Tipping, Cartels, and Extreme Poetry

Life on the Melbourne front is continuing on rapidly. I feel like I've been here forever and am always quite surprised at how short of a time I have actually been here for. I take that as a sign that I have settled in nicely. Speaking of niceties, our heating mysteriously started working shortly after it stopped, and has actually been working better than it did before it broke.

I seem to be making progress on the academic front. I'm not sure in what direction, but there's definitely movement. These things are not straightforward and linear, so I choose to believe I am progressing in some sort of potentially meaningful way. I've started my Research Assistant job and that's going along at a steady 7 hours/week, as per my scholarship requirements. My RA job keeps things interesting and helps me distract myself from the perils of my own academic scholarship (a good thing, to be sure).

I want to share some of the more humorous happenings of my academic surroundings, particularly, my involvement in the ARCSHS footy tipping pool. My colleague Geoff and I got a late start into the season, and neither of us knowing anything about the AFL, quickly found ourselves floundering at the bottom of the tipping ladder. Well, Geoff, who is notoriously proactive, suggested we get together with a third, also floundering, party, Henry, and workshop our tips in an effort to improve our standing.

This tactic has been working quite well for us, though we were quickly uncovered by the Head Girl and our newly formed cartel duely reported to the rest of the centre. Not that our tactics have been stopped, they continue quite fruitfully. The cartel cannot be stopped.

A proud tradition of ARCSHS footy tipping is submitting your tips in poetry form. I do not think that my colleagues were aware of my notorious submitting-answers-in-mad-poetry skillz, but I am well seasoned in aggressive statistical poetry writing. Let me share with you the fruits of my poetry and cartel labours, as per round 8.

The new cartel of Henry, Joni and Geoff are really working on this together and have begun their ascent up the ladder with two 7s and an 8, that’s looking like a system that works and they even did some poetry writing. Joni gets top billing for tips in verse:

Perhaps I should be reading and writing
Instead of tipping on sweaty men fighting

But as a part of my acculturation
I am learning the sport of this great nation

I may not be a statistician
But I work on my tips in the hope fruition

Conclusions on these were not easily made
Predicting the future is not why I’m paid

Collingwood and Hawthorn will win their match
While Richmond and Brisbane go down the hatch

Kangaroos and Adelaide surely win the game
While Essendon and Fremantle feel the shame

Now, having gotten my tips out of the way
Finally I can get on with my day!