Scoring a Point for Charity
Lt. Governor, Annapolis Alderman Engage in Fencing Duel

By Nelson Hernandez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 20, 2003; Page B04
 

Maryland's lieutenant governor and an Annapolis alderman had a conversation yesterday. In steel.

A hundred residents, politicians and youngsters packed the Annapolis Recreation Center to see one of the more unusual political spectacles of the year as Michael S. Steele, the tall, trim Republican lieutenant governor, took on George Kelley, the portly Democratic alderman, in a fencing match.

The duel, arranged when Kelley challenged Steele, raised $215 for United Way of Central Maryland; side bets on Steele's victory also brought an undisclosed sum to his biggest cheerleader, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

"The Ehrlich administration is wealthier now than it was 20 minutes ago," a proud Ehrlich told reporters after the 15-minute match.

Neither Steele nor Kelley had done much fencing recently, but both carried plenty of experience in the sport known to aficionados as "physical chess." Steele first tried the sport during his days at Johns Hopkins University, where he specialized in the epee.

Kelley received his dueling education at Eli Whitney Vocational High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he became a master of the foil and competed nationally in the early 1970s. Since Kelley was the challenger, he agreed to fight with Steele's chosen weapon, the epee.

"I was told I was good enough to go to the Olympic trials once upon a time," said a confident Kelley.

Apparently, Kelley also learned to trash talk during his fencing career. He said he had prepared for his match with Steele by "eating nails."

"He's going to be a done chicken," he said before the duel. "I'm just going to stick a fork in him and roll him over."

He dismissed Steele's advantages in height, reach and apparent physical fitness.

"Even though the lieutenant governor is a lot taller and leaner, once we're on the strip, it's going to be every man for himself," Kelley said. But he deferred to political self-interest: "If it would help the city get a few more dollars, I'll let him get a stick or two in."

Steele has heard worse from Ehrlich, an avid -- though not necessarily skilled -- basketball player who argues fervently that fencing is not a sport. Several times in public, Ehrlich has praised Steele's gentlemanly nature only to close with the condemnation that he's "not an athlete."

Although he refused to take back anything he had said, Ehrlich showed up yesterday to cheer for the man he calls the "Lt. Gov.," a nickname he pronounced "lit gov."

"There is absolutely no chance of the governor ever participating in an event like this, but I am here for support," said Ehrlich, who stood on the sidelines chanting "Lt. Gov.!" and booing Kelley, who had his own smaller section -- including Annapolis Mayor Ellen O. Moyer -- cheering "21401," the Annapolis Zip code.

The state troopers guarding the dignitaries watched nervously.

"What's the line of succession in case the Lt. Gov. goes down, Paul?" Ehrlich asked of his spokesman, Paul E. Schurick.

The duel began.

"Ready?" asked Arne Backes, the referee. "Fence!"

The movements in the sport of fencing, unlike those in Errol Flynn movies, are so rapid that they defy coherent description to any but an expert. The two duelists lunged at each other relentlessly, causing sparks to fly when they parried each other's blows. Kelley, contrary to the governor's expectations, scored an easy victory in the first bout of the best-of-three match, winning 5-1. But it wasn't a fair contest: Something was wrong with the electrical system used to detect when Steele had scored a blow.

"Democrats! Democrats!" Ehrlich shouted from the sidelines, convinced it was a plot. He ran over to Steele to impart some advice. "You'd better win, because we have some bets on the side," Ehrlich recounted to reporters.

And win he did. With a working weapon, Steele took the next two bouts handily, 5-2 and 5-3. Sweating profusely, the two men embraced as the crowd cheered and Ehrlich rushed up to give Steele a high-five.

As Ehrlich grabbed an epee and waved it about, saying, "I want one of these for session," Steele and Kelley promised a rematch.

"He's a good fencer. I won't take that away from him," Kelley said. "In the rematch, he'll be using the foil and not the epee."
 
 

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