Snitches: The Fifth Ball
Photo by Isabella Gong[/caption]
“He doesn't have a sock, he doesn't have a sock!"
The call echoed on Pitch 6 during the battle between No. 24 Michigan State (East Lansing, MI) and No. 14 Texas State (San Marcos, TX), the pool favorite for World Cup VI. A grinning snitch runner raised his hands in anguish, his guise exposed by the advanced perceptual abilities of Michigan.
This decoy had set up the feint with the actual snitch runner before the game in a clever ploy to confuse the poor, foolish seekers. This is just one example of the many crazy, ridiculous, and exciting sights one can expect from these top-notch snitches. World Cup VI had a very professional feel, but these volunteer snitches continued to bring a creative, lighthearted fierceness to the matches that took place.
“We get to play by our own rules, for the most part,” Rob Snitch, the (in)famous snitch from Richmond, Virginia, said. “You can get away with quite a lot.” Mr. Snitch talked about his usage of hulk hands in today's tournament, battling the seekers today with the green madness. With silly string and a wide variety of hats to wear, it is with a wide smile that Mr. Snitch cites what he refers to as his “bag of tricks.”
Some of these shenanigans are common place amongst snitch runners, and snitch play from coast to coast always creates a bit of a spectacle. Each snitch has their own niche, and their own bag of tricks. When questioned about his favorite snitch move, the Virginian's already wide grin stretches to a width that seems to supersede human capabilities.
“I threw a milkshake in someone's face.”
What more needs to be said?
As much as snitches do bring a relatively humorous air to the pitch, they are an intricate part of the game. The longevity of the snitch is the measure of how long the game lasts, and for teams that play a better later or early game, how quickly the snitch is caught is a huge factor. Thus the quality of the game greatly depends on the snitch, how long they last, and what style of snitchery they prefer. New York snitch Walter Makarucha Jr. says most snitches fall into two camps: “You have either wrestler-types that use their physicality or smaller, cross-country runners who use speed and agility. It's confrontation versus evasion.”
With the addition of snitch academies to train the ball runners and a new ranking system to sort snitches into gold, silver, and bronze skill sets, World Cup VI has seen the best snitch play yet. On every occurrence, the arrival of the snitches added an intensity to the game. When the snitch (complete with camera strapped to his torso) entered the field in the No. 7 Emerson College (Boston, MA) v. No. 30 University of South Florida (Tampa, FL) match on the Championship Field, the energy of the game shifted. It was evident how badly each team wanted those last 30 points, and they took every throw and shove that the snitch gave to them. In the end Emerson would take the snitch, and the game with it.
The snitch is an intricate part of the game, and one of the key pieces to the puzzle in converting the Quidditch of the books to the sport of quidditch. The snitches, the piece that has been constant throughout the sport's history, continues to offer an exciting, serious, but ever light-hearted version of the one thing that brings all together for this weekend: quidditch.
Editor's Note: This article was previously written under the title "The Fourth Ball." We would like to apologize for our poor counting skills, and for any confusion they may have caused.
