Whats the best moment in sports you have seen.

[TAB]

Middle of july.

might also be going to cleveland in april if I have the  sky miles for it for the folkstyle nationals.

[fightingquaker13]

Path you posted:

Third event - I was a fencer in college, loved the sabre, but went to an inter-school match with St. Louis U in the foil. I got wiped, lost the 1st 3 matches. We were fencing with full electronic gear on, which was a first for me, but truthfully, I just sucked at foil.

4th match, I get to the line, get wired up, and we commence. He scores first. He scores second, but I noticed something. Third go-round, I discovered he had a weakness - a basic, fundamental, rookie move he could not defend against. Five straight points against him and I won the match. As the cute Catholic coed unhooked me from the wires, she whispered in my ear "You just beat our team captain!" I barely heard her, I was grinning at the win, it meant I was not going to be shut out.

After the match, the other team's coach came over and reamed me a new one for unsportsmanlike conduct - "gloating" at the win. Only problem, I wasn't gloating, but he refused to see it that way. In truth he was pissed that an obviously poor fencer (me) found his captain's weakness and beat him.

We've finally found something we agree on 100%. I fenced sabre in college (it was an Army ROTC thing). I too hated electric scoring. You hated foil, I hated epee. We didn't have inter-murals, but we sort of did. The various DC schools fenced against each other for fun and bragging rights, as did the various services' ROTC units. I found myself forced to fence epee in my first year in a match  against the Navy, as our guy didn't show. Therefore, it was forfeit or me since I hadn't fought before and our ROTC rules were you could only fight in one class (ROTC matches were to five points and only one weapon per fencer, to both move things along, and maximize participation). This was a slim choice, as I sucked at epee, just as you did in foil. What I didn't realize until it was over was that the Navy's guy was not only very good, but he was prior service. A CPO in SEAL Team 2. He kicked my ass 4-1. But, I scored the first point, and on a SEAL! In real life, I'd have walked away, or so I like to tell myself. Seriously, that one point was worth more than all the others I ever scored.  Its amazing how much a little thing like that can do for a scared 18 year old's confidence. Its why sports, for boys and girls alike, are a good thing.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

What is the difference between a "foil", and an "Epee", I thought they were the same design by different names ?

One of the few times I watched boxing, Young guy I forget whether it was Sugar Ray Leonard or his brother, Turns completely away from his opponent and takes a couple steps away, You could see the other guys eyes light up, he's going to knock this little SOB into next year, he draws back steps forward and gets knocked cold. The kid was already swinging when he turned around 
I have never before or since, seen some one get sucker punched during a bout, I did not know it could be done in the middle of a fight.  

[fightingquaker13]

What is the difference between a "foil", and an "Epee", I thought they were the same design by different names ?

Epees are like foils, only a lot heavier (and they actually hurt when you get jabbed ). They are a thursting weapon, no cutting allowed. The two big differences are this.
In foil, only the torso counts. All other hits are out of bounds. In epee, the whole body is a target. Foil purists mock epee as "the art of stabbing people in the foot".
The second difference is that there is no "right of way'. In Sabre and foil, the guy who extends his blade first has the "right of way". Only he can score until his blade is deflected. In Epee, this is not the case. This might make it seem more real, but that is an illusion. The right of way rule was there to remind you that the goal wasn't just kill to the other guy. It was to kill the other guy and survive. Stabbing each other? A bad idea. Also as to target area, foil dictates hits to center mass, appropriate for a rapier. Sabre says anything above the waist counts, head, arms and toso. Take a life, take an arm and you win. Epee says stick a guy in the leg and you think the fight is over. Survey says no. Me I llike Sabre. Epee to me seems the least useful weapon, with foil running a close second, but at least it teaches timing and discipline. Thats just my .02 though.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

Thanks for the answer FQ, I used to think Fencing might be cool, but I think I'll just stick with my axe 

[Sponsor]

[fightingquaker13]

Thanks for the answer FQ, I used to think Fencing might be cool, but I think I'll just stick with my axe 

Not a bad choice. In a fight, axe beats sword, BUT only as long as you keep it moving. The second you slow down or get over balanced? You're done.
FQ13 who might have, maybe, sort of, dated a chick in the SCA once. I will speak no further of it, but it was kind of fun. The girl and the fights.

[Timothy]

Got another...

It was the summer of ‘79 and I was still on active duty.  I lived in Fernbridge, CA for almost two years and guess that besides the 10 or 15 people that live in my house, the entire population of the town was maybe 50 give or take a few.  Of those, there were probably 8 or 10 kids ranging from 7 to about 15 years old.  Over the years I’d gotten to know most of them, they were always hanging around the store or playing on the hill behind the house.   They were poor kids but no bother really, they just needed something to occupy their time in a small town with absolutely no entertainment.

I was tossing a baseball with a few of one day and had an idea to put together a scrimmage game in the potato field across the road by the river bank.  We scrounged up some equipment I had, walked off a baseline and started to play.  It turns out that these kids were actually pretty good, they just never had the chance to play a real game before.  Over the next several weeks, when I was on my 96, they would pound on my door relentlessly until I gave in and have a game with them.  This went on for a while until I had the idea to take them all up to the base and let them play on a decent field for a change.  I got permission from their parents and arranged for some additional transportation out to the base and away we went.

We made the trip out to Centerville only to find that my buddy Billy was using the field that day for practice.  Seems Billy had put together a ladies team comprised of the Waves from CVB.  Needless to say, the kids were really disappointed to find the field unavailable and we almost left until I decided to challenge Bills ladies to a little pickup game of softball.  Bill thought at the time it would be good practice for his team and figured my ragtag team of kids would be no problem at all.  He had no idea what was about to happen.

The game started rather slowly until I noticed a few weak spots in Billy’s defense and then the fun began…I decided to bat cleanup and told my kids to do whatever they could to get on base.   It was really quite comical to watch these kids hit a ground ball and beat the throw to the bag.  The opposition’s defense was no match for the blinding speed of some of them.  They would load up the bases and I would push one down the right field line for a grand slam.  Bills right fielder was playing so far off the line it really wasn’t very hard to do.  Before he knew what hit him, we were up by so many runs that Bill called the “Mercy rule” to end the game.  I don’t recall how many grand slams I managed but there was more than one.  We played around on the field for a while but we’d had our fun.   The kids went back to school in September but they talked about that game for months. I became a civilian shortly after that and said my goodbyes.

It was all in good fun and on occasion I wonder what ever happened to all those kids. I hope I was able to imprint a good memory for them because it’s always been a good one for me.  Hopefully, when they grew into young men and women, they remembered a skinny sailor who took the time to give them something to do during that summer and maybe;  just maybe, it made a difference in their lives.  I sure hope so…..

[fightingquaker13]

Good for you Timothy, you done good. Also a lesson that there is no such thing as men's or women's sports. Just sports. And if you're paying attention, you'll learn a lot from them, not just as a kid, but as an adult who helps kids out. A great story.
FQ13

[SwoopSJ]

   All these heartwarming stories make me feel the need for a group hug!   

Seriously though, I wish I had a story, of contribution, to share like you guys.  I coached an all star baseball team when I was 21, but it wasn't pretty.  I really enjoyed working with the kids, but I'm afraid I wasn't the greatest roll model.  The officiating was horrible during the first, and our only, game of the tournament.  The ump was calling non-swinging strikes against us when the ball, literally, bounced before crossing the plate.  I didn't get ejected, but I left no doubt as to my feelings regarding the situation.  I could have, and should have, handled the situation better, but I wanted my players to at least get a fair shake.  Oh, well.  That's just one of the many situations I would handle differently if given a "do over". 

Swoop
   

[WatchManUSA]

I have three Great moments in sports were I attended the games.

Number 3 – 2009 MLB Game 163 Tigers vs. Twins

The game lasted for 12 innings (4 hours and 37 minutes) with the lead going back and forth until Carlos Gómez led off the bottom of the 12th with a single for the Twins and, after advancing to second on a ground out, scored off of a single by Alexei Casilla to right field giving the Twins a 6–5 walk-off victory.[

Number 2 – 1991 MLB World Series Game 7 Braves vs. Twins

Manager Tom Kelly went to the mound and looked like he was going to pull pitcher Jack Morris but Morris refused to come out of the game. Morris took to the hill for the top of the tenth retiring the side in order.   Morris was on the mound from the first pitch to the last.  Morris threw 126 pitches over 10 innings.

In the bottom of the 10th inning manager Tom Kelly sent Gene Larkin up to pinch hit. On the first pitch he saw, Larkin drove a single into deep left field, scoring Gladden with the series-winning run and giving the Twins their second world championship since moving to Minnesota.

Number 1 – 1991 MLB World Series Game 6 Braves vs. Twins

Bobby Cox sent Charlie Leibrandt to the mound to face Kirby Puckett. After taking three pitches from Leibrandt and with a two-ball, one-strike count on him, Puckett launched the next pitch into the left-center-field seats for a dramatic game-winning home run that tied the Series at three games apiece. That home run led to Jack Buck's now famous call of "And we'll see you tomorrow night!"

Most people wonder why I pick game six over game 7.  Without the win of game 6 there would have been no game 7.