Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Quidditch Bracket Busters

I'm beginning a new series to go along with Seeking the Cup! Seeking the Cup features WCVI "favorites," whereas Quidditch Bracket Busters talks about the teams aren't generally considered serious contenders.

At World Cup V, Florida advanced to the finals to the disbelief of everyone outside of the Sunshine State. The 2012 fall season was tough for the Gators, and they did not place at the Bae Cup. However, at Southern Regionals, Florida won their pool and was seeded 2nd going into bracket play. Still though, many quidditch experts aren't considering Florida as a team that could contend for the Cup. I interviewed Dre Clemens, the chaser who got an entire stadium cheering "Dr. Dre" at Icahn Stadium and current captain of Florida Quidditch.

Me: Do you consider yourselves underdogs going into WC6 considering you are the highest placing WC5 team to qualify for WC6? 
Dre: We don't consider ourselves underdogs at all, but what sane team would.

Me: How does this contribute to your overall confidence?
Dre: Well, we've had a long rough season, and I don't think confidence has ever been a problem. So going into the tournament we'll be pretty confident

Me: What do you think your odds of advancing out of Pool Play are? How do you feel about your pool and the matchups? 
Dre: Advancing out of pool play shouldn't be too difficult. I'd say we have pretty good chances to make it to the second day. In regards to the pool, I like our match ups and we should be able to do very well. 

Me: What would be your keys to another Cinderella run? In other words, what has to happen for Florida to beat a few higher ranked teams?
The key to another run is great game play. The chasers have to defend well, the beaters have to make good defensive stops, and it always help if you can catch that snitch.

Are there any other specific teams that you think could pull off a series of upsets in bracket play? Why?
Yes undoubtedly, in the game of quidditch anyone can win with solid game play and a great snatch. But to name a few USF, FSU, Pittsburgh are some of the underrated teams that are better than their rankings suggests. if teams take them lightly in bracket play, they'll be in for a surprise.

No comments:

Post a Comment