just came from the fencing banquet where I got my pin for for my 2nd year on varsity. I got a nice certificate for being a member of the varsity squad. recordings of state teams and individuals which I can't wait to watch.
I also received to very nice awards, plaques,one is the Ledyard booster club award which is for academics leadership and performance.
The other is one of two cornerstone awards, the other went to Sara, congrats to her especially if she happens to read this. the cornerstone wards were basically for being the foundation of the team.
I'm proud to receive these two awards and sorry to see the my last season as a member of the Ledyard fencing team come to and end.
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
It's finally sinking in
it's over.
It's been a great run, and if I could go back and redo the past three years of being a part of this team I don't think I would change one damn thing.
I won't lie I gave up touches, I blew bouts I could have won, I wasn't perfect. but I always came through in the end.
I caught up with everyone else. Tim, Kevin, Austin, they all had a years head start on me and they all got lessons outside of practice. not me. I wish I could have, maybe I could have, but my brother always had something going on for lacrosse or there was something long term that would get in the way. but despite their head start I caught up and I held my own. I proved myself time and time again, I caught up maybe even surpassed some of them.
if i could change something I would have started freshman year.
other than that though i have no regrets. I worked my way up from nothing but potential to the point where I was the one who kept us in state teams until the very end. did I mention that? at the start of my 2nd and 3rd bouts we were down by one win, and my victory in those bouts tied us up with NFA both times.
I was the only one to get two wins against NFA.
Kevin was so close but at the end with a 4 1 lead two sayings collided, "pride cometh before the fall" and "it ain't over till the fat lady sings". when the score reached 4 4 it was already over for us.
it's an unfortunate habit of Kevin's I recently picked up on, if something fails he will try it over and over again until it works even if it costs him the bout. I noticed it first when I got past his flicks the other day, when I beet him for the first time. then I saw it again at the start of states when he was warming up he did the same thing with Tim. then in that last bout he just kept doing the same thing over and over. but like Albert Einstein said "insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results" or something like that anyway. well he was right. the results were the same each time Kevin tried his infighting move the difference in the score's got smaller.
so we lost, the rides over, I've had my fun and now I've got to move on.
I don't want to move on, these people, this team, they have been such a huge part of my life that I hate to think that after this we will all be going our own ways, that I might never see some of them again after this year. I hate it!
this isn't some massive group with 20 or 30 people plus as many over for jv and novice. it's 16 fencers and 3 coaches 4 if you count Bronwin's Dad. I don't want to say goodbye to any of them!
they made me who I am today, especially coach Floyd and coach Lindenberger. but also Austin, Kevin, Tim, Patrick, Sarah, Colin, Bronwin, Ben, Kyle, "armorer" Ashly, Elizabeth, Dave, Paty, Addy, Andrew, Rob, Sarah W, Timmy, Conway, Erin, hell even the insanely annoying Dru and the downright insane Zack, have played a part in making me who I am today.
It's been a great run, and if I could go back and redo the past three years of being a part of this team I don't think I would change one damn thing.
I won't lie I gave up touches, I blew bouts I could have won, I wasn't perfect. but I always came through in the end.
I caught up with everyone else. Tim, Kevin, Austin, they all had a years head start on me and they all got lessons outside of practice. not me. I wish I could have, maybe I could have, but my brother always had something going on for lacrosse or there was something long term that would get in the way. but despite their head start I caught up and I held my own. I proved myself time and time again, I caught up maybe even surpassed some of them.
if i could change something I would have started freshman year.
other than that though i have no regrets. I worked my way up from nothing but potential to the point where I was the one who kept us in state teams until the very end. did I mention that? at the start of my 2nd and 3rd bouts we were down by one win, and my victory in those bouts tied us up with NFA both times.
I was the only one to get two wins against NFA.
Kevin was so close but at the end with a 4 1 lead two sayings collided, "pride cometh before the fall" and "it ain't over till the fat lady sings". when the score reached 4 4 it was already over for us.
it's an unfortunate habit of Kevin's I recently picked up on, if something fails he will try it over and over again until it works even if it costs him the bout. I noticed it first when I got past his flicks the other day, when I beet him for the first time. then I saw it again at the start of states when he was warming up he did the same thing with Tim. then in that last bout he just kept doing the same thing over and over. but like Albert Einstein said "insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results" or something like that anyway. well he was right. the results were the same each time Kevin tried his infighting move the difference in the score's got smaller.
so we lost, the rides over, I've had my fun and now I've got to move on.
I don't want to move on, these people, this team, they have been such a huge part of my life that I hate to think that after this we will all be going our own ways, that I might never see some of them again after this year. I hate it!
this isn't some massive group with 20 or 30 people plus as many over for jv and novice. it's 16 fencers and 3 coaches 4 if you count Bronwin's Dad. I don't want to say goodbye to any of them!
they made me who I am today, especially coach Floyd and coach Lindenberger. but also Austin, Kevin, Tim, Patrick, Sarah, Colin, Bronwin, Ben, Kyle, "armorer" Ashly, Elizabeth, Dave, Paty, Addy, Andrew, Rob, Sarah W, Timmy, Conway, Erin, hell even the insanely annoying Dru and the downright insane Zack, have played a part in making me who I am today.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
2nd and & 7th
The girls finished 7th, way to go girls
and we, the guys, finished 2nd
it was close it was so, so, so, close I could taste victory and then it just got swept away.
I mean I gave them one hell of a fight! I don't think I've ever fenced better than I did today. I won two of my three bouts against our last opponents, NFA, & Tim and Kevin got one win each, that gave us a grand total of four of the 5 wins we needed. and Kevin last bout was so close he had a 4 to 1 lead and it just got swept away from us. I thought for sure we were going to win. but it's alright, congratulations NFA you did a hell of a job out there.
now that said, I hate NFA's coach. that guy just pisses me off. he thinks his team walks on water. not to say they aren't good, they're great fencers but he goes and argues with the refs, he thinks he can't possibly be wrong, and he just loves to make and ass of himself in general.
sorry NFA but that's how I see it and that's how I'll say it.
and we, the guys, finished 2nd
it was close it was so, so, so, close I could taste victory and then it just got swept away.
I mean I gave them one hell of a fight! I don't think I've ever fenced better than I did today. I won two of my three bouts against our last opponents, NFA, & Tim and Kevin got one win each, that gave us a grand total of four of the 5 wins we needed. and Kevin last bout was so close he had a 4 to 1 lead and it just got swept away from us. I thought for sure we were going to win. but it's alright, congratulations NFA you did a hell of a job out there.
now that said, I hate NFA's coach. that guy just pisses me off. he thinks his team walks on water. not to say they aren't good, they're great fencers but he goes and argues with the refs, he thinks he can't possibly be wrong, and he just loves to make and ass of himself in general.
sorry NFA but that's how I see it and that's how I'll say it.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
ECC individuals results
hey heads up this is way to long to be worth reading so just look for anything in bold
hey well as much as this pains me to type NFA.......won gahhh man i thinks my fingers or going to fall of from typing that sentence gahh. there girls and guys team won when it came down to however they figure this crap out at the end of the day i think they do it by victories or how far each fencers manages to get not really sure.
anyway my bouts went something like this
out of 5 pool bouts i had 1 lose and three bagels
my first DE did not go as well as it could have but i won it 15 to 9 I think. that was against one of Bacon's fencers.
my next DE was against Christian, also from Bacon. now first let me say his blade work improved immensely. at the end of the first period the score was 8 to 4 in favor of Christian.
so between my coaches and the fact that I really wanted to win I decided to get my act together and pull out 150%. I lowered my stance and focused completely on what I was doing. so by the end of the 2nd period the score was 9 to 9 and the only reason christian got another point was because the ref yellow carded me (already had one yellow card for turning my back, which was bullshit by the way, so the 2nd made it a red card) for having my foot stepped on (great call ref, great call) so into the third and final period I can see Christian is shaken he just gave up five touches in a row without scoring. he looks shaken, un-confidant and tired so I keep pushing almost 3 min later the score is 13 to 12 in my favor there are i think 2 seconds left on the clock.
now right then time froze for a split second and I flashed back to state teams the very last bout from last season. Me vs Christian, I'm leading by only a single point, just seconds left on the clock. he charges me and i drop instantly into a perfect passot de soto (even if i spell it incorrectly) he missed me but my blade went right under his non sword arm meaning the only result of the action was that time ran out and I won.
time starts going again and I know exactly what he is going to do and exactly what I need to do to beet him the director says ready and christian practically jumps at me and the action has to be reset.
now I'm positive my analysis was correct so I'm ready and waiting for him. as soon as the director says fence christian comes running at me arm extended.... and I drop, my back leg shoots out, my front knee buckles for a split second, then on command starts to support me again so that my back knee dose not hit the ground, and all this time my left arm has been hitting the ground to support me and keep me balanced while my right arm has been shooting out.
Christians foil goes right over me and he runs straight into mine. oh man did I ever shout after that one (standard short victory "YEAH" just louder) to quote Coach Aron who made a surprise appearance this Friday and Saturday "it was a textbook passot de soto" so the ref made the call I was awarded the touch and time was up.
Bacon's coach started shouting from the sidelines saying that the touch was invalid and that I should be carded. (oh boy was he ever pissed) I didn't even give the ref the chance to respond, I shouted back "no my knee didn't hit the floor and you're allowed three points of contact" (points of contact with the floor that is)(I later found out that Bronwin had ecod my statement from the crowd) then the ref responded that what I had done was and I qoute "a perfectly legal move" and that it didn't matter anyway because time had run out.
so final score 14 to 12 I brought the bout to time had an amazing comeback told off the other teams coach without getting in trouble, and beet one of my biggest rivals in a better than last time deja vou moment.
then I lost my last bout to someone from NFA who eventually took forth. nothing i could do about it, his style just happens to be a style which i don't do well against. see there are two ways to win a fencing match one have amazing skill speed and endurance or two it can be like a game of rock paper scissors where one beets out the other.
so my final standing turned out to be 7th! I'm the 7th best male fencer in the eastern Connecticut conference! take that I said it before and now I've proved it I am one of the top 10 in the ECC's!
Kevin took 2nd he lost the final bout against Cooper but still it was a tremendous bout
Tim and Austin ruined my statement that our guys varsity were all easily in the top 10 by coming in bellow the top 10 oh well there loss not mine
also because Tim fenced like crap yesterday I won the 2nd round of the bagel contest 3 zip so I get a free bagel!
I did prove Mr. Predictions wrong almost single handedly by knocking out two of Bacons four Fencers and ending there chances of an overall victory
Bronwin took 3rd in the girls division way to go Bronwin
and my girlfriend Sara who is this blogs newest reader put up a terrific fight and lost a close bout in her first DE and despite her insisting that she didn't do good enough i still say she did great and that several of the refs calls were a load of crap because I know a parry repost when i see one.
hey well as much as this pains me to type NFA.......won gahhh man i thinks my fingers or going to fall of from typing that sentence gahh. there girls and guys team won when it came down to however they figure this crap out at the end of the day i think they do it by victories or how far each fencers manages to get not really sure.
anyway my bouts went something like this
out of 5 pool bouts i had 1 lose and three bagels
my first DE did not go as well as it could have but i won it 15 to 9 I think. that was against one of Bacon's fencers.
my next DE was against Christian, also from Bacon. now first let me say his blade work improved immensely. at the end of the first period the score was 8 to 4 in favor of Christian.
so between my coaches and the fact that I really wanted to win I decided to get my act together and pull out 150%. I lowered my stance and focused completely on what I was doing. so by the end of the 2nd period the score was 9 to 9 and the only reason christian got another point was because the ref yellow carded me (already had one yellow card for turning my back, which was bullshit by the way, so the 2nd made it a red card) for having my foot stepped on (great call ref, great call) so into the third and final period I can see Christian is shaken he just gave up five touches in a row without scoring. he looks shaken, un-confidant and tired so I keep pushing almost 3 min later the score is 13 to 12 in my favor there are i think 2 seconds left on the clock.
now right then time froze for a split second and I flashed back to state teams the very last bout from last season. Me vs Christian, I'm leading by only a single point, just seconds left on the clock. he charges me and i drop instantly into a perfect passot de soto (even if i spell it incorrectly) he missed me but my blade went right under his non sword arm meaning the only result of the action was that time ran out and I won.
time starts going again and I know exactly what he is going to do and exactly what I need to do to beet him the director says ready and christian practically jumps at me and the action has to be reset.
now I'm positive my analysis was correct so I'm ready and waiting for him. as soon as the director says fence christian comes running at me arm extended.... and I drop, my back leg shoots out, my front knee buckles for a split second, then on command starts to support me again so that my back knee dose not hit the ground, and all this time my left arm has been hitting the ground to support me and keep me balanced while my right arm has been shooting out.
Christians foil goes right over me and he runs straight into mine. oh man did I ever shout after that one (standard short victory "YEAH" just louder) to quote Coach Aron who made a surprise appearance this Friday and Saturday "it was a textbook passot de soto" so the ref made the call I was awarded the touch and time was up.
Bacon's coach started shouting from the sidelines saying that the touch was invalid and that I should be carded. (oh boy was he ever pissed) I didn't even give the ref the chance to respond, I shouted back "no my knee didn't hit the floor and you're allowed three points of contact" (points of contact with the floor that is)(I later found out that Bronwin had ecod my statement from the crowd) then the ref responded that what I had done was and I qoute "a perfectly legal move" and that it didn't matter anyway because time had run out.
so final score 14 to 12 I brought the bout to time had an amazing comeback told off the other teams coach without getting in trouble, and beet one of my biggest rivals in a better than last time deja vou moment.
then I lost my last bout to someone from NFA who eventually took forth. nothing i could do about it, his style just happens to be a style which i don't do well against. see there are two ways to win a fencing match one have amazing skill speed and endurance or two it can be like a game of rock paper scissors where one beets out the other.
so my final standing turned out to be 7th! I'm the 7th best male fencer in the eastern Connecticut conference! take that I said it before and now I've proved it I am one of the top 10 in the ECC's!
Kevin took 2nd he lost the final bout against Cooper but still it was a tremendous bout
Tim and Austin ruined my statement that our guys varsity were all easily in the top 10 by coming in bellow the top 10 oh well there loss not mine
also because Tim fenced like crap yesterday I won the 2nd round of the bagel contest 3 zip so I get a free bagel!
I did prove Mr. Predictions wrong almost single handedly by knocking out two of Bacons four Fencers and ending there chances of an overall victory
Bronwin took 3rd in the girls division way to go Bronwin
and my girlfriend Sara who is this blogs newest reader put up a terrific fight and lost a close bout in her first DE and despite her insisting that she didn't do good enough i still say she did great and that several of the refs calls were a load of crap because I know a parry repost when i see one.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
ECC Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
we won! we beat NFA and Fitch! we went 8 & 0 the perfect season!
you had to be there to feel the raw emotion running through everyone I just can't put it into words. I couldn't do it justice so I won't try. but let me tell you, it was the greatest moment of my life thus far. an absolutely unforgettable experience.
Tim and I each managed to secure two more bagels today meaning that our infamous bagel contest ended in a tie which you know what I don't mind at all in fact I think that's the best ending possible. with I believe 8 apiece.
I only lost 2 bouts but I beet Won-he who I have fenced on several other occasions the only thing that really got to me was that in my final bout for the day my hand seized up on me. I'm not sure if that is what caused me to loose or if it was just a bad match up for me. the point is it took me a couple of seconds just to loosen up my grip enough to let go of my foil. IT REALLY SUCKED! but then we won and I forgot all about it so it doesn't really matter.
after we won and the inevitable celebratory hugging everyone in sight which we definitely went nuts doing because I'm sorry but it was just so absolutely necessary =)
um right so lets see after we won I had no voice left and I also had the insatiable urge to spend more time with my 2nd family so we all went to Valentino's, the local pizza restaurant and pigged out, laughed, and had a hell of a lot of fun =D it was a great party and seeing as we had a few people missing it makes me really look forward to the end of season party. but not too much so because I really don't want this season to ever end. I just want it to go on and on forever. it really is a shame that it has to end. but we still have ECC individuals, State Individuals, and State Teams to look forward to so hey should be fun right =)
anyway after pizza and soda I went home showered (because boy did I ever need it) and had myself a nice nap before heading to the movies for a date (which I think went pretty well)
all in all today has been an absolutely perfect. so good night world and thank you for this amazing, unforgettable, perfect, day.
you had to be there to feel the raw emotion running through everyone I just can't put it into words. I couldn't do it justice so I won't try. but let me tell you, it was the greatest moment of my life thus far. an absolutely unforgettable experience.
Tim and I each managed to secure two more bagels today meaning that our infamous bagel contest ended in a tie which you know what I don't mind at all in fact I think that's the best ending possible. with I believe 8 apiece.
I only lost 2 bouts but I beet Won-he who I have fenced on several other occasions the only thing that really got to me was that in my final bout for the day my hand seized up on me. I'm not sure if that is what caused me to loose or if it was just a bad match up for me. the point is it took me a couple of seconds just to loosen up my grip enough to let go of my foil. IT REALLY SUCKED! but then we won and I forgot all about it so it doesn't really matter.
after we won and the inevitable celebratory hugging everyone in sight which we definitely went nuts doing because I'm sorry but it was just so absolutely necessary =)
um right so lets see after we won I had no voice left and I also had the insatiable urge to spend more time with my 2nd family so we all went to Valentino's, the local pizza restaurant and pigged out, laughed, and had a hell of a lot of fun =D it was a great party and seeing as we had a few people missing it makes me really look forward to the end of season party. but not too much so because I really don't want this season to ever end. I just want it to go on and on forever. it really is a shame that it has to end. but we still have ECC individuals, State Individuals, and State Teams to look forward to so hey should be fun right =)
anyway after pizza and soda I went home showered (because boy did I ever need it) and had myself a nice nap before heading to the movies for a date (which I think went pretty well)
all in all today has been an absolutely perfect. so good night world and thank you for this amazing, unforgettable, perfect, day.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
4 & 0
yep the guys are now 4 and 0, it was a bloodbath. the guys varsity squad lost a grand total of 2 bouts over the course of the day both Austins =( he wasn't really on his A game today. in fact he wasn't even on his B game. I'm really not sure what his deal was today.
the girls varsity had a slightly less successful day they are now 3 and 1 which isn't bad.
I ended up refing the novice bouts today which was a long drawn out string of equipment failures and simultaneous remeses. not a lot of fun kinda tedious but not a bad experience to have.
I got two new cuts one on each hand both from New London fencers.
finally the bagel contest has turned in my favor with the score being 5 me, 4 Tim, and everyone else trailing behind me by at least 2.
the girls varsity had a slightly less successful day they are now 3 and 1 which isn't bad.
I ended up refing the novice bouts today which was a long drawn out string of equipment failures and simultaneous remeses. not a lot of fun kinda tedious but not a bad experience to have.
I got two new cuts one on each hand both from New London fencers.
finally the bagel contest has turned in my favor with the score being 5 me, 4 Tim, and everyone else trailing behind me by at least 2.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
the 12 days of fencemas
the 12 days of fencemas
On the first day of fencemas my coaches gave to me a solid gold electric foil.
On the second day of fencemas my coaches gave to me two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the third day of fencemas my coaches gabe to me three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the fourth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the fifth day of christmas my coaches gave to me FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the sixth day of christmas my coaches gave to me six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the seventh day of fencemas my coaches gave to me seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the eighth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a fryin', FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the Ninth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me nine armours arming, eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a fryin', FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the tenth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me ten shiny bells, nine aurmors arming, eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the eleventh day of christmas my coaches gave to me eleven bouts a winning, ten shiny bells, nine aurmorers arming, eight smelly socks, seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the twelfth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me twelve fencers fencing, eleven bouts a winning, ten shiny bells, nine aurmors arming, eight smelly socks, seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
created by sara d and ashley (with help from mr.r)
so yeah this was created by the above listed teamates and coaches enjoy the laughs as much as I did =)
On the first day of fencemas my coaches gave to me a solid gold electric foil.
On the second day of fencemas my coaches gave to me two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the third day of fencemas my coaches gabe to me three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the fourth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the fifth day of christmas my coaches gave to me FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the sixth day of christmas my coaches gave to me six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the seventh day of fencemas my coaches gave to me seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the eighth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a fryin', FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the Ninth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me nine armours arming, eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a fryin', FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the tenth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me ten shiny bells, nine aurmors arming, eight socks a smellin', seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the eleventh day of christmas my coaches gave to me eleven bouts a winning, ten shiny bells, nine aurmorers arming, eight smelly socks, seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
On the twelfth day of fencemas my coaches gave to me twelve fencers fencing, eleven bouts a winning, ten shiny bells, nine aurmors arming, eight smelly socks, seven buzzers buzzing, six body cords a frying, FIVE FLYING TIPS, four pistol grips, three failed flicks, two throbbing feet and a solid gold electric foil.
created by sara d and ashley (with help from mr.r)
so yeah this was created by the above listed teamates and coaches enjoy the laughs as much as I did =)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
2nd family
well these are my teammates, except for Kylee who was getting her license the day we took this, also in the photo is our armorer/coach Ashly who wanted to be in the picture too. these people along with our coaches are my 2nd family, crazy as some of them might be that's what they are and that's what they will continue to be. I'm gonna miss them a lot when I go to college
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Bitter Sweet Victory
well we won. honestly we kicked ass calling it just a win would be the understatement of the century. Bacon only won around four or five bouts and Waterford didn't win any. It just makes me want to say "okay we are here now you can just go home." it's pathetic I only lost one bout today (against Couper, which is not a surprise), oh and hey speaking of Couper minor shocker with him today Kevin beet him 5 to 2, did not see that coming at all I thought it was going to be a lot closer. and I got two bagels. that's the bittersweet part I kinda want the challenge the close bouts because otherwise it will feel almost anticlimactic but hey nothing I can do about the other schools standard skill level.
the girls won both there matches by forfeit but they still fenced and from what I hear they did well.
that reminds me we are doing a bagel contest this year (a bagel is a bout with a score of 5 to 0 or 15 to 0 although most of our bouts are just five touches) so far Tim and I both have two. not only that but three of our newbies Elizabeth, Dave, and new Pat all got bagels. very impressive given how little training they have had.
sources of frustration today included the usual, less then stellar ref's (this was seriously killing Austin) and equipment failures mercifully this time around the majority of the equipment problems belonged to Waterford, 3 of there JV had half dead lame's between that and the first year fencer reffing the JV and novice bouts, the JV squad had a very, very, frustrating day. so to them I extend my sympathy but nothing else seeing as they just need to learn to deal with it.
the girls won both there matches by forfeit but they still fenced and from what I hear they did well.
that reminds me we are doing a bagel contest this year (a bagel is a bout with a score of 5 to 0 or 15 to 0 although most of our bouts are just five touches) so far Tim and I both have two. not only that but three of our newbies Elizabeth, Dave, and new Pat all got bagels. very impressive given how little training they have had.
sources of frustration today included the usual, less then stellar ref's (this was seriously killing Austin) and equipment failures mercifully this time around the majority of the equipment problems belonged to Waterford, 3 of there JV had half dead lame's between that and the first year fencer reffing the JV and novice bouts, the JV squad had a very, very, frustrating day. so to them I extend my sympathy but nothing else seeing as they just need to learn to deal with it.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
and the surprise was
Kevin's coach from RIFAC (Rhode island fencing academy) came down and gave all of us a lesson. now this guy is good, I mean he trains Olympic level fencers! so needless to say he gave all of us a lot to work on so it looks like were gonna be better then ever! hell coach says he saw improvement just between the beginning and end of practice!
also semi related side notes, fencing shoes came in yesterday and even though they are only the decant fencing shoes the difference between these and the shoes I've been using is so amazingly obvious I can't believe I wasn't using these sooner! what the hell was I thinking?! anyway they have much better grip except that we fence in the cafe which is disgusting I had to keep wiping my shoes on my socks to get the dirt and whatever else off of them by the end of practice my socks were half white and half black. disgusting
still waiting on the foil grips and blade bag but since I need to have at least one foil by Saturday (my one surviving old foil is being repaired by Bronwin's fencing coach because our armorer had no clue what to make of the damn thing) I asked coach to lend me one of his grips (same style) so I could cut the tang of my new blade to the right length which I did. however I don't feel confident about setting up the electric part so I left that for Armorer Ashly to do tomorrow, which should take all of 10 seconds.
Final note Dru, Zack, and Ben all need to try talking less, as in much, much less, and they need to learn that not everything they say needs to be a joke. jokes are like seasoning guys if you go overboard with them then it just ruins everything.
also semi related side notes, fencing shoes came in yesterday and even though they are only the decant fencing shoes the difference between these and the shoes I've been using is so amazingly obvious I can't believe I wasn't using these sooner! what the hell was I thinking?! anyway they have much better grip except that we fence in the cafe which is disgusting I had to keep wiping my shoes on my socks to get the dirt and whatever else off of them by the end of practice my socks were half white and half black. disgusting
still waiting on the foil grips and blade bag but since I need to have at least one foil by Saturday (my one surviving old foil is being repaired by Bronwin's fencing coach because our armorer had no clue what to make of the damn thing) I asked coach to lend me one of his grips (same style) so I could cut the tang of my new blade to the right length which I did. however I don't feel confident about setting up the electric part so I left that for Armorer Ashly to do tomorrow, which should take all of 10 seconds.
Final note Dru, Zack, and Ben all need to try talking less, as in much, much less, and they need to learn that not everything they say needs to be a joke. jokes are like seasoning guys if you go overboard with them then it just ruins everything.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
surprise tommorow
no idea what is in store for us but coach has something up his sleeve for Monday. all he told us is that he wants us in full gear by the time the bell rings, that means electric gear, cups the whole shebang no idea why and I don't have the slightest clue what to expect but there you go that's coach for you.
oh yeah I'm signed up for a tournament on the 2nd of January USFA again no clue how good or bad I'll do but It's gonna be a awesome either way =D
Oh yeah I just have to say this. I don't want to sound cocky but it really feels like we are gonna do this, the ECC's I mean it just feels like everything is falling into place like everything is working in our favor.
last year we had some incidents with the varsity squad not being set and that messing a few things up, then Timmy went into a tail spin and crashed and burned on us fallowed by Kevin going to the junior Olympics (the last is not something I hold a grudge against, it is just a fact)
stuff just kept getting in the way but this year feels right! I think we can really do this! Hell with this years Team we could even take states! Here we go this is the beginning, this is the adrenaline, this is the feeling that makes me stand with my back straight facing all the crap the world can through at me,this is the sensation that makes living the greatest privilege, this is what it's all about, this is what I love, sometimes I swear I could live off nothing but this sensation, man it is ecstasy there is nothing better! nothing! I swear it feels like I could take on the world single handed
so stand back and watch, the real me is about to be set loose on the world, and I swear it feels like there is nothing I can't do!
oh yeah I'm signed up for a tournament on the 2nd of January USFA again no clue how good or bad I'll do but It's gonna be a awesome either way =D
Oh yeah I just have to say this. I don't want to sound cocky but it really feels like we are gonna do this, the ECC's I mean it just feels like everything is falling into place like everything is working in our favor.
last year we had some incidents with the varsity squad not being set and that messing a few things up, then Timmy went into a tail spin and crashed and burned on us fallowed by Kevin going to the junior Olympics (the last is not something I hold a grudge against, it is just a fact)
stuff just kept getting in the way but this year feels right! I think we can really do this! Hell with this years Team we could even take states! Here we go this is the beginning, this is the adrenaline, this is the feeling that makes me stand with my back straight facing all the crap the world can through at me,this is the sensation that makes living the greatest privilege, this is what it's all about, this is what I love, sometimes I swear I could live off nothing but this sensation, man it is ecstasy there is nothing better! nothing! I swear it feels like I could take on the world single handed
so stand back and watch, the real me is about to be set loose on the world, and I swear it feels like there is nothing I can't do!
Varsity Invitational
our guys JV placed 9th out of 16 schools at the varsity invitational today. 9th and they were fencing other schools varsity!
oh yeah I should explain today the actual varsity squad sat back and observed too scope out the competition while the JV were getting some experience against other schools varsity squads, this also has the added bonus of not giving the other schools the chance to observe us. they JV did pretty Damn well. I mean 9 out of 16 considering they are JV and were up against varsity really good. in edition we collected a sizable amount of intell on our adversaries and are confident in our ability to utterly destroy almost everyone. seems like the toughest school will be Bacon who we will square of against in our very first meet next Saturday.
oh yeah Kevin had the awesome idea of everyone dressing up and looking real sharp today here is a pick of the coach, varsity squad and Cooper who jumped into the picture, from left to right, yours truly, Austin, Coach Floyd, Kevin, Coopers head, and Tim who didn't bring sunglasses, which makes him a failure.
oh yeah I should explain today the actual varsity squad sat back and observed too scope out the competition while the JV were getting some experience against other schools varsity squads, this also has the added bonus of not giving the other schools the chance to observe us. they JV did pretty Damn well. I mean 9 out of 16 considering they are JV and were up against varsity really good. in edition we collected a sizable amount of intell on our adversaries and are confident in our ability to utterly destroy almost everyone. seems like the toughest school will be Bacon who we will square of against in our very first meet next Saturday.
oh yeah Kevin had the awesome idea of everyone dressing up and looking real sharp today here is a pick of the coach, varsity squad and Cooper who jumped into the picture, from left to right, yours truly, Austin, Coach Floyd, Kevin, Coopers head, and Tim who didn't bring sunglasses, which makes him a failure.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
I'm on the squad
the varsity squad will be Kevin Austin Tim and yours truly in no particular order. but seeing as we are supposed to meld as a team all I'll say in regards to that is that I did not come in fourth this year =)
The substitute fencers are in this order Zack and Patrick. additionally Colin will be serving as a third substitute, the subs will be practicing with the varsity squad partly so that we can whip Colin and Zack into tip top shape for next year.
I'll refrain from further comment until a later date as I don't want to give away anything Important ;)
now I need to go and order some equipment mainly fencing shoes and a couple of new grips.
The substitute fencers are in this order Zack and Patrick. additionally Colin will be serving as a third substitute, the subs will be practicing with the varsity squad partly so that we can whip Colin and Zack into tip top shape for next year.
I'll refrain from further comment until a later date as I don't want to give away anything Important ;)
now I need to go and order some equipment mainly fencing shoes and a couple of new grips.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
I think I'm in
I've done well in all my bouts so far and I have definitely proved that I'm on level with Tim, the only other favorite for the actual varsity squad left for me to fence is Austin the other two I have yet to fence are Ben and Colon both are aiming for the substitute spots. Colon is supposed to be my first bout on Monday. I'm really looking forward to that bout but first things first and the first thing is healing my back.
see I have this nasty habit of leaning forward when I lunge and I strained my back on Friday because of it. so this weekend I'm taking it easy. rest and recuperation you know?
now something interesting that was brought to my attention recently is that my style has done a 180. when I first started fencing I took things slowly played defencive and waited for the opponent to make there move. then took the parry repost. but lately my style has changed, shifted away from defence and moved more towards offence. this has met with mixed results my forte is still defence so switching to offence has proven a little difficult, but I'm improving and this change is not without reason Tim's style has gotten far more defencive lately stepping away from offence entirely. so in order for the bout I fence against him to progress at all I've had to just go for it.
not only that but at the USFA tournaments I've gone to, even though I haven't gone to many yet, I've noticed more and more that the top fencers fight offensively. Sure they need to know defence and man are they good at that as well but they have this drive to go after the touch that's what makes them the best they want it so much they can't sit still and wait for it to come to them, they make there own openings create there own chances, if I want to improve I need to be like that.
see I have this nasty habit of leaning forward when I lunge and I strained my back on Friday because of it. so this weekend I'm taking it easy. rest and recuperation you know?
now something interesting that was brought to my attention recently is that my style has done a 180. when I first started fencing I took things slowly played defencive and waited for the opponent to make there move. then took the parry repost. but lately my style has changed, shifted away from defence and moved more towards offence. this has met with mixed results my forte is still defence so switching to offence has proven a little difficult, but I'm improving and this change is not without reason Tim's style has gotten far more defencive lately stepping away from offence entirely. so in order for the bout I fence against him to progress at all I've had to just go for it.
not only that but at the USFA tournaments I've gone to, even though I haven't gone to many yet, I've noticed more and more that the top fencers fight offensively. Sure they need to know defence and man are they good at that as well but they have this drive to go after the touch that's what makes them the best they want it so much they can't sit still and wait for it to come to them, they make there own openings create there own chances, if I want to improve I need to be like that.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Varsity bouts!
OK so the battle for the four primary and two substitute varsity spots started yesterday and I didn't post because I was mentally exhausted and could barely form a complete sentence.
so I got to practice and coach tells me he fixed my blade. I get on the strip for my first 15 touch bout against Zack and it doesn't work, Yellow Card. score five points my back up blade breaks in half. two yellow cards which means red card which means Zack gets a point, lots of running around change body cord from bayonet too two prong type the body cord so I can use the blade I borrowed from coach, body cord doesn't work, another yellow card Zack gets another point. finally get all the necessary pieces of equipment am not at all in the zone and I start fencing again. I won 15 to 10 and Zack scored 8 touches. not to bad considering it took me a minute to get back in the zone after all my stuff breaking.
my next bout was against Tim who is by far my favorite person to fence don't know why but fencing Tim brings out my best never understood why.... Anyway I get out there and I'm doing less than stellar. at one point Tim was winning 13 to 8
then I noticed something. every other or every third time I did a retreat he looked down at the floor his eyes stoped looking at me entirely!! so then it was game on again! I would advance until I was just about in range then retreat a half step and watch his eyes and when they flicked down to the floor BOOM! ADVANCE LUNGE! Haha I kept doing that until the score was 14 to 13 Tim was still winning at that point.
anyway I am so fixed on what I'm doing that I don't even look at the clock, it's a fatal flaw of mine. anyway Tim caught sight of the clock out of the corner of his eye and realized there was almost no time left so he played on that and just kept baking up making sure to make it seem natural. I didn't pick up on it at all so I keep looking for an opportunity to attack but nothing was showing up and then bzzzz time was up bout over. so I lost by a point because I wasn't watching the clock. but I'm not upset it was a great bout and I fenced at my absolute best so I'm not upset. actually I was really happy even when I realized what had happened.
It looks the varsity bouts will take 3 or more days to finish but that's OK after my bout with Tim I am feeling more confident.
finale note for yesterday has nothing to do with me actually it's about Colin last year he fenced JV and this year he had his sights set on one of the two varsity substitute spots he also has his hopes pined on becoming captain this next year well he fenced rather porelly yesterday and was really feeling depressed several of us tryd to cheer him up but no luck well apparently when he got home yesterday he practiced every move he new until 10 or 10:30 that's the kind of dedication you normally only see in a manga. I have to say I'm damn impressed with Colin's response to all of this and I can't wait to fence him.
so I got to practice and coach tells me he fixed my blade. I get on the strip for my first 15 touch bout against Zack and it doesn't work, Yellow Card. score five points my back up blade breaks in half. two yellow cards which means red card which means Zack gets a point, lots of running around change body cord from bayonet too two prong type the body cord so I can use the blade I borrowed from coach, body cord doesn't work, another yellow card Zack gets another point. finally get all the necessary pieces of equipment am not at all in the zone and I start fencing again. I won 15 to 10 and Zack scored 8 touches. not to bad considering it took me a minute to get back in the zone after all my stuff breaking.
my next bout was against Tim who is by far my favorite person to fence don't know why but fencing Tim brings out my best never understood why.... Anyway I get out there and I'm doing less than stellar. at one point Tim was winning 13 to 8
then I noticed something. every other or every third time I did a retreat he looked down at the floor his eyes stoped looking at me entirely!! so then it was game on again! I would advance until I was just about in range then retreat a half step and watch his eyes and when they flicked down to the floor BOOM! ADVANCE LUNGE! Haha I kept doing that until the score was 14 to 13 Tim was still winning at that point.
anyway I am so fixed on what I'm doing that I don't even look at the clock, it's a fatal flaw of mine. anyway Tim caught sight of the clock out of the corner of his eye and realized there was almost no time left so he played on that and just kept baking up making sure to make it seem natural. I didn't pick up on it at all so I keep looking for an opportunity to attack but nothing was showing up and then bzzzz time was up bout over. so I lost by a point because I wasn't watching the clock. but I'm not upset it was a great bout and I fenced at my absolute best so I'm not upset. actually I was really happy even when I realized what had happened.
It looks the varsity bouts will take 3 or more days to finish but that's OK after my bout with Tim I am feeling more confident.
finale note for yesterday has nothing to do with me actually it's about Colin last year he fenced JV and this year he had his sights set on one of the two varsity substitute spots he also has his hopes pined on becoming captain this next year well he fenced rather porelly yesterday and was really feeling depressed several of us tryd to cheer him up but no luck well apparently when he got home yesterday he practiced every move he new until 10 or 10:30 that's the kind of dedication you normally only see in a manga. I have to say I'm damn impressed with Colin's response to all of this and I can't wait to fence him.
Monday, November 29, 2010
First Day of Practice
have very little to report except that I should probably get some sleep which will be difficult seeing as it's been 4 hours and I'm still hyped up on excitement and possibly adrenaline. my one note for today other than we need more fencers is that today I was not only in the zone, I WAS THE ZONE. I blew away Austin and Tim today 5/1 and 5/0 respectively that's right bagel! if I can keep this up my chances for varsity are looking good!
oh unrelated side note, I got all my homework done before 11 tonight! yeah!
oh unrelated side note, I got all my homework done before 11 tonight! yeah!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
tourny results
there were 16 fencers. but nobody got ranked for strange reasons beyond our understanding. Austin placed First Tim placed 2nd Bronwynne placed 6th and yours truly came in third. =) kept track of my scores and things I need to work on will probably edit this post later to tell the whole story and relate scores in the meantime i have to go post on my Internet duel and see who is winning =).
Edit:
OK so I'm winning my Internet duel both in total average and in highest average. true we only just started the duel a few days ago, and the total number of tournaments is three, and only one of those is mine, but I'm happy with that regardless. =)
I believe the reason no one got ranked was actually because there were no ranked competitors which no one could do anything about because it was a novice tournament to begin with. in other words ranked fencers were not allowed to compete.
I came in third at the tournament because I lost to Tim in the semifinals but it was all good because we both enjoyed the match. on the other hand i did not actually get to fence for third place so third place was actually a tie because they did not hold the bout which i was ripped about because I wanted to keep fencing.
I'll post some of the pics that i got from my coach over the 4 day weekend so look forward to them.
Edit:
OK so I'm winning my Internet duel both in total average and in highest average. true we only just started the duel a few days ago, and the total number of tournaments is three, and only one of those is mine, but I'm happy with that regardless. =)
I believe the reason no one got ranked was actually because there were no ranked competitors which no one could do anything about because it was a novice tournament to begin with. in other words ranked fencers were not allowed to compete.
I came in third at the tournament because I lost to Tim in the semifinals but it was all good because we both enjoyed the match. on the other hand i did not actually get to fence for third place so third place was actually a tie because they did not hold the bout which i was ripped about because I wanted to keep fencing.
I'll post some of the pics that i got from my coach over the 4 day weekend so look forward to them.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
baseball game
went to Navigators, uh, Defenders, uh, Connecticut Tigers baseball game tonight. went with Mom, Brother Two of my three sets of Aunt's and Uncle's two little cousins and a younger Cousin who is basically my age.
new cousin ID idea going to refer to them as the oldest being #1 and youngest(currently) as #7 so i was with cousins 1-3.
saw Mandachan working hard and said hello, also ran into Erin from the fencing team. I ate a ton of junk food and had a great time. also little cousin 3 was hilarious when he hung out with the new mascot. pictures may come latter but no guarantee because I'm going camping in Main in 4 days so things are going to get hectic very shortly and pictures take forever to load of my camera.
new cousin ID idea going to refer to them as the oldest being #1 and youngest(currently) as #7 so i was with cousins 1-3.
saw Mandachan working hard and said hello, also ran into Erin from the fencing team. I ate a ton of junk food and had a great time. also little cousin 3 was hilarious when he hung out with the new mascot. pictures may come latter but no guarantee because I'm going camping in Main in 4 days so things are going to get hectic very shortly and pictures take forever to load of my camera.
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