Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

wflaschka · 10-17-2003, 01:51 PM

CBS's 60 Minutes II -- Peter Westbrook Foundation story. For those who were interested, the clips are finally up.

2.8 meg WMV version.

9 meg movie version.

21 meg movie version.

Alternate host... FTP server.

This clipping is missing the first few minutes of the story.

(Where "movie" = Apple QuickTime. WMV = Windows Media.)

Thorin · 10-17-2003, 02:31 PM

much appreciated, thanks to all involved in recording-encoding-hosting.

esgrimista1 · 10-17-2003, 04:12 PM

THANK YOU! Here in Mexico we did not get the broadcast, so this was great and much appreciated.

KShan5[PrFC] · 10-17-2003, 04:13 PM

Wow thanks a lot, this is perfect.

chief5286 · 10-17-2003, 05:52 PM

Thank,
missed it when it was on

Tomas N · 10-17-2003, 10:20 PM

Walter,

Thanks so much for posting these clips. My lack of cable TV led me to miss the piece. I'll be sharing it with all the members of my club.

Tomas

wflaschka · 10-17-2003, 11:23 PM

I'm very happy everybody likes the clip! I only wish we had more like them. I find this one quite inspirational.

These clips were also brought to you by Craig (hosting) and retardedspleen (mirroring). Artisan may also mirror the clips when he returns from a tournament.

ReverseLunge · 10-19-2003, 06:28 AM

cool videos. does westbrook's school accept non-blacks?

Prometheus · 10-19-2003, 06:59 PM

This is probably the best general exposure for the sport I have ever seen. The peice was error free as far as I could tell, it had genuine human interest and it potrayed our sport as modern, competitive and growing.

Bravo!

KShan5[PrFC] · 10-19-2003, 09:18 PM

I don't think that PWF is limited to blacks, just limited to the poorer inner city (New York) kids who just happen to be black.

whtouche · 10-19-2003, 09:31 PM

The PWF caters to disadvantaged inner city kids, of any ethnicity. A majority of them happen to be black, but there are several asians (mai vu for example) and Im not sure if there are any white fencers from PWF. Tho there very well may be,who just don't compete yet.

And it's not necessarily new york either, adam crompton is from new jersey I believe.

Prometheus · 10-19-2003, 09:58 PM

More information can be found at the Foundation's webpage.

Rolls · 10-19-2003, 10:50 PM

I really liked this segment. One thing though, it's kind of funny that they are portrayed as the underprivelged of society because to me these guys would be the fencing elite of the USA (they have incredible facilities and not to mention the last American to win an Olympic medal as a coach).

The segment also mentioned that they operate on a shoestring budget. ?? I wish my club operated on their shoestring budget. From what was shown (I'm only guessing that was their club) they had a HUGE place with a number of grounded strips, boxes, etc. Hell, my club can't afford ONE grounded strip right now.

At least fencing got a little attention.

Rolls.

Peach · 10-19-2003, 11:01 PM

PWF has a tiny budget. They meet on Saturday mornings at Fencers Club in New York City--they don't own the premises you saw on the video, which was FC. The PWF also depends heavily on the coaches at FC, though I think Mikhail Sankofa is strictly a PWF coach.

It's a perfect example of how you can help underprivileged kids if you can first get them access to the same resources the privileged kids have. However, from my own experience, I know it only starts there. Westbrook is doing a great job, and kudos to Fencers Club for collaborating.

edew · 10-19-2003, 11:27 PM

And Peter is not the head coach. He is the executive director of the PWF, and more of a mentor for the fencers. He helps out with the beginners and motivates them to stay with the program. The head coaches are Yuri Gelman, Cornel Udehvahrlgyif (sp?), Michael Petin, and others from NYFC.

wflaschka · 10-20-2003, 03:28 AM

As an ex-NY fencer, I shared the NYFC with the Westbrook Foundation for several years before I moved out. At the beginning, it was a bit of an imposition, sharing the strips and being over-run by sabre fencers. After a while it was clear this wasn't a vanity project, but one of those exceedingly rare, important and committed undertakings that can radically change the sport. It's very hard to say no to Westbrook -- not just because of his personality but because of the immense respect people have for him and the clout his sabre crew can weild. They are famous, loud, raucous, and organized. When the big coaches started giving lessons, I thought they had drunk the kool-aid... but no -- they shared Peter's vision.

Nowadays, I look at all the strips, weapons and jackets... and still see this as an indication of what one person can do if they are motivated. It's not the gear, it's that Westbrook put in insane hours, for years, and got results. Having access to the NYFC's resources doesn't hurt... but I personally saw Westbrook cajoling the coaches night after night until they broke down and started contributing. He was selling the project, 24/7.

Rolls · 10-20-2003, 10:23 AM

No doubt, it's a good program. And I admit that I don't know that much about the program. Hopefully, the program is established enough (it seems so anyway) that it is a permanent fixture of the fencing community.

Rolls.

C.J. · 10-20-2003, 03:55 PM

Popper · 10-20-2003, 05:32 PM

that was a nice coverage!