OT: Quidditch now a club sport at Michigan
http://www.michigandaily.com/content/quidditch
This is possibly the dumbest thing I've ever heard of.
My favorite line:
The “Snitch Runner” sticks a tube sock containing a tennis ball into his or her pants.
“So to catch the Snitch you have to grab the ball out of the Snitch’s pants,” Byl said. “The Snitch can hide, the Snitch can climb trees ... it’s pretty fun.”
So the big question is: when does MGoBlog start covering it?
October 21st, 2010 at 4:10 PM ^
It is stupid. Fortunately we're not the first or even close to it.
October 21st, 2010 at 8:53 PM ^
I'm just thankful that Stephanie Meyer didn't invent a sport for Edward Cullen to be good at.
October 22nd, 2010 at 6:39 PM ^
at the Law Library?
October 21st, 2010 at 4:12 PM ^
Depends - if it's only played by really hot girls and I get to be the Snitch Runner it sounds like a good "sport" to me!!
October 21st, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^
This offends me as someone who thinks about game design a lot. Quidditch is horribly designed and it always distracted while reading those books.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:19 PM ^
I mean, why even bother with the Quaffle if the snitch is worth 150 points and it's almost always caught before the game gets out of hand? That ALWAYS bothered me. It's like playing basketball for a few hours only to have one team win because the mascot did a backflip dunk at the end, regardless of the previous score. Frustrating.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
A very apt analogy. I suspect JK Rowling isn't much of a sports fan because she clearly doesn't understand how competetive team sports work and how strategy is applied... or she just needed something for Harry to be good at and invented the "seeker" position.
October 22nd, 2010 at 6:35 PM ^
that the Harry Potter series was designed for 13 year olds, seventh to eighth graders, OSU graduate students and other less mature audiences that were not going to really analyze the game.
And, yes Harry needed to be good at something...
October 21st, 2010 at 5:43 PM ^
whlie Frank downs a giant beer.
October 21st, 2010 at 7:34 PM ^
And who would even try to catch the thing if their team somehow got down by more than 150 points anyway? Wizards should just play football.
October 26th, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^
the wizards use a bowl system and it would be better to have one loss to a team by 20 points instead of 170.
October 21st, 2010 at 9:09 PM ^
All I have to say is this...
Rich Rod needs to do a better job recruiting teenaged English wizards who could've made a big difference in both the MSU/Iowa games by casting spells to either blind opposing QBs or turn JT Floyd and James Rogers into super-fast, super-tall giants.
I mean, Potter and Weasley both went to Hogwart's and Weasley barely played under that snake oil salesman Dumbledore.
October 22nd, 2010 at 6:37 PM ^
already has the hat and oil. Can this be an omen?
October 21st, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
It is because the points are cummulative so sometimes at the end of the season, teams would need to get say like a 50 or 100 or whatever point lead first and then catch the snitch to win by a lot.
This would allow them to leapfrog teams in the standings and win the cup!!
October 21st, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^
Reminds me of a Louie C.K. bit, "Ughhh, I have to know YOU EXIST!??"
October 21st, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^
GVSU has a Quidditch club, as well. It's pretty ridiculous. You gotta love crazy people.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:13 PM ^
Heard some guys talking about this today on campus. Also saw a girl wearing a "Michigan Quidditch" shirt while walking to the Iowa game. She was walking in the opposite direction, obviously.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:14 PM ^
NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOO!!!!! Stop it! Just stoppit!!! NO!
October 21st, 2010 at 4:14 PM ^
about it. It's not my cup of tea but if they liked it, more power to them.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:15 PM ^
I think we should make Ezeh join. He could use the tackling practice and sometimes you just need to knock some sense into people.
Also I will bet a majority of that team is made up of girls, so you could at least meet chicks. Although I don't think I'd date a girl who was that serious about Harry Potter. Still exercise and meeting girls is exercise and meeting girls.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:18 PM ^
I was interested to see that some of the players aren't big Harry Potter freaks (or at least, the Daily found one to get a quote from). They were just looking for something interesting to be a part of, apparently.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^
They should get themselves down to kicker tryouts and make themselves useful then :-P
Also note the one non-HP fan is a dude. So either he's there to eye the girls or his GF is making him do it!
October 21st, 2010 at 4:16 PM ^
Cast a Riddikulus spell on these people [NERD].
October 21st, 2010 at 4:17 PM ^
There are "points" scored by each team, but they're completely irrelevant once the snitch is caught...? Every Harry Potter fan I know is a girl and none of them can explain the logic of this.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:27 PM ^
Not sure it made sense in the movies either. If you can score 10,000 points by doing one thing, why the hell are 90% of the participants scoring a point at a time? I'd like to hear RR's thoughts.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:41 PM ^
... that JK Rowling would be one of those annoying people at (American) football games who says things outloud like - "If it's so hard to get to the end zone, how come they don't just kick field goals every time?"
October 21st, 2010 at 4:37 PM ^
Every Harry Potter fan I know is a girl and none of them can explain the logic of this.
/sexism
October 21st, 2010 at 4:46 PM ^
I simply meant that most girls I know aren't into sports and thus can't sufficiently explain the rules to me. But sure, color me sexist.
October 21st, 2010 at 6:55 PM ^
IIRC, the winner of the Quidditch Cup wasn't the team with the best record, but best point differential. Therefore, playing the quaffle is very important for that purpose. Of course, in a game where you realize your team is more talented, the seeker should just try to obstruct the other seeker while your team racks up points.
October 21st, 2010 at 7:36 PM ^
The only thing worse than complaining about a fairy tale game in a fairy tale is justifying the fairy tale game.
Or are you missing that fact that grown adults with magic are letting children with magic face all the danger and solve everything themselves?
The reason is because it's a children's book, written for children's intellects.
Oh wait, I think I just cleared up my confusion about why this was even posted.
Carry on kids!
October 22nd, 2010 at 2:18 PM ^
Plucky teenagers with swords and spiky hair aren't the best choice for besting hundred-million-year-old space monsters, either, but Chrono Trigger is still the best videogame ever. Is there any more universal children's fantasy than showing dumb old grownups how its' done?
BTW, I thought Rowling effectively warded off the Snitch/Seeker deus ex machina effect. Didn't a World--er, Quidditch--Cup knockout round ended with a seeker catching the snitch when his team was down 160?
Peace
Ty
October 21st, 2010 at 7:53 PM ^
October 21st, 2010 at 4:18 PM ^
Am I the only one who thinks having a hidden ball in someone's pants that needs to be retrieved could result in some unfortunate (or fortunate) unintended consequences?
Where can the snitch hide? There's a sausage joke here somewhere.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:26 PM ^
This sport will result in at least one guy getting some form of charge for unwanted contact or something.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:19 PM ^
Good luck Harry Potter.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:34 PM ^
They shouldn't let Denard have a broomstick. His dilithium would actually make it fly like in the novels! As if he didn't already have a huge advantage.
(Hint: A photoshop of Denard on a flying broomstick would be great right about now . . . )
October 21st, 2010 at 4:19 PM ^
Well hell, why not, right?
October 21st, 2010 at 4:20 PM ^
Beer die... that should be a club sport.
October 22nd, 2010 at 9:46 AM ^
I never even heard of it during my time on campus. It wasn't until I cross paths with someone who graduated the year ahead of me in Portland, OR that I learned the game. I then played the next time I was in AA and wondered what rock I lived under during undergrad.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:22 PM ^
Quite. Nerds the lot of them.
*returns to reading Mathlete's work and waiting for the UFR*
October 21st, 2010 at 4:24 PM ^
Why do they need brooms again?
October 21st, 2010 at 4:29 PM ^
It diffuses the trail of sweat and cheeto stench.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^
I take offense to the cheeto insult. Have you ever had Baked Cheetos? They are outstanding. I swear they put cocaine in them. I crave them constantly!
October 21st, 2010 at 4:29 PM ^
I dunno. It could be cool if I get to thump somebody with those bats (don't know what they're called - never read the books).
October 21st, 2010 at 4:31 PM ^
Join an Eastern European style hockey league. It's actually acceptable to use the stick as a weapon. In fact it's encouraged, you joust with the other guy.