ANST - Competing in an event you're running

[Michael Tucker]

Greetings, all:

I feel that we have departed from the original topic. Hence, the new "subject"
line. :-)

Dan Roberts wrote:
> 
> Pug Bainter said something that sounded like:
> 
> >To take the example to the extremes, it would be like the current King
> >entering Crown Tourney.
> 
> >It is not a matter of time, entrest or desire, but a matter of
> >perceptions. The A&S coordinator setups the guidelines that the entries
> >will be judged by, arranges for judges, etc. If they turn around and
> >win, people will feel like it is rigged even though it is not.
> 
> I do believe that he said event steward, not A&S Coordinator. The event steward should have no appearance of conflict with the judging. Can the knight marshall of a group enter the tourney that he set the rules for? Its not that uncommon.
> 
> Ivan the Hedgehog
> 

In Stargate it is our tradition that the winner of *last* year's Baronial
competition (chivalric, rapier, bardic, A&S, archery, equestrian, or children's
champion) has the privilege to organize *this* year's competition. (It isn't a
duty, per se; they don't have to, but they get "first dibs" if they want it, and
to some extent they are expected to.) Often the organizer wishes to compete;
which, as long as others are judging, is fine with me. In the lists
(chiv/rapier/children's), the combatants judge the winner. Baroness Neassa often
handles lining up the list mistress, so even *that* is not a consideration.
Archery and equestrian are point-based competitions; it's pretty hard to "rig"
those lists (you either hit the target or you don't). For bardic and A&S, the
organizer quite often is not a judge anyway. (To touch on the other debate
that's been raging on this list, it's often easier to find someone to *organize*
those competitions than it is to find *judges*. Even in a barony the size of
Stargate.) So, the organizer plans the event, sets up the format, arranges for
judges (if applicable), prizes, space and time for the competition; then they
step back, let others judge, and compete if they want to.

Ok, so the organizer sets the format of the list (in consultation with Neassa
and me). In an honorable society that shouldn't give anyone any particular
advantage. It's easy to think of counter-examples that assume a lack of honor on
the part of the organizer: for example, setting up the list to favor your best
weapon (or bardic style, etc.). But in all my experience, exactly the *opposite*
has been the case. If someone is joining a competition they set up, they go to
rather *extreme* lengths to make the format *be* and *appear to be* as fair and
impartial as possible, and see to it that they have *nothing* to do with the judging.

So: I don't have a problem with it. Yes, I've heard some grumblers when the
defending champion joined a competition they set up. I even listen (*grin*), and
consider whether the competition was unfair in some way. But for all the reasons
cited above, I have yet to find any merit in the grumbling.

Yours in service,
Michael

(Michael Silverhands, Baron of Stargate)

-- 
It's the action, not the fruit of the action that's important.  You have
to do the right thing...  You may never know what results come from your
action.  But if you do nothing, there will be no result. (Gandhi)
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