You have GOT to be kidding me

[civiltech]

I was going to make a snide comment on developing countries and the fact that the Columbia University team has a lack of equipment, but I've got a worse story for you.

A bunch of fencers from Superior Fencing Academy (Thunder Bay, ON) thought it would be a great idea to start a University team. In fact the vice-president of SFA was a proffessor there at Lakehead, and a bunch of SFA members were students. There was ample funding from the Student Union, why not?

So through the buracreacy it went. DENIED. Why? I don't have their exact interpretation, but essentially the University Senate forbid it. There reason was that insurance rates would go up, and the University did not want the liability. They also noted that a sword is technically a weapon by Ontario Law, and not permitted. (I'm not a lawyer, I'm giving the condensed version!) And yes, a couple of fencers were esocrted off campus when caught fencing along the lake, or the dam, etc. So, we have hockey rinks where hockey players can carry hockey sticks, a baseball diamond where baseball players can carry bats, but if you carry around a bending piece of metal, all hell breaks loose!

To further confuse the matter, the past president/owner of Superior Fencing Academy attended Western University, which had a thriving Fencing Team!

Of course this was appealed, and the such...but to no avail. How do you fight the run around?

What is really funny is when I attended Confederation College about five minutes away from Lakehead, we had a fencing club started within two weeks. Sanctioned, and funded.

So, there is some ammunitions for the "developing" status of Canada, and it's University fencing! ( Mind you, this all occured about 4 years ago!)

Regards,

[MikeHarm]

I think there are a lot of anti-weapon zealots that overreact in the US too, particularly in Michigan. For example, I had people threaten to call the police on me for walking back to my dorm room from Aikido with my jo staff when I was in college. I had to go to the bother of practicing a limp I just to be on the safe side so I could pretend I was using it as a walking stick.

[DJ Apostrophe]

One of my friends had a foil confiscated while walking across campus with it (at a small liberal arts college in southeastern mass, with no fencing club) the campus police were so shocked and clueless as to what it was that they locked it up and she could not get it back until the end of the school year (it was confiscated in february)... she was trying to get a fencing club started but after that debacle quickly dropped the idea.
-w

[Kodiak Kid]

I was checking in at the airport to go to a tournament and when they asked if I had any "weapons" in my luggage I distractedly said "Yes."

BIG Mistake. Took a little explaining. Good thing the personnel at the counter knew me personally.

They even marked one of my travelling companion's bags as "Dangerous Goods".

I'm thinking about having that airline sponsor our club. Then we can get airfare deals and they'll all know what an Epee is.

[Kodiak Kid]

I was checking in at the airport to go to a tournament and when they asked if I had any "weapons" in my luggage I distractedly said "Yes."

BIG Mistake. Took a little explaining. Good thing the personnel at the counter knew me personally.

They even marked one of my travelling companion's bags as "Dangerous Goods".

I'm thinking about having that airline sponsor our club. Then we can get airfare deals and they'll all know what an Epee is.

[Purple Fencer]

I was pulled over by the Burbank PD one night on the way home from our then-weekly in-house tourney (at about 1am, mind you). Turned out my license plate light was out, so they advised me. When they asked to see my licnse and I said it was in the tgrunck (with my pants and my gear), they got a little worried...one guy dropped back a step or two to give himself a clear field of fire in case I pull a gun on them (standard procedure, and entirely appropriate since they didn't know who I was and they didn't knkow what was in the trunck). I had to spend the next 10 minutes explaining the sport and demonstrating the gear...in the wee hours of the morn, in my whites, on a bsy street in Burbank!

[Philistine]

Originally posted by Purple Fencer
{snip}
I had to spend the next 10 minutes explaining the sport and demonstrating the gear...in the wee hours of the morn, in my whites, on a bsy street in Burbank!

Was that because they were suspicious of you, or the dangerousness of the gear (in which case ), or because they were interested in fencing (in which case )?

--Philistine

[BugabooX]

With some insight in the workings of journalism, I have to say that it sounds as though the sports news article leading this thread may have been manipulated in one way or another, skewing the overall perspective.

Possibility: Writer needs an angle. Picks up on someone's complaint about the shoddy gear. Crafts an entire feature around one insignificant detail.

Possibility: News source wants to shame someone publicly. Convinces writer that the fencing gear snafu is a big deal. Final story unknowingly crafted to further a political/social agenda.

Possibility: Whining losers blame their gear. Writer doesn't know enough about the sport to see through the excuse and writes his story accordingly.

My opinion? Sounds like the third scenario. I mean, sheesh, a screw came loose during a bout? -- boo-friggin-hoo. There's no way this important event could have caught these guys by surprise. They knew it was coming for months. So you do what you have to do, beg, borrow or steal, to make sure whatever you've got on hand works as well as possible ... and then you shut up and fence with the consequences.

[epeemike81]

Originally posted by BugabooX
My opinion? Sounds like the third scenario. I mean, sheesh, a screw came loose during a bout? -- boo-friggin-hoo. There's no way this important event could have caught these guys by surprise. They knew it was coming for months. So you do what you have to do, beg, borrow or steal, to make sure whatever you've got on hand works as well as possible ... and then you shut up and fence with the consequences.

Thats the funniest part, IMO. The bout where the screw came loose that they were complaining about was Yablon v. Rose. With all due respect for Mr. Yablon, Julian Rose is going to win that bout. Not only that, the only reason that it was 13-13 in the first place is due to an over-achieving performance by Paul Reyfman (who beat both Tim Hagamen and David Jakus, both of whom are Top 10 in Junior points, and Top 16 in Senior points).

The real story here is the spectacular recruiting class that Harvard got (including Hagamen, Jakus, and Rose).

-m

[Swordsman]

Originally posted by graham
Chill out??? I think that is our problem. For eight months of the year we are so chilled out we have to get to the venues a full day early in order for our gear to warm up

GT

Hear hear!! (Or is it "here here"? Or maybe "hear here", or "here hear"?) I used to go to a bunch of tournaments (Remember, fencing is a WINTER season!!) in WINNIPEG. That is freakin' COLD!!

I remember the gym floor had this weird blue rubber stuff on it...made everything on it (especially shades of red) look blue. So you'd finish a bout and take off your mask, all hot and flushed, and look like you were drowning because the red is reflecting back the blue...very disturbing indeed.

[lochinvar]

I was thinking about this the other day, and it struck me that no one has asked the obvious question:

If Columbia gets new equipment every year...what do they do with last year's old stuff?

And where do I get in line?

[JEC]

I read the feedback to the article, and just LOL! Mike was well just Mike, but "A Sympathetic Sabreur" was hilarious.


Article - scroll all the way to the bottom and click on "I can totally relate to this article"

[MikeHarm]

I'm betting if you were to hit the dumpsters at this college after the end of the season you'd be saving a lot of money on fencing equipment.

[oiuyt]

Here's the Harvard Crimson account of the meet. Best line is a quote from Derek Lindblom: “It is pretty outrageous and just incompetent to have three weapons fail inspection in a row,” Lindblom said. “In a college meet, you should never have more than one fail.”

-B :)


Published on Tuesday, November 26, 2002
M. Fencing Scores Colossal Ivy Upset

By TIMOTHY JACKSON
Crimson Staff Writer

Nobody on the men’s fencing team remembers the last time Harvard beat Columbia. How could they? They weren’t even born then.
Prior to Sunday’s 14-13 upset of the Lions, the Crimson had not defeated Columbia since 1978.

“I don’t think they underestimated us,” said senior Derek Lindblom. “I think they badly underestimated us.”

How can you blame them? Over the past 16 years, Harvard is 1-63 against current Ivy teams.

During that stretch, the Crimson’s prolific losing streak was matched only by Columbia’s dominance. As the all-time winningest NCAA program with 13 national titles, Columbia has taken 11 Ivy titles in the past 16 years.

“It is the biggest surprise of the year in college fencing,” Lindblom said.

The Lions are the current two-time defending Ivy champions and they have not lost any of their top fencers since defeating the Crimson 24-3 a year ago.

“I don’t think anyone on our team really thought we had a chance to win before the meet started,” said freshman Julian Rose.

The senior members of the team give most of the credit for the upset to the freshman and the coaching staff.

“If Columbia took us lightly, they weren’t thinking too hard,” said co-captain Scott Silver. “The eight new recruits on this team should have scared them.”

Rose was the only Harvard fencer to go undefeated on Sunday with a 3-0 record in the epee. Classmates Tim Hagamen and David Jakus both finished 2-1 in the saber, while yet another freshman, Jonathan Carter, went 2-1 in the foil.

“Had they known the talent in our freshman class, they would have taken us more seriously,” Lindblom said. “Columbia is known as a bunch of arrogant guys. They’ve been rulers of one of the best Ivy teams for a long time and Harvard has been at the bottom for so long, they just didn’t give us any respect. I think we earned their respect Sunday.”

With a young and talented freshman class, Sunday’s victory over Columbia was a signal to the league that Harvard is back as an Ivy contender after a 26-year title drought.

“I think it represents a huge turning point,” said co-captain Ben Schmidt. “We have a great shot at the Ivy title. Columbia was number one last year and returned all its key players.”

The significance of Harvard’s victory almost overshadows the dramatic final moments on the meet.

“Columbia really thought they had it won,” Lindblom said. “It was a shocking comeback at the end.”

With Columbia leading 13-11, the Crimson needed to sweep the final three bouts to win the meet.

Sophomore Michael Soto, who finished 2-1, and Carter each took their bouts to tie the meet, 13-13, leaving all the pressure on Rose to complete the upset.

“Fencers wait their whole collegiate careers just to be in a bout like that,” Lindbloom said. “And in his first collegiate dual meet, Julian not only gets the opportunity, but he goes and wins it in the toughest meet of the season.”

Rose has fenced in National and World Championships before and claims that the pressure was not anything new.

The Lions’ chances were not helped either when Rose’s opponent, junior Michael Yablon, had three swords fail inspection and was penalized two touches.

“It is pretty outrageous and just incompetent to have three weapons fail inspection in a row,” Lindblom said. “In a college meet, you should never have more than one fail.”

Rose went on to win 5-1, but it is unlikely Yablon could have won even without the two-point penalty.

“I felt really bad for the guy,” Rose said. “He ended up having to just borrow someone else’s sword, and I think it really shook him up. But it was probably a mismatch to begin with.”

Rose is arguably one of the top epee fencers in the United States for his age.

Despite an injury-plagued season as a senior in high school, Rose finished third in the men’s senior epee division of the U.S. Nationals in 2002, placed second at the U-19 Nationals and was one of nine fencers selected to the U.S. U-17 team.

Rose was joined on that team by current teammates Carter and Hagamen. The three young fencers combined for a 7-2 record against Columbia and represent a bright future for Crimson fencing.

Harvard will have a long time to savor the victory, as the Crimson does not return to action until Jan. 25 at the Northeast Fencing Conference meet, hosted by BC.

—Staff writer Timothy Jackson can be reached at jackson2@fas.harvard.edu.

[epeemike81]

Originally posted by JEC
I read the feedback to the article, and just LOL! Mike was well just Mike, but "A Sympathetic Sabreur" was hilarious.

Oh, so now i'm "just Mike"????

Uh-huh... I see how it is.

Just kidding. Yeah, I thought that Sabreur's post was great as well.

-m

[drayke]

Equipment that is only good an academic season?
No excuse guys.
But then, losing to a bunch of girls can really stick in the craw for some boys so it's useful to find fault somewhere else.

[epeemike81]

Originally posted by drayke
But then, losing to a bunch of girls can really stick in the craw for some boys so it's useful to find fault somewhere else.

what does this have to do with guys losing to girls? this is about the Columbia men's team losing to the Harvard men's team.....

-m

[lochinvar]

Originally posted by oiuyt
Here's the Harvard Crimson account of the meet. Best line is a quote from Derek Lindblom: “It is pretty outrageous and just incompetent to have three weapons fail inspection in a row,” Lindblom said. “In a college meet, you should never have more than one fail.”

I disagree. I think the best line from Lindblom was: “Columbia is known as a bunch of arrogant guys."

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

[drayke]

LOL
One should never post replies to message late into the night after a long day of fencing

Looks like I misread the posting!