I wonder how the Ministry of Magic is going to feel about a blue Quidditch field

FriarReb98: revrendjim: On the other hand real estate is precious on this campus because we are in the city, which makes it hard (and expensive) to expand. The football team already has a full indoor practice field in addition to the actual stadium, and at this very moment they are finishing a new outdoor grass practice field. Why they need yet another practice field is baffling.

Sounds like it's more so they won't have every athletic/rec sport/quasi-sport group trying to share less fields.  And I know how you feel about the dinosaur part; my hometown university's main buildings are all Brutalist-with-a-capital-B buildings.  I'd love it if they made the place look more like every other college on the planet, but at the same time I know I'd miss my memories of that farked up little place.

UIC?  I didn't know they could make a more brutalist nasty campus.

Longtime Lurker: FriarReb98: revrendjim: On the other hand real estate is precious on this campus because we are in the city, which makes it hard (and expensive) to expand. The football team already has a full indoor practice field in addition to the actual stadium, and at this very moment they are finishing a new outdoor grass practice field. Why they need yet another practice field is baffling.

Sounds like it's more so they won't have every athletic/rec sport/quasi-sport group trying to share less fields.  And I know how you feel about the dinosaur part; my hometown university's main buildings are all Brutalist-with-a-capital-B buildings.  I'd love it if they made the place look more like every other college on the planet, but at the same time I know I'd miss my memories of that farked up little place.

UIC?  I didn't know they could make a more brutalist nasty campus.

I dunno it said in the article that there was only one intramural field, that's a lot of sports on one playing surface.

Mentat: Darn, I thought it was Kansas.

You know better.

"Academic" buildings at KU... pssh.

Why does quidditch need its own field? Don't you have.... Idaho for that?

12349876: Donnchadha: Applied Technology Building, where most tenants, except the campus printing shop, have already moved out.

"Academic" Buildings, huh, subby?

Even if that wasn't true, it would still be stupid because it would be assuming a university is some sort of magic entity that can't expand or contract, can't go up or down or out for more square footage, can't go inward with a contraction or downsizing redundancy.

You might think about the costs involved with building infrastructure, or the long term utilitarian advantages of renovating buildings compared to tearing them down for football practice.

Quidditch is not a sport- it's cosplay for morons who can't pick one of the thousands if other sports out there. If the game requires flying on broomsticks, it's not real.

Marine1: Mentat: Darn, I thought it was Kansas.

You know better.

"Academic" buildings at KU... pssh.

This is Bozo U we're talking about

Any school that builds a Quiddich field should immediately lose any federal, state, or city funding it receives. The only place a Quidditch field should be ever be built is in an amusement park, a movie studio, or inside your mind.

The Snow Dog: Any school that builds a Quiddich field should immediately lose any federal, state, or city funding it receives. The only place a Quidditch field should be ever be built is in an amusement park, a movie studio, or inside your mind.

What are you talking about?? How are these poor students suppose to be able to learn at University without sufficient sports fields?

/not everyone is lucky enough to go to school at Costco
//this post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

DigitalCoffee: The Snow Dog: Any school that builds a Quiddich field should immediately lose any federal, state, or city funding it receives. The only place a Quidditch field should be ever be built is in an amusement park, a movie studio, or inside your mind.

What are you talking about?? How are these poor students suppose to be able to learn at University without sufficient sports fields?

/not everyone is lucky enough to go to school at Costco
//this post brought to you by Carl's Jr.

Sport field has what quidditch craves!

"I think that Bisexual Asian Studies should have its own building. The question is who goes? The math department or the hockey team? "

You're not really playing quidditch if your broom and that golden ball thing doesn't fly. Can geeks just play bowling or any other "sport" that is at least real? No need to take up space on a college campus for a half ass imaginary sport. I'd be all for quidditch if we get the technology to actually have people flying around, because that would be cool, dangerous, and would actually take talent.

I've never understood why sport has any connection to university. It's meant to be a place where you expand your mind, add to the collective knowledge of humanity or (more recently) train for a professional (meaning white collar, not professional athlete) career. How the hell does chasing a ball around a field full of sweaty morons fit in to that?

ParanoidAgnostic: I've never understood why sport has any connection to university. It's meant to be a place where you expand your mind, add to the collective knowledge of humanity or (more recently) train for a professional (meaning white collar, not professional athlete) career. How the hell does chasing a ball around a field full of sweaty morons fit in to that?

Because the body is just as important as the mind? I never understood why people got mad that the best athletes (aka the people with the most physical and athletic abilities) are cared about and why they get mad that the top 1% of 1% end up making a lot of money in sports. You act as if the smartest of the smart aren't generally paid well. A skill is a skill, and if you are a master at that skill you should be recognized. What do you think the Olympics were all about? When you saw Jordan dunk you didn't think it was almost Herculean? Welcome to the mind of a sports fan.

/not even a "jock" just a guy that likes to play and watch sports and understands how amazing the elite athletes are.

TheJoe03: ParanoidAgnostic: I've never understood why sport has any connection to university. It's meant to be a place where you expand your mind, add to the collective knowledge of humanity or (more recently) train for a professional (meaning white collar, not professional athlete) career. How the hell does chasing a ball around a field full of sweaty morons fit in to that?

Because the body is just as important as the mind? I never understood why people got mad that the best athletes (aka the people with the most physical and athletic abilities) are cared about and why they get mad that the top 1% of 1% end up making a lot of money in sports. You act as if the smartest of the smart aren't generally paid well. A skill is a skill, and if you are a master at that skill you should be recognized. What do you think the Olympics were all about? When you saw Jordan dunk you didn't think it was almost Herculean? Welcome to the mind of a sports fan.

/not even a "jock" just a guy that likes to play and watch sports and understands how amazing the elite athletes are.

That's fine, but doesn't explain why universities care about sport. If you want to work on your mind then go to university. If you want to work on your body go to a gym.

/I know the real reason is money - I just think it sucks.

ParanoidAgnostic: I know the real reason is money - I just think it sucks.

What money was to be made in the 1800s? A skill is a skill, you don't seem to get that.  Football and basketball were both invented because of colleges, it's part of the tradition and like I said, the body is just as important of the mind. You just have a very specific view of what college is about, but your opinion is based on no facts whatsoever. Why SHOULDN'T colleges have athletic programs? Should we take athletics out of high school as well? Are you just saying this because you don't like sports?

As someone who has played quidditch for the last two and a half years (University of Miami), let me assure you that the Boise State team has not done anything worthy of a field. Rock on though. Rah quidditch and all that.

TheJoe03: ParanoidAgnostic: I know the real reason is money - I just think it sucks.

What money was to be made in the 1800s? A skill is a skill, you don't seem to get that.  Football and basketball were both invented because of colleges, it's part of the tradition and like I said, the body is just as important of the mind. You just have a very specific view of what college is about, but your opinion is based on no facts whatsoever. Why SHOULDN'T colleges have athletic programs? Should we take athletics out of high school as well? Are you just saying this because you don't like sports?

No, I don't get it. What the hell are you trying to argue with "A skill is a skill"? Plumbing is a skill, should that be taught at university too?

This may also shock you, but universities existed for centuries before the USA did. You didn't invent the concept, you only perverted it.

High-school is different. Students need to be given a broad range of opportunities to discover their interests and talents. You go to university to further pursue interests and talents which are academic.

/Full disclosure: I loathe sport. Participating and watching.

Sort of the opposite at my local U.  They have this huge, torn up empty field where they were going to put a brand new engineering studies building (and move the poor schmucks out of a nearby basement) and even broke ground on the spot.  Turns out though, that the U doesn't have the money to actually finish the building.  They were playing chicken with the state, counting that the state would give them the rest of the money for the building and recently the state said "LOL! No." and so there you have it.  But the U is still going on and on in all of its public materials about how great that state of the art engineering building is going to be.  False advertising, if you ask me.  Now maybe they can use it as a Quiddich field or parking or something.

/It was really funny hearing one engineering prof. harass another.  "Your stocks doing bad. If you were really Japanese, you'd kill yourself.  Jump out window.  You can't do here, we in basement, you'd have to jump up then jump out.  You can't even get job in school that don't keep you locked in basement. " (That's really how the guy sounded) Sort of exemplified the state of things in the good ol' engineering department.
//profs were a quiet guy from Japan and a manic spaz from Taiwan & proudly Chinese.
/// Yelled at each other in foreign languages a lot.

Where can I sign up for the throwing rocks at the people playing quidditch team?

ParanoidAgnostic: /Full disclosure: I loathe sport. Participating and watching.

No wonder you want to get rid of athletics in schools, fark health and physical fitness, you got your own axe to grind!

The real reason isn't money, the real reason is because North America lacks sports academies  The way to make it into a sports career is through college. That's just part of our culture, and it hasn't changed the fact that the US still has some of the best universities in the world. It would be a tragedy for many people here if they got rid of college sports and all the tradition involved in it. It's part of the experience and I don't think that just because some people can't stand sports that we should get rid of something so many people enjoy and have no problem with. If you can prove it has affected academics I can maybe see your point, but right now it just seems like you hate sports so much you want to act like it's crazy for colleges to have athletic programs.

Since you don't know sports, sports academies are set up by teams that draft players when they are kids and bring them up through the team. I guess your suggesting that because we did something different from Europe that we are Americans intent on perverting the college tradition established by you oh so noble and enlightened non-Americans.

I guess this is as good of a place as any to ask this question... What is the point of the rest of the Quiddich team, if whomever catches the golden snitch first wins? Is it a rare thing to catch the snitch, such that most games will be decided by conventional goals first? (I've only seen the first Potter movie, and haven't read any of the books, but that was my one question from the first movie).

TheJoe03: ParanoidAgnostic: /Full disclosure: I loathe sport. Participating and watching.

No wonder you want to get rid of athletics in schools, fark health and physical fitness, you got your own axe to grind!

I knew that ending with that would leave me open to an ad hominem. You could however at least make a token effort to respond to the actual content of my post.

I agree that fitness is important. However I do not believe it is the responsibility of an academic institution.

I also don't think it is the goal of sport. Look at the damage professional athletes, in the small number of years they are able to compete at that level, do to their bodies by pushing themselves too hard.

Quiddich?  Huh.  Well,at least they're outside and getting some exercise.

jack21221: I guess this is as good of a place as any to ask this question... What is the point of the rest of the Quiddich team, if whomever catches the golden snitch first wins? Is it a rare thing to catch the snitch, such that most games will be decided by conventional goals first? (I've only seen the first Potter movie, and haven't read any of the books, but that was my one question from the first movie).

When someone catches the snitch, the game ends, and the catching team earns an automatic 150 points or something. So, yes, the team that catches the snitch is most often the winner, but it doesn't guarantee a win. See the quidditch world cup game in the fourth book.

I'll be honest, if my college had an intramural quidditch league when I was there, I'd probably want to play. It'd be good exercise, if silly. Whenever I've seen stories about quidditch teams at schools, it seems like the teams are just regular students looking for a fun way to stay active and meet people.

This country needs more croquet greenswards.

/there, I said it
//felt good to get it off my chest

This is some of the dumbest sounding shiat ever. So they run around a field chasing a ball with a broomstick shoved firmly up their ass?

WTF is Quidditch?

ParanoidAgnostic: I've never understood why sport has any connection to university. It's meant to be a place where you expand your mind, add to the collective knowledge of humanity or (more recently) train for a professional (meaning white collar, not professional athlete) career. How the hell does chasing a ball around a field full of sweaty morons fit in to that?

Don't I see you in other threads bemoaning the obesity crisis?

ParanoidAgnostic: You could however at least make a token effort to respond to the actual content of my post.

He did. Twice. You're just being willfully stupid.

UDel_Kitty: jack21221: I guess this is as good of a place as any to ask this question... What is the point of the rest of the Quiddich team, if whomever catches the golden snitch first wins? Is it a rare thing to catch the snitch, such that most games will be decided by conventional goals first? (I've only seen the first Potter movie, and haven't read any of the books, but that was my one question from the first movie).

When someone catches the snitch, the game ends, and the catching team earns an automatic 150 points or something. So, yes, the team that catches the snitch is most often the winner, but it doesn't guarantee a win. See the quidditch world cup game in the fourth book.

I'll be honest, if my college had an intramural quidditch league when I was there, I'd probably want to play. It'd be good exercise, if silly. Whenever I've seen stories about quidditch teams at schools, it seems like the teams are just regular students looking for a fun way to stay active and meet people.


So how does the snitch work in... um, real-world Quidditch?  Do they tie a golden bell to a cat or something?

ParanoidAgnostic: I knew that ending with that would leave me open to an ad hominem. You could however at least make a token effort to respond to the actual content of my post.

I did but you actually ignored it, there was a whole paragraph after that line. Not really an ad hominem when it's true. You loathe sports and you have an axe to grind, you can at least admit it.