When They Say They Get Medieval, They're Not Kidding

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The first rule of this fight club: You do not talk about fight club, because it’s really, really nerdy.

The second rule of this fight club: We’re talking costumed grown-ups with foam-padded weapons play-fighting in a park nerdy.

The third rule of this fight club: Seriously.

This posse of weapon-wielding warriors like to say that they’re “gonna git Medieval,” and by Medieval, they mean “gonna git” dressed up our Robin Hood costumes and hit each other with all manner of weaponry covered in foam.

But they're not crazy, and they're not out for blood. They are members of the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society, and frankly, they don’t care if you think that is … well … a little odd, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reports.

"We realize this is kind of a nerdy hobby, and we get our share of hecklers, but we don't mind. When we're practicing at the park, a lot of people will drive by and yell out things like lines from 'Braveheart.,'" Matt Loeser, the event organizer for this Dun Abhon Realm chapter of the nationwide fight club, said.

And don’t go thinking that all is fair in this war game — the fighters abide by a strict set of codes and regulations established in The Belegarth Book of War. Among them, no head-bonking or purposeful infliction of serious injury allowed.

The participants each adopt a fantasy name and identity, and they keep it real when they’re doing battle.

How real?

"If you're struck in the arm, you have to place that arm behind your back, and if you're hit on the leg, you have to stand on one leg," Huber said.

And to keep it safe, all battles are monitored by referees, known as marshals. If a dangerous situation develops, the marshals stop the fight until they decide it’s safe to start it up again.

"I enjoy the physicality first of all. It's great exercise, and there aren't any other activities that I know of when you can hit someone and they don't get mad at you. Like any other contact sport, it is not only demanding on your strength, stamina and speed, but also your wit. I also have nostalgia for things medieval. Plus, everyone wants to be a hero now and then,” Loeser said.

So if you see these seasoned swordsmen getting crazy in a park near you, fear not. They are merely mild-mannered men and women from all walks of life with a passion for history — who just happen to enjoy whacking their friends in the shins every once and a while.

Come to think of it, who wouldn't?

Here's to You, Mr. Toobadthere'snobeerinjail Guy

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Maybe those beer commercials are true. Some people, apparently, will do just about anything for a Bud Light.

Norvelle Hicks, 48, of Jerseyville, Ill., was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison for stealing a semi-trailer loaded with the Anheuser-Busch product.

U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said Hicks masterminded a scheme in January to steal the trailer and sell the beer to merchants and club owners in East St. Louis, Ill.

Hicks told an undercover informant that he had stolen several semi-trailers, authorities said. The informant advised the FBI, which worked with Anheuser-Busch to find a trailer containing 2,352 cases of the world's top-selling light beer on a truck lot in suburban St. Louis.

Hicks was arrested when he opened the trailer. He pleaded guilty in February to one felony count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods of more than $5,000 in interstate commerce.

Say Cheese, Idiot!

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — An east Georgia man landed in jail after photographing his healthy plants and going to local drug store to have the pictures developed.

His bumper crop was marijuana, according to police, who arrested him as he went to pick the photos up.

Statesboro Police Capt. L. C. Williams said Byron Charles Mattheeussen, 21, was charged Tuesday with manufacturing marijuana, manufacturing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a housing project, and possession of drug related objects.

Williams said a photo lab technician called police after seeing the subject of the photos. Officers confirmed the plants in the pictures were marijuana, he said.

After getting a search warrant, he said, police found 42 suspected marijuana plants growing in and around the residence, along with tools, literature on growing marijuana and pot-smoking paraphernalia.

Mattheeussen was taken to the Bulloch County Jail and issued an $8,000 property bond.

Who Doesn't Enjoy the Occasional Misshapen Vegetable?

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The president of the Idaho Potato Commission says there's no way a heart-shaped potato should have made it through the state's inspection system without being pulled aside and turned into french fries. And yet, it did — during Potato Lover's Month.

"I would guarantee someone saw it and thought, 'This is cool, we'll let this go through,'" said commission president Frank Muir. "Typically, unique shapes will go into processing — dehydrated or cut up into french fries."

The spud wound up in the kitchen of someone with a receptive eye.

"I love hearts," said Linda Greene of Moon Township, Pa., who discovered the potato in February but only recently alerted the potato commission to the Valentine-shaped tuber. "My engagement ring is actually a heart shape. Anything heart-shaped I go crazy for."

She is storing the potato in a cupboard in her basement.

"I don't have the heart to cut it," she said.

February was designated Potato Lover's Month by Congress after growers lobbied for a way to sell more potatoes during a slow month. It's also the month of Mr. Potato Head's recognized birthday, Feb. 5.

Idaho is the nation's largest potato producer and grows about one-third of all the potatoes in the United States. Last year, the state produced 12.5 billion pounds.

Greene said she had never heard of the commission until she searched the Internet to share her find with someone capable of appreciating its significance. She then e-mailed a picture of herself holding the potato over her own heart to the commission.

Muir said his office received her e-mail in March and got confirmation photos last month. He said the special spud was not a public relations ploy.

"We didn't plant it," said Muir. "We'll have to start sorting for heart-shaped potatoes."

He'd have a customer in Pennsylvania.

"It's a shame they can't grow them and market them," Greene said. "I wonder if I planted mine if I would get heart-shaped potatoes?"

Compiled by FOXNews.com's Taylor Timmins.

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