The intellectual kinds...

Don't be misled by the title... this is about BOSM and I guess the title will be clearer as I move along.

I wanted to hook on to the point Goyal mentioned regarding the fairness of BOSM scheduling. I'm assuming that Goyal actually meant the fairness of the draw. Putting the draw in such a way such that the BITS team always reaches the semis is quite unfair. I agree... In fact, I must say Dilee really tried to force his way through for impartial draws and did quite a good job of it last year, I'm not sure how things are turning out this time around.

This actually reminds me of something his person said to me a little before OASIS sometime... in my second or third year... (names are not important)... she said, "unless you are of the intellectual kind, I'm sure you'll agree that it is an unsaid rule for departments and clubs to help BITS teams." I had very politely told her then that I was definitely of the intellectual kind. If the BITS teams messed around with one of the rules, they'd obviously be disqualified.

Anyways, coming back to BOSM, it's the captain of the BITS team that makes the draw, he's the one who decides the seeds. And to tell you the truth, he's the only one who's qualified enough to do it. You really can't give it to a body like BOSM Controlz 'coz they'd have no experience... who's playing well, who is not, which looks like the better team, which team should be given a higher seed... how many matches would you able to fit, should you go for a pool or a knockout... all these decisions need to be taken and it is only the captain of the team that can. He is the one who has to be fair and the onus should fall on him.

To be unfair in such a situation is incredibly easy... I know team A and team B are better than the BITS team... I put them in the same half of the draw and put the BITS team in the other half... that simple...

To ensure that there is no scope for unfairness also is very simple... you just need the will to do it... you have a public drawing of the lots, you call a representative from each team and draw the lots in front of them. Yes, the BITS team might very easily get a shoddy deal... but then, that's part of the game...

I remember last time, after the ValD, this chap from COEP had come up to me, shook my hand and said, "Thanks man, for everything... last time we were a little annoyed with the way things were done but this time, it's been really fair... the best 4 teams reached the semis, the two best teams reached the finals, really good..."

I don't really know why he thought he needed to thank me for doing my job right (is that what it has come to these days?) but what I felt at that moment was easily worth all the BOSM medals... maybe some of the captains need to think about that...

My favourite BOSM memory is from a match that I lost... winning isn't everything, is it?