This scene is of no consequence in the big picture, but Krum grabbing the snitch to cause his team to lose by one goal is one of my least favorite parts of the entire series. I enjoyed the World Cup chapter up to this point, but it bothers me for a couple of reasons:

1- It doesn't ring true that any athlete would do something like this, especially in what might be their only opportunity to win a world championship. I don't buy the "ending it on his terms" explanation- especially when the team is being outplayed, but not yet "out of it." Who's to say they couldn't have scraped one or two measly goals?

Or imagine your team is down 2-0 in the FIFA World Cup, but they've been thoroughly outplayed all game long. Finally, they score a luck goal to make it 2-1, and they quit. "We figure we aren't good enough to win, so we want to end it on our terms and make the final score look good." Wouldn't happen.

I could almost live with it if she was trying to paint Krum as a selfish quitter who cared more about making himself look good than helping his team win. But that's not the way Krum was presented to us.

2- Fred and George's bet with Bagman was an absurd one, and for the game to end just as absurdly was cheap. She could have had them win a bet with Bagman without writing it the way she did. It was too silly and worked out "too perfectly."

3- Nitpicky and inconsequential in the big picture, but this scene called to mind all the things about quidditch at Hogwarts that make no sense. I won't go into all the various examples because they probably bother no one but me, but it's obvious that JKR doesn't understand sports. That's fine, but it would have been nice if someone had helped her out a little bit.