this time of year is when students thoughts turn to final exams. but not only to finals but also to sports, and scholarships, and fafsa, and college applications.
I have a grand total of one of these things done. that being my college application
the final schedule changes every other day.
I haven't even started looking for scholarships.
My Mom keeps telling me she is working on fafsa which I quite honestly don't even try to understand because it involves taxes et-cetra.
my coach is concerned about the amount of energy we are putting into our meets because one member of the varsity squad, who happens to be our captain, named Austin, see what I'm doing here starting out like I'm not gonna point fingers and then totally pointing fingers? yeah that's because I'm annoyed went and blew two bouts the other day because he went and fenced like he didn't give a shit which apparently he didn't. now coach is concerned that if we go up with that kind of half assed mentality that it could end up screwing us over when we come up against St. B's, Fitch, and most important of all NFA.
He could be right. we have the best team, and the most experience. but we feel safe we feel secure we are all confident bordering on cocky. Austin has already crossed the border into I don't give a shit land. Kevin can't focus when faced with a shitty ref. which leaves Tim and I doing are honest to God best. why are we trying so hard? because we couldn't care less about the ref, and my ingenious if I do say so myself self motivation strategy of holding a bagel contest with Tim keeps us competitive.
for the record the stress is slowly vaporizing my brain
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
even the expert agrees
well you see there is some guy who makes predictions about how each team will do over the course of the ECC's his prediction is tht ledyard will go 8 and 0 this season I'm not vain, I'm not full of it. the expert backs my prediction we will win the ECC's this year you can count on it.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
ECC's
just been checking my emails and here is the low down. after the various fencing meets held today there are now only 2 teams remaining in the ECC's that are undefeated Ledyard and NFA unfortunately for NFA their winning streak is far weaker then our own. You see today they fenced Bacon and won by only three points. not three bouts, three points. that means that NFA and Bacon had 8 wins apiece and the final outcome had to be determined by the team indicator.
for NFA whose fencers all range at about Christian's level of skill (he is fairly good but his blade work is sloppy which means lots of openings) this is just not going to cut it. if they had that much trouble with Bacon then they won't be able to beet us. we are just on different levels and they won't be able to close that kind of a gap in the remaining time especially when we are all still working so hard to improve, sorry NFA you may have beaten us last year but we had two guys in pain, and instead of Kevin we had Timmy. if you think you stand a chance against the four horseman then your welcome to try. I've been itching for a few close bouts anyway so come at us with everything you've got.
for NFA whose fencers all range at about Christian's level of skill (he is fairly good but his blade work is sloppy which means lots of openings) this is just not going to cut it. if they had that much trouble with Bacon then they won't be able to beet us. we are just on different levels and they won't be able to close that kind of a gap in the remaining time especially when we are all still working so hard to improve, sorry NFA you may have beaten us last year but we had two guys in pain, and instead of Kevin we had Timmy. if you think you stand a chance against the four horseman then your welcome to try. I've been itching for a few close bouts anyway so come at us with everything you've got.
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.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Violence in Books
this is a quote from Hunters of Dune
"she sprang like a coiled serpent and plunged her fingers into Bellonda's neck, digging her nails through padded folds of skin until she reached the jugular.With a yank she tore out the blood vessel,"
if this were a scene from a movie, that movie would certainly be rated M or at the very least T.
the fact that video games, movies, and tv, come with a rating and books don't says a lot. the question is of all the statements that makes, which speaks the loudest?
is it that we feel peoples imaginations are not vivid enough to create the full impact of scenes like this?
is it that we feel reading is done so rarely by comparison that it cannot have the same effect?
is it that we think only those who are older would read books with scenes like this?
is it that society is prejudiced against the relatively new technology of video game movies and TV?
or is it that we are so lazy that we simply cannot be bothered to check books for sexual references and violence, then based on the context slap a suggested age group on it?
I read Enders Game when I was in 7th grade and then all of the sequels that I could find the fallowing year. in those books are depictions of fights to the death brimming with blood, honor and tactics. I think I was ready to read those books at that point. dose that mean I was ready for the violent video games as well? or dose that mean that I only thought I was ready and that my judgment is still clouded after all these years? they are not easy questions to answer and as far as I know no one is going to
"she sprang like a coiled serpent and plunged her fingers into Bellonda's neck, digging her nails through padded folds of skin until she reached the jugular.With a yank she tore out the blood vessel,"
if this were a scene from a movie, that movie would certainly be rated M or at the very least T.
the fact that video games, movies, and tv, come with a rating and books don't says a lot. the question is of all the statements that makes, which speaks the loudest?
is it that we feel peoples imaginations are not vivid enough to create the full impact of scenes like this?
is it that we feel reading is done so rarely by comparison that it cannot have the same effect?
is it that we think only those who are older would read books with scenes like this?
is it that society is prejudiced against the relatively new technology of video game movies and TV?
or is it that we are so lazy that we simply cannot be bothered to check books for sexual references and violence, then based on the context slap a suggested age group on it?
I read Enders Game when I was in 7th grade and then all of the sequels that I could find the fallowing year. in those books are depictions of fights to the death brimming with blood, honor and tactics. I think I was ready to read those books at that point. dose that mean I was ready for the violent video games as well? or dose that mean that I only thought I was ready and that my judgment is still clouded after all these years? they are not easy questions to answer and as far as I know no one is going to
Monday, January 3, 2011
starting over from scratch
well I learned a few things today the most important is that my fencing technique actually sucks by USFA standards.
the reason is that the style that I've developed over the past two years revolves around high school rules which aren't all that different from the USFA rules except for one key difference. in high school rules the person who has extension has the right of way in USFA rules the person who is advancing has right of way. this simple difference may not seem important but in reality it is. normally I let my opponents come to me because when they do they often create openings which I exploit by attacking. now here is the key difference by high school rules what I'm doing is attacking and I have right of way but by USFA rules it is actually a counter attack and I therefor do not have right of way at all. this is why I did so poorly at the tournament I mentioned in my last post. long time USFA fencers always told me I had a weird style I just never realized that it was actually a crappy style that developed from the high school rules.
this wouldn't be an issue except for a few key facts
1) I want to continue to fence after high school which means USFA tournaments
2) even at college next year I will need to go by USFA rules
3) I now need to unlearn everything I thought I new about fencing strategy and relearn it all from scratch focusing on the USFA rules
this won't be easy and for however long it takes me to adjust I'm gonna suck and I'm gonna keep beating myself up for stupid mistakes but in the end it will make me a better fencer and bring a whole new dimension to the game
the reason is that the style that I've developed over the past two years revolves around high school rules which aren't all that different from the USFA rules except for one key difference. in high school rules the person who has extension has the right of way in USFA rules the person who is advancing has right of way. this simple difference may not seem important but in reality it is. normally I let my opponents come to me because when they do they often create openings which I exploit by attacking. now here is the key difference by high school rules what I'm doing is attacking and I have right of way but by USFA rules it is actually a counter attack and I therefor do not have right of way at all. this is why I did so poorly at the tournament I mentioned in my last post. long time USFA fencers always told me I had a weird style I just never realized that it was actually a crappy style that developed from the high school rules.
this wouldn't be an issue except for a few key facts
1) I want to continue to fence after high school which means USFA tournaments
2) even at college next year I will need to go by USFA rules
3) I now need to unlearn everything I thought I new about fencing strategy and relearn it all from scratch focusing on the USFA rules
this won't be easy and for however long it takes me to adjust I'm gonna suck and I'm gonna keep beating myself up for stupid mistakes but in the end it will make me a better fencer and bring a whole new dimension to the game
Sunday, January 2, 2011
...
went to a tournament today... I sucked, and bottom line I don't want to talk about it.
I think it was good that I had a bad day though. nothing like a reality check to get me working harder.
but other than that no comment.
I think it was good that I had a bad day though. nothing like a reality check to get me working harder.
but other than that no comment.
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