[HPforGrownups] Sportsmanship in Harry Potter

[Karen]

No: HPFGUIDX 151688


On Apr 30, 2006, at 6:27 PM, horridporrid03 wrote:

> So I was poking about the online fandom and ran across this article by
> Mariana Hyde:
> http://football.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1762184,00.html
>
> And it was amusing and missed the point a bit (the columnist is not a
> quidditch fan to say the least <g>) but then I read a section on the
> bad sportsmanship displayed in the Triwizard Tournament, and it pulled
> me up a bit short.  (It's longish, and clipping quotes always seems to
> send Yahoo into a melt down when I do it, so I'm not going to quote it
> here.)
>
> Basically, Harry should not have received the extra points he did in
> the underwater event.  Harry chose to not do the race as per the rules
> (he chose to stay and make sure everyone got out safe) but was still
> shoved into a second place he'd failed to earn.  Harry didn't come in
> second, he came in third.  (Or maybe tied for fourth with Fluer?)  And
> only by breaking the stated rules of the game was it possible for the
> judges to give him the second place (first if not for Karkaroff).
>
> In the article Hyde points out, "[t]he whole point about being
> sportsmanlike is that you don't get any prizes for it.  It is a reward
> in itself, and usually involves forfeiting something you'd have held
> on to if you hadn't bothered."
>
> Does Harry getting a big point bonus for being noble actually taint
> his nobility a bit?  Do these books ever give us an example of good
> sportsmanship?
>

kchuplis:

Maybe my definition of sportsmanship is faulty. I think of it just as  
much in terms of gracious winning as gracious losing. I also think of  
it as being in the behaviour of the the participant and not the  
judges. *Harry* didn't ask to be put equal. The judges (read DD)  
chose that. I don't recall him gloating about it. He just accepted  
it. To me, at any rate, "good sportsmanship" doesn't mean Harry would  
have to put a big fuss up and insist on being placed lower. That's  
just silly.