Quidditch conception (was Why Does Krum Catch The Snitch?)

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 26631

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Marianna Lvovsky <mariannayus at y...> wrote:
> I never had  a problem with the scenario. Ireland
> seems to have the more balanced team. Bulgaria,
> person/per person is not as good as Ireland, but then
> they have Krum (one of those cases where the team gets
> ahead because one of its members is head and shoulders
> beyond everybody on his own and opposing teams).

This is actually closely-related to the one thing that I think is 
poorly-conceived (or brilliantly conceived, depending on how you view 
it) about Quidditch.  It seems to me that in real life this game would 
not go far, because of the excessive Seeker emphasis.  A truly 
brilliant team could be foiled by an awful seeker and a talented 
seeker might save a horrid team.  Sure, one person can make a big 
difference in any sport, but this is a bit much--if you consider, the 
only other person with near this much sway is the Keeper (the "if they 
can't score, you can't lose" philosophy), and even those efforts could 
be undone by the opposing Seeker rather easily.  Of course, on the 
flip-side I can't blame JKR.  In some ways, it's quite appropriate, 
because it was a very good way to put a lot of the weight on Harry's 
shoulders.  And after all, as a writer one should know when to 
sacrifice credibility for drama.

But really, can anyone think of any real life sport that has an equal 
potential for such severe imbalance?

-Luke