Boy's Life blurb

[Scott White]

Here's a debate going on in rec.org.sca. Thought I'd haul it in here & see
what you folks thought:


>>	On pg. 52 of the February issue of _Boy's Life_ magazine,
>>an article titled "Kooky Sports" ends with the following 
>>paragraph:
>>	"Sword Fighting and Jousting:
>>	The oddest sportsmen of all may be the members of the
>>_Society for Creative Anachronism_.  They dress up like kings 
>>and knights from the 12th or 13th centuries.
>>	They fight with broadswords and joust with lances from
>>horseback. No one is hurt, of course, because they use wooden
>>weapons and clash in make-believe combat."
>>	The drawing shows a knight on horseback, in late-era
>>jousting armor, chasing a team of men pulling and pushing a 
>>wheeled outhouse...
>>	The closing sentence reads "For these whacky atheletes,
>>the odder the sport, the better."
>>	Anyone know which senior officer is responsible for 
>>dealing with this sort of thing?

        The responses to this include:

>This is, by far, the worst description of the SCA that I've seen from
>anyone who wasn't trying to brand us as satanists or cultists.  Is
>there any possibility that the Society Seneschal or someone might be
>able to get rebuttal space or something?

        And:

>Someone should find the highest ranking Peer who was also a Boy Scout
>(Eagle, preferably), and have HIM contact the BSA. Negotiate for an
>ARTICLE on the SCA (which we naturally provide, along with color
>photographs) which shows the athletic/educational/service aspects of our
>international organization in a positive light.

        And:

>> Negotiate for this space on the strength of their (I'm sure)
>> "unintentional misrepresentation" of (something or other legal - Mar
>> Yakkov, where are you?).

        There were also a number of folks who tried to put things in a more
reasonable perspective:

>Boy's Life is a magazine for kids.  Trying to explain chivalry,
>men-at-arms v. armigerous-levels of fighters, arts and sciences,
>Period and non-period, etc is a little beyond the Pale of the mag.
>(Heck, half the time, we can't agree on distinctions within our org,
>let alone outside of it.)

>Face it, SCA sword and board is a strange sport when viewed from the
>outside.  Accurate representations of SCA life is rare, why get stoked
>over this minor offense?

>Back off, look back at us, and we're a bit strange and funny.  I like
>it that way.  Let's not get too riled about a common misrepresentation
>that does no harm.  Heck, If I saw that story as a kid, I'd probably
>want to learn more.  That's the kind of kid I was at times.

   So what do YOU think about this?


                Gnith
                <swhite at cimedia.com>

BTW, I'm a member of the media, so I have an obviously vested interest in
this topic; I'll let you folks have first crack & then I'll jump in & howl &
rend my clothes  ;)