Sherwood and Rutland: It’s time to lay down your weapons

Rutland. Sherwood. About 20 foot between the two halls and 20 year’s worth of bitterness. There’s nothing better than being woken up to the angelic chorus of “Sherwood are sh*!” at 4am. What makes it that little bit special is when one complete nonce starts screaming “Who are we?’ and all his mates don’t reply. Golden.  I could say that this brief snippet sums Rutland up perfectly, but I’m not finished yet.

I believe that Rutland revel in the knowledge that they are the most hated hall on campus. They absolutely love it. They endorse the title, they live and breathe being absolutely repugnant to the rest of University Park (I don’t include the feelings of Broadgate et al on the basis that they just don’t give one).

Rutland freshers has most recently been blamed for much of the damage done in the Sherwood JCR. The logic behind how and why they wrecked havoc in our sanctuary is unknown. Never mind, we’re quite content with saying, “Clearly it was Rutland. Definitely Rutland. How can it not be Rutland?”. If not Rutland, who else could we blame? So it must be Rutland.

Sherwood till I die

If I’m completely honest, this ‘beef’ between Sherwood and Rutland is a figment of our imaginations. From the moment we step foot into our respective halls during Fresher’s Week, we are told stories of how everyone in Rutland aided the Grand Theft Auto of a charity box and how a lone ranger in Sherwoodian colours valiantly defecated under the stairs in Rutland. What’s especially interesting to note is how both of these stories have been told to at least 4 generations of patriotic hall heroes. It’s official, we’ve been indoctrinated.

If a member of the Rutland brethren feels the need to start chatting utter nonsense to your face or even attempts to disrespect to any other hall, all you have to do is smile, tell them to pipe down and just remember it’s all part of the uni experience.

The general consensus about Rutland isn’t positive, but it doesn’t qualify many of the Rutland-bashing shinnangans which occur on a weekly basis. The more you tell a hall they’re villains, the more they become the act like the villain  you portray them as. If you want further information on this subject please dedicate a spare few hours of your life to watching Batman: The Dark Night.

On balance, Sherwood have done a grade A job of destroying Rutland’s reputation. But, like all good things, it’s time to move on. Let’s try and coexist or (failing that) let’s keep the noise down when it’s past 2am. We all need someone to victimise, let’s just give Rutland a break.