The Nighteyes Report- Interhouse Debates, Final

Well, after about a month of hard work it has finally boiled down to the finals. The eagerly anticipated match between Sapphire and Garnet took place in our Great Hall on Friday during the assemby, which of course meant that everyone had to watch it, like it or not. With the entire college as the audience, the motion for the final was 'This House Believes That Competition is a Virtue', a motion which probably didn't require as much research as the previous three due to the fact that the teams weren't given research time- the motion was given one hour before the debate itself. With Dann, Hannah and Jhuen Ri leading the opposition charge for Sapphire, in a startling turn of events, the Garnet seniors, Abby and Pai were notably absent from the bench, leaving juniors Farhana, Punitha and Brendan to fight for Garnet. When questioned for what drove them to making such a decision, the seniors refused to provide any comment further than 'This contest is about giving the juniors a chance'. Well if it was, Sapphire obviously didn't see it that way, and noticing that putting Dann in on Wednesday was a lifesaving move, they kept him in on the bench.

With Mr. Small himself as the chief adjudicator this time, both houses struggled over the claim for the tournament cup. The Garnetors, with their seniors absent fought on bravely, proving that they wouldn't give up even without the legendary Pai or Abby backing them up. The Sapphireans on the other hand were out to get the cup that they were denied by Garnet last year, and fought hard. As usual facts were given, (phony) statistics were provided, and the heat was up. Speakers Jhuen Ri and Punitha, notably spoke with such passion and conviction that you'd think that they were fighting for their lives.

And at the end of it, Mr. Small gave his comment on the debate, before announcing that the best speaker was Dann and the winner was indeed Sapphire. One could say that the Garnet team made a mistake by not putting Pai and Abby on the bench, but then, winning isn't everything now, is it? Both teams fought honorably, and there were no hard feelings.

Not much, anyway.

Either way, there's always next year.