Bosco is a senior English and secondary education double major and can be contacted at [email protected].

All of Drake Intramurals would like to welcome everyone back from spring break. We hope any of your vacation debaucheries have not hindered your performance in the first week back on the fields. At this point in the semester, we are nearing playoffs for indoor soccer and floor hockey and are looking at the beginning of the softball season. As the last couple months of school wind down, I want to supply you with the best mentality possible in order to succeed in intramurals. The first step is to relieve you of all the potential misconceptions you have believed about the program up to this point. Here are four common misconceptions about Drake Intramurals.

The staff walks around with un-earned champion T-shirts

OK, so this is only half false. At the beginning of the year, we had a surplus of T-shirts and a select few staff members were given one. This is not to say, however, that these staffers have not went on to win a championship at a later date. The shirts are worn mostly for advertisements at the beginning of the year, and the impeccable style of each has everyone craving a victory.

The other team won because the refs liked them better

In spite of the plethora of manipulative comments made either under your breath or loud and proud, officials do not intentionally blow the game. If we actually had the money to place bets, we might consider it, but Intramural Coordinator Matt Gasser would probably catch us first. Some players just refuse to see the reality of the competitive cycle. When one misses a shot, naturally he or she becomes angry. Anger can lead to displaced, physical altercations and thus a penalty which gives the opposing team an advantage. In support of our staff, the official was never at fault for your missed shot. To ease any other anxiety, we also censor our officials for certain games that may suggest any favoritism.

IMleagues.com is only for captains and managers

This website is not only a resource to keep your team organized, but it is a priority. We have a discouraging number of players ineligible come playoffs due to a technicality. Signing up on IMleagues.com is mandatory for each team you play on and is essentially your manager’s responsibility, as he or she should receive the navigation information at the manager’s meeting. Your captain can also be held accountable. The difference between a captain and a manager can be left up to your imagination.

We don’t make the rules

Don’t be fooled by an official who makes the mistake of saying, “That’s not my fault, I didn’t make the rules.” Technically, that official didn’t put anything in writing, but the intramurals staff is in charge of researching and developing the most fun, safest and competitive way to play. As a general rule of thumb, we tend to follow basic high school rules for most sports. However, constant improvements are always being made, and a reason exists for every rule. We don’t have the three-line rule in indoor soccer “just because.” It’s there to prevent an iron foot and a track star from running the show. Drake IDs are not required just because we like to keep you responsible, but players actually show resentment when teams recruit professional athletes to play.

Our common misconceptions unfortunately do not end here. We do not like to upset you, the athlete, but I can only reinforce so many rules and regulations in each of my columns, and my colleagues can only supply you with so much knowledge each time you become infuriated. As problems inevitably continue to arise, do not hesitate to test your friendly intramural official on the rules. However, if it seems like you’re getting away with something, you probably are.

Until next time, please play by the rules.