swordmaster series a success!!!

[wari]

The event was a succes, Blake and warzone did a great job. The winner walked away with a $ 1000 check and we all had a good time and a very challenging fencing experience.

[Craig]

Such a success that you can only write 2 lines about it? C'mon - we want details: final number of fencers competing, who won, final results table, etc.

Saying "It's a success" and having that be the only information you give is only going to raise everyone's hackles...

Craig

[oiuyt]

What happened to the other $125 in promised prize money for the winner?

WTG Arne, congratulations. (woohoo, won by a former teammate of mine).

Any chance the website will have results posted soon?

-B :)

[picojeff]

Quick summary. I ended up driving down anyway, even though I posted here that I wasn't going to. I got enough confirmation of when it was supposed to be, a legit sounding guarantee of payout, etc., to convince me.

There were only 12 entries. Apparently half or more of the entries listed on the swordmaster site were ficticious.

Saturday check in ended at 10am, and we got started at 10:30am. We fenced two pools of 6, regular 5 touch bouts with 3 minute time limit, with 100% going to regular 15 touch bouts with 3x3 minute periods. Top 4 out of the pools didn't fence a DE, just went straight in: Arne Backes, Jeff Snider, Bruce Juengst, Steve Kemke. Winners of the DEs to make the 2nd day were Wari Benslimane, Tristan Hendrix, Charlie Creason and Andrew Trull.

On Sunday check in ended at noon (the mall only really opens at 11am, and some of the anchor stores don't open until 12:30pm). Format is unusual, but well suited to TV: 2 minutes running time, one minute break, and 2 minutes running time. Whoever has the higher score at the end wins. I found out the hard way, in my first and last bouts, that 2 minutes running time is MUCH less than 2 minutes fencing time. With 20 seconds on the clock, the fastest possible rush you can put together will be lucky to score 2 touches, and you don't have any time to think. And if you're behind by 2, a double on either of those means the end of the bout.

The tournament was well organized and well run, and I have no complaints. There was a $1000 check for the winner (not me), and swords for 2nd-8th place. There weren't any television cameras. Apparently there was confusion within the ranks, and the TV guys didn't get booked in time. They promise cameras next time, in November.

The venue, the Eastridge Mall in Gastonia NC, was fine. Nitpicks, beyond the control of the organizers: the sun came through the skylight in the afternoon and hit half of one strip, but we were fortunately able to move to a 2nd strip, since there weren't tv cameras positioned around the affected piste. If you ran in the mall to warm up a security was likely to accost you. There are no showers in the mall. There is no place to buy espresso in the mall. There is a food court, plenty of parking all around, and the people were all friendly, even the security guard. The strips were on the ground floor, and you can watch the fencing from the upper level all the way around the pistes. There was a reasonable crowd, not teeming masses but a dozen or more mall-goers were watching at any time. There are plenty of hotels and restaurants in the immediate area, and the mall is right alongside I85, about 20 miles outside Charlotte. The strips were Leon Paul metal strips, and they had towers set up, so it was reasonably referee and spectator friendly. That's all I can think to write at the moment...

[Capt. Slo-mo]

Originally posted by picojeff
There weren't any television cameras. Apparently there was confusion within the ranks, and the TV guys didn't get booked in time. They promise cameras next time, in November.

Wow. When I questioned the event's TV credentials, based on their planning announcements, I had no idea it would be such a self-fulfilling prophecy.

That's unbelievable.

[picojeff]

I agree, given that the focus of the event is to put fencing on TV, it is unbelievable that the cameras weren't there. But sometimes sh*t happens, and I believe they will have the cameras next time.

They appear to be legitimately on track to getting the series going. The proof is in the pudding, and it isn't baked yet, but all the right ingredients are there.

[JEC]

PicoJeff,
Hope you have better luck next time! Can you and Wari attach pictures of your fencing outfits?

[fencergal33]

(This is a semi-formal press release type thing that I was given to post)

Ok, The first Swordmaster Series report is here. The event was a success financially for both the fencers and the sponsors. Warzone in Gastonia had its best weekend sales since opening, which is fantastic in today's down economy. Arne Backes walked away with a check for $1,000 and we exposed hundreds of people to fencing.

Matthew Pamer, who is not a fencer, but one of the participating sponsors of the event said, "It was very exciting to watch, and lots of people came by to watch and cheer for the fencers. I learned more about fencing this weekend, than I ever did watching the Olympics. I could actually tell the fencers apart by their uniforms. Everyone was great, and I can't wait to see it again in November."

We did not have a full roster of 40 competitors, but the competition was heavy, and the November event will go on as scheduled. Registration for this event begins today. Fax your entry to 704-752-5831, or e-mail to warzonenc@hotmail.com.

After much disscussion among the fencers and organizers we will change the make-up of the cash prizes for the next scheduled event and thise there after. They will be as follows:

1st place- 50% of total prize (this would mean $1000 for the november winner, since it's a $2000 tournament.)
2nd- 15%
3rd- 10%
4th through 8th- 5%

If you can make the final 8, you will have doubled your investment!

Most of the top 8 fencers enjoyed the "running clock" format, and realized that they needed to employ some different tactics in order to win. However, the two favorites still placed first and second.

Foil and sabre fencers who are looking forward for their chance at the money can make plans to be in the Charlotte area on July 9th, 10th, and 11th, 2004.

Photos from the evnt and all results will be uploaded to the web site on Wednesday afternoon.

Thanks everyone!
-K

[CvilleFencer]

Sorry to here that PicoJeff did not take it all! Off course that means that I would have had no chance whatsoever, as Picojeff could crush me without breaking much of a sweat. Where did you place Jeff? I got the impression that it was second, but I am not sure.

To bad about the cameras, but I am glad to here that they will be revising the payout to make it a little more interesting (and balanced), and best of all people actually got paid for this one! I wish the swordmaster organizers the best of luck in getting it going, and I hope they are able to pull the cameras in for next time.

[Craig]

Jeff and Karen - Thanks for the updates and additional information.

K - More details on the foil and sabre please. (Email or on board)

Craig

[fencergal33]

I'd love to give you more details if I had them! All I can say is that the first year was supposed to be epee only for the simple reason that epee is the easiest for spectators to understand. (not to mention the fact that we are trying to take this a little slower than previous attempts!) Everyone will get their chance though, come July! Fear not saber people like myself!

Thanks for the positive remarks, they are much appreciated.

-K

[mtarascio]

It appears the competitors got some good fencing in and had a good time. The organizers are happy and are getting ready for the next one. This makes it a successful event for all concerned.

Good luck for the November event.

[DanInMI]

15 fencers show up.....?(out of an expected 40?)

No camera crews to record the event for possible television sales of the event in the future.

And a dozen or so mall shoppers stopping to watch the event , purely out of curiousity, at any given time. (What the heck would make them think that the mall is a good place for this anyway? It reminds me of the Debbie Gibson mall gigs back in the 80s.)

This is a success?

Quote:"The event was a succes, Blake and warzone did a great job. The winner walked away with a $ 1000 check and we all had a good time and a very challenging fencing experience."

What a joke.

[DanInMI]

No big surprise that the person that started this thread "just joined."

[picojeff]

Perhaps Wari "just joined" fencing.net, but he knows what constitutes a good event:

http://greenvilleonline.com/news/spo...2070325478.htm

He was the local organizer for the 2002 summer nationals and a NAC before that in South Carolina.

DanInMI, what events have you run?

[JEC]

Originally posted by DanInMI
This is a success?
...What a joke.

I wouldn't be that harsh. They pulled through the event despite adversity and fullfilled their prize money promise. You must start with small moves to crawl out. It would be irresponsible otherwise.

[Wizardly]

I think his point was that the event didn't live up to the expectations we were led to have.

You hold your first tournament and six U's show up, that can be called a success.

However, we see only 3 goals actually achieved here
1) a tournament was held
2) prize money was actually given
3) strong competitors showed up

Any one goal achieved can warrant the title of "success." This is still not a total success. (Said another way, it was only a partial failure. )
-No television coverage
-Less than 40 fencers
-Ignored by the elites of the world
While the organizers deserve a pat on the back, I wouldn't go seeking parade permits just yet.

Also, criticism is not limited to only those that have run tournaments. Criticism does not imply capability. Ad hominem attacks wont prove your point.

I'm still not particularly happy with the idea of a format change...2 minutes of continuous fencing. If the thing actually gorws, I hope it grows into sport fencing rather than something else...I'd hate to see the proliferation of nuance, and I'd rather see fencing primarly for the fencers (meaning, played as we understand the game).

This is the first year, so I'm not totally surprised it wasn't a 100% success. My only other criticism is that the initial hype led many of us to understand that 100% success was expected in the first year. It's like a political candidate who promises the world, delivers an inch, and promises the rest in the next election. I'll be interested to see how the event grows and evolves. Good luck with the next comps.

I wanna see pictures! did anyone foot the bill to buy a 1-time use uniform of many colors?

[picojeff]

I think his point was that the event didn't live up to the expectations we were led to have.

Agreed, that it didn't live up to the highest expectations. What was the last tournament that lived up to 100% of the expectation laid on it? Obviously the success or failure of the series won't be determined by the first event, and perhaps not even by the first season. On the scale from "worst event ever" to "best event ever" this falls above the median, and it has plenty of room to improve without a lot more effort.

I actually don't want to be an advocate for the series, I just want to tell you how the first event ran. It ran well. The venue was good, it was well organized and on time. There was no "funny business" of any kind, which is more than I can say for a dozen world cups I've attended.

Also, criticism is not limited to only those that have run tournaments. Criticism does not imply capability. Ad hominem attacks wont prove your point.

True. I didn't have an attack in mind when I wrote that, though it's hard to read any other way. It was intended to highlight for Dan that the person he was attacking may know what he is talking about, and is someone who knows a little something about fencing.

I'm still not particularly happy with the idea of a format change...2 minutes of continuous fencing. If the thing actually gorws, I hope it grows into sport fencing rather than something else...I'd hate to see the proliferation of nuance, and I'd rather see fencing primarly for the fencers (meaning, played as we understand the game).

I'm sure baseball players and tennis players and football players, etc., all felt the same about their sport at one time. Now there are "tv timeouts" in each of those sports, carefully included in the rules over the years.

The format is actually not so bad. It takes getting used to, absolutely. So did switching which light comes on when you hit, and a dozen other FIE rule changes in the past 10 years alone. The fact that we're not used to it doesn't mean it should be avoided.

If it allows TV broadcasters to fit a bout into a well known amount of time, they are much more likely to allot an hour to fencing than if someone says "we have a tournament, and it will take, like, an hour and a half to two hours for the pool..." Two minutes of watching fencing, one minute of commentary or fencer interview or commerical, two minutes of fencing, one minute of commentary or fencer interview or commercial, and so forth. I don't know much about broadcasting, but it makes sense to me when I try and think about it from a tv station's point of view.

I wanna see pictures! did anyone foot the bill to buy a 1-time use uniform of many colors?

There were few decorated uniforms. I took fabric markers to an old jacket in the hotel room the night before, and came up with a not bad looking (I hope) red/white/blue stars pattern. There were two guys from the old Heroes & Villians series with airbrushed uniforms, one nice looking line drawing of a dragon, and plain whites for everyone else. I don't know what would have happened if the cameras had been there and they chose to enfore the "no white uniforms" rule.

Photos were being taken by the organizers, and I hope they can post them on the swordmaster site soon.

[wari]

Originally posted by picojeff
Perhaps Wari "just joined" fencing.net, but he knows what constitutes a good event:

http://greenvilleonline.com/news/spo...2070325478.htm

He was the local organizer for the 2002 summer nationals and a NAC before that in South Carolina.

DanInMI, what events have you run?

Thank you Jeff,

[DanInMI]

Ummmm Jeff....I have never run a fencing event.
I never claimed to have run a fencing event. But i do know the difference between a success and a joke.

My point with regard to Wari being a new member was that since there is nothing about him in his profile one might suspect that he has a somewhat biased point of view.


As for the relative success of the event, the orgainzers of the event have already defined success:

"The primary purpose of this entity is to grow the sport of fencing in the USA. Videos that are bought are intended to be used for not only private entertainment but also for television broadcast on a local tv station in markets around the USA."

Yet there was NO camera crew.

I disagree with Wizardly that they were partially successfull because -
1) a tournament was held- So what? They were only able to attract 12 fencers...inspite of a $1000 first prize.
2) prize money was actually given- I guess that thier coming through with the cash was considered so unlikely that this is a great success.
3) strong competitors showed up----- ????


Arne Backes= rating A02
Jeff Snider, = rating A01
Bruce Juengst, Rating= C03
Steve Kemke =
Wari Benslimane, (who really knows a well run tournament when he sees one) rating= D03
Tristan Hendrix, rating=D01
Charlie Creason= ?
Andrew Trull.= ?