As a fresher, I had heard all about Roses before arriving at Lancaster but never experienced it in its full glory, so to hear I was going to cover the closing event this year was quite an honor! However, I soon realized that my immersion in the event wouldn’t be how I expected. My event was held online this year, so I quickly had to bid the thought of sitting beside a tennis or rugby pitch with my notebook and pen an underwhelmed goodbye.
However, though faced with a few technical difficulties here and there, everyone involved with the presenting and coverage ensured the event ran as seamlessly as possible and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay on the livestream. Covering an event from your bedroom can be more fun than previously imagined!
So, what is this event all about? ‘A Question of Roses’ involves two teams of four students, a points system, and a lot of general sports knowledge. The winning team is deduced through the highest number of points they score by answering five rounds of questions. This year, it was presented by JCRs Maddie and Paul, who both did a brilliant job. Not to forget the iconic appearances from the student keeping track of the scores who deserves full credit for both my laughter and Paul’s quote: “I enjoy these score updates, maybe more than I should.”
In the first round, it seemed as if York had the upper hand when they scored their first four points. In contrast, Lancaster scored nothing due to giving an incorrect answer.
In the second round, although both the teams performed equally well, the Lancaster team were held back by their lack of points from earlier but managed to snag enough to keep up steadily behind their rivals.
By the end of the third round, which was won by York, the score was 11 – 8.
The fourth round consisted of Roses knowledge questions, and Lancaster blazed through these with their more in-depth knowledge of the event than York. York held onto the points they had accumulated from the earlier rounds but could not hold their higher ground for much longer, as Lancaster also won the fifth and final round with their rapid and clear answers.
‘A Question of Roses’ ended on a triumphant 32 – 35 to Lancaster. With scores so close, it’s fair to say the teams were evenly matched – though, ultimately, roses were red!
