The Paper Fence

A fence made from paper. Interesting...

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Quidditch for Muggles

This should be interessting to any Harry Potter fans. Remember those intense Quidditch matches that they had? Well apparently some college students decided to bring it to a reality. For those of you who don't know about Quidditch, it's a wizard sport from J.K. Rowling's book series Harry Potter that combines dodgeball, soccer, and flying broomsticks:




Yes, I realize that they're speaking French, but that was the best one I could find. To sum it up, when a team throws the red ball (Quaffle) through a goal post (the hoops on stilts) it's 10 points. Only 4 designated people on each team are allowed to touch it. Three Chasers, who try to score, and a Keeper, who is prety much a goalie. The flying black balls, called Bludgers, go around trying to knock people off their brooms (see 2:19). Two people on each team with sticks (Beaters) knock the bludgers toward people on the other team. Then there's a Seeker on each team who tries to find and catch the Golden Snitch, the flying winged yellow ball. If a Seeker catches the snitch, their team is awarded 150 points and the game ends.

The real-life version is alot less...glamorous?




The rules are pretty much the same, but there are a few modifications: Of course there's no flying. Players must have a broom between their legs at all times on the field. If hit by a bludger, which in this case is just two dodgeballs thrown around, they must drop any balls they are holding and run back to their goal post before they can go back into the action. And instead of a snitch, they have a cross country runner wearing yellow, with a tennis ball in a sock tucked into the back of his/her pants (sort of like flag football). The snitch and the seekers chasing it can run anywhere on campus, as opposed to the other players, who must stay on the field. The seekers are aiming to catch the tennis ball, and if they do their team only gets 50 points, and the game ends.

It looks fun in a stupid sort of way, like playing hide and seek in a gym (I've been known to do that). I would completely do this, especially since my school says it's going to start a league next year. People running around on brooms? Nice.

4 comments:

  1. Looks like fun but without flying it just wouldn't be the same.
    Have a great weekend,
    SQ

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  2. Very interesting. I never understood the real rules after watching the Potter movies (never read the books). I would play the real version 15 years and 60 lbs ago.

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  3. This is pretty funny!!
    Nice one to try when drunk... :P

    xxx

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