This week's "Ban Together" is going in a new direction. Columns like the last one on Four Loko are not connecting with Tufts readers. State officials thought they got the message right when they announced plans to restrict the drink earlier this week. However, I didn't actually want a ban on Four Loko. Realizing the power of my column to destroy cultural icons, I am dedicating this column to a disenfranchised group that must be preserved.
Fans of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series have long sought to recreate the world in which Muggles and wizards exist. One attempt to convert a plot point into something bigger is the effort to bring Quidditch into our mundane, magic−free reality. These efforts have culminated in a number of organized leagues with tournaments, World Cups and MVPs; colleges and universities field teams as well. Tufts' very own Quidditch team recently placed second in the fourth annual Quidditch World Cup. However, with this success inevitably comes the debate over whether Tufts should recognize this team and how it would classify the sport.
Even though it might be the most popular game played in the wizarding world, Quidditch has a long way to go before students accept it, as this role−playing sport irritates even the most tolerant. They appreciate efforts to create real things based off a fantasy series. They don't care that it's nerdy or lame. Yet it will remain a simulation of a sport and a poor one at that. No one ever flies, nor do the balls. Even more, the climax of the adapted version is entirely fabricated, replacing the passion, fury, and speed of chasing down a Golden Snitch with a mundane competition where two guys run after some neutral person who's got a fake Snitch stuffed in his pants that they then must snatch.
The biggest complaint is that if Tufts grants club sport status and privileges to Quidditch, it will be unfair to current club sport athletes, whose stocks would diminish. If Tufts' Tae Kwon Do or equestrian teams are lumped into the same league as Quidditch, members' accolades would no longer strike the same chord of reverence. Many athletes, horseback riders and martial artists alike all want to do away with Quidditch as it threatens their sports' elite reputations.
These hordes must be halted. Their arguments against Quidditch fail to show why Tufts should ban or even ignore the sport. Club sport status is certainly a big deal here at Tufts. These cover bands of the athletic world grace the pages of the Daily and inspire fellow students to follow their lead.
The Tufts Football Club has gained sponsorship from a reputable energy drink company. When the Tufts Ultimate Frisbee team wins a tournament, hordes of freshman girls flock to the Frisbee team house hours before the victory party is even announced. Club sports participants have earned the fruits of their labors, and so they see Quidditch as anathema to their deserved lifestyle.
These athletes must realize that Quidditch, too, can be a club sport. It requires athleticism, is played outdoors and has the support of the student body. To make it a true club sport, we must reduce attendance levels and inflate the egos of its participants, but that will come in due time. Club sport athletes must recognize that there is room on the pedestal on which we non−athletes place them. They must share their status with emerging sports like Quidditch even though their ascendancy to club level may not resemble the traditional path taken by most club sports.
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CJ Saraceno is a senior majoring in political science. He can be reached at Christopher.Saraceno@tufts.edu
