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Books Idle

Inspired By Harry Potter, 150 Colleges Now Have Quidditch Teams (sfgate.com) 91

Posted by EditorDavid from the 10-points-for-Gryffindor dept.
A reporter for SFGate describes what happened when he tried out for the quidditch team at the University of California at Berkeley: The person throwing me what's called a "quaffle" (actually a slightly deflated volleyball) looked at me to make sure I'm ready. I gave them a head nod and grip my "broom" (a PVC pipe), ready to run. "GO!" I run 20 feet and turn back to catch the ball. Success!

But as I take my next step, I get decked by team captain Dara Gaeuman, fall to the ground, drop the quaffle, re-grab the quaffle, get back up, run over to the hoop and score. It's a triumphant moment for my post-healthy, 33-year-old self, regardless of the fact that this a drill. On the first day of practice. Of a sport I'm playing for the first time. With people who likely weren't born when the first Harry Potter book came out....

[I]n 2005, a pair of students at Middlebury College -- Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe -- translated quidditch into a non-flying sport. The game used to be played on wooden brooms until a few years ago when the game got too rough. There are still chasers (offensive players), beaters (defenders), seekers, keepers (like a goalie in hockey or soccer) and quaffles (again the balls, stay with me here) and bludgers (slightly deflated dodgeballs). But here the snitch is actually a person with sock-like pouch attached to their lower back that has to be snatched by the seekers, while the snitch tries to evade them... Almost 15 years after its inception, real-world quidditch has grown into a global phenomenon, with an International Quidditch Association (IQA) that has a World Cup every two years, a couple of semi-pro leagues, several regional and national leagues and more than 150 colleges and universities with club teams.

During practice, Chanun Ong, a sophomore returning for his second year on the team, tells a freshman, "I wasn't a big Harry Potter fan, but this sport is pretty legit."
There's a short video of the quidditch practice, and the the article's author remembers some crucial advice he received from one of the players. "Scrunch your body down if someone is about to throw a bludger at you, so you're a harder target to hit."

Although he also acknowledges that most of the people watching the two-hour practice "were passersby trying to figure out what the hell is going on."
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Inspired By Harry Potter, 150 Colleges Now Have Quidditch Teams More

Inspired By Harry Potter, 150 Colleges Now Have Quidditch Teams

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  • Seeing grown people running around (Score:5, Insightful)

    by grungeman ( 590547 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @02:48PM (#59197208)
    with that stick between their legs may be one of the saddest sights of all time.
    • You call it a sad sight, I call it the sunset of human civilization.
      • But imagine the Einsteins, Platos and Trumps born of the inevitable Quidditch romances!

      • You call it a sad sight, I call it the sunset of human civilization.

        Sad sight and stupid sport.

        Really, you pretty much win if you catch the snitch, so why bother with the rest of the palaver? Why not just make it two seekers running after the snitch, the rest is just pointless window dressing, and as soon as people figure out that if they get their team to just physically block in the snitch so their man can grab his balls the games will start ending super quick.

        • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Really, you pretty much win if you catch the snitch, so why bother with the rest of the palaver?

          I remember someone telling me before that in the books, they said something about how almost never in the history of the sport did anyone ever catch the snitch. That games were almost never ever won that way.... but then every single match in the books ended with someone grabbing the snitch.

          I guess she must've forgotten that she talked about how it was the most rare impossible thing ever when she introduced the sport.

          Much like how she's now upset that all the characters were straight and white... and i

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      with that stick between their legs may be one of the saddest sights of all time.

      Aesthetics aside, the injuries could be really painful to males, and ruin one's family plans.

    • If you want to feel ever worse realize that all of these idiot children are paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to do this kind of crap. Given that many of them are taking majors that they will never be able to use to create a career.
    • So it's basically field hockey?
    • I think people should do things that make them happy even if they look silly or I wouldn't want to participate.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Ranbot ( 2648297 )

        I think people should do things that make them happy even if they look silly or I wouldn't want to participate.

        Exactly. I would never play, but more power to them. More people need to exercise too, and if this gives them the motivation, then great.

        I played Ultimate [Frisbee] in college and currently play local pick-up games. In college and still now it gets looks and questions from people who never imagined a frisbee being in a legit sport. I think Quiddich falls into the same category.

        • I saw a bunch of these games going on over the summer and was perplexed at what was going on. It looked fun though. I think frisbees make a lot more sense in team sports than balls do now that I have seen it in action.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Ranbot ( 2648297 )

            I saw a bunch of these games going on over the summer and was perplexed at what was going on. It looked fun though. I think frisbees make a lot more sense in team sports than balls do now that I have seen it in action.

            Yeah, a ball mostly just goes straight forward as gravity pulls it down in single horizontal plane, whereas a frisbee is designed to curve. Different frisbee throws have wildly different results, which skilled players can control, catch or block. The unique physics of a frisbee combined with the running and plays similar to soccer, lacrosse, or field hockey makes Ultimate a far deeper game than most people realize.

    • That's what she said.

    • with that stick between their legs may be one of the saddest sights of all time.

      Not nearly as sad as your comment implying that grown people having fun in their own way is sad. Go back to your cubicle and finish TPS reports.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Jahta ( 1141213 )

      with that stick between their legs may be one of the saddest sights of all time.

      And it's not just Quidditch. I give you the annual hobby horse championship [youtube.com] in Finland.

  • If the people are not flying, it's just disappointing.

  • A bit late. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bjwest ( 14070 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @03:00PM (#59197234)

    [I]n 2005, a pair of students at Middlebury College -- Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe -- translated quidditch into a non-flying sport.

    Isn't that just lacrosse? How do you invent a game that was played as far back as the 17th century and still being played by millions?

    • Re:A bit late. (Score:4, Funny)

      by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @03:44PM (#59197332)

      Qidditch allows the type of people who wouldn't be caught dead playing lacrosse to play lacrosse.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ljw1004 ( 764174 )

      Isn't that just lacrosse?

      No! Having watched a video of quidditch, and a video of lacrosse, they don't look remotely similar. Not sure why you'd even make that connection. Maybe quidditch is just the same as field hockey because they both involve running around a field with a stick? Or the same as basketball because they both involve throwing a ball with your hands into a hoop?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by bjwest ( 14070 )
        Having just watched a video of quidditch, I'll agree to a point. I'll also say, loose the fucking sticks and the lame ass golden snitch, and you may have something a bit more serious -- kind of a cross between rugby and land-based water polo. That, I may watch, but the sticks and snitch have to go.

  • A different kind of nerd that is.

  • For fuck's sake. This bullshit is embarrassing. These people need to get real jobs where they don't have the time for this shit.

    • "These people" are college students. While I personally think the idea of playing fake qidditch is rather silly, I do remember (vaguely) needing to find various ways to blow off steam and burn off nervous energy back when I was I college student.

      • Back in the day it was spent getting a gf and getting laid. Now that it practically rains ass, I guess there is no sport in the hunt, so to speak.

    • For fuck's sake. This bullshit is embarrassing. These people need to get real jobs where they don't have the time for this shit.

      Somebody upthread said the sight of a grown man running around with a stick between his legs is the saddest sight of all time. You've just upstaged him. I think seeing a post with a grown man claiming a "real job" means you have no time for anything fun anymore is the saddest sight of all time.

    • For fuck's sake. This bullshit is embarrassing.

      At first take, I could see where others might think this - but be honest, is this really any sillier than Ultimate Frisbee, a stable of college sports? I don't see it as any sillier, at all.

    • You're making the sad assumption that people should contribute something to humanity rather than just suck up valuable oxygen. Shane on you.
      • Quite right.
        Having fun doing something silly does nothing to increase the wealth of the shareholders.

    • It's embarrassing until it is normalized.

      It is no more embarrassing than a bunch of grown men in tights running around after an inflated rubber object.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @03:51PM (#59197350)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It's on a par with Renaissance Fairs. Bunches of idiots glamping, saying "prithee" in polyester doublets and mangling Shakespearean quotations claiming authenticity in their actions of a history that isn't their own. Gobshites.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • But at renfair, at least you get to beat each other senseless with rattan "swords"; which can be great fun, especially if you did a better job building your home-made armour than the other guy. I don't think there's an equivalent feature for non-flying "Quidditch". Though, I guess it would be fairly simple to add paintball or airsoft guns to the game to serve as "wands" so as to "Expelliarmus" or "Stupefy" your enemies.

      • We had costume Nazis at Faire in Novato, and really fairly accurate-looking clothing in most cases, and we felt really superior about it — but frankly, if people can have a good time without natural fabrics then I say more power to them. Any excuse to drink and, uh, carouse.

  • Wake me (Score:3)

    by rossdee ( 243626 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @05:11PM (#59197466)

    When they invent a flying broomstick

    Anyway it seemed to me that the sport was really just about the 2 opposing 'Seeker's amd the snitch (or whatever it was called. the rest of the team and the other objects are irrelevant

  • The running element is stupid (Score:3)

    by RogueWarrior65 ( 678876 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @05:25PM (#59197494)

    I take that back. It's not stupid but rather the British version of stupid which is pronounced styoupid.
    Why the hell don't the players use bicycles? Also, the arena should be like those velodrome tracks or perhaps a skateboard park.

  • The weird part about quidditch... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by GuB-42 ( 2483988 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @06:25PM (#59197660)

    It is not the brooms, it is the fact that you actually have two games in one, with weird interactions between the two.
    The first game is a rather typical team game where you score goals. So fine so good.
    The second game is essentially a game of tag where "it" is a magic ball in the Harry Potter universe, or a real person in the muggle variant.
    The two games are played by different people.

    Most of the times, the first game doesn't even matter, the advantage for catching the snitch is so big that it is almost a guaranteed win. If you have a good seeker, the rest of the team is pretty much useless. If your team plays so badly that you can't win even if you catch the snitch, then the incentives become all screwed up: catching the snitch will cause your team to lose, so your main goal is to make sure no one does the catch, potentially resulting in an endless, boring game.

    The most sensible way I can think of playing the game would turn it into a brawl. Don't try to score goals, just defend them if necessary, remember you need a 150 point difference to matter, which is huge. And beat the crap out of the other seeker while protecting your own, since it seems to be the only allowed interaction between the two subgames of quidditch.

    I understand the value of these rules in the books. It turns a typical English collective sport into a duel (most notably Harry vs Draco) but as an actual sport, I can't see it work. Maybe there are some subtle rules to make it more interesting.

    • Something in common with roller derby?

    • Re:The weird part about quidditch... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Sunday September 15, 2019 @08:10PM (#59197826) Journal

      Yes, I came here to say basically the same thing - except with the addition that the practical aspects of the game are ludicrous. Typically no one even sees the snitch being caught, because it is tiny and happens in random places.

      Here is an analogy of the "sport" of quidditch using real-world activities:
      A soccer match is being played, while two bulls (bludgers) are on the field running around trying to harm the players as they play soccer. While this game is being played, one person from each time is going around the field trying to find a four leaf clover - while avoiding the soccer match that is going on and the bulls that are running around. The soccer match will continue, indefinitely, until one of the two players finds a four leaf clover. Whichever player finds a four leaf clover first causes the soccer match to end and scores 15 goals for their team.

      Now tell me that's not a totally contrived and stupid sport. Which isn't surprising - even Rowling hated them: "To be honest with you, Quidditch matches have been the bane of my life in the Harry Potter books."

      • That's a really excellent analogy for quiddich! Perhaps Rowling should have invented better rules.

        On the other hand, likely sports aren't her strength, and that's fine. Readers should take it in the spirit it was used: as a stage for particular events and aspects of character development. Rowling never expected people to actually *play* quidditch, because we don't have flying brooms and magical flying balls.

        On the gripping hand, who knows? Maybe quidditch will continue to develop and actually turn into an i

      • Yes, I came here to say basically the same thing - except with the addition that the practical aspects of the game are ludicrous. Typically no one even sees the snitch being caught, because it is tiny and happens in random places.

        I agree the game's scoring system makes no sense (and thought the same when it was introduced in the books) but I don't see how this particular aspect makes it impractical. Capture of the snitch is reported magically, so there's no question about when or where it happens. Seeing it may be challenging for spectators, though magic can probably help out there as well.

        No, the big problem is what GuB-42 pointed out... it's two games in one, and the game that has the most action and participation is nearly ir

        • It doesn't make a lot of sense, but then it's from a work of fiction in which a lot of stuff seems to happen strictly to add color. One might reasonably assume that the game grew organically. The snitch would have been a later addition, possibly by accident, and making catching the snitch end the game rather than counting up to some total could have come later still. But you can't take the original game out without making it basically just a different game called "snitch hunt" so they kept the lot.

  • People should stop throwing weird shaped balls around and knocking each other over, it looks ridiculous. Or those idiots who run in a circle taking turns hitting tiny balls with sticks, really, grow up. /s People are having fun, getting decent exercise, and getting some fresh air. I don't know why this is upsetting to people.

  • On the plus side, LARP'ers aren't the saddest looking people at the park anymore so, at least there's that...

    • I would be willing to wager that these people are, in fact, LARPers. This is what happens when schools spend all their time preaching abstinence. Nothing else to do. Its either this or wank off to the same bs online again.

    • FIREBALL! *koosh*

      Nope, LARPing still looks dumber.

      I do have good memories of it, though. Playing a barbarian whose battle cry was "fuckin' beer me" and sending opponents literally flying by hitting them with a waterlogged battle ax damned near as heavy as the real thing. Sometimes it's good to be a giant mutant.

  • I fail to see how any game without broomsticks or similar flying devices can be considered Quidditch. The only way I can see it being done would be via VR headsets, given the primitive technology of this world.

  • With people who likely weren't born when the first Harry Potter book came out....

    It's two years since Harry, Hermione, and Ron sent their own kids to Hogwart's.

  • Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality [hpmor.com] took on the topic of Quiddich and many other logical consequences of the World of Harry Potter many years ago. A very entertaining read if you are the type to complain that the snitch makes no sense. An alternate-reality Harry Potter where Harry is raised by a college science professor instead of an evil nitwit. He applies the methods of rational science to the magical world, which is a funny premise and actually makes for an interesting story.

  • Remember Dungeons and Dragons? (Score:3)

    by pgmrdlm ( 1642279 ) on Monday September 16, 2019 @07:40AM (#59198776) Journal
    People use to dress up and play that game on campus also. What is the difference. Don't judge. Just another role playing game in a different group of players. People enjoy it which is all that counts. Not like they will continue to play the role playing game when they get old.

  • Real Quidditch players can do that.

    Can you?

  • But here the snitch is actually a person with sock-like pouch attached to their lower back

    I was going to say it was hilarious to think of a guy running around with a sock duct taped to his back. Then I remembered a friend of mine who had a very lonely roommate in college.

    There were socks on the floor that varied from "damp" to "crusty."

    Now the snitch and seeker have become the worst positions in the entire game.

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