Sport/Schmort:
Medieval
sports edition

> Do sports played a thousand years ago

still count as sports?

Rebecca Peterson
Staff Writer

 

ports of centuries long

past generally served an
important purpose in feudalistic
society: namely, to show off
one’s talent at killing people.
Tournaments focused on events
such as archery, swordplay, and
jousting—sports that begged
bruises and broken bones and
often left the losing side with a
permanent case of being dead.
These days, however, killing
one’s opponent is generally
frowned upon. With that in
mind, do these “sports” still
count as sports, or are they
nothing more than theatrics?

1. Jousting

The rules of jousting have
changed over the course of the
millennium, as battered corpses
now tend to put a damper on
sporting events rather than
bring a round of good cheer.
Most often what you'll see re-
enacted at Renaissance Fairs
is “Theatrical Jousting,” a pre-
choreographed event with
a loser and a winner already
decided. Given that this is the
case, does this really count as a
sport anymore?

One might argue that the
designation of “sport” doesn’t
necessarily lie in the presence
or absence of winners and
losers, but in the physical
skill necessary to partake in it.
Especially in pre-choreographed
events, enormous amounts of
skill as an equestrian, a lancer,
and a performer are necessary to
not only avoid murdering your
opponent, but to put on a good
show while not murdering your
opponent. It’s theatrics, yes, but
it’s also stunt work, a grueling
vocation already without
bringing horses into play.

As well, there are still
jousters who prefer to compete
the old fashioned way: in full
armour, with real lances, and
a true intent to unseat one’s
opponents. The appeal behind
bashing other people with
large weapons hasn’t entirely
been worked out of our species’
system, it would appear.

Verdict: Still a sport.

2. Swordplay

Like with jousting, injuries

and fatalities were far from
uncommon during tournament
sword events. Medieval
swordplay was not the carefully
regulated fencing we see at

the Olympic Games today.
Longswords are not foils, and
your best chance of winning
against an opponent in combat
lies less in fine skill and more in
blunt force.

That being said, it is far
harder to kill someone by
accident during swordplay
than it is jousting, as far fewer
horses are involved (generally).
This means, of course, that
combatants can try that much
harder to murder each other
with far less dire consequences.

As previously stated, in a real
fight, blunt force would likely
win out over fancy tricks and
fine manoeuvring; however,
getting ahead in tournament
combat does require hours of
training and dedication to the
craft, even today. Longswords
are extremely heavy—combine
weightlifting with cardio, and
throw in the ability to do this
in full armour often under hot,
sunny conditions. Certainly not
for the faint of heart, nor the
noodly-armed.

Verdict: Still a sport.

3. Archery

If ye had the chance te
change yer fate... would you
be able to propel a sharpened
stick about a hundred yards into
a bullseye using nothing but
another stick and a string?

Archery these days looks
quite a bit different from how
it was practiced by those in
medieval tournaments long
ago. Recreational recurve bows
seem far more complicated than
the longbows of Robin Hood’s
time, and reloadable crossbows
are certainly more popular for
hunting game. However, much
of the skill set involved is the
same: the ability to fully draw
a bow, to aim true, and to not
strike any spectators with a wild
shot.

If professional dart
tournaments exist under the
“sports” umbrella, then archery
is absolutely worthy as well.

It also helps that archery is
considered an Olympic level
sport.

Verdict: Still a sport.

Take me to the ballgame

> Men’s baseball opens season 1-3

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

t was a beautiful day out at
Whalley Park as the Douglas

men’s baseball team kicked off
the first of two games of the day
in their four-game series against
North division rivals Skagit Valley.
They had played Skagit twice the
day before going into Sunday’s
matchup, with both those games
being losses. The team looked
to prove a point on Sunday.

The first match proved to be
a battle of the starting pitchers.
The Royals’ Zach Campagne
shone through six innings,
only allowing four hits and one
run. In comparision, Skagit’s
pitcher allowed nine hits and
two runs in six innings of play.

One run was in the third,
when a gorgeous swing granted
outfielder Jacob Robazzaa
double, and allowed fellow
outfielder Shoma Sasaki to score
on the play. The second score
came in the fourth inning. A
sacrificial fly ball by infielder
Matt Yee allowed fellow infielder
Travis Ouellet to tag up at third
and score on the play. However,
that was all the good news
the Royals had left in them.

Going into the seventh,
things looked good for
Campagne. Two hits, a wild pitch,
and a run later, it was apparent
that things had changed. Coach
Cavanagh Whitely pulled his
starter and put in reliever Brett
Sakaki who tried to stop the
bleeding, but fell short of the
mark. A double, followed by a
triple gave the visitors two more
runs to make the score 4-2. A

home run in the 8th inning would
seal the Royals’ fate, and they
would go on to lose the game 5-2.
After the game Whitely
addressed the glaring issues with
his squad, and they prepped to
play the fourth and final game of
the weekend. He also addressed
his thoughts on the timing on
his pull of Campagne. “We kind
of sat back with the lead and
hoped they would go away and
they didn’t. Zach was on a pretty
good roll, so we wanted to give
him the seventh. But then he
missed some pitches, and walked
a guy, and fell behind on some
baserunners. Looking back, it’s
an easy one to look at and say
‘yeah we probably should have
got him out earlier’ but he was
pitching so well to that point
that we thought we would give
him a chance to get through the
lineup again.” Campagne would
finish the game with six hits,
three runs—all of them earned—
two walks, and six strikeouts.
The second game of the
day was played under much
different circumstances, as
the weather took a turn for
the worse. While the rain
held out, the wind did not.
The play also unfolded much
differently as well. The Royals
got on the scoreboard early,
scoring two runs in the first
inning off of three hits. Catcher
Daniel Keck scored on infielder
Shane Wlodarczak’s double, and
Robazza scored on Ouellet’s, 4-3.
Skagit was quick to answer,
as they scored a run in the
following inning on an error
by pitcher Cole Russell. They
continued to claw back in the
fourth, scoring a run on a number

of errors by the Royals. Weary
of another comeback, infielder
Matt Whitehead scored a run for
the Royals off of a Yee single.

Russell, who had placed
excellently for the Royals, like
his teammate Zach, struggled
in the seventh. Three hits, one
run, and a wild pitch would
end Russell’s night, as Whitely
yanked him before the lead
could be lost. Russell ended
the game with five hits, three
runs—two of them earned—two
walks, and seven strikeouts.

Veteran Calvin Sandhu was
called upon to close the game
out, but his recovery from an
oblique injury was evident as he
struggled to finish. He finished
the seventh inning for the Royals,
before walking a player in the 8th
and getting pulled by Whitely.

The Royals would add
two scores in that timeframe.
One from Ouellet off of a wild
pitch, and the other from Ethan
Fox off Daniel Keck’s double.
Matt Courneya would get the
call to close the game out for
the Royals, and he made no
mistakes, striking out two in
two inning, with no hits or runs,
to end the game. The win was
awarded to Russell with the save
being credited to Courneya.

The win gives the Royals
their first win of the season, as
they advance to 1-3 on the year.
After the game Whitely spoke
about his hopes and expectations
for the team. “We've got a young
group with a lot of new faces. As
a young group, there’s a learning
curve. I think if we learn some
good lessons, that this will be
a push in the right direction.”

 

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Photos by Davie Wong