I think we are almost done. Tomorrow we should be able to finish this tournament.

We were still missing Doug, Zac, Max V., and today Keenan wasn't there--his ankle was bothering him yesterday from something that happened in drama class, and though he fenced and forgot about it, it started hurting afterwards. He wasn't in school today. I hope he's okay.

I think we still have Remi, Alexis, Max, and Shariq in the semi-final. I set up a losers' bracket and they're in the four too. I gather Kyle was a lousy referee, but then any bout with Jake in it is going to be a bit contentious. Mario said Kyle allowed a number of off-target touches. On the other hand, to see solemn-hamster Kyle be such a confident and dictatorial referee is worth its weight in gold. (I got Kyle to demonstrate his war-cry in English class today, and his classmates were duly impressed--or at least startled.)

I refereed the bout between Beau and Remi. Beau really did an awesome job, though he ended up losing, because he learned to attack and even, all by himself, began yelling like a sabre fencer. This tall, skinny, deep-voiced, dignified laid-back boy brought some intensity to his bout, and the last touch I was proud of him, and I think he was proud of himself. I haven't seen him smile like that in ages. And my shy-to-paralysis David too, on the way back, was chattering away in his deep halting murmur, telling me about his Latin test and all kinds of other things. This is one of the reasons why we independent school teachers also like to coach.