PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY DOWN FOR UPDATES.

As usual, Fencing.net has the scoop:

Women’s Individual Sabre: USA network on Friday, August 8 9; 2-3pm and again at 9:45-10:30 pm*

Women’s Team Sabre: USA network on Wednesday, August 13 14; 2-3:30pm and again at 10-11pm*

Men’s Team Sabre: MSNBC on Saturday, August 16 17; 10-11:30pm.*

Times are subject to change so please check your local listings for updates. Also watch NBCOlympics.com for possible streaming video options.

I downgraded my cable over a year ago because I wasn’t watching that much tv. So, do I upgrade for the Olympics? It’s very tempting….

*UPDATE 1:  I’ve found conflicting information on the dates and times. Another source lists August 9, 14, and 17, and it’s not clear what time zone the broadcast is listed in. I will keep this post updated with the latest information.

*UPDATE 2:  Yay! Cable’s back on, and the schedule pages at NBC have been updated. I think it’s clear that fencing will be broadcast in the U.S. on August 9th, 14th, and 17th. What is not clear are the times. For Women’s Individual Sabre, a window between 2:00 am and 2:00 pm EST is listed on USA Network, and 10:00 am EST to 6:00 pm EST for NBC. ARRRRGGH! How am I supposed to watch TV all day just to see fencing? Grrrrr.

*UPDATE 3: Dsapery over at Fencing.net has posted the times for the fencing events. The following are the times posted, in EST:

Women’s Saber - Fri Aug 8 to Sat Aug 9
10:00pm-1:45am Round of 64 through quarterfinals
7:00am Semifinals
7:50am Bronze Medal Match
8:10am Gold Medal Match

Women’s Saber Team - Wed Aug 13 to Thu Aug 14
9:30pm Quarterfinals
10:40pm Losers bracket
11:40pm Semifinals
12:50am 5th place and 7th place matches
6:00am Bronze Medal Match
7:00am Gold Medal Match

Men’s Saber Team - Sat Aug 16 to Sun Aug 17
9:30pm Quarterfinals
10:40pm Losers bracket
11:40pm Semifinals
12:50am 5th place and 7th place matches
6:00am Bronze Medal Match
7:00am Gold Medal Match

I’ve only listed these events because they are the only ones to be broadcast live in the U.S. You can catch the other times over at Dsapery’s post at Fencing.net.

MDR

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Great news! The Nike Ballestra fencing shoe will be available to the fencing public August 8! Expected to be priced around $150, this will be the first foray into fencing for Nike. Watch a video on the shoe’s development here. In addition, Fencing.net has been covering this news story from the beginning.

If you are interested in the Nike Ballestra, please consider filling out this form at Fencing.net. This will help Nike to gauge interest  and could potentially impact their future plans for this shoe. Spread the word!

MDR

Update: Alas, the word is mum on the future of the Ballestra. According to Craig Harkins of Fencing.net, who has been in touch with Nike, they decided to go ahead and produce 500 pairs a month. But almost four months after the Olympics, the Ballestra is still listed as sold out at the Nike store. With such great reviews I’m still holding out hope, just not holding my breath. I went ahead and bought a pair of Adidas En Gardes for the season. So far the fit and comfort are solid, but as an epeeist I expect them to wear out rather quickly. I’m already planning on trying some form of court shoes next year, with more forefoot support for bouncing and lateral movements.

Follow the main Ballestra thread at Fencing.net!

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David Sapery over at Fencing.net has posted the actual times for the fencing events. I’ve combined that information with the schedule posted on NBCOlympics.com. It’s likely that only the gold medal matches will be broadcast, the first time live and the second time as a replay in an afternoon window, but NBC lists such a large broadcast window that I included the entire schedule for these events. All times are U. S. Eastern Standard:

Women’s Saber - Sat Aug 9, USA Network 2am-2pm and NBC 10am-6pm
10:00pm-1:45am Round of 64 through quarterfinals
7:00am Semifinals
7:50am Bronze Medal Match
8:10am Gold Medal Match

Women’s Saber Team - Thu Aug 14, USA Network 2am-12pm
9:30pm Quarterfinals
10:40pm Losers bracket
11:40pm Semifinals
12:50am 5th place and 7th place matches
6:00am Bronze Medal Match
7:00am Gold Medal Match

Men’s Saber Team - Sun Aug 17, Universal HD 12am-12 am, MSNBC 5am-5 pm
9:30pm Quarterfinals
10:40pm Losers bracket
11:40pm Semifinals
12:50am 5th place and 7th place matches
6:00am Bronze Medal Match
7:00am Gold Medal Match

I’ve only listed these events because they are the only ones to be broadcast on U.S. television. Webcasts are still a possibility over at NBC’s website, so I’ll stay tuned there as well. For updates and the full event schedule, please check the links above, and stay tuned!!!

MDR

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I just finished watching the Womens Sabre finals on NBCOlympics.com. What an awesome event! Some very tense moments, too, but for the most part the streaming video worked beautifully (running Microsoft Silverlight, via Firefox 3 on a MacBook Pro over broadband). Congratulations to Mariel, Sada, and Becca! The most complete blog coverage is over at Fencing.net where Craig Harkins is live-blogging the event, with posts up minutes after each bout ends.

I do have a few issues with the NBC coverage though.

First, live streaming coverage is not available unless you have the most up-to-date high speed computer and internet connection. And I do mean FAST: they recommend a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 with 1GB RAM or Intel-based Macintosh, 768k broadband connection. It’s also been reported that Macs running on Power PC chips instead of Intel are out of luck.

Second, your cable company has to have some kind of agreement with NBC. That’s right, if you don’t enter the “correct” zip code and cable company on NBCOlympics.com, it may tell you that you can’t view live video because you don’t have the “right” cable company.

Another complaint is that NBC habitually cut away from LIVE ACTION to show a replay. How about picture-in-a-picture for the replay? Many critical points weren’t broadcast because of this problem.

Lastly, it was my understanding that at least the gold medal bout would be broadcast live on USA network, but they were too busy covering early-round women’s basketball. Are you telling me you can’t even stop watching basketball for ten minutes to watch an all-USA final? I’m told there was some quarterfinal coverage on USA last night, but NBC’s totally ignoring this match is really sad. I mean, what does US fencing have to do for some recognition here? I can only hope that as the day plays out that there will be a rebroadcast and lots of recaps. *

I can only hope that the future of Olympic coverage lies in the set-top boxes like Apple TV or Microsoft Media Center. It should look like this: a box that hooks up to your TV and streams live TV over broadband, with DVR capability, and access to any event at any time. The local agreements with different cable networks are patently unfair, as that means there are people with perfectly good money that want Olympic access that just aren’t going to get it.

If you’re outside the US, let us know how the coverage has been in your country. Men’s epee starts tonight at 10pm Eastern!

MDR

*Edit: The WS finals were broadcast at 4pm EST on MSNBC. It looked great, was broadcast in its entirety and they gave fencing a solid hour during a nice timeslot. Can’t complain too much except it would have been nice for NBC to post exactly when it was on rather than a generic 6-hour window for me to just guess at.