Good Tournament/Bad Tournament

[D'Artag-NOT]

I came away from my last competition feeling pretty good. Had nothing to do with my results, which have been better at some tourneys, worse at others. So I thought I'd see what the rest of y'all think makes a tournament good or bad. In my case:

Good Tournament: I leave the venue wondering how soon I can do this again.

Bad Tournament: I leave the venue wondering how much my fencing gear would fetch on eBay.

[WhyNotWhy]

Good Tournament: I leave with a rating I wasn't expecting

Bad Tournament: I leave with more broken weapons than points scored

[bwoodward]

Good Tournament: My friends among the spectators say "Dude!"

Bad Tournament: My friends among the spectators say "Dude?"

[glowstix]

Good Tournament: top 8 finish where quality fencers were present.

Bad Tournament: not learning anything from the defeat or coming away second guessing.

[CvilleFencer]

Good Tournament: I did well against stronger fencers and with any luck had a top 8 finish.
Bad Tournament: I somehow wound up fencing foil.

[MHS Fencer]

Good Tournament: I can't lift my arm because I'm too tired from fencing all day.
Bad Tournament: I can't lift my arm because I have a major shoulder injury.

[telkanuru]

Good Tournament: I come home with something shiny.
Bad Tournament: I don't come home at all...

[Alain]

Good tournament: if/after losing, you feel that you enjoyed your day, and that you didn't lose any matches but instead that your opponents won them. You think you can do better, so you're hungry for more...

Bad tournament: you wonder just why you got up so damn early that morning...

[Alan]

Good foil tournament:

Uses the official timings

Bad foilepee tournament:

Uses the test timings

[Peach]

Good tournament: At least two of the following: Still upright and capable of walking. Capable of coherent speech. Did not fence like a shackled donkey, or have full-scale meltdown. Managed to get touches on someone younger, faster, and stronger than me, to their unflattering surprise and dismay. Got opponent to argue with referee because it is clearly impossible that I could ever win bout, so calls must be bad.

Bad tournament: At least two of the following: Lost my temper. Lost my shoes/jacket/favorite weapon/glasses. Lost my balance repeatedly. Lost to someone I can and should beat, on the same action, repeatedly. Had serious pain, and had to withdraw.

REALLY good tournament: Either scored touches which caused people to say, "Whoa!" or "How did she do that?" or earned medal of some sort. Any sort. Give me medal, I go home happy.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Good tournament: I beat all the lower seeded people I fence against. I learn something from my defeat.
Good tournament: I learn something
Bad tournament: I lose to a lower seed. I learn nothing from my defeat.
Bad tournament: I learn nothing.

[Dee EffEll]

Good Tournament: Coach says somewhere along the way, "good job!"

Bad Tournament: Coach shrugs shoulders.

Really Bad Tournament: Coach no where to be found.

It is never about win or lose. It is always about quality.

[skermulo]

Good Tournament: I am tired and sore and profusely dripping. Fencing was appropriate for the weapon being held. I had a coherent idea of what I was doing and why and could recognize errors and adapt.

Bad Tournament: I still have the energy to go run a few miles. Forgot about right of way or didn't utilize the lack thereof. Everything degenerated into bad reflexes or random flailing. Multiple consecutive touches were scored againt me in the exact same manner.

Really Bad Tournament: (entry fee / touches scored) ≥ $3/touch

Unfortunately, my fitness level remains far above my fencing ability, and I'm considering adding a third weapon to the thoroughly confused mass that is my brain.

[fencerX]

Good Tournament: Being asked for urine sample

Bad Tournament: Being asked for insurance details.

[Go? Fencing?]

Good tournament: I feel like I was completely on form, and if/when I lost, it wasn't due to lack of concentration or injury.

Bad tournament: My opponent kept doing the same thing but I couldn't get around it, and lose due to frustration.

[Zelda]

Good tournament: I finish and feel satified, knowing I did my best and hopefully learnt something in the long run. Hopefully end up with a pweety medal. I am smiling or at least philosophical about my loss.

Bad tournament: I lose stupidly, I start crying, get frustrated, lose concentration, ring my mother on my cell ranting about my inability to move/hit a mack truck at low speed etc etc.

[Point_Left]

Good: Coach says "You did well"
Bad: You find your coach talking to the head of the local fencing organization asking if he can take you off the club's member list...

Good: You met the goals you set (eg:I will score a touche in every bout, and I will win at least one bout.)
Bad: You rationalize your failing to meet any of you objectives by saying "Well, I didn't keep my New Year's resolution, either!"

Good: You fence well, the refs are capaple of calling a parry a parry, and you have no catastrophic equipment failures.
Bad: Coach is covering his eyes to avoid seeing you fence, the ref shows up strip side with a seeing eye dog, and the vendors a seriously debating awarding you a trophy for doubling their year's profits.

Good: You are reluctant to leave the venue because you fenced so well, but have little choice as your teammates are carring you out on their shoulders singing "Hail the conquering hero"
Bad: When you approach a group of teammates to tell them you are going, they suddenly stop laughing and look guilty.

Good: You come home after a top eight finish, and have beaten you arch-rival.
Bad: DFL. Arch-rival offers to coach you in spare time. Out of sympathy.

Good: You leave able to walk, and are only marginally sore the following day.
Bad: You leave surrounded by paramedics and as you black out you hear a perimedic say "We're losing her (him)"

Good: You enjoyed yourself!
Bad: You secretly consider smoking pot-it MUST be cheaper and less stressful than fencing!

[Tydive]

Good Tournament: You get to fence and learn quite a bit.

Bad Tournament: You drive 400 miles, spend money you don't have on a hotel and they cancel the pools so you only get to fence one DE bout... against an All American and get jobbed because nobody sees your amazing stop cuts [pre-electric sabre]. (So, how many of you were at '87 PCCs?)

[Pancakes]

Good Tournament: Come home with a decent ranking and satisfied with how I fenced.

Bad Tournament: Come home frustrated due to fencing poorly/bad judges/whatever.

[UTEpee]

good tournament: fenced enough to be tired, achieved my goals for that tournament, whatever they may be( make it past 2nd round of DEs lately), learned something/leave with ideas on what to train this week

bad tournament: cannot seem to focus, perform to what i know is below my ability, come away angry