Fencing Evolution Predictions

[Pescados666]

Hmm; maybe I should start practicing my foil actions with a chunk of balanced rebar.

An epee?

[Allen Evans]

1902, 1913, 1929....it doesn't matter. No one will want to be hit with one of those weapons in competition or practice.

AE

[Allen Evans]

As far as the populist argument for making fencing friendly to the masses goes, this article sums it up nicely: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...weinreb/080602
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That's a very amusing article, and I tend to agree with his observations and conclusions, but I'd be very curious as to the author's opinion about WHY this has happened.

AE

[SJCFU#2]

That's a very amusing article, and I tend to agree with his observations and conclusions, but I'd be very curious as to the author's opinion about WHY this has happened.

In particular since as I understand it the three most popular sports in the United States prior to WWII were baseball, boxing and horse racing (a fact presumably alluded to by the author's remark regarding the age of many people interested in the Triple Crown).

Unfortunately AFAIK fencing didn't get much respect in the US back then either - some things never change.

[Phrogger]

With the exceptions of mixed martial arts (boosted by savvy marketing), NASCAR (boosted by demographics) and soccer (boosted by contrarian Anglophiles), it is hard to imagine any "minor" sport becoming more popular in America than it is right now...

Did anyone catch those "exceptions" he listed? It is possible to get a foot in the door in other ways...

[piste off]

Did anyone catch those "exceptions" he listed? It is possible to get a foot in the door in other ways...

Yes, but those "exceptions" have significant factors that make them attractive to the mass audience.

MMA - blood
NASCAR - crashes, culture
SOCCER - large participation

There are lots of variables that influence successful marketing. A number of people here think there is one silver bullet, but for fencing I am not sure that is the case (unless we go to real weapons, in which case we'll leapfrog MMA and NASCAR real quick).

Rick

[ktg]

On a somewhat more optimistic note, the article on the rise of Chinese rowing in the Sunday New York Times highlighted fencing as a sport that was gaining more traction in the US Olympic system:

"The United States won one rowing gold [in 2004]. Since then, the United States Olympic Committee’s strategy has been to focus on sports in which Americans have had some success, like fencing, triathlon, archery and some disciplines in shooting and rowing, said Steve Roush, the chief of sport performance for the committee. The U.S.O.C., which spends about $130 million annually to support its athletes, also earmarked money for BMX racing and track cycling." emphasis added.

[the ancient one]

Besides blood, crashes, mob psychology there is another possibility:

Big Cash Prizes!

People suddenly get interested in all sorts of less dramatic TV fluff when there is a chance at big money. Suppose we write-in Usmanov as the next USFA President and he puts up ~about a $500K purse for an all round 3 weapon champion (so we don't bog down in weaponism). One Male and one Female Champion. The qualifiers get retrospective air time-sort of like American Idol auditions.

Someday.

[Dr Epee]

I don't think that airtime on ESPN is necessarily the be all and end all of sport success. College lacrosse has been prospering for several years with very little attention from the national media. The lacrosse "final four" tournament has been regularly attracting over 100,000 spectators each year, which beats the snot out of college baseball or soccer. Now this year ESPNU has been showing lacrosse games on Saturdays during the season, but the're just responding to the level of interest.

This is not to say that fencing is showing up on ESPNU anytime soon. Actually, for general audiences, Fencing needs a "Turbo" button like the early PC's used to have. Turn off the turbo button and everything slows down. Then maybe general audiences would find it more interesting.

[Phrogger]

Lacrosse has also put forth a tremendous grassroots effort getting regional leagues going and starting high school teams and college teams. How much effort have we put in at this level? College fencing seems all but ignored by the USFA. Yet I tell our kids all the time that fencing could get them a partial scholarship to college (both UNC and Duke have fencing teams) and that is a motivator to many to keep at it. If those schools ever drop those teams, fencing will suffer regionally.