New York Magazine gave Middlebury a sassy shout-out in the “Neighborhood News” round-up from their November 28, 2011 issue. The weekly feature highlights strange and out of the ordinary news stories from the five boroughs.
via New York Magazine
Sure, college-age kids running around on broomsticks and tackling each other to the ground playing a once-fictional game and winning an international competition for the fifth year in a row is newsworthy. But was it necessary to include the cost of tuition? Simply put, no.
A team picture of the Middlebury Quidditch team who just won the Quidditch World Cup for the fifth straight year (picture courtesy of @WellyKilson)
The set of brooms Middlebury won today.
Middlebury won an exceptionally exciting Quidditch World Cup earlier tonight, catching the snitch to beat the University of Florida 100 to 80. Their victory preserved their perfect Quidditch championship record in the game’s five year existence. The team won the game despite losing star player Phil Palmer ’12 early in the game to injury, and getting a red card for a tackle from behind.
The path to the cup was not as easy for Middlebury as in years past, suffering their first loss ever to the University of Michigan yesterday, and coming back from 30-0 against Boston University in the round of 16 earlier today.
**UPDATE** Middlebury wins it all for the fifth year in a row!
**UPDATE** For more information throughout the day, head over to our page on the menu bar where we will be posting any and all coverage we have of the tournament.
**UPDATE** Midd is in the Final! Go to our page for more details.
**UPDATE** Midd is in the Final Four! Go to our page for more details.
**UPDATE** Middlebury just came from behind to beat Boston University 60-40 on a snitch catch. At one point Middlebury was down 30-0, but in very intense battle, Midd pulled it out. They will now advance to the quarterfinal where they will play the winner of UCLA (who they’ve already beated earlier in the tournament) vs. Michigan State.
Also, just found this Twitter that will have score updates on the UCLA vs. Michigan State game. And see this Twitter for a recap of Midd’s win over BU. MiddBlog will let you know where to find updates of Midd’s next game on Twitter
Promo video for Quidditch World Cup 2011
Middlebury’s Quidditch Team has made it into the elimination bracket, one of 32 teams out of the orignal 60 that advanced. Midd started playing a match against Marquette, but it was cut short when a mistake in the bracket was caught. They then played Carleton instead, beating them soundly 100- 10. Now they will advance to the round of 16 where they will play Boston University. It is single game elimination at this point.
Since the Quidditch World Cup website hasn’t been updating, nor has their twitter, Middblog will try to keep you up-to-date on the status of Middlebury’s Quidditch team with info we are getting from the sources we have at the tournament. Check out our first post on the World Cup to find out what has happened so far.
**UPDATE** To view an unofficial document listing up-to-date Quidditch World Cup scores, click here. According to the IQA, “muggle technology is going berserk around all the magic on Randall’s Island this weekend, so [there will be] no live stream.” At this point, Twitter continues to be the best venue to follow the action (@middquid on Twitter). Sunday afternoon brackets are still being decided. Stay tuned.
Michigan celebrating the win over Midd, they are the first team ever to do it. (via FattyFTW on Tumblr)
The University of Michigan made history this afternoon after handing Middlebury College its first World Cup defeat ever in. For a Twitter feed recap of the game, click here.
Other games from Saturday:
1st game: 100-20 win over Yale
2nd game: lost to Michigan 70-60
3rd game: win over UCLA 80-30
4th game: win over Vaasa (Finland) 140-40
UMichigan beat us in our first loss ever… Congrats, guys. @middquid coming back stronger than ever. 5:00 PM vs @UCLAQuidditch— Middlebury Quidditch (@middquid) November 12, 2011
Organized by tri-chairs Andy Hyatt ’12, Phil Palmer ’12 and Marianne Guarnieri ’14, the Classic began with pool play and was supposed to transition to bracket play mid-day, but due to a bit of confusion and admitted disorganization, the bracket was ixnayed, pool play continued throughout the day and no Middlebury Classic champion was crowned.
In spite of the unforeseen bracket problems, the Middlebury Classic was a great success. Among the spectators were people from the town of Middlebury, College students and parents of both students and Quidditch players, alike. Noonie’s Deli and American Flatbread were in attendance, selling freshly-made sandwiches and pizza. Middlebury’s own improv groups, Otter Nonsense and Middlebrow, provided witty commentary on the games and atmosphere.
The primary motivation behind the inception of the Middlebury Classic was to make up for the fact that the World Cup grew to be too large for Middlebury’s campus and was relocated to New York City last year. The tri-commissioners, in tandem with International Quidditch Association (IQA) CEO and President Alex Benepe ’09, saw the Classic as a means of bringing the sport back to its roots and giving back to the local community.
