#eighthman

As much as I would like to have the general public respect or at least not dismiss quidditch as something serious I know in my heart of hearts thats where the league, USQ , is currently. It has a lot to accomplish before it can start having others treat it seriously and he reason I bring this up is mainly due to the laughable controversy involving three southwest teams and the USQ’s inability to function as a serious organization.

The issue went down as this, three teams failed to submit their rosters for the Southwest Regional Championship back in February. The deadline was Feb. 14th 8am according to an email sent by Assistant Tournament Director Alicia Norma and three teams, most notably Lone Star Quidditch Club, did not meet the 8am requirement based off of an unclear rule on the USQ website stating that “Each team’s roster of up to 21 players must be submitted on the USQ website seven days before the start of the game.” In addition to that already vague presentation captains were told on their roster pages that “You must submit your initial roster one week before the event. Afterwards, you can make changes up to 24 hours before the start of the event.” So there was a bit of confusion involved but thankfully USQ stepped in and made an official ruling.

USQ and commissioner of USQ Alex Benepe made the absurd decision to allow all three teams to submit rosters past the due time and no penalty was issued to any of the teams.

...excuse me, but are you serious?

I understand the methodology behind this, as instructions were vague and not conveyed properly, but by making this decision USQ brought to light so much that is wrong with the organization. First of all while the situation is understandable, it is hard to empathize with because of the 24 teams that registered to play in the regional only three failed to follow the instruction presented to them. Yes, the online ruling is vague but it cannot be that vague for if it was then surely the other 21 teams would’ve faced the same issue. While it is a reasonable defense for those three teams, it is but a pathetic excuse for USQ to not issue any penalties to these teams and allow them to play.

United States Quidditch does not take itself seriously and people are confused as to why no one else does. Why would anyone take an organization seriously when they cannot even abide to their own rules and regulations?  Seriously though, can you think of any professional sports organization where this would’ve happened? Because I can’t. It’s absurd. It makes the deadline arbitrary, pointless, and now opens a floodgate for the future where many teams will surely rally if they find themselves in a similar position. Should that happened they’ll argue that they should be excused because USQ pardoned a few one teams one time and “its only fair.” What is even more upsetting is that the only likely reason USQ did this is because Lone Star Q.C. is the highest ranked USQ team and how bad would it look if they were disqualified from a major event? Its unjustified and silly. It would be  like saying to a student who submitted a paper late "well you're a straight A student so I'll let it slide this time.” Rules lose all meaning when exceptions are made like this.

Beyond just highlighting the idiotic and childlike behavior of a “professional” organization it also brings to light other issues with USQ. Mainly being that why is such an important rule left so open to interpretation on the official website? Why is not a specific time addressed? This confusion should never have happened in the first place, and while it is not an excuse, it surely shows how far USQ has to go before they can even mention the notion of being respectable. While I understand quidditch is young and that these issues become fixed over time, that also means that USQ needs to recognize that until these issues are addressed it will be hard for them to be considered “legitimate.” If I come off as very passionate about this its because I am, not because I have any vendetta against USQ or those Southwest teams but because I want to see quidditch become professionally recognized. I want to see people take it seriously and controversies such as this one remind me that, that will not happen for a long time.

1. Do I think that Lone Star QC is going to be an incredible force? Obviously. That roster has arguably the largest number of true stars on it in the IQA. Do I think that a team that has never played an official match as one unit before should be the #1 team in the world? Not quite. If they go to their first tournament and show that they are living up to their hype, then I can understand #1. But not until they prove it on the pitch.

2. I'm not the first person to point this out, but I'm somewhat confused by Miami being so far in front of Florida's Finest, seeing as their roster consists of a very high number of Miami's best players from last season, as well as some other great talent from the state.

3. Ball State University deserves to be on this list. BSU was one of last year's best 4 or 5 MW teams, with the least amount of graduating/leaving members. With all the questions around BGSU and Kansas, MSU, and OSU having to replace some of their most notable members, they're my current favorites for the Midwest title in October.

4. About BGSU- I understand that there are numerous questions around this roster, and most of them are valid. But how many times were they counted out last season for whatever reason, as well as at World Cup itself after Day 1, to have them prove everyone wrong time and time again? I'm sorry, but until I see otherwise, I'm staying on the Falcon bandwagon. They're returning essentially the entirety of their stellar chaser/keeper line and the seeker who secured all those WC VI victories.