Quidditch World Cup!!!!!!!!!!!

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!!!!!

UMass Quidditch will be playing in the 3rd Annual Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup this Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is being held at Middlebury College, VT. Opening ceremonies start at 9AM and games play until 6PM. The tournament is set up thus:
-Pools of 4 teams. Round-robin gameplay, the two top teams in each pool move on to single-elimination play until the finals.
-UMass is in a pool with Miami of Ohio, Virginia Commonwealth University, and no other than Middlebury College itself.
-There will be 4 fields of play.
-Also attending are Emerson, Harvard, Yale, Boston University, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Vassar, and like a ton of others.

You can watch it all online at http://www.collegequidditch.com/ and look for the feed under the news section.

Cheer on UMass Quidditch!! Or, like, your own team. Either way, see for yourself the fantasticsy of Intercollegiate Quidditch!
Also see this.

Brooms Up!

Official History Of UMass Quidditch

The University of Massachusetts Quidditch Club began in 1533, with the Pocomtuc Native American Wawamako, which traditionally translates to “Rides With Sticks.” The game of quidditch was played in a form involving hatchets rather than bludgers, resulting in many unsightly injuries. Wawamako himself was unable to see most of the game’s evolution as he was struck with terrible spattergroit soon after starting the team.

Wawamako in the late stages of illness.

The team, however, carried on and evolved without him, becoming involved in King Phillip’s War, known as the “Flying Hatcheteers” to settlers. The established team faded away after the Pocomtuc were decimated, yet the tradition carried on through the centuries.

In 2007, UMass students Matt Drake, a direct decendant of Wawamako himself, and Maggie Henry, who purported a member of the Flying Hacheteers as an ancestor, decided the time was ripe to reestablish the team and take to the air once more, this time as the UMass Flying Minutemen. The first meeting in the spring of 2008 consisted of six people, none of whom (beside the founders) could produce any ancestry to the vengeful tribe. However, Drake and Henry showed no bias and persevered through the semester, and as fall rolled around new faces provided new opportunities.

The fall of 2008 presented a whole host of eager recruits, and though most had never heard of Wawamako, they were interested in the fledgling team. With about twenty regulars, the Flying Minutemen traveled to Middlebury for their first World Cup. Unfortunately, the 250 years between them and their war-like predecessors had softened them, and the harsh wind and unforgiving opponents thoroughly woke the warriors within the Minutemen. Determined to live up to their illustrious past, they challenged Amherst College to a two-game showdown in December of that year. The Minutemen, true to their heritage, took to the air and boxed the ears of Amherst with fisticuffs of strategy, though a sudden death round kept UMass on their toes.

UMass entered the spring semester with a rigorous practice schedule, eyes set for further glory. In April, UMass entered into the Patriot’s Day Boston Tournament alongside Emerson, Boston University, and Middlebury College. In a poetic upset, UMass avenged their World Cup defeat by shutting out Emerson 30-0, lost to BU in a close 70-110 game, and brought Middlebury to their first sudden death game, losing in the end 60-70. Hatchets remained sheathed, and all concluded it was a marvelous day of competition.

Having used the summer to spread the word and rest up for the fall season, the Minutemen returned to the pitch to find an enormous upsurge of interest from incoming first-years, swelling the ranks of the team to thirty regular members. They have planned to attend the World Cup at Middlebury, and even to host their own tournament before the year’s end. With ever an eye on the future and always an ear to the past, the UMass Quidditch Club is ready to face new opponents, friends, and challenges.

Also, check out the Promotional Video:

Brooms Up!

First Month Back = Great

So I've been back on campus for about a month now, and things are going quite swimmingly so far. My classes have been stressful; specifically Classical Greek. With the class meeting five days a week, it feels like we're barreling through the stuff and I'm only just keeping up. However, with determination and CONSTANT VIGILANCE, I believe I can do it. And, its important to challenge ourselves, right?

Also new to this semester is my debut as an OIT Help Desk Consultant. Basically, I take calls from clients who are having troubles with their computers. Its a fun job, and I like the work atmosphere. The $400 check to start off the year didn't hurt either.

The returning element of this here champion's life is my Vice Presidency of the UMass Quidditch Club. This year is shaping up to be truly amazing, and I can hardly contain my excitement at how excellently the club is operating at the moment. There will be more about this in a later post, because I want to address the members directly. We are attending the World Cup, featuring about 20 teams from all over the US and one from Canada (McGill). In addition, we will be hosting our own Veteran's Day Tournament at UMass on November 7th, featuring a few intercollegiate teams. This fall is certainly a busy but fantastic semester.

Back to my classes, my Anthro class is one I have a great interest in. Its focus is reforming the current standardized-testing system of education, which perpetuates inequality and is, simply, broken. With a mother who teaches, I hear the ills of the education system day to day. My final project is a testimony project, taking the opinions and experiences of those who have gone through the system and presenting them to the public. I am quite excited for this.

Something that is certainly new is my seemingly up look on life. Simply put, I have friends, I am learning things I love, and I am doing the things that I love. In reality, is there anything more I can ask for?

I'll leave it here for now. Watch for the open letter to UMass Quidditch soon.