Could Quidditch really work?

[Ali]

No: HPFGUIDX 47806


Quidditch puzzles me. IIRC, JKR said that she had invented Quidditch 
because all societies have sport as a focal point. But, as much as I 
like reading about Harry's Quidditch obsession and indeed the humour 
shown in QTTA, I have trouble believing that Quidditch would actually 
work. This is not because my feet are firmly on the ground, but the 
nature of some of the rules.

Quidditch seems to me to be 2 games in one – the seekers catching the 
snitch and the rest of the team playing a more conventional "put ball 
in goal and score points" game. My understanding of Quidditch is that 
the Seeker is normally responsible for winning the game; Ireland 
winning the game although Bulgaria's Krum caught the Snitch struck me 
as unusual.  What then is the point of the rest of the game? Firstly, 
I would argue entertainment and a chance to see different strategies 
and talents shown on broomsticks. But the real importance to the 
fans, and indeed to the cohesiveness of the game, must be in the way 
in which the league tables are drawn up.

The English Football League  (soccer) works as follows:

a winning team gains 3 points for winning a match and 1 for a draw, 
but, when 2 or more teams have the same number of points, the team 
which scored the most goals, and had the fewest goals against them, 
is the one which is higher up the League. 

Does Hogwart's Quidditch cup work in a similar fashion? Does the 
professional Quidditch league work along similar lines?

We know that points are significant to the Hogwarts Quidditch cup as 
Harry has to wait until Gryffindor are a number of points ahead 
before catching the Golden Snitch in Gryffindor's 3rd match in PoA. 
Winning the match would not have won Gryffindor the cup. Is it good 
then for Harry to try and catch the snitch early on? (Except for when 
he needs a win to stop Snape favouring Hufflepuff). I would think 
that it is not, unless he is playing for the weaker side. It would be 
more advantageous to stop the other seeker catching the snitch and 
let his side win more points. Of course, in professional Quidditch, 
an early snitch catch would be bad entertainment value. Rather like a 
boxer being knocked out in the first round. It may sound sensational, 
but effectively the spectators have been deprived of entertainment.

I have many more questions relating to Quidditch that I will be 
asking, but at this point I really want to know: could Quidditch 
actually work?

Ali