The R.I.C.E. and Potato Clubs settled their light-hearted feud at their first ever club competition. At the end of the day, R.I.C.E. Club was the one who came out victorious.

The event took place on Saturday, April 22, 2023. First, it was supposed to take place outside on the Phelps Lawn but because of weather conditions, the event got moved to the Talbot Gymnasium.

The competition was separated into three events. The first event, called “Clean the Side”, revolved around each team trying to clear up bin bags from their side. This event was played in a best of three. The first round went to the Potato Club but the R.I.C.E. Club came back strong in the second two rounds. As a result, they won the first event.

After the first match, one member of the R.I.C.E. Club, Bradley Budach, was so confident that he said, “We are going to floor those potatoes.”

The second event was “Drunk Potato Dunk”. At this event, the participants wore drunk goggles and tried to throw a potato into a basket. This was the hardest of all the games as only a single potato was put in the basket the whole time. This event was so difficult that both teams cheered for each other just to get one in the basket.

Ben Early, the secretary of R.I.C.E. Club, was the only person to score during Drunk Potato Dunk. When Early was asked about how made the shot, he responded with his methodology.

 “I, like, kinesthetically measured out the distance with my finger. And then I just kind of like [went] off of brain math to do it. So, I just kind of like cut my eyes out of the equation and that’s how I got it in,” Early said.  

After the second event, the feud was decided but everyone wanted to continue on the last event which was “Tug of War”. The R.I.C.E. Club wanted to make a clean sweep, but the Potato Club came out strong in this game. 

Ten members from both teams participated in this last event. With a surprise, the match ended within eight seconds. Both teams agreed to do a second trial just for fun, but the result was the same.  

The day ended with both clubs having fun and starting something new. The presidents of both clubs were confident about doing a similar event each semester. 

When both presidents were asked about including other clubs in this type of event next semester, the response was different from the two. 

“That is not something we’ve thought about before. But that is something that’s on the table. I mean, if other clubs want to do something like that, that’s definitely in the realm of possibilities,” Potato Club president, Martin Knapp said.

“We’ll probably keep this just to Potato Club and R.I.C.E. Club just to keep it thematic. If other clubs want to do something like this, I do encourage them, and I’d love to help them,” R.I.C.E. Club president, Daniel Bui said. 

It is exciting to see an event like this which promotes team spirit, club-building and student connections. Although R.I.C.E. Club won this competition, Potato Club could very well come back with a vengeance in the fall.