[HPforGrownups] Re: The trouble with Quidditch

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 168939

> Ken:
>
> But you don't have to catch the Snitch to prevent the other Seeker
> from catching it. I think Hermione is right that Krum *chose* to end
> the match on his terms, it just wasn't the best strategy. In the end
> it probably wouldn't have mattered since the Bulgarians didn't seem to
> have an answer for the Irish scoring machine but it makes no strategic
> sense to catch the Snitch when doing so leaves you a mere 10 points
> shy of winning.
>
> It seems to me the Bulgarians actually did have an answer to the Irish
> scoring machine available to them. They should have basically
> abandoned any hope of using their chasers to score. They should have
> used their chasers and beaters in some defensive combination to both
> help their goal keeper defend their goals and to interfere with the
> Irish seeker. If they had slowed down the Irish scoring they would
> have given Krum more time to catch the Snitch when doing so would have
> won the game. That appears to have been their best game plan.
> Evidently our author isn't enough of a sports fan to see the strategic
> nuances of the game she invented.


I would disagree with you on that last comment! I think Rowling presented
the answer in text as to how she understands "strategic nuances" in
Hermione's comment. If Krum really did think, and know beyond any doubt that
they would lose, then it is much preferable to lose by only 10 points than
to lose by several hundred, and be remembered for centuries as the team that
got slaughtered in the World Cup. This way, Krum remains the hero who saved
his team from humiliation, and everyone remembers the game as "great but
fierce", "close" and with other memorable phrases that aren't derogatory to
his team.

Your strategy depends on one thing- leadership of their team captain. A
time-out would have been called, and this captain would have had to instruct
his players to the new strategy- and I think it was too early in the game
for that. They weren't losing by THAT much at the point the snitch was
caught. Or maybe Krum knew that his team Captain would have never chosen
such a strategy, so that he chose an early defeat rather than a humiliating
one. Krum caught the snitch away from Lynch before any of that happened, and
chose to end the game on his own terms. I think we see plenty of times when
Wood is coaching Harry as a seeker not to catch the snitch before a certain
point level, proving that yes indeed the Seeker alone makes the real
determination of when to end the game.

I also see the twin's predictions of the outcome (Ireland wins, but Krum
catches the snitch) as knowledge of the teams and how they have played
before this World Cup Match. Obviously, Krum is a great Snitch Catcher, and
so my bet is that is how they have won all or most of their games- by
catching the Snitch early in the game before the other team had gained
significant points on them. Ireland, on the other hand, has a great scoring
machine, scoring early, fast and often, and chances are good that this isn't
the first time that they won a game by points alone, even if the other team
did catch the Snitch first. Krum, then, would have also have studied the two
teams previously, and those patterns would have played into his actions to
end it early on his terms, before Ireland really cleaned their clocks.
Ireland was the strong favorite if the game went long, but they had already
scored enough points that Krum already knew defeat was inevitable. I you are
going to lose, better to keep your dignity than to be remembered for
centuries as the worst defeat.

Also, for strategies- Krum is young, and chances are good he would still be
playing the following year. Yes, he got on a team that took him to the World
Cup, but one that didn't have enough strength in the scoring section to be
able to lead them to true victory in the end. He's probably got some of his
own strategic planning in there- to find a team for the next year with great
scoring potential as well, so that he again would go all the way to the
World Cup for the second year in a row, only this time with the chance of
victory. To keep his name fresh, he's got to keep his reputation as a great
Snitch Catcher, and that is exactly what he does. Frankly, Rowling has such
a set up here that she could easily mention a future World Cup in which Krum
has been taken in by a team with a good scoring machine, with Krum actually
taking the Cup in a brilliant win.

Shelley