Thanks to a heads up from Jeff Hess, I had the opportunity to listen to a piece on NPR about Notre Dame Fencing. You can listen to it by clicking here. It is a RealPlayer proprietary format, but you can get around that by using Real Alternative.

It’s a pretty accurate piece, no one knew about the team when I was there either. Heh.

Today and tomorrow many of my teammates will be passing through Cleveland on a roadtrip out to Brandeis University for the NCAA Fencing Championships which are this weekend. Twice this week I have been invited to accompany my team out there. ‘Adam, we can pick you up early Friday and drop you back off on Monday.’ or ‘Hey, man I’m coming through Cleveland tomorrow and I’ve got an extra seat.’

It frustrated me terribly to say no. I want to go root them on, I want to be there and help them fight. We didn’t qualify the full 12 this year. Men’s epee only got one in. The midwestern region is starting to get alot more competitive than in the past. I don’t know if we have a chance to win this year, it is always so very close. I wish I was going to be there with my video camera and I wish I was going to make the end of the year video for the team as I did in the past.

I miss being on a team. I miss fencing with my friends. I miss team dinners at Bruno’s and team parties and tailgates. I miss the glory. Now I’ve got a job in CubicleLand® and bills and ‘responsibility.’ I’ve also got to head to Indiana for my Grandmother’s 80th birthday this weekend. That should be a good time, seeing the family and all. At the same time I wish I was going to be at Brandeis.

Mary, Queen of Victory, pray for us. Go Irish on three. 1…2…3.

instead of writing one of my 4 papers, yesterday was spent logging, capturing, and editing my tribute to the 2002-2003 National Champions: The Notre Dame Fencing Team. Not only was it fun to get back behind an editing utility, i also got to be a bit nostalgic over the days in HS when i would make music videos for various sports upcoming tournaments. i’m not going to post a link to the video because some of you schmoes who read this are on the fencing team. NO PEEKING!

in the next two weeks i’m going to recap my various years here at ND. they posts will probably be long and uninteresting. as opposed to the typical short and uninteresting.

last tuesday i left for Colorado Springs, CO to support my teammates at the NCAA fencing championships. it was quite the trip. Those who drove were 4: Steve, Mad Dog, Matty, and myself. the first 18 hours of our drive out there were fine; until we arrived in Colorado amid the aftermath of one of their worst blizzards in years. I-70 was closed 12 miles into Colorado despite the fact that there was nary a snowflake on the ground. we detoured to CO-25 which was also closed. we detoured to CO-40, closed. we ended up going all the way to Pueblo and then drove north till we arrived in Colorado Springs. 8 miles south of Colorado Springs we finally saw some snow, by the next day most of it had melted.

we beat the team out there despite leaving after they did. they’re flight was laid over at St. Louis and the next day they had a connection in Houston before finally getting into Colorado. the tournament was supposed to start on Thursday and conclude on Sunday but since none of the teams could make it out on time they rescheduled and had a combined tournament lasting all day saturday and all day sunday. tough stuff with the altitude.

that left us with two full days to kill. since the Super 8 we were staying at was literally 30 feet from the Drury Inn where the rest of the team was, most of our time was spent over there goofing around, utilizing the hot tub, etc. Janusz was glad we were out there so we didn’t have to pay for our meals for most of the trip. we went to a bar one night, saw Chicago as a team and ate and ate and ate. the night before the tournament we had a team meeting and everyone got their goals.

the first day of competition was intense. our fencers dropped a few bouts here and there, and the directing was a bit trying at times, but by the end of the day we had a nice cushion in 1st place, although we still knew it was going to be quite close. the 2nd and final day was a rollercoaster of emotion the entire day. we were only up by one bout in the final round with Penn State right on our heels. we needed any combination of 3 ND wins or 3 PSU losses to secure the victory. we won. there was pandemonium. all of those clich s about winning and being a champion…are true when you really are one.

our AD Bernard took us to Carrabba’s an ber-nice Italian place in celebration. once we got back to the hotel a few folks went on an alcohol run and a bunch of us went to the bars. i like tequila shots. we played a few games of pool, just relaxed with our team and a few people from the other midwest teams. then we went back to the hotel, partied a bit more and hit the road home. (Mad Dog drove first, he hadn’t partaken because he is on antibiotics). 20 hours later we arrived in South Bend. exhausted but victorious.

i cannot speak, my voice is shot from yelling. i shot plenty of footage to make a sweetass video and took a ton of pictures. we are champions! i am a champion! w00t!

at 6 this evening i’m driving out to Colorado Springs, CO and the USAFA for the NCAA fencing championships. It is about a 19 hour drive and at the end of it i still might not be able to watch my team compete for the championship. i had to submit my social security number, driver’s license number, etc. in order to get security clearance to get on the base. at all times i must have two forms of picture ID. but once the war starts not even that will get me on the base. i’m still going out dammit.

what a stupid ultimatum from Dubya. yeah like that is EVER going to happen. might as well require the impossible so we can start bombing on schedule. anything for the war. even if the ulty did work i’d still be creeped out because the US would be able to coerce a country into essentially giving up its sovereignty. jeebus.

what the internet needs is a bestiary of mythical beasts. and a good one at that. the only ones i’ve found have been crap. maybe i could start my own if i had some time. meagan will you draw the critters and creepy crawlies?

Trogdor the Arcade Game!

I’ll be back sometime next monday unless NORAD and the USAFA get nuked by Iraqis.

i’m eradicating the friday mp3. i’m bored with it.

tonight i went to a local fencing tournament and beat down. overall i placed third, but the only two bouts i lost the whole evening were against the same person, who won the tourny. he is ranked as an ‘A’ by USFA standards, while I, a mere chode, was ‘U’ for unranked. but by placing third i got myself a ranking of ‘D.’ Actually, D03 for the year in which i did it. what does this mean? diddly. but more importantly i found that i really enjoy fencing when it doesn’t mean anything, and i can just have fun. i enjoyed competing as a part of a team, but without the pressure to do well, fencing is hella fun.

the greatest thing in my college life is now finished. i’m no longer a varsity athlete. i’m now a varsity alumnus.

to preface: there is this guy on our team, a pretty good ep eist, who could be so much better if he applied himself. unfortunately, he feels no need to come to practice or act as a teammate in any way since he is a scholarship recruit. apparently he told my captain that he is tired of fencing and that our coach cannot do anything about it if he chooses not to work hard. this team member also chooses not to stay with the team during competitions he is always off alone sleeping somewhere when the rest of us are fencing. the worst, however, is how he treats our opponents. he humiliates them by showing his complete and utter contempt in the form of grandstanding, blatantly obvious and intentional. he’ll squat on strip and stay there, or remain in a lunge, or after an easy touch against an opponent will yell ‘woo-hoo’ in a ‘you mean nothing to me’ kind of way.

so in the individual tournament i end up having to fence this guy in the direct elimination rounds. everyone wanted me to beat him, even our own teammates. especially since he doesn’t even respect us. i did my best, but lost 13-15. what is infuriating about that is, he is still good enough to beat me despite all the effort i put forth to fence well and the negligible amount he exerts. so endeth my collegiate fencing career. i was pissed i wanted to win so badly, and immediately after the bout i realized that it was all over. i’m sure it had been floating around subconsciously in my head but after it was done i had to hit the showers as quickly as possible to do a bit of crying. i can still do my bit to help the team, but any true tangible effect resulting from my actual fencing will never be again.

it was great while it lasted. and i hope the memories last much longer.

The Midwest Championships were today and unfortunately ND came in 2nd. Alot of us fenced poorly. I only had one bout, but I won it. my last contribution to the team was a victory. I’m glad of that. Tomorrow is the Individuals, so I must fence for myself, which basically mean I won’t do as well, I’m not competitive in that way. it has been good while it has lasted. i’ve got much homework to do, I’d better get on it.

my regular season is over. i was 4-1 on the weekend, and finally got my act together. the men’s squad is now 82-0 over three years of fencing. and my time fencing as a part of the team is almost up. the drive back from East Lansing was quite an experience. the weather was awful. snow snow snow. a bunch of the team went out drinking. i would have liked to join them but as always, i’m flatass broke. today i will look for a job and try to write a poem in iambic pentameter. writing with accent and meter is much harder than writing normally.

ever victorious, the fencing team #2 in the nation - soon to be #1 later this week - swept the field again at Duke this weekend. i only fenced one bout. but when i got on the strip, the overall winner for men’s epee was still up for grabs. by the time i left the strip we had it clinched.

but i lost the bout.

y’see, Duke was tied with us, but their loss against Stanford gave us the edge to win and even though i lost, there was no coming back for them.

the women won it all too. so we took home 6 cups. we drank out of the trophies last night. and i’m going out to celebrate more this evening.

read about it.

see it from behind the scenes.

ok so i left here to go do a little drinking before i posted. went over to Jan’s and i finished off his crapass vodka and put a dent into his whiskey, so accordingly and in full cognizance of my actions, i am fighting a small hangover. i deserved both. some other stuff about the Duke trip: some of us ate in a restaurant that was somewhat Kenyan somewhat soul food somewhat shady and eclectic as all hell. they had Fried Spam on the menu to give you an idea of what kind of place it was. i had something called Samosa that was pretty damn good though.

i’m flying to Raleigh-Durham, N.C. today for the Duke University Duals. Its just the top four from each squad that travel when we fly. the guys leave today and the girls leave tomorrow. i’m excited to be traveling. i do, however, have the sniffles. last night i put on lots of clothing turned the heat up and put on a sock-hat then got under the covers and sweated myself out. hopefully i didn’t just incubate the cold.

anyway, i get to wear my suit today. i don’t get chances to dress up often so i figure i’ll make the best of it and go all out.

no friday mp3 this week…

seeya sunday.

what a damn long weekend that was. i was 2-0 today and my aunt and uncle got to see me win one of those bouts. it was a long trip for them for only a couple of minutes of fencing but i’m glad they came. they also gave me a gift certificate to the best pancake house ever. bibler’s. tonight there is a team dinner at Bruno’s pizzeria. that will also be very good. but until that time rolls around i’ve two poems to write, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to read, the preface to Paradise Lost (the Satan part) to read and a response paper to write regarding sigfried kracauer’s film theories.

so i’m outta here.

The men are 6-0, the women 5-1. I was 3-2 over the weekend. Always could’ve done better. Got most of my homework done. must prepare for career fair. pictures.

as you know, if you read this piece of dung with any semblance of regularity, i am crazy. i also fence. last night at mass instead of listening to the eucharistic prayer which i have heard probably around 2,000 times in my life i got to thinking. is there a patron saint for swords? so after the recessional i leapt silently up four flights of stairs and wandered in the general direction of my room in a madcap quest to find this out. when i finally arrived at my room an hour later i’d forgotten about it. but then i remembered and checked it out.

There is no patron saint for swords, but there are THREE for swordsmiths, Dunstan, Maurice, and Michael the Archangel. so no dice. but, was there a patron saint for fencing? yep, that is Michael the Archangel again. Something about beating the shit out of Lucifer with a sword and kicking his rebellious ass out of paradise. oh yeah, that and being the general of the heavenly host. what you think angels just sit around all day and sing praises? they need to kick ass too.

when i was confirmed as an adult in the Catholic church it is customary to accept a confirmation name of a saint who you think is a good match for you. I chose my bro Michael the Archangel. and then later i became a fencer. albeit not a very good one, but at least i’ve got gumption.

as i walked toward my first class of the day: Introduction to Archaeology, i couldn’t help but overhear i conversation in front of me.

Girl #1: “…I mean, if they used guns it would be way too loud.”

Girl #2: “Yeah, I guess so, but dueling with guns is so much cooler.”

#1: “That’s the only reason I can think of that there would be fencing schools.”

#2: “I guess so.”

What! As a fencer I should have turned around and enlightened them. Those who learn to fence, do not do so in order to duel. Those who learn to fence do so in order to participate in a sport that allows them to beat people with pieces of metal.

After that little bit of surreality, my archaeology class made things even stranger. mommy, today in school i learned about how corn has really domesticated us. we fertilize it, remove competing flora, and ensure its propagation en masse for future generations. we serve it. to borrow from my teacher, that corn muffin you ate this morning is really in charge. behold, corn and its diabolical plans to take over the world!

i’m back! my performance was less than acceptable. bagels suck. ’twill not happen again. i’m not the type to do exceptionally in an individual competition anyway. if teammates are around i am more focused. overall the team did rather well, my captain won for men’s epe and Alitsia won for women’s foil. most of the other really good fencers placed as well. the bus ride back was horrendously uncomfortable but i did manage to watch my way through the rest of Super Troopers (hilarious) and Zoolander (cameo by Bowie is really all it had going for it). we got back at 4:30. i’ve just finished skipping my first class. now i should probably go to my next one…

yeah, well i’m outta control. i’ve also got this embarassing personal problem that i’ve had for several weeks now. its uncomfortable and makes me very self-conscious. and i don;t know how to fix it apart from going to the doctor. and i don’t have time for that.

the above was just filler until i could actually have a moment to write. film shooting is eating up my week as tonight i will be spending the whole evening crewing for some classmates. tomorrow = more of same. today i had a good fencing lesson with janusz, my point control was dead on for the most part. at the end i learned a new action: beat-8 fleche to the arm with a remise to the body. for the layman, that basically means i used my blade to knock theirs toward the ground, then leapt at them point-of-the-blade first and tried to hit them on the wrist, failing that on the body. i enjoyed it and i want to make it useful. i’m going to try and start using it in the bout.

back, from remenyik, could’ve done better, but did ok. ND is 7-0, next weekend vs. Florida State. i’m going home momentarily, no updates till next saturday. i love you all.

well, the redesign is up, but needs debugged in the various browsers. last night when i loaded this onto the site i accidentally deleted the DNS authentication…I hope it resets soon. Today and tomorrow I will be at the Remenyik Fencing Tournament on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston, Illinois. Men’s epeé takes so long that it is a two day event. I haven’t fenced in a competition since last year’s Remenyik. The week after that I dislocated my knee. hard to believe its almost been a year. anyway, i’ll be back sunday evening with my results. I’m shooting high, but i want to finish in the top 8 if possible.

its a nice day out today, which means we will be running steps in the stadium. in past years that consists of running all the way ’round the stadium going up and down each set of steps. i do not know if it is going to be the same this year or not. i do not know if my legs can handle it. i think they are getting stronger but i’ve also slightly pulled a quadricep and i have a shin splint or stress fracture in my left leg. if we would have one day of practice in which we did something fun and also athletic i am willing to bet more people would start showing up, one month of drills is killing morale. i’m working on a redesign for this site, still having trouble reconciling the javascript thing…but then again, i haven’t worked on it for a week.

Welcome to the world of Janusz Bednarski, fencing coach.

What he says (thick Polish accent): Teoretikally, you all dzould be do-ink dee practiss ev-er-y day.

What he means: Get off your lazy bums and show some initiative, damn kids.

S: Ahh, dee at-letic office has written me zis letter (waves piece of paper) dat has very much persons on dee team ahh, list-ed. teoretikally, you all dzould be signing dee names to zem.

M: You are Notre Dame students, don’t you even know how to write your damn name? Stop creating useless paperwork for me.

S: ahh, ha-lo Michal (mee-how) my friend, i zee you are late for the practiss-ing again. Have you been out do-ink za drinkink and the dancink, and the partyink?

M: Next time you show up late i’m going to castrate you.

S: Now, ahh up! up! everybody and form da lines and do dee runnink. now…when i clasp you are jumpink and touchink the roof. on second clasp you are do-ink it leel bit faster.

M: I want to see you run around like idiots.

fencing conditioning is a rather interesting activity. sure we do lots of footwork, etc. but Zoltan our Euro assistant coach has his own unique methods which i believe are called the Idiotic Hungarian Jumping Drills. They are not idiotic because they are uneffective, on the contrary, they are good aerobically and muscularly. they are idiotic because we look like mentally deficient hyperactive bonobos while doing them. one drill in particular is incredibly ridiculous. we have to run the length of the gym ‘high-knees’ style while windmilling both arms in opposite directions. what i like least though is the one legged jumping. its fine for my right leg but it absolutely destroys my left leg. acetaminophen and ice only do so much.

in other news, the quest for grad school continues.

well i get about one meal a day right now. i’m definitely working on fixing that but it is rather difficult when you go for 8-10 hours at a stretch. i need the food because of practice and my insanely overactive metabolism. speaking of which, practice is going well despite my arthritic knee. i ice it each day after practice but i’m going out tonight to buy some acetaminophen to cut the ache a little. i think the rest of my week is due for a little slow down, this weekend i’m going to type the first paper of the semester and then do a location scout for my flik. i was supposed to start my weightlifting regimen today but after i dragged myself out of bed at 7 to go do such, i found out that the weight room was closed for a departmental meeting, it only forced myself and a pretty lacrosse girl out of the weight room but it also cut an hour of my sleep. splendiddlyiferous.

Happy Birthday to my Mother! she is 51! Go momma!

i’m not afraid to admit it. i am scared shitless that every time i walk into the fencing gym i am going to dislocate my kneecap again. with just reason too. since the connective tissue holding it in place is pretty much shot, i have to rely on muscle strength alone to keep it in place. and that is no guarantee. i want badly to fence and be physical yet the pain i have experienced the times i have dislocated my kneecap is too horrible to dwell on.

i cannot think about it except in the most generic way (FACT: kneecaps can be dislocated) without feeling nauseous and getting a chill. because for me it is personal (FACT: adam’s kneecap has been severely dislocated twice *shiver*) i think i would rather have a gaping flesh wound than a temporary disfigurement that gives the sensation of someone simultaneously pulling and sawing through your leg.

every night for the past week and half now i have relived this experience in a recurring dream. kneecap pops out while fencing, adam screams, falls down, writhes, pain.

and now after having actually experienced this twice (the second time requiring extensive physical therapy in order to learn to bend my leg again) i am a 21 year old with arthritis, a knee that cracks constantly, aches in tandem with the fluctuations of the barometer, and hurts severely after any physical activity. this only increases my anxiety. a little over a quarter of the way through my life, am i already limited by a physical ailment that will prevent me from doing what i want to do and being physically active?

fucking 3rd place. lets see what happened…broke my glasses, almost got arrested, got caught in a snowstorm. time spent in a car traveling…22 hours. classes today…2. homework needs happening, and all i want is a backrub. i’m going to sleep now since i just got back and it is 3AM.

today was quite possibly the longest day ever. it is spring right? then why did we get a few inches of snow? where are the damn crocuses? listen to this song. it kicks ass. also check out the new link.