Post by Sam Spade on Dec 14, 2023 8:22:44 GMT
SAMUEL PHILIP SPADE IV
This is SAM SPADE who is a PROFESSIONAL QUIDDITCH PLAYER.
He is 24 years old, and looks a bit like JOSEPH LEE BURROW.
Played by TRAVIS.
SCOUTING REPORT - FC SAM SPADE, MIDWEST ACADEMY (USA)
Ht: 6'4"
Wt: 221 lbs
Years Started: 3
Record: 27-2-1
BACKGROUND
Born December 10th, 1989 in San Francisco, California.
Spade's father was an assistant manager for the Falmouth Falcons in the 1980s, serving as the passing game coordinator and later seekers coach. After a brief stint on the Appleby Arrows coaching staff, Sam Spade III moved back to America where he accepted a position as flight instructor and head coach of the Midwest Academy's Quidditch team. Spade's mother, Celia Spade, is a former Wizard Chess grandmaster.
Spade was a multi-sport star at Midwest, lettering in Quidditch, American Quidditch, and baseball. Holds several amateur American Quidditch records including goals scored (career and single-season), assists (single season), and goals per game. On top of his athletic accomplishments, earned Magic Academic All-American honors, graduating in the top five of his class.
PLAYSTYLE
A natural forward. Physical for a chaser, uses his strength to power through defenses. Is quick on a broom, though lacks the consistent speed that is common in modern Quidditch.
PROS
Elite accuracy and quaffle-placement immediately jumps out, though it's Spade's uncanny processing that makes him the most hyped Quidditch prospect to come out of America in decades. He sees the game in slow motion. Can anticipate gaps in defense and knows how to exploit them, whether its a deft maneuver on his broom or strong-arming his way through tough coverage. More physical than modern speedsters, often plays the position like a beater. Despite his physicality, can win the game on a mental level too, often baiting opposing keepers with his eyes to open the goal. Credits his father for his tools, but his mother for his high Quidditch IQ. Active participant in coaching staff meetings and played a role in gameplan development at Midwest. Can be unselfish on the pitch, leading Midwest in assists all of his three years as a starter. Possesses leadership intangibles that elevate the players around him. Can immediately change any team culture that he walks into.
CONS
Defense is a weakness in his game. More likely to receive the quaffle from a teammate than from a tackle. Known to take risks when playing from behind, turning the quaffle over at a higher rate when his team is losing. Physical play style makes him a higher risk for injury. Does little to protect himself, often going out of his way to make contact with opposing players. Passed up scholarship from more prestigious Quidditch program at Ilvermorny to play for his father at Midwest. Benefitted from low level competition in a conference that is more traditionally known for American Quidditch. Calls Quidditch "Goldsnatcher."
VERDICT
A generational prospect with massive upside, even if Spade's amateur success can't be matched on a professional level, his knowledge and pure love of the game will be valuable to any locker room. Though his defensive game is raw, Spade's shown a willingness to be coached and no signs of hitting his ceiling. A day one starter for the team that wins this lottery, Spade could be at the top of the league by year three.
COMPS
Angelina Johnson, Marion MacGuffin
If you had told Fox before he’d met Emilia at that party that the most important moment of his life would transpire while he was drunk, he probably would have been mortified. Fox had been the type who had to have every detail planned. He couldn’t make a decision without doing his research first. If he were living in the Muggle world, he would probably have to hunt through dozens of tech reviews before settling on a TV to buy. Is that a bad example?
Listen: before Emilia, Fox had a plan. It didn’t involve girls or elopements. It involved Head Boy badges and internships with the Wizengamot where he could destroy the system from the inside. His five year plan included making a following five year plan. After making a name for himself in magical litigation, he’d split less-than-amicably from the Ministry and forge his own path where he could use his knowledge of the inside to make the world better for those without any power. It was all a bit much, but Fox was A Bit Much all the time.
Now that he was living in a post-Emilia world, though, Fox found himself taking more risks. Suddenly his five year plans were less like plans and more like embarrassing Fox fanfiction that he’d rather keep hidden on whatever part of the Wiznet he’d posted them on in fourth year. Fox was happy taking Emilia’s hand and following her blindly into the dark. As long as he had Emilia—that was what mattered.
As Fox attempted to wheel his trunk down Hogsmeade’s snow-covered roads, he reminisced on the last several weeks as if years had passed since his first midnight lesson with Emilia. In those days—and by those days I mean literal days ago—they had been driven simply by a powerful infatuation. Though they had feigned disappointment after the party, they couldn’t stop running into each other. It didn’t take long before they’d surrendered all pretense and simply begun snogging in secret. But it wasn’t until the first Quidditch match that things had really become serious.
It was the first time Fox had seen Emilia throw herself into something that she truly loved—not including his lips—and as he watched her navigate the skies above Hogwarts, he realized that he was falling in love with her. There were a lot of other signs: the hours he’d spent learning Spanish, the red carnation, the weird jealousy he felt when he saw her laughing with Matteo. But none of those compared to the feeling of pride when Fox watched Emilia put the game on her back and pull out a victory for Slytherin. He happily swallowed his Gryffindor pride as he pulled Emilia into a hug and cried, “You were amazing! You were transcendent! I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Emilia responded to Fox with a kiss. Maybe there was some love behind it, but there was more to it. It was a passion that Fox hadn’t yet felt. There was a hunger in Emilia that night that had taken Fox by complete surprise. And by the time they woke up the next morning in the room of requirement, Fox found himself in complete darkness. He had no idea about what he’d done with Emilia, only that he wanted this to last forever, and even though there was no map he was happy to share the road with her. They shared a smile. Then Fox said, “I have to go to the library.”
As Fox’s mind lingered on this memory, he came to a stop just outside of the Hogshead and took a seat on his trunk. He’d agreed to meet Emilia here early in the morning when all of the other students were most likely still enjoying their last breakfast before winter break. Some of the students were being picked up in Hogsmeade and with parents on different schedules, the carriages were running all throughout the day. Though Fox was reluctant to travel without Emilia to Hogsmeade, they had agreed that it would be better to go separately so as to avoid suspicion from their friends. Fox wasn’t too worried about any of his pals in Gryffindor, but he knew that Liv already suspected that they were up to something. He didn’t like asking Emilia to keep secrets from her best friend, but it was her who worried Liv would try to convince her otherwise.
Fox heaved a heavy sigh as he studied the road to Hogwarts castle. It had been less than a few hours, but he was eager to see Emilia again. His stomach fluttered as he imagined her smile walking down that road. Though his sigh was heavy, it wasn’t a nervous weight but an excited one. Today was the beginning of everything.