Riding the 'H' bus back to my dorm from an 8:10-9:05pm recitation, I am (greeted? surprised? dumbfounded?) by this, outside of Brower Commons and the RSC:
Obviously, I can't just simply ignore such a scene and go off to my dorm room, so I went up to the first person I saw, pointed and asked, "Um, what??" Thankfully, they understood what I was asking and replied, "It's the bed races." Oh... what?
When some says to you "bed races", what do you picture? Pause, think about it for a moment...
It's difficult to come up with a coherent idea, isn't it? If you've never been exposed to the Annual Homecoming Bed Races allow me to be the first to do so for you:
In case you're still confused (because I was), let me explain what a bed race entails. Various student organizations from around campus (though I believe the competition is open to anyone) form teams to compete by racing beds down College Avenue. They are given a bed that's had wheels attached to its legs, and they are told to decorate and theme it in whatever way they wish. Then, when the time comes, the teams are called two at a time to the starting line. With one person on each of the front legs, one at the rear, and one on each of their beds, they take off in an attempt to beat the other team to the finish line. After the first round, the fastest eight teams move on, and from there it is single round elimination until they reach a winner.
After witnessing my first race, I immediately thought of Rob Dyrdek's Ridiculousness, and if you've ever seen the show, you'll notice how closely this video resembled the one's on that show. With such a clumsy task as racing an unbalanced and wildly uncontrollable bed, there is no form or technique involved. No form or technique can be employed, because each "pusher" is running at different pace. Furthmore, when the bed picks up momentum, it seems to steer itself, and it isn't exactly a structure that will resist flipping over. Oh yeah, there were some bails, but thankfully no injuries. The races were exciting, obnoxious, less-than-classy, and everything else college should be, but they could have been safer. I saw some helmets and elbow and knee pads, but I believe they should be mandatory. I think we all no the old adage about safety that applies here.
But beyond that it is an absolutely fantastic event. This was its fourth year running, but it already seems to be wildly popular. I can see this becoming a staple for Rutgers, similar in the way that Rutgersfest was to those outside the university. Perhaps the event can be spread to all of the campuses, with the finals taking place at the stadium right before homecoming? Imagine, an annual crowning of two homecoming beds, in the appropriate sizes of course - king and queen.
So if you missed it this year, come out to College Avenue next year to see the Homecoming Bed Races! It's a great time that's counterintuitive in every way. At an hour when most people would be using their beds for sleeping, us Rutgers students are using them to have wide-eyed fun and compete for nothing but bragging rights. Just one more reason why this is the greatest school in the world.
Location: SinglePost