Are these Saturday night football games just not cutting it for you? Is Quidditch the sport for you?
Well next time you are stuck in those bleachers watching that “pigskin” being thrown around, imagine you are really at a Quidditch game. Many people would scoff at the notion saying that the two sports are in no way related, (which may be true) but let’s examine that shall we?
Now, the main similarities lie in the fact that you score with relation to a ball. Though in Quidditch you throw the ball through three possible hoops that have a Keeper, or goalie, and in Football you run across a line while holding the ball, dodging the other teams players.
The Balls
There are three balls in Quidditch and one in Football. In Quidditch, the Quaffle, worth 10 points, is roughly 12 inches in diameter. The Bludgers, bewitched obstacles for the players, are about ten inches in diameter. The Golden Snitch, a winged walnut sized ball about an inch in diameter, worth 150 points and signals the end of the game if caught. All Quidditch balls are spherical in shape. In Football, the football is oval and seven inches in diameter through the center. Depending on how the ball crosses into the endzone is how much it is worth. Field goal makes it three points, standard touchdown makes it six, a safety is considered two points, and if it is a two-point conversion it is worth, surprise, two points.
Kate Rakoczy | Student Media
The Plays
Football consists of multiple plays, trick plays and all sorts of fancy things like that. For all intensive purposes, Quidditch does not have any plays to my knowledge. The whole team works as one unit, the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team, the Chasers score with the Quaffle, the Keeper guards the hoops, and the Seeker catches the Snitch. Pretty basic concept.
The Players
In Football, there are only 11 players on the field for each team at one time, there is a defensive division and an offense division. And Football teams are usually quite big for second and third string players in case the first string is hurt or suspended.
Quidditch consists of seven players and there are no specific offensive or defensive players. There are not usually back-up players, if a player falls off their broom then that team remains a player down the rest of the game.
The Fields
Both sports require a field, though in Quidditch the game is played in the air above it. A Quidditch field is five hundred feet long and one hundred and eighty feet wide all in the shape of an oval. While a Football field is rectangular and is three hundred and sixty feet long and roughly two hundred feet wide.
Kate Rakoczy | Student Media
The Time
Football is a separated into four quarters, each consisting of 15 minutes. And each team can call three timeouts each half, though if it is a televised event there are breaks for commercials.
There are no quarters in Quidditch but the Captain can call a timeout. There is also no set time limit for a Quidditch match, because the end of the game is signaled with the catching of the Snitch, or at the agreement of both Captains, some games have been recorded as lasting days at a time.
Ok….so maybe these two sports are no where near similar… So better yet, instead of going to a football game, have a Harry Potter movie marathon and watch the sport of Quidditch played that way.
Enjoy the game!
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