On May 6th Dr. Jack Horton will celebrate his 80th birthday. I am calling to skiers, far and wide, to send birthday cards to my address so I can surprise him with all the cards at once.
BallOfSpray User Blogs
Mar 03, 2010
2010 Masters Water Ski & Wakeboard Tournament
The 51st Masters Water Ski & Wakeboard Tournament® will be held May 28-30, 2010. The Masters is known throughout the world as the most prestigious watersports tournament. The event began in 1959 at Callaway Gardens and is held annually during the Memorial Day weekend.
The Robin Lake site at Callaway, built specifically for the Masters, boasts an expansive pavilion with covered stadium seating, judges’ tower and media area. The action can be seen clearly from the beach and picnic areas. The immaculately maintained gardens, lakes, resort and attractions at Callaway provide a tournament venue like no other in the world.
An invitation to compete in the Masters is universally considered an honor and an acknowledgement of achievement for reaching the pinnacle in a given watersports discipline – only the world’s most elite athletes compete at the Masters! This tournament is IWWF/USA Water Ski and WWA sanctioned.
The 18th Junior Masters Tournament features the world’s finest junior waterskiing and wakeboarding athletes. In lieu of prize monies, junior competitors receive trophies.
Mar 01, 2010
The 2010 Malibu Open is scheduled to go off at Veteran’s Park in Milwaukee, WI this August.
(Milwaukee, WI) – Malibu Boats and Milwaukee County Parks have teamed up to bring the 2010 Malibu Open to Veteran’s Park in Milwaukee, WI on August 6-7. World records can expect to be broken with Malibu as the official towboat. The world’s top slalom and jump skiers will be competing for $50,000 in prize money on the smooth waters of Veteran’s Park. At this high-profile location, spectators will witness a weekend of history-making performances amidst the fun and excitement that a Malibu Boats-supported tournament is known for.
The site of Harley-Davidson’s 105th Anniversary Celebration, Veteran’s Park is home to the 2010 Malibu Open. This Milwaukee County Park has hosted numerous large events. The Harley event welcomed crowds in excess of 100,000.
Feb 28, 2010
This week's web show is tonight, Sunday February 28th. Marcus Brown is traveling to Australia tomorrow for the 50th Moomba Masters, so our weekly chat is a day early.
Trent Finlayson has promised to make an appearance tonight -- so expect to see him live with Marcus at 6PM Pacific, 9PM Eastern.
Log in to watch in the ChatBox
Feb 24, 2010
No Ski League is complete without it's own Championship Event. USAWS Has Nationals, NCWSA Has All-Stars, INT Has Championships... and the Summer Shootout League has the Team Tournament of Champions (name under review).
What is this?
The Top Teams at the end of the Summer Shootout Will be Invited to Participate in a Team Championship Tournament. The Team Tournament is tentatively set for the weekend of September 24, 2010 at the H2Osmosis Training Center in Charleston, SC. Details are in the works, but it will be a multiple-round elimination tournament featuring the best 2-4 teams from the Summer Shootout.
There are already teams from New Hampshire, South Carolina, Georgia, Canada, and Utah. There's been interest from California, Oregon, Michigan, Tennesee and Minnesota... as well as the Midwest and Toronto.
The Summer Shootout League is scored by a handicapping system that awards skiers who are able to improve their scores from week to week. The league exists for you to have fun with your friends, outside the formality of USAWS-style competitions. Let's have some fun, get excited about skiing, and grow the sport in the process.
So get your Power User subscription, dial in your ski log, and create or join a team today!. The clock is ticking until the league kicks off May 31st.
Feb 17, 2010
There are a few things about being married to an entomologist that I did not expect. Turns out that entomologists work with vineyards and Gallagher 
works will some high end wine makers on the Central Coast of California as well as Napa and Sonoma. Last night I found myself in a restaurant with only 5 tables, eating Foie Gras, Colorado Lamb, Oysters, Sand Dabs on Cauliflower Puree and all the high dollar wine I could drink. I will never understand why the bed was 5 feet off the floor but I managed to not fall off.
If you are ever in Paso Robles, California, I can not recommend Justin Winery enough http://www.justinwine.com/. If you can visit as the vineyard manager’s personal guest, I highly recommend it.
Feb 14, 2010
This very sad news was forwarded to me by Robby Trimble
Travis Bucchli, Dave and Bobbie's son passed away today, loosing a year long battle with Leukemia. Most everyone knows the Bucchli family they have been such a driving force in the building of Arizona tournament waterskiing. Travis was a competitive waterskier off and on since childhood, had returned to Bucchli Lake and was back into skiing with Dave, not long before he was diagnosed. Just wanted to give the waterski community an opportunity to take a minute and say a prayer for the Bucchlis at this time of great sadness.
