hart sat down on the court in protest. Then both teams exited the floor united. As a result, Hart’s participation was postponed.
“We’re the Stew-Hart family – we stay together and we don’t separate,” said junior communications major Meilani Kieu, a Hart resident adviser. “We respect Stewart’s decision [to stay] no matter what.”
Fourth, Emerson played against Horton. At first, Emerson residents, impersonating British men, walked around the court aimlessly as if they had never seen a game of dodgeball before. Horton pummeled them mercilessly. Spontaneously, Emerson broke into a dance to “Bye, Bye, Bye” by ‘N Sync. Suddenly, zombies emerged onto the court and left the Brits in a heap. Then, all of Emerson rose together and danced to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
As Stewart stood in the bleachers, word was passed down that when Hart took the floor to play Alpha Hall, Stewart would stand in the bleachers silently and hold up three fingers – a reference to the Hunger Games.
Hart took the court quietly to play Alpha, while Stewart stood in respect. Emerson blocked the Alpha girls from Hart’s dodgeballs, but was moved off the court by the referees soon after. Stewart and Hart stampeded the floor in celebration after Hart’s victory.
Semifinals commence
The purple-clad team played Hope in the first round of the semifinals. OCC won.
The second round of semifinals was Hart against Horton. Senior communications major Kyle Spence, one of the emcees for the evening, approached Stewart and told them that if any of them had orange shirts, they could wear them and play with Hart against Horton. Despite Stewart’s help, Hart was soundly defeated by Horton.
Horton and off-campus community faced off for the finals, and after a six-minute battle, OCC emerged victorious.
Other Nationball-related contests
Nationball, though the main event, was not the only event. There was also a costume contest, cheering contest, and a game that involved men running around with tennis balls in nylons on their heads.
Emerson’s man in a tuxedo with a saxaphone beat the OCC grape, Stewart’s fuzzy red monster, Sigma’s Tinkerbell, Hart’s Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, Alpha’s Supergirl, and Horton’s krumping soldier for best costume. Hope won the cheering contest. Sophomore cinema and media arts major JJ Carroll of Stewart won the nylon-on-the-head game.
Waivers deter some
Some students, however, did not go to Nationball and escaped the ringing ears and hoarse voices most had after exiting the gym.
Freshman marketing major Kelsey Jones chose to opt out of Nationball partially because of the required parent signature for those under age 18.
“I’m 17, so I would have had to get my parent’s signature … so that’s why I didn’t go,” Jones said. “I talked to a lot of people and they said [the waiver requirement] was a hassle.”
Your Turn. Post a Comment
-
Joshua Wilson
You can definitely tell that the writers of this article are from Stewart. It showed obvious bias throughout....
-
Regina
This might be the worst article I've ever read on any topic. I felt anxiety akin to the kind you feel waiting in line at the DMV. Someone please buy this Stewart kid a thesaurus/personality.
-
Patricia
Katie and Julia - I think your article is an excellent coverage of Nationball. I did not attend the event, but I felt well-informed after reading your piece. And kudos to both of you for posting it within hours of the event ending!
Regina - I find your criticism to be both unhelpful and extremely rude to the authors of this article. You are lucky your campus newspaper cares enough to report on student body events and inform us of the results in such a timely fashion. I would like to see you try to do the same. -
Liam Savage
Hi Regina!
I don't know you or anything about you, but based on what you wrote, I'm going to publicly insult you because based on your actions, that's ok!
Wrong, not ok. When did your parents ever tell you that it was ok to be heinous and nasty to people? Oh wait, were you raised by wolves? Not even wolves do that! You must have been raised by cruel insulty mean faced people who liked to make other people feel small. I'm sorry for you if that was the case. If it wasn't, then I'm sorry for your parents for the disappointment I'm sure your comment has caused them. I hope you find a nice role model to look up to who can teach you the large blaring aspects of our society that make us human and civilized.
Next time you are contributing your time and effort to write an informative piece of journalism to contribute to your student community, I hope you get shot down by someone who is as inconsiderate and thoughtless as yourself. In the mean time, hopefully my comment will suffice to encourage you to think twice before being such a good example of the kind of person most people strive to avoid.
-Liam -
HoneyBadger
*vaguely snarky sentiment about undergrads*
-
James
Hi Regina,
Also remember the tongue can build up or tear down. So lets build up each other for Jesus! And not tear down each other for Satan. Feel free to criticize but lets do it in a constructive way!
#brought-here-by-justice-liam -
Luke
Dear Regina and Justice-Liam,
First to Regina, I echo the words of James, let's give constructive criticism. The writers of this article poured much effort and probably use Chimes as a experience for a future career, so both positive and negative feeback will be taken to heart. Let's not give base flippant remarks, but feel free to express any genuine disdain in a more respectful way.
To Justice-Liam, why fight fire with fire? Regina was clearly out of line, but it seems you defeat your own point of giving respectful feedback by attacking Regina personally and insulting her parents with the cutting remark, "You must have been raised by cruel insulty mean faced people who liked to make other people feel small. I'm sorry for you if that was the case." -
Anonymous
Just a thought. Take it or leave it.
I agree that the girl's response to the nation-ball article was incredibly offensive and entirely inappropriate. But your response to her felt similarly.
It honestly felt like you did the very thing that you were condemning her of doing. To me, your comments seemed "nasty," "cruel-insulty," and an attempt to make her "feel small."
Thats just one man's perspective and I think that your intention was good in calling out a totally destructive comment, but I wanted to let you know what I thought. I saw that others had affirmed the way that you responded but it confused me because it all seemed a bit hypocritical.
I appreciate your defense of the writers and I hope that this message is helpful and constructive as we all try to build each other up in the body of Christ. -
Liam Savage
Luke, please, while I may be a harbinger of justice, I prefer Liam, not Justice Liam, though it does have a nice ring to it, I am no superhero, and I wouldn't want to intimidate people should I be introduced around as Justice Liam. I mean after a while, people would drop the Liam as an unnecessary second name and I would just be known as Justice. I don't know if that would be very convenient considering that Justice is currently portrayed as a blindfolded woman with scales. Across the nation, people would have to switch out those statues and paintings with statues and paintings of me, though, instead of scales, I'd have a keyboard in my hand and really great hair. So unless you want that, let's just go with Liam.
In regards to the negative reaction I've gotten for my comment, I feel that my "cutting remarks" are being blown dramatically out of proportion. I mean, is it not a logical conclusion to draw that if someone is being cruel that they were treated cruelly? I don't see how drawing a logical deduction and stating something that is unfortunate but potentially true can be offensive. I also included the converse conclusion, that if she was not raised by cruel people who taught her that cruelty was acceptable, that her perfectly decent parents would naturally be disappointed. It is one or the other, neither is offensive beyond the fact that I'm pointing out the truth, which sometimes is unpleasant.
And Mr. Anonymous, I called out her comment, but it was more than just a comment, it was clearly a sign of her attitude and way that she feels it is acceptable to treat other people, so I called her out on that too. It would be better if it came from someone she knew and trusted and who could be delicate and help her mature and change over a long period of time, but if she is going to be firing off slander in the public arena, then I will take full liberty to respond, also in the public arena.
If I overstepped my bounds in my reprimand, and was in fact hypocritical, then I apologize to Regina. However, I would like to see Regina do the same and apologize to the authors of this piece, and in so doing, restore my faith in humanity.
-Liam -
Luke
Liam,
I thought I'd use the nickname you appeared to give yourself on facebook, but I'm assume it was hyperbole, in which case I apologize for beating it into the ground.
You said, "I don't see how . . . stating something that is unfortunate but potentially true can be offensive." I'm surprised you think that something that is true can be unpleasant but never offensive. Assuming Regina was serious, then did not she state something that was true (that it was the worst article she's ever read) and also offensive (to the authors directly, and to you and I indirectly).
I think your comment about her possible having "cruel insulty mean faced" could in fact have been offensive to her. Stating the converse possibility does not make it any less offensive, i.e. "You're either fat or that large mass is an illusion." By stating the alternative does not negate how offensive you deduction was.
To my main point, no matter what the truth is, let's communicate it in a respectful way. Regina's truth (her negative opinion) could have been communicated in a less offensive way. You pointed out her disrespectful conduct (truth), but communicated it by attacking the way she was raised (and stating the converse possibility). I saw that as offensive (not just "unpleasant"), even if it were true.
-
Alyssa
Thanks for the excellent recap of nationball! It sounded like a lot of fun; I'm sad I missed it. Look forward to reading more from you in the future!
-
Cady Heron
REGINA GEORGE!
-
Liam Savage
Luke, would you mind using your full name, I hate arguing with people who are too insecure to reveal their own identity. Mr Anonymous is actually a friend of mine and messaged me directly, I added it here. That took courage, on his part, not mine. Anyways, not using your full name, when arguing (Luke) or criticizing (Regina) just seems cowardly, not that you're a coward I wouldn't want to offend your delicate sensibilities. I just assume you are a facebook friend of mine since you apparently read it on my facebook wall.
I'll pick your arguments apart and continue our incredibly constructive and helpful to everyone conversation after that.
Until then,
-Liam -
Who Cares
so called "Justice" Liam... please get some thicker skin... let her criticize the post if she wants... dear goodness, are we that sensitive nowadays that nobody can say that our work is complete drivel to them? Its an opinion. And if its an overstated opinion, all the more reason to ignore it.
There is no justice in your comment... just emotional and irritating virulence. -
Who Cares
And I will follow it up by saying this is not a very well written article... and it is boring.
-
Who Cares
granted... accusing the author of not having a personality was unnecessary as that has nothing to do with the article per se... but still... this is a bit too dramatic of a response to her criticism
-
WHO CARES
By the way, I try to be completely apathetic towards everything in life. Although, if I really didn't care, I wouldn't have commented in the first place, so whatever. While I said this is not a well written article, I just realized, it's much better than anything I could ever write, not that I write, because I don't have time for that since I'm so busy being flippant about life, as you can see in how I identify myself.
Also, I don't use correct grammar and punctuation in my own sentences, but who cares? I may be in college, but I don't know much about the written English language, because I was too busy not caring to pay attention in school.
I think things like kindness are way over rated, people should just have thick skins and treat each other like dirt. Yeah! That makes total sense! -
Liam Savage
Luke, thanks for messaging me on facebook. As I promised here is my rebuttal.
I skipped everything you wrote up to where you said, "To my main point," because, well, side plots don't interest me too much. Let's get straight to the nitty-gritty.
"no matter what the truth is, let's communicate it in a respectful way."
I agree and would love to communicate truth in a respectful way to people who have earned my respect. Regina lost any respect I could have maybe held for her immediately.
"Regina's truth (her negative opinion) could have been communicated in a less offensive way."
I'm sorry but truth is not based on opinion. Truth does not vary from person to person. The article is a recap of a tiered elimination style college dodgeball game, she described each round and interesting aspects to inform those who were not there. It was a very apt article to cover a difficult to cover event. Her opinion of it does not entitle her to cruelty any more than my opinion of her entitled me to cruelty, thus my apology above.
"You pointed out her disrespectful conduct (truth), but communicated it by attacking the way she was raised (and stating the converse possibility). I saw that as offensive (not just "unpleasant"), even if it were true."
Right, I started out with the whole, "When did your parents ever tell you etc." Then I threw in the joke about raised by wolves, but then I thought, that's mean to wolves, they travel in packs and hunt together, that takes cooperation, so I added the, "not even wolves" part. Then I thought, well, maybe they did tell her that sort of behavior was ok, but, that would be sad, and if they didn't, then I would think they would be disappointed. To me, that doesn't seem terribly harsh, offensive or unfair, call me crazy.
Considering Regina's silence, I doubt she even knows we are arguing about her, so I'm starting to feel like Mr. Apathy above me, and thinking this is all just a tremendous waste of time.
Signing off,
Average-and-hold-no-ties-or-affiliations-to-justice-whatsoever Liam
P.S. Katie and Julia, great article. I'm sorry that humans are flawed. -
Luke Durain
Liam,
Very well.
I hold to my main point: let's just communicate respectfully. In light of what you say I would like to add "even when they don't deserve it."
Great conversing,
Luke