Good fencers make good targets
A few months ago, I checked my
e-mail to find a note from one of my colleagues, a
former reporter for the Oak Hill Gazette. Seems he
was working a new gig now: public relations for the
Olympic-qualifying fencers coming to town. "Do you
want to do a story about this?" he asked.
Uhhhhhhh, no.
Of course, I didn't say no then.
Since the event didn't happen until July, I figured
I could just delay the story and maybe he would
forget he ever asked.
I was wrong. In the next e-mail, he
asked whether I'd like to take part in Media Fencing
Day, when reporters and Austin notables would engage
in a public fencing match. Again, I tried to wiggle
out. Too bad, cause I missed a great opportunity for
some gonzo journalism.
For the second time in two years,
Austin hosted the National Fencing Tournament, which
took place June 30 to July 9. More than 2,000
fencers descended on Austin for a chance to win
national recognition and a possible spot on the U.S.
Olympic team. I can't verify this, but I'd guess
local gay bars were doing a brisk business.
Here's my knock on fencing: As far
as I can tell, the fencer with the longest arm wins.
It's all about reach.
So when I heard about Media Day, I
decided not to dress-up like a militant beekeeper
and take part in the match for two reasons: 1) As I
suspected, only Mayor Kirk Watson got TV time, and
2) I've got short arms. And I hate to lose.
I did watch the Media Day event on
local TV, however. At first, I was confused when the
announcer shouted, "Welcome to Fence Austin!" Hey,
that's a good idea. It'll keep the Californians out.
Then I watched Mayor Watson duel with some media
honcho. Watson lost. Short arms.
Thinking I should know about a
subject before I ridiculed it (as if it ever stopped
me before), I went to the Fence Austin home page.
It's a national Web site with almost 9,000 hits.
(Who says fencing isn't popular, huh?)
Next, I looked up "National Fencing
Championships" on a search engine and the first link
to come up was, "Sports: NFL coverage." I didn't
check the article, but I imagine it included a
phrase such as, "The NFL, which unlike fencing does
not suck..."
I also went to the United States
Fencing Association Web page and read an item called
"What is fencing?"
The sport of fencing is fast and
athletic, a far cry from the choreographed bouts you
see on film or on the stage. Instead of swinging
from a chandelier or leaping from balconies, you
will see two fencers performing an intense dance on
a six-feet-by-40-feet strip. The movement is so fast
the touches are scored electrically -- more like
Star Wars than Errol Flynn.
In other words, it's boring (you
saw the last Star Wars movie, right?). If fencers
did swing from chandeliers and leap from balconies,
I'd be in the front row. Instead, fencing's more
like two Intel chip makers playing tag. "You're it.
Now I'm it. Now you're it again. You're still it.
You're still it. You're still it. I win."
Fuck fencing. It's a non-sport.
I've seen more tension in gardening. There's more
suspense at the post office in November (they're
armed too, you know). There's only one sport I hate
more than fencing. Carpentry.
Don't get me wrong. I'll support
our U.S. fencers in the Olympics, for I'm as
jingoistic as the next guy. I'll cheer them on when
they go for the gold. Ulee's gold.
Besides, if I were going to the
Olympics this year I'd prefer to be a fencer, an
archer or a pistol shooter.
I figure when the Aborigine
uprising takes place in Sydney this summer, it'll be
better to be armed.
* * *
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: This column aims to be funny. If you can
read anything else into it, you're on your own.
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