> I can't believe that fencing is considered a sport and I can't believe that so many people
> rate it so highly. I've built a few fences in my day and believe me, it's no fun. With a board
> fence, you have to learn to deal with splinters, bent nails, and smashed thumbs. With wire,
> especially barbed wire, you are going to lose a lot of blood. Try driving one of those little
> staples without it taking off for the moon! Or maybe your eye. And fences require postholes.
> Dozens of postholes. Even hundreds of postholes. Digging a posthole is not the kindest
> thing you ever did for your back, arms, and sholders, not to mention blisters on your hands.
> Not my idea of a sport!

Somewhere, I've got a tape on which is a comic monologue about a bloke who hears that there's going to be a fencing contest in Melbourne (it's an old monologue), so he heads down to take part, but when he gets there two of the competitors are fighting!

> What? Not that kind of fencing? Oh, I see. Yes, I know about the other kind. In fact I have
> a distant cousin named Roscoe who is a fence. He makes good money fencing. He says
> fencing is the only thing he really knows. He doesn't mind an occasional raid or a trip to see
> the judge. Fines are just a business expense, and if he does a little time, it's just a vacation
> from the hussle and bussle of the fencing business. It's part of the game. Yes, fencing is
> a game. But I still don't think of it as a sport. In Roscoe's neighborhood, it's sort of a
> public service.

Well, they do say that good fences make good neighbours...

Paul