Jedermann

Modadunn - trust me, there are an equal number of people at Midd who are embarrassed that your son got in because he can run around with a football. The intellectuals find it particularly amusing when athletes (or their parents) don't "get it". Nobody gets into Midd because of their Quidditch skills.

If Quidditch is akin to spilled ink, the fact that 10% of the male population at Midd are football players is an embarassing drug problem.

laxtaxi

^Ooh, game on! Suddenly this got much more interesting. Modadunn, parry and thrust? LOL

MidwesternDad

As the parent of a Williams athlete with academic credentials similar to Modadunn's son, I suspect that what helped both in being accepted to their respective schools was that they were highly credentialed students that had the ability contribute to athletic programs important to both schools.

tan2007

"If Quidditch is akin to spilled ink, the fact that 10% of the male population at Midd are football players is an embarassing drug problem."

Now that's what I call "applying definition and intent in moderation" lol

Swimmingjew552

This thread needs to end. Who cares if Some people play an imaginary sport? It's not a stain on the school's reputation anymore than LAN parties at places like MIT are. Smart people are eccentric. They do what they want. It isn't your job to judge them, because who are you to deny their fun? If you're emabarassed of your Classmates, maybe it's time to transfer.

Modadunn

My respect for the students at Midd just went down about 10%. Personal attacks are uncalled for.

And while it is none of your business, my son was not a recruited athlete despite his skill on the field. There were no bumps or slots or anything else sent his way. He was told quite honestly in fact that if he got in on his own they'd love to have him play, but all recruitment was pretty much complete during EDI. Most important to us was that He wanted to attend a school where he could get the education he wanted and felt he had earned through his work in the classroom, and he had plenty to choose from when acceptances came in. More important to this conversation, however, is that he is very much a kid who respects all people and their interests, even if they are different than what he might personally enjoy. In fact, the diversity of interests and backgrounds at Midd was a deciding factor in his attending Midd. The degree of stereotyping as shown above just tells me something about your character and apparent inability to see someone more for who he is than for what he does. You will miss out on a lot of interesting people in your life with that attitude. Mostly, I guess I am only sorry that my kid wont enjoy the same degree of mutual respect he consistently affords others and that will be paying over 50K for it.

So to be really clear: Thinking something is goofy, like playing quidditch, would not in any way affect what he thinks about the person who plays it, nor would it prevent him from getting to know the person who plays it. To say playing quidditch is odd, does not automatically make the PERSON who plays it odd. This is not a case of having embarrassing classmates in any way, shape or form, so quite leaping to that conclusion.

I just want to point out that this makes absolutely no literary sense whatsoever. It is not witty, ironic or creative. Not to mention that your apparent prejudice towards athletes without knowing anything else about them (including whether or not they're far smarter than you) makes me question how someone of such narrow-mindedness like you was accepted in the first place.

This thread is dead.

laxtaxi

Swimmingjew: no embarrassment of my classmates. Embarrassment for my alma mater. And even that, not exactly - more like just not getting why my alma mater promotes its Quidditch roots and involvement when it has so many other unique aspects to feature.

I asked offspring #2 if a college or university's promotion of itself as ground zero for college Quidditch would make her more or less likely to want to apply. She said neither. Spouse, on the other hand, thinks promoting Quidditch is stupid. So on that very scientific sample, it's apparently generational.

As I said earlier, I've never seen college Quidditch played. I intend to remain open-minded and try to watch an intercollegiate Quidditch match in my area if one exists. If not I can use flue powder and disapparate to one.

The ad hominem attacks on Modadunn were uncalled for.

frogger_1234

I think Jedermann was just trying to show another side to the same argument, not necessarily attack Modadunn.

tan2007

I don't think Jedermann was attacking anyone, nor do I think he was portraying his own views. Note that he/she never made interjected his opinion in his post, i.e. "I think [insert what you're accusing him/her of]." Just because he's telling you what other people think doesn't necessarily mean he agrees with it.

I have to say though Jedermann, that last sentence was pretty good

Modadunn

I just love the double standard and hypocrisy in this. Had I even hinted that quidditch players were social misfits or tripped-out geeks and freaks, I would have been blasted and rightfully so. However, equating all football players with drug use is perfectly acceptable and "pretty good"? Why not attack all the intellectuals as they sit around and smoke pot pontificating about the meaning of the universe? It's just as absurd in my book. Disparaging anyone because of the activities they may participate in (and knowing absolutely nothing else about them) is an attack. It is just one small step away from "he's black so he obviously got in because of affirmative action or athletic ability cuz every one knows 'those people' just aren't smart." If you think that sentiment is pretty good, shame on you. You've lost all credibility.

The below reports the history of Quidditch in a archival way and is actually pretty interesting. For what it's worth, it looks like it's developed into quite the party scene.

College Quidditch - College Quidditch

mythmom

I have no relationship to Middlebury, but I do have an abiding love and admiration for the school. I spent a week in Middlebury last year for professional reasons and adored visiting the school.

In the interests of full disclosures, I am a Williams parent.

I adored the video and think Quidditch is really funny. I think those that play it know it's silly, and it reflects a kind of droll sense of humor, a quirky zest for life and a real love for Harry Potter.

Now as an English Prof Harry Potter is not my favorite literature, but I am always touched by what these books mean to people. They got my own son really reading at seven.

About Quidditch I say, "Play on."
About Middlebury I say, "You're awesome."

And about this thread, I do think there is room for opposing opinions. The students who are offended by some recoiling at Quidditch need to chill out a bit. Learning to accept points of view that differ from your own with civility is the basis of all conversation and certainly what college is about.

hohum

Modadunn,
I think Jedermann was referring to your original post in which you said an ink stain is less embarrassing than a drug problem or other ailment. He or she was not accusing all football players of having a drug problem!

Modadunn

^ I still don't see it that way, however, I will accept that I MIGHT have been somehow misunderstood in my trying to explain the variant definitions of embarrassment (from a blush all the way to outcast) and asking people to not take it all so literally. But to say, "an equal number of people at Midd who are embarrassed that your son got in because he can run around with a football" was absolutely personal and an attack made doubly inflammatory when he/she goes on to equate football players to a drug problem in the same post. How anyone can defend what was written as understandable or acceptable (and continue to defend it) is pretty offensive all on its own.

In any event, I fully and whole heartedly agree with mythmom on this subject (this very same son has a first edition of every Potter book written). I will not be commenting further.

tan2007

I wasn't agreeing with his "attack," as you call it, on the athletic students at Middlebury. I was simply complimenting him on his snark on you for your highhanded method of lecturing to me about your "varying degrees of embarrassment." Don't assume that I think anything, especially all this you're accusing me (and him) of because I definitely don't believe any of that. And of course, you'll point out that I most obviously do believe in all that nonsense and concretely state that everything is the way you're saying it is.

This is childish, I swear.

Corbett

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense mathematically either.

The 2008 Middlebury football roster consisted of 70 men. According to the 2008-09 Middlebury Common Data Set, total male enrollment at Midd in October 2008 was 1,197. So the football roster was only about 5.8% of the male enrollment.

There are some small LACs where the football team does approach 10% of the male enrollment, but Midd is not a particularly small LAC.