gator1 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 @XR6hurricane:yep. And after about 6 passes, the eagles can have it for the rest of the day. Another tournament problem: I unfortunately have the phsych tests and write-ups (commissioned by former employers) to prove I'm pretty much 3 sigma type A personality, stacked on top of engineer approach. Which, if you look at the ballers as a whole, is pretty typical. Taking the prototypical baller personality and asking him to stand around for hours waiting his turn while he could be skiing at his home site is a not something the brand managers would suggest as a good demographic fit between product and target market. "Well, don't show up until right before your turn". Yeah, right. Unpredictable schedules with binary results fit the demographic even worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller jcamp Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 I keep from getting bored between tournament rounds by judging, dock starting, rope wrangling, taking pictures to share with everyone who skis, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Marco Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 Even at my own lake, the most I ski in a given day is 1-2 sets of about 6 passes. When I go to a 3 round tournament, I typically get 9-12 passes, so not much different than skiing at home. So the amount of skiing isn't an issue for me. I go to tournaments to ski and hang with friends I've made over the years but only get to see a handful of times per summer because I live 300+ miles away from them. Is it easier to stay home and ski...yes, is it worth it to drive 300 miles to ski and hang with friends you don't see very often..absolutely, for me at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller A_B Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 I liked volunteering for dock starter. You get to meet more people that way. In addition, where else would some hot girl in a bikini ask if she can hold onto you while she slides into her bindings? It's all what you make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller gsm_peter Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 Slalom waterski is one of few sports where failure is a sucess. One could guess that it requires a certain mindset to enjoy this sports form. For me it is sufficient to compete with myself. Like many have already mentioned it is most likely not the cost that is the main factor. It is the desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller_ DW Posted January 3, 2014 Baller_ Share Posted January 3, 2014 As Horton noted, quite the topic. A couple of points I thought I would add, there was a discussion on minimum wage and a comment that if raised to ~$10/hour it only gets it back to mid '60's level in adjusted $, kind of surprising if one thinks about it although I did not verify the data presented. I noticed a lot of posts on college teams and tournament participation, does that focus not point right at the title of the thread, the classic middle class definition being able to make a "decent" wage on less than a (real) college degree so if not part of the college scene, you miss that whole exposure window (same applies for many sports such as tennis, golf, etc. where it takes a lot of $ to fund a kid through school and keep them in the sport of choice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller disland Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 Do alpine skiers have big discussions about losing share to snow boarders? Are the relative minuscule numbers of ski racers vs powder hounds and terrain park kids, worried about a decline in participation? Maybe they are happy as long as enough people buy lift tickets to keep the mountain resorts operating, and they get to keep their cordoned off gate hill to themselves. Maybe we should just be happy at the size we are. Are we "right" sized? Maybe we should be happy the boat manufacturers can sell $100K wake boats so they can stay in business and keep making 3 event boats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller ral Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 @disland, snow skiing was losing share on a big way to snow boarders before the parabolic/carving skis came, and snow skiers were having big discussions at that stage. Skiing on a way that looked and felt good was far more difficult with normal cut skis. Alpine skiing is big. Anyone heard about Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn? Ask the same question about Nate Smith and Regina Jacquess. Lindsey and Bode are millionaires, even though they are arguably far less dominant than Nate and Regina. I do not think the two sports are comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller scuppers Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 @AB is dead on - in every detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller disland Posted January 3, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 3, 2014 @ral sure everyone has heard of Bode Miller but what percentage of snow skiers run gates? I think it is similar to the percent of "boaters" who ski a slalom course in tournaments. Thats all I am saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller ToddL Posted January 4, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 4, 2014 Skiing is alive on public lakes in Austin, Tx... (sorry for the cross post, but it applies to both threads) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Spencer_Shultz7 Posted January 5, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 5, 2014 @ToddL Correct me if i'm wrong, but the bridge in the background of your photo looks very familar to the bridge in the 2013 HO Freeride commercial. Anyway, very interesting thread. One thing we might be forgetting about it the number of private skiing specific lakes that are being built in the United States (I would compare to the global scale, but i'm trying to keep things simple for now). With that being said, lakes don't typically just go away overnight. They last and produce more and more skiers. Some of those skiers go on to build lakes, start clubs, or invite a few buddies out and teach them at the site that they use. What I am getting at here is that as more private lakes are built, the number of skiers is going to grow, as the number of skiers grow, more skis, gloves, handles, boats, etc. are going to be bought. It's the same concept as the Plasma TV. Only super wealthy people could afford the televisions. Now, college students like me and @MattP have them sitting in our living spaces. Now, certainly comparing plasma tv's to 2,000 foot long private ski lakes is like comparing apples to oranges, but my point is that achieving the number of skiers that we want at a certainlevel is going to take time. Imagine if every city in America had a "Waterski Atlanta" or "Okeheelee Park" within distance of the biggest metropolitan area in the state. Some of you might say, "Waterski Atlanta and Okeheelee are special cases", and you might be right. But from the way that I see it, places like Okeheelee and Atlanta are the future of what is to come. As far as collegiate skiers go, they are growing and will continue to grow. Look at the number of teams popping up all over the midwest and look at the growth that these teams are experiencing. It's AWESOME! It's already been mentioned above that the number of skiers attenting tournaments in the summer isn't huge. Well, try to lend some of the collegiate skiers in your area a helping hand. Invite them out to ski a few times, give them encouragement, motivate them to work hard and succeed. I know here in Missouri, collegiate teams are able to come to tournaments and sell food as fundraisers for their teams. What better way to get collegiate skiers involved in the summer months and help them grow at their school. I stuck around an extra day at a tournament that I skied in and helped give a team of collegiate skiers a few pointers and tried to help them out in the best way that I could. After that day, I was given the title of honorary coach. I know many of you have a vast amount of knowledge on the sport and could help get these younger skiers hooked! I know I covered a lot in my post and some of you might disagree with the points that i made. I would dive into the ZO vs. PP debate, but I'm not about to open that topic. All I can say at this point is that I love to waterski. I love hearing my ski rip through glass water, I love seeing the look on someones face after they run their first pass through the course, I love seeing someone get up on a slalom ski for the first time, and I love driving past a body of water and thinking, "I wonder if that lake is long enough to ski?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller ToddL Posted January 5, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 5, 2014 @Spencer_Shultz7 - did you mean this video? Different bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller Spencer_Shultz7 Posted January 5, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 5, 2014 @ToddL Yes, that is the one! That commercial gives me goosebumps every time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller A_B Posted January 5, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 5, 2014 @ToddL, that looks like the "Ode to Billy Joe" bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller ForrestGump Posted January 5, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 5, 2014 Todd's picture is of the 360 bridge in Austin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baller ToddL Posted January 5, 2014 Baller Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yes. Pennybacker Bridge for HW360 over Lake Austin in Austin, TX. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennybacker_Bridge http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/pennybacker-bridge-at-dusk-john-maffei.jpg Images: https://google.com/search?q=Pennybacker+bridge&rlz=1C1CHWA_enUS516US517&espv=210&es_sm=122&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=43vJUu-6GYGGyAGX_YDoCw&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=599 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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