Ok, in light of a certain team taking the natural piss out of the good faith nature of the the Theme Team League, we’ve come to the natural decision to once again tighten the criteria for teams wishing to enter. Naturally.
This isn’t a rule change, per se. It is more of an acknowledgment that the ball was dropped this year when I set the table up and a clarification that we will be taking a closer look at the submissions next year. It’s meant to be a fun little sideshow, and if any teams are judged to be trying to shoehorn a competitive team into a theme so wide that it defeats the purpose then the team shall simply be entered as a normal one, as per the similar issues raised in the 2021 announcement. There will also be no tolerance for teams that list a pick based on only part of the name. Doe, a deer (a female deer!) from Doering to cite a completely neutral example.
The committee may also bar any theme teams that are judged to be too broad or vague even if they aren’t a blatant attempt to sneak a competitive team in, as there are issues with some entries every year that simply defy any logical interpretation of a theme, even if they have no chance of winning it. Finally, on top of the existing bans on gender and scavenging alone, we have also decided to implement a specific ban on the following general themes:
- Nature. Not a common choice but is the main reason you’re reading this. Mountains are fine. Rivers are fine. Animals are fine. All of them combined are not.
- Sports. A very popular theme but it’s simply too broad. A specific sport, achievement within sport, or a range of different sportsmen restricted by something like country of origin is fine.
- Politics. Similar to sports, a popular pick but it’s too broad. U.S Senators, or Scottish Parliament members, or heads of state are examples of acceptable here. Twenty people who have served any kind of public office anywhere in the world is not.
- Music. The third of the most popular themes. We’re looking for themed genres, achievements or instruments to give examples. Not anybody who has a music credit to their name.