Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

Iwant2bafencer · 02-22-2003, 11:38 AM

Thank Magma, I appreciate the coment on coaches being just for High School students. (< *sarcasm*)
I know that I really like having our coaches. They don't stand there during softball and say 'this is how you throw a ball' they tell you 'alright go run 5 laps, hit 3 bunts, 3 slaps, then swing away for 10.' and they go off to sit in a corner and talk about whatever. The only time they actually coach us is in a game and that just a pep talk during the 7th inning. I like them there if I'm having trouble with a certain move or technic, I'll go ask them. But that's enough of my bantering. I most definatly agree about banning the other sports and especially 10 coaches to a team. 2 is more than enough. Ca we keep baseball though? I'm kind of fond of it

Oh, do I Want to know why the bags are moldy??

----------------------
Carpe Diem
Ad Asha

KShan5[PrFC] · 03-03-2003, 11:54 AM

Magma through a couple of your posts I have made a slight inference. I just have one question.

Are you a communist????

D'Artagnan1673 · 03-03-2003, 12:08 PM

No, unlikey is it that she is a comnunist. Just someone who has very radical ideas ranging from a Utopian Society to banning sports which shape our society. Although I disagree with the salaries and the emphasis which sports are given in our society, it is not for me to say that nobody can participate in them. I think that our society is not for the better by them. My future father-in-law made a comment that our society would be much better if more people read books on how democracy works instead of sitting like sheep watching sports. I think he's right. These sports are nice, but what benefit are they giving us? Am I a better person after I watch a football or basketball game?

Now I will hit closer to home for myself, just so no one can accuse me of hypocracy. Am I a better person than I was before when I get off of the computer having played a strategy game for several hours? No, by no means am I better. Therefore, perhaps it is in our society's nature to want to sit in front of either a computer or a tv and recieve visual stimulas rather than create our own. After all, its much easier to let someone else do it for you. At what cost, for nothing is free. We allow other people to do the thinking for ourselves, not a good thing!

Catal · 03-03-2003, 01:14 PM

Quote:

No, unlikey is it that she is a comnunist. Just someone who has very radical ideas ranging from a Utopian Society to banning sports which shape our society.

Ah, ha! An anarchist!

The_Claw · 03-03-2003, 02:28 PM

miaow!

D'Artagnan1673 · 03-03-2003, 02:41 PM

The Claw,

I too share your feelings of sympathy for people who are less fortunate in life. One quick thing on the missles and flying lessons. As I said in the Utopian Society thread, not everyone is high minded as you claim to be. Whether we like it or not, we must have a means of defending ourself because there are people in this world who hate us enough to make war with us.

I think that it is good that you act this way towards people. True Christians should have love and compassion for those around them who are not as lucky. Recently, I was on my way to Austin for a computer convention. I pulled in at a gas station in my nice car wearing my nice clothes and having a nice cell-phone clipped to my belt. I gave a five dollar bill to a homeless man who needed something to eat while I was there. He had bad hygene and he wasn't wearing nice clothes, but I had compassion on him because he is just as human as I am. If God were to will it, I too could one day be homeless and helpless. I should be grateful everyday because I have a job, an education, and I have a wonderful, sweet girl that I am going to marry in a few months.

Compassion and love are great things, and we should all have a heart for the needy. Do not forget that what we have comes at a price. Those missles are there for our protection. Am I saying that the United States is always right in what we do? No, in no wise is that so. However, we must defend our freedoms from those that hate us.

Swordsman · 03-03-2003, 05:21 PM

First: In response to the strategy game you mentioned, D'Art, it is better than sports - at least you must think.

Fencing is the only sport I've ever really enjoyed watching; outside of it, I enjoy sports only when I am participating directly. Playing sports, I believe, is very good for us - keep us in physical shape, and most develop some attribute of our mind or character. While running, for example, may require not much strategy (though there is an element of strategy in when you use how much strength), it develops perseverance like nothing else. Additionally, it has much sharpened my mental math skills - dividing and re-dividing the remaining distance in an effort to make it feel like less, not to mention figuring paces vs. times.

All the same, I do very much agree with you about sports. It sickens me to think of all the millions these baseball players make, while the teen crawling on his belly through Afghanistan, with only an M-16 to hug for comfort, makes minimum wage. Did you know that most Special Forces soldiers are on welfare?

As for the destitute - too often even good Christians become comfortable. They forget the command to give up all they have to the poor and follow Him. I think I am guilty among these, though I rationalize to myself that I have not much right now, and will give more once I have established myself. But who knows how it will turn out.

135711 · 03-03-2003, 07:08 PM

don't worry swordsman! you're on the right track. You really do have a good heart. One day, things will work out for the best for all, don't worry about returning money to the world, your time spent with others is better than all the money in the world. I am very touched by your recent comments.

achilleus · 03-03-2003, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by D'Artagnan1673
These sports are nice, but what benefit are they giving us? Am I a better person after I watch a football or basketball game?

all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.
all work and no play make a jack a dull boy.

Seriously, sometimes people need to relax, and watching sports is a form of entertainment.

The_Claw · 03-03-2003, 09:41 PM

so is writing!

achilleus · 03-03-2003, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by The_Claw
so is writing!

It can be. But everyone has different tastes. I would rather see John Grisham novels banned than see football be banned. Football at least teaches you team work, and is great for social interaction (get togethers to watch, water cooler talk, etc.).

Grisham novels on the other hand, offer nothing except to be turned into bad movies before the book is even out. Talk about excessive salaries...

Anyway, sports are entertainment, if you don't like 'em, don't watch 'em. Case in point, I don't read John Grisham novels, but I don't hold it against people who do read 'em.

D'Artagnan1673 · 03-04-2003, 09:36 AM

Precisely why I said that although I don't like them, it certainly is not right for me to say lets ban them.

achilleus · 03-04-2003, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by D'Artagnan1673
Precisely why I said that although I don't like them, it certainly is not right for me to say lets ban them.

I understand. My initial response towards your comment was that entertainment doesn't need to make us a better person. It's entertainment. The entertainment may be watching sports, reading Grisham, or playing a video game.

135711 · 03-04-2003, 04:07 PM

I tend to like reading Grisham's writing, some of his page-turners include: The Firm, The Client, The Partner after that he sort of became a "southern" author. I've never seen the movie versions of his stuff, but I understand that many people enjoyed the Firm or was it The Client? The one with Tom Cruise. However, I really did not like A Time to Kill, I thought it was horrible; and loosely based on an awful story that was disproved, and one no-one could really understand it, it took several years to resolve, and I felt A Time to Kill only stirred bad feelings that had been worked out elsewhere in the world.

D'Artagnan1673 · 03-05-2003, 10:23 AM

The problem I have with entertainment is that often times I put off what I need to do in order to be entertained. Is that entertainment's fault? No, it is mine. I tried something different last night. I paid my bills while listening to the book of Proverbs. I then called my two closests friends and talked to them for a while. I then started the chapter on the Knights Templar. I am reading many books right now. The book on the Templars is called the Knight in History. Its a book which goes past the romantic traditions of knighthood and explains what it was really about. The book also goes into the origins of chivalric literature.

I can handle entertainment like that. However, when I get in front of my Medieval Europe strategy game I simply cannot stop playing. Its an addiction which cannot be satisfied by just a few minutes playing time. I've often sacrified hours of sleep in order to conquer just one my provence before I go to bed. When I wake up for work the next day, I awake with a sense of failure and less self work for I know that I wasted yet another day.

Am I the only one who feels this great sense of guilt after "wasting" their evening?

Swordsman · 03-05-2003, 01:38 PM

I know exactly the feeling you mean!!

D'art and Achilleus: I think the two of you are basically in agreement. You're both saying that while you would never ban (sports/Grisham), you think that people need to spend a lot less time and energy on (sports/Grisham). Additionally, (athletes/authors) don't need to get payed quite so much.

Truce?

achilleus · 03-05-2003, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Swordsman
D'art and Achilleus: I think the two of you are basically in agreement. You're both saying that while you would never ban (sports/Grisham), you think that people need to spend a lot less time and energy on (sports/Grisham). Additionally, (athletes/authors) don't need to get payed quite so much.

Truce?

In my comments to 135711, magma, the claw, we are in basic agreement.

Quote:

Originally posted by Swordsman
I know exactly the feeling you mean!!

This is the part I disagree with. Yes, I've had that feeling before, but I haven't experienced such feelings for about 10 years. I've woken up with a hang-over and told myself never again, what a mistake, I wasted an evening. Yes, I've woken up tired from staying up to late trying to conquer the world in whatever video or board game I was playing. Yes, I've woken up tired from having gone to see NBA games courtside and stayed out partying too late.

I now understand that if I enjoy my time, it wasn't a waste. Whether it was playing a game, reading a book on history, or watching sports. Of course if I shirk my responibilities to do these things, that's a different matter.

achilleus · 03-05-2003, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by D'Artagnan1673

I can handle entertainment like that. However, when I get in front of my Medieval Europe strategy game I simply cannot stop playing. Its an addiction which cannot be satisfied by just a few minutes playing time. I've often sacrified hours of sleep in order to conquer just one my provence before I go to bed. When I wake up for work the next day, I awake with a sense of failure and less self work for I know that I wasted yet another day.

Am I the only one who feels this great sense of guilt after "wasting" their evening?

Ever watch Newsradio with Dave Foley, Phil hartman and Maura Tierney? There was this one episode where Dave (newsdirector) and Maura 9reporter) square off about SAT scores. Dave saying their pointless, Maura saying they are important. dave's score was obviously much lower than hers, and prevented him from going to an ivy league school, something he regrets. Then the owner gets a gift for the studio an old arcade game styled after galaga. dave upon seeing the game breaks down and cries, and the horrid story slowly unfolds.

on the eve of his SAT test, he did not sleep at all. he spent the entire evening trying to beat this game, only to fail. he arrived on time to SAT's but his lack of sleep prevented him scoring as highly as he could have.

it was a pretty funny episode. your story brought it to mind...

The_Claw · 03-05-2003, 08:39 PM

i've abandoned the thread. i was feeling bad, every time i try to talk serious about fencing, or ask that one whos name we're not supposed to mention a quesion about fencing i get slammed, i'm fed up with everything. what's with the volts and now they're all holding up alfie's new foil?? should I change into chiffon?