ULM wins another one!!!! 26 national championship titles!!!

[Horton]

ULM wins another one!!!! 26 national championship titles!!!

[Razorskier1]

Wow. Amazing!

[TylerR]

Congrats to them.... Roll Tide till next year

[Razorskier1]

Who won D2?

[Horton]

my niece, nephew and Freddie Winter at the awards banquet.

 

 

[Horton]

 

[eleeski]

@Razorskier1‌ Clemson. Kirk won the important D2 event, tricks. Paul Kulig won overall (I coached him a bit - great kid). I'm not sure where UCLA ended up - details... My alma mater didn't qualify. Congratulations to all the teams from both divisions.

Eric

[webbdawg99]

The 2014-2015 ULM Water Ski Team:

 

Members of the women’s team include: Eleanor Benjamin of London, England; Manon Costard of Marseille, France; Emilia Hoikkanen of Helsinki, Finland; Sasha Danisheuskaya of Minsk, Belarus; Maddison McCammon of Kelowna, Canada; Laura Rader of Villach, Austria; Mara Salmina of Poertscach, Austria; and Janice Stevens of Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada.

 

The men’s team features: Jake Bridges of Dublin, Ireland; James Earl of Solihul, England; Taylor Horton of Moorpark, California; Martin Kolman of Prague, Czech Republic; and Michael Stevenson of Gilbert, Arizona.

 

Notice anything interesting?

[Horton]

@webbdawg99‌ I will tell you what is interesting. Taylor Horton is the third Horton to be on a National Championship team. My brother Dave in 1979, and me twice (89 and 91 maybe)

[webbdawg99]

@Horton And he's one of only 2 Americans on the entire team....

[ntx]

I wish some of that money that goes into some of the teams went to deserving US skiers. That list did not include a 24 year old who is in his second year at ULM. If he skis four years, he will be 26 when he is done. Not what I consider college age. This is a problem with several other skiers. I can't wait for Nate to start school at age 26 or so. Some schools are doing it right, others not so much. That does not include the ones that stretch it out to five or six years.

[RazorRoss3]

I expressed my views on this topic already in a different discussion, I agree it would be nice to see more Americans on that list.

 

That said, growing the sport so it exists for me to be a part of in 60 years still is more important at this point, and having great skiers compete against each other is likely a net positive in that regard.

[Horton]

meh

[webbdawg99]

Even professional football, baseball, and basketball teams don't have this degree of international makeup. To call them the National Champions, even though I agree that they are, feels a little uncomfortable.

[jdarwin]

@webbdawg99‌ - my daughter won 3 National Championships at ULM during her 4 years there. She represented the university in which she attended. Not her country of origin.

[Edbrazil]

Back in my college days (in the Neanderthal era), there were complaints about 'importing'

skiers. Although that was for Nordic-type snow skiing. Bringing in guys from northern

Europe for the cross-country and jumping events.

[disland]

This is how college football used to be like before they had limits on the number of scholarships allowed.

[Horton]

We had 2 spanish guys, and Australian girl, and a Neanderthal ( @Dirt)

[skidawg]

and a goofy little @horton running aroung making skis out of balsa wood

[RazorRoss3]

If you look at it as competing as a school, there where no foreign schools in attendance. I still say it may be something to look into and regulate but technically speaking it isn't an individual tournament even though individual awards are presented.

[webbdawg99]

The International All-Star team vs American Universities for a National Title. At least when the Dream Team competed in the Olympics they were all American. Congrats to ULM for having the best collegiate water skiing recruiting program in the world.

[RazorRoss3]

@webbdawg99‌, that's another way of looking at it. I won't argue it seems a little unfair to the rest of us and keeps some teams that are all american from competing.

[eleeski]

@RazorRoss3‌ When a team works really hard to get one of their skiers a chance individually, the team is still critical. I'm very proud of the entire UCLA team for earning a chance for one of their skiers to excel individually. Team placement at Nationals was irrelevant - the success of the individuals who traveled was the measure. Congratulations to all the skiers and teams.

 

Eric

[ntx]

They have had university worlds 3 or 4 years ago. I am not sure of the current status of the future of that. The limiting of the number of scholarships would help. Maybe limit to five??? Maybe reduce the scholarship number to that school if they don't graduate a scholarship skier?? Many go for a year or two and drop out. Was that a good use of funds for the school?? Many div1 teams get very little help from the schools. I am not sure what the answer is but so long as a few schools are willing to pay for a national title, we get what we have. I am pretty sure there will be a strong push from a Florida school soon. Should be interesting to see if it can be pulled off.

[Horton]

@ntx‌

In 1989 I was 20 years old and was not really college bound. I did not know what I was doing with my life. I had done City College, hung out at ski schools and even spent a winter skiing in Australia. The chance to go to NLU(ULM) came up and it was a great experience. It was not perfect but 20+ years later I am surely better off because if it.

 

This year my nephew Taylor was in a similar situation. He has worked full time some, done some City College and hung out at ski schools. The chance to go ski at to ULM is fantastic for him. Taylor gets to be a part of a program that wins championships and launches careers. He will get out of it what he puts in.

 

I do not understand the critics. NLU/ ULM has a winning ski program that is self-perpetuating. Part of why they win is that skiers know the history and want to ski there. Trust me it is not the best ski site or the best year round weather. Living in Monroe is like living in Bakersfield, if you are not a skier you would not be there.

 

There is a trend of foreign skiers at ULM but since when is that against the rules. Do you want to ban all the foreign skiers? Most elite water skiers live in the US already. Go to any ski school and try to avoid the darn Canadians.

 

[ntx]

@Horton Glad it worked for you and Taylor. That is part of the point that I am trying to make. My guess is that many other kids are in a similar situation. Many may not have the financial resources to a higher education. I would prefer to see the institution use the resources on changing lifes here instead of the chase for a title. Are Nikita Papakul or Siarhi Bushyn who joined the ULM jump team at age 24 for two years going to help contribute to the growth of this wonderful country of ours? I don't know. Yes you are also correct that Monroe is not a typical destination for a college age kid.

If you want to avoid the Canadians just don't go to Matt's. That was humor.

[eleeski]

Many foreign skiers add value to the USA. Florida is full of ski schools and ski industries run by people holding passports from other nations - with the attendant benefits to the sport and the country. Most waterskiers are descended from foreign ancestors (I do know one Native American high level waterskier). ULM's scholarship program works well for the students and gives good results.

 

D2 has value as many schools have no scholarships, training or support. Just kids who love to ski.

 

Eric

[RazorRoss3]

D2 is where the sport grows. A bunch of kids who love the water, most never knew competitive skiing existed getting involved and going to tournaments. It's a different atmosphere. Some of us are water ski AND wake board teams and the Iowa boat even has a full tower to accommodate the boarders.

[eleeski]

@RazorRoss3‌ So true! Of course the goal of the D2 team is to make D1!

 

[ntx]

@eleeski With the exception of ULM and ULL, what should the goal of the other 10 D1 teams be?

I guess just being D1 should be enough.

[Horton]

@ntx yea anyone who does not win should just quit. All the pro skiers who can't run 41 should quit. Jumpers who can't beat Freddy or Dodd should quit. Trickers who can not beat Erika should burn their skis. I am not MM in Slalom so screw it I am going to sell my gear. Winning is all that matters. Everyone else is a sorry loser.

[Horton]

@MattP‌ any progress on that font for sarcasm?

[ntx]

@Horton LOL yea @MattP‌ get that done.

[MattP]

@Horton‌ I do need to work on that...

 

Let's see which of the non American skiers podium at All-Stars in May. NCWSA is the only governing body of a college sport and skiing that hosts 2 parties I mean Nationals a year!

[webbdawg99]

@Horton The title of this thread is "ULM Wins Another One!!! 26 National Championship Titles!!!"

 

Clearly, winning matters. For anyone that is competitive at all....winning matters.

 

To answer your earlier question. My criticism is that is is the most uneven playing field I've ever witnessed in ANY sport at ANY level. It would be much more interesting and competitive if some more mechanisms were in place to even the playing field.

[ntx]

@MattP Good point.

 

[Horton]

@webbdawg99‌ I can tell you I am sick of guys like Larson, Badal, @Dirt‌ and Bishop skiing a pass more than me here in California. We need a mechanism to lower thier scores.

 

( @MattP‌ still waiting for that font)

[webbdawg99]

@Horton We are talking about team competition here....not individuals.

[Horton]

I am pretty sure they are ganging up on me.

[The_MS]

@ntx The goal should be to graduate each and every athlete skier that attends the school.

 

[thager]

Did @Horton graduate?

[BK]

Why limit it? If you really want to do something, help to build programs at your alma mater or wherever you want to help. Start scholarship funds, give time at your site, recruit...do something to make skiers (foreign or domestic) want to ski at your school. Whining about ulm's dominance seems like the wrong direction.

[RazorRoss3]

I have to agree with that more than anything. To level the playing field why not try and build everyone else up. Easier said than done with the number of teams and especially since the number keeps growing. But an admirable goal none the less.

[ntx]

@ms I totally agree. I know a good number of them do graduate but you also see a good number of "hired guns" that come in for a year or two and disapear. I have no problem with the disparity in the skill level between the schools. We all know life is not fair. That being said, I just wished more kids from this side were getting that help.I also know that a ton if kids would like the opportunity. If we are worried about growing the sport. Let's do it here with american talent. This might be the thing that motivates a kid to push further in our sport.

[The_MS]

It would be nice to see nation wide grad rates for the skiers.

[webbdawg99]

@BK I agree with your sentiment of helping grow the sport. I personally volunteer and officiate approximately 10 collegiate tournaments a year....including All-Stars and Nationals. I still don't see anything wrong with mechanisms to help level the playing field. Every other sports organization on the planet does it. Salary caps, scholarship caps, recruiting limitations, trade limitations, etc

[ntx]

In hind sight. Maybe there was a message in the jumper from one of the schools (Kansas maybe???) that wore a Uncle Sam suit to jump in.

[Horton]

@thager‌ they sent me home with a degree

[GK]

Nobody pays attention to collegiate nationals because they're not competitive. Nothing against ULM, they excel in the current system over all other teams and deserve to be crowned National Champions, unfortunately it's just not very exciting for anyone else. Nobody would watch collegiate football or basketball either if it were the same scenario. I'm not saying it should be changed, I'm just saying it would be cool if there really were 10 to 12 teams competing for a National Championship each year.

[Horton]

@GK the solution is to grow college skiing. Strong programs have come and gone over the years. ULL is strong as is FSU. UCF was the team to beat for a while. Rollins won once or twice I think. Bama once? SDSU once (first).