The BYU–Hawaii Concert Choir wrapped up its 6th semi-annual assassins game after three weeks of sneaking and plotting. The victor, Michael Potter, was crowned in what has been described as one of the most epic conclusions to date.
Chris Cornelison, a senior studying English education from Punaluu, with the help of William Arnett III organized this semesters’ game.
According to Cornelison, “Assassins essentially is a fight to the death. Imagine if ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘Battle Royale’ were fought with 50-cent water pistols... that‘s the general idea of assassins. The difference is that it's not just a free-for-all.”
Choir members were assigned a target and given their picture and name. Choir members followed strict rules. They couldn’t take down their targets inside buildings and 30 minutes before and after choir practice.
The only way to take out a target was to shoot them in the head. Cornelison continued, “People take it very seriously. Everyone who participated demonstrated courage and valor. William and I were very impressed by the tenacity of all the assassins. The final three contestants, MJ Baird, Mathew Harvey, and Mike Potter were all very skilled killers. It was an epic finale.”
Michael Potter, a senior from Laie studying music, has participated in assassins in previous years but victory has always alluded him. He said doing well in the game takes a lot of study of your target, including their whereabouts at all times.
Potter said, “I want to start off by saying I've always enjoyed the game. It's a great way to have fun and get to know people. Like really getting to know them… their majors, their class schedules, their shoe size, where they eat and sleep and such.”
The third runner-up, MJ Baird, a freshman studying music education, was the choir’s surprise fighter. She said she was able to take down one of her targets and eliminate the other in a close firefight—or, water fight—that she narrowly escaped.
Baird said, “I actually got lucky with this. The person who had me didn't know who I was for a while and only tried following me once or twice. Basically, I walked around free for two weeks. Other than that, I took different routes and watched around me all the time. I wouldn't even let my group of friends and I hang outside until I was dead. I also think a lot of it was beginner’s luck. I can't really take too much credit.”
Baird’s downfall came the last week before the finale, she said. Potter launched a surprise attack, jumping over a bike rack to shoot her in the back of the head.
According to multiple participants, Potter is known for being an aggressive assassin. This time around, he said he set strict rules for himself, such as only head-shots, clean kills, no gunfights, and as he said it, “NO ALLIES.” His rules paid off as he was able to take down 11 targets.
He said, “I set strategy goals, like never take the same route twice, always have a back-up gun in my backpack and other places, always check corners... My main mantra about the game has always been the best defense is a good offense, or as Brad Pitt puts it in ‘World War Z,’ ‘movement is life.’”
He added, “In order to win you have to not care what ‘the civilians’ think when they see you creeping around the bushes.”
Harvey had a different strategy than Potter. Harvey’s approach was just staying alive. Harvey said, “I tried to just be vigilant, invisible, and take advantage of all the opportunities I had.”
Potter said he tips his hat to Harvey. “By far my favorite target was the next runner-up to me. He was crafty. He eluded death by fractions at least six times. He wasn't idle himself. He set ambushes for me as well.”
Harvey said, “To be up against someone like Mike you have to be super vigilant. He is going to come at you at a time when you are completely not expecting it.”
There were a handful of battles and confrontations between the two. Harvey described his first encounter with Potter. “I was walking with my wife from the CAC. We were by the tennis courts and I see through the trees and bushy area a crouching figure. I could see his eye peeking from the side of a tree. I was waving at him but he didn’t move. I pulled out my gun and approached him. He stood up and walked out with his gun and pulled out the cowboy references, ‘That’s far enough.’”
He repeated that line three times and added, “You just keep on walkin’.” Harvey then asked Potter, “How far can that gun shoot?” and again Potter replied in cowboy fashion, “Far enough.”
After the games, Harvey asked Potter how he was able to come up with so many American West references on the spot. On the subject, Potter said, “I was reading a Louis Lamour book about a modern American Indian shot down behind enemy lines who has to tap into his Indian instincts in order to escape his enemies. I guess the game brings out the Clint Eastwood in me.”
Harvey then tried to take matters into his own hands. He said he got Potter’s address through a mutual friend. He went to his house late at night. On his way, he ran into Potter’s younger brother who showed him the good spots to hide out, said Harvey. However, Harvey said he felt uneasy about the situation and thought Potter’s younger brother would give him away.
Harvey left early and took a back route to his car parked a couple of blocks away. As he was walking back, he saw a blurry figure from a neighbor’s driveway sprint away. The two soon found themselves again in a standoff. This time, Potter had the advantage as he jumped up onto a retaining wall about 3 feet above the ground. Standing on the wall, Potter said, “You made a mistake coming here.”
Guns raised, the two decided they both didn’t want to end the game with a shoot out so they parted ways for the night. Potter, living up to the cowboy image, said, “You live to die another day.”
Other standoffs between the two took place by the CAC quartet rooms, Aloha Center entrance, the library doors, and Potter’s personal favorite, a James Bond-esque fight from the side of a midsize SUV.
Potter said, “My family drives a Sequoia and was outside to pick me up outside of the Aloha Center. My opponent and I had several run-ins that day already and he found out that I was being picked up.” Harvey approached the car and tried to ask Potter’s mother if he could hide in the back seat. When she declined, Harvey hid behind the car.
Meanwhile, Potter took the back entrance of the Aloha Center and sprinted around the Lorenzo Snow building. He came up behind his family’s Sequoia and the waiting Harvey. Potter said, “He looked back just in time. I fired and he pulled a matrix move on me.”
The two commenced yet another water fight. Potter, uncomfortable with the duel, yelled to his mom to drive away. As she pulled away, Potter jumped on the side of the car firing as they drove away. “It was a total 007 moment,” said Potter.
The end came as Harvey was walking to his Japanese class. Potter said, “I finally got him as he went to a class in the McKay hallway... I quickly ran up behind him and got him in the back of the head.”
According to Harvey, the shot hit the upper part of his shoulders and neck. The two started dueling it out and soaking each other. It was unclear who got who first. It was later confirmed by an eye-witness at the scene that Potter hit Harvey’s head on the first initial shot.
Potter, Harvey, and organizers Arnett and Cornelison decided, due to the amount of close calls and built up paranoia, to end the games announcing Potter as the 6th winner of the choir’s assassins game.
Cornelison said, “Mike Potter came out on top earning himself a well-deserved and long-awaited victory.”