15_ by Spectrum Newspaper

the spectrum newspaper • january 29, 2015

Foiling fencing equipment Sports players react to grand jury decisions

sports

A guide to fencing style and safety Players role in influencing the public via social media is questioned Conor McDonough • Staff Writer he Blake Fencing team is entering into a stretch of their season packed with competition. For those that aren’t familiar with the team here’s a little who’s who of Blake Fencing. Senior Captains Solomon Polansky ‘15, Merrick Pierson Smela ‘15, Elizabeth Parente ‘15 and Sophomore Captain Riley Weinm a n ‘17 comprise the leadership team of the group. Pierson Smela is the captain of the é p é e style of fencing. The different styles a r e named for the different swords they require. He reported “the épée sword grew out of the swords used for dueling in the 18th and 19th centuries.” The épée is a heavier weapon, one with which an épée fencer must touch their opponent with a force of 7.4 Newtons. Fencers who use a lighter sword, the foil, need only register touches of 4.9 Newtons. Touches with the foil and épée swords only register if they are with the button-like tip of the sword. The other sword besides the foil and the épée is the saber. This “looks more like the ‘stereotypical’ sword, with a big guard and no button on the tip, since you can hit with the side of the blade, or the tip,” Says Polansky. The other important pieces of equipment are the gloves and the mask. The gloves are simple cloth and the mask is made of mesh and tested before every match to protect the Bears. The Blake fencing teams are state contenders and they are entering into a stretch of the season with some of their most important matches. Their biggest rival is St. Paul Academy, who they have faced in the state championship numerous times. Polansky describes their face off as “the biggest dual meet” of the year. These two teams will face each other on January 28th at 4:30 in the middle school gym. Come out to support one of Blake’s most successful teams!

Terms to know:

Lunge: The attack on one fencer by another Parry: The defense to a lunge

En Garde: A fencer’s basic stance or a judge’s warning Pret:

to prepare to fence A signal that the match is about to begin

Allez: The equivalent of “go” in a fencing match Arret: A judge’s way of telling fencers to stop fencing Riposte: The attack a fencer may use immediately after a parry

A standard épeé mask and jacket

photo credit: Fiona Duffy

Will Kaback • Sports Editor

An excerpt from a professional athlete’s tweet responding to the Grandy Jury decisions. See the full graphic online.

n the wake of two non-indictments for officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, respectively, there has been an enormous national outcry. Large-scale protests over the decision not to indict the officers for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have created a major controversy and brought issues of racial equality to the forefront of American society and politics. Another area of American popular culture, the sports world, has also proven to be a hotbed of debate as professional athletes from many different sports express their reaction to the deeply emotional events of the past month and year. The strong and vocal reaction from athletes in response to events such as Ferguson raises the question, What role should athletes play in shaping public opinion? When a jury returned a not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman in the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin in 2013, the outcry was heard far and wide from professional sports. NBA center DeAndre Jordan was one of many who called the justice system hypocritical. “You get jail time for dog-fighting or shooting yourself but get off after killing a teenager....doesn’t make sense to me,” tweeted Jordan, referring to NFL player Michael Vick’s two year jail sentence for dog fighting and former Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress’s conviction for accidentally shooting himself with his own gun. Michael Vick’s brother, Marcus, tweeted, “Like I said before, a dog’s life mean more then [sic] a human of color.” Some reactions turned extreme and even violent. Falcons receiver Roddy White tweeted, “All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid.” This tweet was later deleted. While White’s reaction certainly did not represent the norm, it seemed as though athletes across all sports took to social media to voice their opinions. While the protests in Ferguson have been raging on since Michael Brown’s death in August, many professional athletes waited until the grand jury decision to make statements. When the grand jury returned a non-indictment for Darren Wilson, athletes once more voiced strong disapproval. Laker’s basketball star Kobe Bryant said “The system enables young black men to be killed behind the mask of law,” while point guard Steve Nash took a more rhetorical approach, tweeting “Disgusted by decision in furguson. Racism is learned. Accepted is systematic suffocation of education and opportunity. What are we saying?” Others, such as Kenny Smith, a basketball analyst for TNT, tried to find a positive outlook. “Right or Wrong DONT EVER THINK YOUR LIFE ISNT VALUED!” tweeted Smith. “You are are champion/ an Allstar / a hall of famer! #blackyouth #allyouth.” In the NFL, St. Louis Rams players came out of the tunnel before their game on Nov. 30th with their hands raised in the air, a sign meaning “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot.” This form of protest was related to reports that Michael

graphic credit; CC Lucas

Brown was shot with his hands in the air. The Rams players faced criticism for their actions, especially from the St. Louis Police, who called for an apology from the organization. While the majority of athletes who expressed their opinion were in disagreement with the Grand Jury’s decision, there was one notable exception. Hall of Fame NBA player Charles Barkley said he believed Wilson should not have been indicted and called those who were looting in the midst of the protests “scumbags.” Barkley also faced backlash for his comments and he later went on to say that he was too harsh in his wording. Some of the reason for the massive response was that a Grand Jury rarely chooses not to indict. An indictment only means that there is enough evidence for a trial to be held, and the defense is not even allowed to present evidence or make an argument. The rarity of this decision was shown numerically by the ESPN-owned statistics website, FiveThirtyEight.com, which wrote: “According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. attorneys prosecuted 162,000 federal cases in 2010, the most recent year for which we have data. Grand Juries declined to return an indictment in 11 of them.” The nationwide protests were intensified when, barely a week after the Ferguson decision, a New York jury did not vote to indict officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner. Garner was killed after being put in a choke hold by Pantaleo, and the coroner’s office ruled his death a homicide. Garner was accused of selling untaxed cigarettes, a minor crime. A video of his death was taken and that the officer was not indicted made many wonder what additional evidence was needed. Aside from anger on Twitter, athletes took to the field and court in protest. Bulls point guard Derrick Rose wore a shirt that said “I Can’t Breathe” as a warm up on Dec. 6, which were the last words of Garner as he struggled under the choke hold. In the NFL, Lions running back Reggie Bush wore a shirt adorned with the same words, and Rams offensive lineman Davin Joseph wrote the phrase on his cleats. There was little disparity in athletes reactions, as almost all of them expressed some sort of outrage with the decision. The deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner triggered a national response with their similar outcomes of not guilty or non-indictments for the accused policemen. Reactions ranged from anger, to disappointment, to agreement; however, each reaction was displayed to a very large population via social media. These deaths brought forth a whole new discussion on race and equality in America, in popular culture and sports media. Sports are a huge part of our American culture, the same culture that faces the tough questions that these cases ask, so it is vital to include their voices in the discussion.

January’s mystery athlete

Will Leadholm • Staff Writer This month’s mystery athlete is new to Blake and making a name for himself by earning a spot on the Varsity Hockey team. He has been playing hockey since he was six years old and plays on offense as a forward. He is left-handed and has made a considerable impact on the team as a part of the second line. He is also known amongst the squad for having extremely old skates. Can you guess the identity of this month’s mystery athlete?