Boat Races: Difference between revisions

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'''Minor''': This is when ''any'' amount of beer is spilled less than a major. Every minor will result in the addition of 2 seconds to the team's time. Differentiating between a Major and Minor is at the discretion of the referee/coord in charge.

==Competitive Racing==

Boat races are likely the most popular competition hosted at McGill, athletic, academic or beverage based. Competitive boat races consist of 10 racers on each team, with a minimum of 4 girls, each drinking 2 beers one at a time, as fast as possible, in a ladder format. What that means is that teammates lineup on one side of the table and drink a beer each going in one direction, before drinking a beer each coming back in the opposite direction, such that 1 person drinks 2 beers in a row in the middle of the race and one person drinks both the first and the last beer.

The conventional wisdom is this~~. '''~~''You only compete with 4 girls~~'''~~''. This is almost always an effective strategy in that you 5th girl will be slower than your 6th guy unless you are a nursing team or somehow have a disproportionate amount of girls. Typically teams will put a guy in the ace position, followed by 4 girls in the 2,3,4 and 5 spots respectively, before putting the remaining 5 guys in the 6,7,8,9 and 10 anchor spots. The order is typically chosen with those having the fastest 1 beer time going in a higher position (i.e your fastest person goes at 10 and drinks two beers consecutively midway through the race). Participants are typically chosen by finding people with the fastest one-beer chug times.

Boat races are likely the most popular competition hosted at McGill, athletic, academic or beverage based. Competitive boat races consist of 10 racers on each team, with a minimum of 4 girls, each drinking 2 beers one at a time, as fast as possible, in a ladder format. What that means is that teammates lineup on one side of the table and drink a beer each going in one direction, before drinking a beer each coming back in the opposite direction, such that 1 person drinks 2 beers in a row in the middle of the race and one person drinks both the first and the last beer.

In trying to find those people with the fastest one-beer times possible, teams are often designed to have the fast ''“best case scenario”'' time possible rather than a team built to avoid going slowly. As a result, two groups of ~~“chuggers”~~ tend to be ~~overrepresented~~ in boat races:

The conventional wisdom is this: ''You only compete with 4 girls''. This is almost always an effective strategy in that you 5th girl will be slower than your 6th guy unless you are a nursing team or somehow have a disproportionate amount of girls. Typically teams will put a guy in the '''ace''' position, followed by 4 girls in the 2,3,4 and 5 spots respectively, before putting the remaining 5 guys in the 6,7,8,9 and 10 '''anchor''' spots. The order is typically chosen with those having the fastest 1 beer time going in a higher position (i.e your fastest person goes at 10 and drinks two beers consecutively midway through the race). Participants are typically chosen by finding people with the fastest one-beer chug times, which is often erroneous.

# ~~those~~ who spill ~~and~~

In trying to find those people with the fastest one-beer times possible, teams are often designed to have the fast ''“best case scenario”'' time possible rather than a team built to avoid going slowly.

# ~~those~~ who slow down on their second beer, with the two groups being linked intricately.

As a result, '''two groups of chuggers tend to be over-represented in boat races: '''

# Those who spill

# Those who slow down on their second beer, with the two groups being linked intricately.

The main problem that comes from picking people based on their best one-beer time is that you are picking based on what could be an anomaly, and that you are refusing to award consistency. The second issue that arises is that the competition involves drinking two beers and very rarely is any method used to evaluate someones ability to drink the second beer, or more aptly, to avoid slowing down too much.

Teams will add up each person’s fastest one beer chug, multiply it by 2 and say that they could complete the race in 60 or 70 seconds without acknowledging that people will likely not achieve their best time. What teams should be trying to do is minimize their deviation from a good score, to try to be great at being good rather than just trying to be amazing.

The most undervalued chuggers are:

'''The most undervalued chuggers are: '''

#Those who rarely spill

#Those who, if given a few second to recover, can drink another beer with little to no drop-off.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 '''Minor''': This is when ''any'' amount of beer is spilled less than a major. Every minor will result in the addition of 2 seconds to the team's time. Differentiating between a Major and Minor is at the discretion of the referee/coord in charge.
 ==Competitive Racing==
-Boat races are likely the most popular competition hosted at McGill, athletic, academic or beverage based. Competitive boat races consist of 10 racers on each team, with a minimum of 4 girls, each drinking 2 beers one at a time, as fast as possible, in a ladder format. What that means is that teammates lineup on one side of the table and drink a beer each going in one direction, before drinking a beer each coming back in the opposite direction, such that 1 person drinks 2 beers in a row in the middle of the race and one person drinks both the first and the last beer. <br>
+<span style="text-indent:20px;">
-The conventional wisdom is this. '''''You only compete with 4 girls'''''. This is almost always an effective strategy in that you 5th girl will be slower than your 6th guy unless you are a nursing team or somehow have a disproportionate amount of girls. Typically teams will put a guy in the ace position, followed by 4 girls in the 2,3,4 and 5 spots respectively, before putting the remaining 5 guys in the 6,7,8,9 and 10 anchor spots. The order is typically chosen with those having the fastest 1 beer time going in a higher position (i.e your fastest person goes at 10 and drinks two beers consecutively midway through the race). Participants are typically chosen by finding people with the fastest one-beer chug times. <br>
+Boat races are likely the most popular competition hosted at McGill, athletic, academic or beverage based. Competitive boat races consist of 10 racers on each team, with a minimum of 4 girls, each drinking 2 beers one at a time, as fast as possible, in a ladder format. What that means is that teammates lineup on one side of the table and drink a beer each going in one direction, before drinking a beer each coming back in the opposite direction, such that 1 person drinks 2 beers in a row in the middle of the race and one person drinks both the first and the last beer. <br></span>
-In trying to find those people with the fastest one-beer times possible, teams are often designed to have the fast ''“best case scenario”'' time possible rather than a team built to avoid going slowly. As a result, two groups of “chuggers” tend to be overrepresented in boat races:
+<span style="text-indent:20px;">The conventional wisdom is this: ''You only compete with 4 girls''. This is almost always an effective strategy in that you 5th girl will be slower than your 6th guy unless you are a nursing team or somehow have a disproportionate amount of girls. Typically teams will put a guy in the '''ace''' position, followed by 4 girls in the 2,3,4 and 5 spots respectively, before putting the remaining 5 guys in the 6,7,8,9 and 10 '''anchor''' spots. The order is typically chosen with those having the fastest 1 beer time going in a higher position (i.e your fastest person goes at 10 and drinks two beers consecutively midway through the race). Participants are typically chosen by finding people with the fastest one-beer chug times, which is often erroneous. <br></span>
-# those who spill and
+In trying to find those people with the fastest one-beer times possible, teams are often designed to have the fast ''“best case scenario”'' time possible rather than a team built to avoid going slowly. <br>
-# those who slow down on their second beer, with the two groups being linked intricately. <br>
+As a result, '''two groups of chuggers tend to be over-represented in boat races: '''
+# Those who spill
+# Those who slow down on their second beer, with the two groups being linked intricately. <br>
 The main problem that comes from picking people based on their best one-beer time is that you are picking based on what could be an anomaly, and that you are refusing to award consistency. The second issue that arises is that the competition involves drinking two beers and very rarely is any method used to evaluate someones ability to drink the second beer, or more aptly, to avoid slowing down too much. <br>
 Teams will add up each person’s fastest one beer chug, multiply it by 2 and say that they could complete the race in 60 or 70 seconds without acknowledging that people will likely not achieve their best time. What teams should be trying to do is minimize their deviation from a good score, to try to be great at being good rather than just trying to be amazing.<br>
-The most undervalued chuggers are:
+'''The most undervalued chuggers are: '''
 #Those who rarely spill
 #Those who, if given a few second to recover, can drink another beer with little to no drop-off.