Mixed Team Sabre

[Craig]

What do you think of the mixed team sabre format that is going to be tested at the 2002 World Championships?

[Craig]

Feel free to post your comments on the issue as well.

Me, I'm mostly "It's a good idea" but also some of "It will be a novelty" in my voting.

I really want the number of events to expand so that fencing can have the full roster of 12 events, but if that's not possible then mixed teams is a much better alternative than forcing an event to "sit out" each Olympic cycle.

Can you imagine - Hey, we're going to eliminate the 100kg weight class from Judo this time around - see you in another 4 years!

Anyway, post your comments here. This poll will get "unstuck" from the top in another week.

Later,
Craig

[Mo]

Craig,
I think it is a great idea. Not only would be in interesting to watch but all the weapons would be working together.
That alone would be really novel. It would bring all the fencers of a country together.
I noticed during the team competitions at Summer Nationals, everyone was very supportive of their team members. I know in real life there are rivalries and hard feelings that simply go away during team competitions.
It would be nice to have it on a grand scale.

[Shpaga]

But I do think that if Sabre is mixed, then the other two weapons should be mixed as well. You could have other variations, I suppose....

It's funny but the NCAA has done this since 1991, anyway... (combined M+W championships)

[D'Artagnan1673]

By watching the top foilists Bau and Golubitsky (yes, I know they are from a few years ago) I in my ignorance would say that there is a significant gap in skill between women and men in genearal. Is that the case?

[epeemike81]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Originally posted by D'Artagnan1673:
<strong>By watching the top foilists Bau and Golubitsky (yes, I know they are from a few years ago) I in my ignorance would say that there is a significant gap in skill between women and men in genearal. Is that the case?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Yes, it is. The proposed format would still have men v. men and women v. women, it would just make them dependant on each other in a relay format. The women would NOT fence the men.

-m

[D'Artagnan1673]

Okay, I missed that somewhere. In that case, I am all for this event. I really do think that that is a great idea!

[epeemike81]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">Originally posted by D'Artagnan1673:
<strong>Okay, I missed that somewhere. In that case, I am all for this event. I really do think that that is a great idea!</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Helvetica, Arial">You didn't miss it... At least not in this thread.

Craig, maybe it would be a good idea to explain the idea in the original poll?

Thanks.

-m