Saturday, September 29, 2012

Maryland Wins Blacksburg Brawl

The University of Maryland won their second consecutive Blacksburg Brawl today defeating Richmond in the finals. Maryland dominated the tournament scoring more than 100 points, catching the snitch and holding the other team to less than 50 points in all 6 games. Including the Spring Brawl, Maryland is 12-0 in Blacksburg. In my opinion, this makes Maryland the favorite at the Mid Atlantic Regionals in November. Hosts Virginia Tech lost to Richmond in the semifinals after beating James Madison, Virginia and UNC-Greensboro in pool play. Maryland beat Ohio State, the lone non-Mid Atlantic team 110-20 in the other Semifinal and then Maryland took the tournament by beating Richmond 120-20 in the finals. Here a complete list of teams plus the score by which Maryland beat them if they played them.

Virginia Tech
University of Richmond 120-20
University of Virginia 130-50
Christopher Newport University
William & Mary
James Madison University 170-40
University of Maryland
UNC-Greensboro
Ohio State University 110-20, 170-20
Virginia Commonwealth University
Mercenary Team 160-30

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Zombie/Inferi Tournament Through the Eyes of the Walking Dead



Baruch Field, on the Lower East Side, was infested with Zombies on Saturday and even worse for fellows like Vernon Dursley, Quidditch Players! I gave the factual information on this horrifying event on Sunday and Monday, as the news was breaking, but now, I can give you 2 first hand accounts on the NYC Zombie/Inferi Tournament. Jonathon R is the Badassilisks' GM, a role in which he deals with technology, logistics, marketing, tournaments, and travel arrangements of the New York Community team, and Irvin K is one of the four original Badassilisks.

When I first heard of the "Zombie/Inferi Tournament" my first question was how did you come up with the idea for the Zombie theme and why? Jonathon explained, "The Zombie Tournament came from my love of Zombie crawls and my desire to get more spectator involvement in Quidditch. Many tournaments have had problems getting people outside the teams friends and families from attending." Jonathon is also the head organizer of the New York Harry Potter meetup a group closely linked with the Badassilisks since their founding. To engage members, Jonathon tries to come up with unique ideas that demonstrate great "creativity and enthusiasm." Look for future Badassilisk tournament to have more cool themes! Jonathon helped ZombieNYC and ActionVance FX with Zombie makeup for tournament participants. Checkout pictures here.

Now on to the games. Hofstra was the favorite coming out of pool play after beating Macauley by 60 points and the eventual Champion Badassilisks by 80 points. "Hofstra was widely considered the favorite to win the tournament - their offensive game... proved too much for us in the end," says Irvin, a two year Badassilisk veteran. While Hofstra dominated Quaffle play, Vassar won with Beaters and Seekers. After Vassar's "well renown" Beaters held the Badassilisks to 30 points, Vassar's Seeker, Matt Zeltzer won the game on a snatch, 50*-30. Hofstra's high powered offense and Vassar's D would meet later on in the Semifinals.
Newbies, the Honey Badgers defeated Stony Brook and Macauley before losing to the Badassilisks in bracket play. Also, NYU lost to Stony Brook and Vassar before losing again to Vassar in the quarterfinalsAfter intense quarterfinals, including an 100-60 overtime win for Macauley over Stony Brook, there were only four teams left: New York, Macauley, Hofstra and Vassar. Irvin describes the semifinal against Macaulay, (we tried to) "open up the field and focus on defense, and it worked.  Even though we shut them out 80-0, every single goal was hard-earned, and it was a great match." The Badassilisks practice with Macauley, so knowing their style, they were able to come up with a game plan that successfully exposed Macaulay's weakness.
Now, we come to Offensive Minded Hofstra and Defensive Minded Vassar. Irvin and the Badassilisks got to watch, "The game lasted FOREVER, with neither side giving an inch." After 10 minutes, only one goal had been scored. However, Hofstra began to pull ahead but Vassar was able to keep Hofstra's lead below 30 so when David Gonzalez, another one of Vassar's seekers, made the snatch, they won and advanced to the championship to play the Badassilisks.

As many matches between the elite in Quidditch do, the NYC Zombie final match came down to who would catch the snitch. Strategic Beater play from Vassar was able to hold the Badassilisks' Seekers off for a while, but eventually the number of Badassilisks substitutes wore out Matt and Badassilisk Seeker, Walter "broke through Vassar's beaters" with a snatch to win the championship. "This is the first tournament the Badassilisks have ever won in their two-year history - as one of four original players left, that meant the world to me," says Irvin.

If you plan on hosting or attending or competing in a Quidditch tournament, do as the New Yorkers do, because the way Irvin describes it, the NYC Zombie/Inferi Tournament sounded perfect. "On the whole, it was a great tournament all around.  It was also a surprisingly even tournament, all the teams were really nice and friendly, and played cleanly.  And when we weren't playing, we were having lots of zombie fun.  A lot of us were zombified and blood-splattered."

The whimsical/competitive argument has come up a lot in recent months and I think the New York Badassilisks are a great example of how the two types from the Quidditch community can coexist. The whole idea for the tournament is kind of "whimsical" and it definitely shows creativity and the goal of the themed tournament was to enhance the community and then, those same creative, community minded people, went out and won the competition. For those who don't know, creativity, community, and competition are the three principles that the IQA states on their About page. Quidditch needs the Creative side to enhance the community and to keep the community interested, gameplay has to be at a high level. But what attracts community in the first place is creativity and "whimsical"-ness. You see, to survive, Quidditch needs both whimsy and competition. The New York Badassilisks are a perfect example of this and I congratulate you on your tournament win and your win for the quidditch community.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

IQA Rulebook 6 is Out!

No major changes.
New rules preventing off pitch quaffle/Bludger play, allowing more contact from behind, allowing beaters to catch Bludgers thrown at them, and allowing players to finish motions in progress when being hit by a Budger before returning to their hoops.
Here is a complete list of changes:

1.3.6.
2.6.1.4.
2.6.2.3.
2.8.1.4. – 2.8.1.8.
2.9.2. – 2.9.6.
3.1.2.7. – 3.1.2.8.
3.1.4.2.g.
3.1.6.5.
3.2.3.6. – 3.2.3.8.
3.2.3.11.
4.1.5.
4.2.3.
4.5.6.

And here is the link to the Rulebook

Monday, September 24, 2012

NYC Zombie Elimination Round Scores

Here are the elimination round games:

#1: Hofstra - bye in first round

#4 vs. #5: Vassar (90) vs. NYU (30)
#3 vs. #6: Stony Brook (60) vs. Macaulay (100) (overtime)
#2 vs. #7: Honey Badgers (60) vs. Badassilisks (90)

Semifinals:
Hofstra (30) vs. Vassar (40)
Macaulay (0) vs. Badassilisks (80)

Finals: 
Vassar (60) vs. Badassilisks (110)

Sunday, September 23, 2012

2012 Quidditch Season Takes Off

The first tournament of the 2012 Quidditch Season happened today in New York City, site of the past two World Cups. An exciting tournament set the stage for what is to be a fantastic year. This year will feature mandatory games and regional attendance, the first Collegiate Cup, and the first World Cup outside of the Northeast. And, perhaps the first World Champion not named Middlebury. Loaded tournaments of teams trying to play their mandatory 5 games are on the schedule every weekend throughout the Fall. Just next week, we have the Sirius Blacksburgh Brawl at Virginia Tech and the Kite and Key Cup at Franklin and Marshall. In the following weeks we can look forward to the Cowboy Cup, the Lumberjack Invitational, the Turtle Cup, the Kansas Cup and the Brothery Love Cup which I will be attending. Then the Northeast, Mid Atlantic and Midwest Regionals, which have produced so much excitement in recent years, will round out the fall. (Not to even mention West by Southwest) The Western, Southwestern and Southern Regionals will take place in the Spring along with Quidditch World Cup 6 from Kissimee, Florida.
But, the season is young right now and  no team is out of contention for the World Cup. Its impossible to pick a favorite (although I think it's Texas) and only one relevant Tournament has happened so far. That was the NYC Zombie/Inferi Quidditch Tournament hosted by the Northeast's oldest community team, the New York Badassilisks. Badassilisk Fans were worried when after pool play New York was 0-2, but they remained faithful and the New York Badassilisks went on to win the NYCZIQT. Other favorites were Hofstra, who was 2-0 after pool play and Vassar who was 1-1. In the end the Badassilisks defeated Vassar in the championship. Here are the Final Results.


1st: Badassilisks
2nd: Vassar
3rd: Hofstra
4th: Macaulay