It is stupid. Fortunately we're not the first or even close to it.
Support MGoBlog: buy stuff at Amazon
OT: Quidditch now a club sport at Michigan
I'm just thankful that Stephanie Meyer didn't invent a sport for Edward Cullen to be good at.
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!!
This offends me as someone who thinks about game design a lot. Quidditch is horribly designed and it always distracted while reading those books.
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.
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.
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...
whlie Frank downs a giant beer.
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.
the wizards use a bowl system and it would be better to have one loss to a team by 20 points instead of 170.
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.
already has the hat and oil. Can this be an omen?
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!!
Reminds me of a Louie C.K. bit, "Ughhh, I have to know YOU EXIST!??"
GVSU has a Quidditch club, as well. It's pretty ridiculous. You gotta love crazy people.
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.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOO!!!!! Stop it! Just stoppit!!! NO!
about it. It's not my cup of tea but if they liked it, more power to them.
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.
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.
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!
Cast a Riddikulus spell on these people [NERD].
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.
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.
... 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?"
Every Harry Potter fan I know is a girl and none of them can explain the logic of this.
/sexism
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.
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.
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!
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
Is there a chance that JKR designed Quidditch to be a silly and ridiculous sport which everyone would be insanely crazy about to make a point about society's obsession with sport and the negative lengths to which we take that passion?
I feel like JKR channeled her personal thoughts about sport through Hermione when Hermione would get flustered about the ridiculous amount of time spent on sport and the anger, frustration, and consternation that stirred friendships and created stark divides between competing teams/houses during Quidditch matches. JKR, perhaps, was suggesting we, as a society, spend too much time and negative energy on simple games which are supposed to be a wholesome distraction emphasizing sportsmanship, athleticism, and entertainment.
...
Alright, now I'm off to go watch the UCLA-Oregon game just in case it effects Michigan's BCS chances and to simultaneously root for the result to somehow hurt OSU and MSU.
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.
This sport will result in at least one guy getting some form of charge for unwanted contact or something.
Good luck Harry Potter.
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 . . . )
Well hell, why not, right?
Beer die... that should be a club sport.
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.
Quite. Nerds the lot of them.
*returns to reading Mathlete's work and waiting for the UFR*
Why do they need brooms again?
It diffuses the trail of sweat and cheeto stench.
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!
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).
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.
Are actually just called Beater's Bats. Very creative, I know. Why did I even take the time to reply? Am I that much of a nerd?
At least get a better class of nerd dom man. Like Star Wars or something.
I've seen the HP movies and I never got them. Why not just hire Blackwater or something and shoot Voldemort from behind when he's locked in a duel. You know standing there taunting Potter and a .50 cal slams into the back of his head. Problem over.
I was a Star Wars nerd WAY before a Harry Potter nerd, and I still am. You should hear my Chewbacca roar...why do I keep saying things?
"Am I much of a nerd?"
Hmmmmmm......
(join the club)
Can our quidditch team win a national championship?
IF they win a national championship, is there anyone in the MGoCommunity that would attend one of their matches? If so, are they nerds for attending or does the fact that the "team" won a championship somehow make it better?
I might have to go out of a sick sense of interest. You know it's that train wreck you feel horrible for watching, but you can't take your eyes off it.
Or I'd go to streak.
I would fly from new Orleans for a mgoblog tailgate and obscene hockey eque chanting
I don't think you want that title. Depends on your view of Star Trek watching as a competitive sport.
I had to Google this to figure out what it was.
Just ... bizarre.
At first, I was expecting this to be an Every Three Weekly article.. Also, these actual quotes from actual people are fantastic:
“No one’s here because they have a Quidditch scholarship,” Duet added.
Oh, you don't say...
“You just get to nerd out with other people,” Whitfield added. “You can’t really express your love for Quidditch so much in a classroom. ”
Oh, you don't say...
“I’m really excited to play MSU,” he said. “You may have beat us at football, but we can beat you at a fictional sport.”
School pride, I guess??
hahaha, by far my favorite part of this article is the lone user comment:
Only students for abstinence has more virgins in their club. This is the gayest thing I have ever heard of.
then I thought I'd better not offend 3-25% of the readership.
We've gotta have more than 3-25% virgins here!
Was walking my dog through the arb and saw them practicing. He went right over and took a leak on the goal post. was a proud moment.
What, LARPing wasn't good enough for them?
Yinka Dare was a beast at GW. I saw him play one year against UMass. Great choice for a screen name.
I'm a 29 year old male and while driving past the Toledo campus with a couple buddies on a beautiful saturday morning we came across roughly 30 students in full "battle armor". Frickin rows of knights swinging wildly at each other. The only thing we thought was we should dress as cowboys with six shooters and ruin their day.
Nerds grumble grumble not getting laid grumble grumble kids these days grumble grumble.
Can someone find out whehter the Quidditch teams are going over practice limits? Are they filling out their CARA forms?
I'm beginning to feel that it is a good thing that I have no F'n clue what Quidditch is.
if Rowling wasn't so married to the 3-3-5.
You can't blame J.K. Rowling, the problem with our team is the lack of talent and depth.
That blonde Hitler youth lookalike in the movies looks like he'd make for an excellent deathbroomer.
so that we can have a real liveblog of it. someone can even start a topic about Michigan Angry Seeker Hating God, and the Mathlete can write a diary on the PAN of our Beaters
at least its not an accapella group
I love how this thread has more responses than TomVH's post
Tom is incredible and the stuff he puts out beats even an insane post about Quidditch
As imaginary sports go, I thought baseketball at least was a playable sport at least a 1 on 1 sport. It didnt work as a 3 man in the movie but you add a player or team a squad, or deal with ghostrunners.
I would so go back in time to found a club team in baseketball.
At our school, we have sports in which folks can nerd out.
At Sparty, nerds are beaten.
Think about it.
our paintball team can't get the school to cough up enough money so were not a club sport but these guys waltz in and get funded?
I'm officially disappointed in the funding council
I'm semi-involved in Club Sports as a student Club Sport athlete, and although we discussed admitting Quidditch to Club Sports last year, I do not believe they were actually allowed to join. They, like Paintball and many other clubs that play sports, merely run their own shit, but do not get support from the Rec Sports Department. I doubt they are getting serious Club Sports funding.
thanks for clearing that up because I couldn't believe that they would be allowed to be a club sport after so short a time they must be a student group
I came across a match yesterday while taking a run in the arb. A girl color commentated with a megaphone. I shit you not. WHO WANTS FREE PIZZA??!!!!!!!!!
Did she preface it with "HEY FANS!!!!"?
I'm guessing they all met at the Squirrel Club mass meeting.
Mgoblog users have posted 71 comments about how nerdy people are who show passion for a sport they like.
Do you think Harry Potter would've been a 5-star recruit? Or a gritty 3 star who went on to set Hogwarts' all-time seeking record?
I bet he flew a 4.5 40
I just learned that one of my friends is on the team I guess some people are really nerdy but most are pretty laid back and just think it's a cool sport
Where has all the punctuation gone?
I are an engineer
grammar died when I got here
I think its hilarious for all the hating this idea gets on here, that it still spawned an 79+ comment thread.
I guess this means that there's still hope for fans of 43-man squamish.
I have bad news for you guys... (please don't neg, just reporting an event)
MSU swept UM this weekend in Quidditch.
Scores were 140-20 and 40-30 (no, I don't know how they actually score).