By Amanda
In honor of the World Cup, we thought we would review some of the sports that our readers would actually know something about. A number of fans have come together to recreate their favorite fictional sports from books, tv shows, and more. Some of them have professional organizations, others are still recreational. And if you feel influenced to try any of these sports, let us know how your attempts go!
Quidditch
Quidditch seems to be by far the most serious fictional game turned real. The wizarding sport from the Harry Potter series, Quidditch is a blend of soccer and rugby. On brooms. But here in the real world where the rest of us have to deal with gravity, the sport is played on the ground by actual members of the International Quidditch Association. Middlebury College in Vermont created this version that utilizes volleyballs (quaffle), dodgeballs (bludgers), and a person dressed as a yellow snitch who carries a tennis ball in a sock that players try to grab as in flag football. The Association actually hosts a Quidditch World Cup. Check them out here: http://iqaquidditch.com/.
Pyramid
Pyramid is a handball game from the tv show Battlestar Galactica. The shape of the court is a triangle, which gives the game its name. One corner contains a goal while the other two serve as home bases for the two teams. Like ultimate Frisbee, players are limited to the amount of steps they may take before they have to pass or shoot the ball. The physical nature of Pyramid is what makes it difficult—players shoot from and defend a somewhat small area from what we’ve seen on the show, meaning a lot of quick, lateral movements. These people recreated Pyramid in their background: http://youtu.be/KxApU0MR10c and http://youtu.be/O3U1RIDTPM0.
Calvinball
Calvin and Hobbes’ Calvinball is the most irregular game on this list. The rules and goals of the game can only be used once. In the comic, a number of tools were used to play including soccer balls, croquet mallets, buckets, and water balloons. Many different lists of directions and suggestions exist for the game, but my favorite is that Calvinball has reached the level of popularity to have its own wikiHow page: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Calvinball. No matter how you play Calvinball, the main rule seems to be have fun with your best friends, real or imaginary.
eSports
Okay, this one might be cheating. Even though “sport” is in the name, there is very little about playing video games that would be considered typical of actual sports. However, these organized competitions between highly skilled video game players eclipse all of the other sports in this article for their level of professionalism. eSports cover a variety of games, including League of Legends and Starcraft, and have teams, sportscasters, and sponsorships that allow pro-gamers to sit around all day on their bums pointing and clicking. Major League Gaming even has the look and feel of sports-oriented media: http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/.
While I would rather encourage you to check out the physically active sports mentioned above so that you don’t start resembling a literal couch potato, let’s be real—the only sweat we’ll be working up is over active debates of Dumbledore versus Gandolf.
Quidditch
Quidditch seems to be by far the most serious fictional game turned real. The wizarding sport from the Harry Potter series, Quidditch is a blend of soccer and rugby. On brooms. But here in the real world where the rest of us have to deal with gravity, the sport is played on the ground by actual members of the International Quidditch Association. Middlebury College in Vermont created this version that utilizes volleyballs (quaffle), dodgeballs (bludgers), and a person dressed as a yellow snitch who carries a tennis ball in a sock that players try to grab as in flag football. The Association actually hosts a Quidditch World Cup. Check them out here: http://iqaquidditch.com/.
Pyramid
Pyramid is a handball game from the tv show Battlestar Galactica. The shape of the court is a triangle, which gives the game its name. One corner contains a goal while the other two serve as home bases for the two teams. Like ultimate Frisbee, players are limited to the amount of steps they may take before they have to pass or shoot the ball. The physical nature of Pyramid is what makes it difficult—players shoot from and defend a somewhat small area from what we’ve seen on the show, meaning a lot of quick, lateral movements. These people recreated Pyramid in their background: http://youtu.be/KxApU0MR10c and http://youtu.be/O3U1RIDTPM0.
Calvinball
Calvin and Hobbes’ Calvinball is the most irregular game on this list. The rules and goals of the game can only be used once. In the comic, a number of tools were used to play including soccer balls, croquet mallets, buckets, and water balloons. Many different lists of directions and suggestions exist for the game, but my favorite is that Calvinball has reached the level of popularity to have its own wikiHow page: http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Calvinball. No matter how you play Calvinball, the main rule seems to be have fun with your best friends, real or imaginary.
eSports
Okay, this one might be cheating. Even though “sport” is in the name, there is very little about playing video games that would be considered typical of actual sports. However, these organized competitions between highly skilled video game players eclipse all of the other sports in this article for their level of professionalism. eSports cover a variety of games, including League of Legends and Starcraft, and have teams, sportscasters, and sponsorships that allow pro-gamers to sit around all day on their bums pointing and clicking. Major League Gaming even has the look and feel of sports-oriented media: http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/.
While I would rather encourage you to check out the physically active sports mentioned above so that you don’t start resembling a literal couch potato, let’s be real—the only sweat we’ll be working up is over active debates of Dumbledore versus Gandolf.