T-fromTO

Once Andy was eliminated I knew that Jeremy would take it. He doesn't have any quirks to his skiing that he has to compensate for. His technique is nearly flawless. I would say that Jay Leach is about 6'

I thought about the "Old Dawgs" as well. Should be 60 plus. There will be quite a few guys aging out of the Big Dawg in 5-6 years (or even less). I think guys over 60, no matter who they are, can not be competitive with 37 year olds and should be given their own division in the Big Dawg.

Also, wasn't it in Michigan that Drew hurt his back, not Mississippi?

I wish they would update the seeding. It would look quite different if it was based on the scores from the previous Big Dawg tournaments this year. And by the way, there are only 40 skiers on that list. There is something called the "Senior Tour" that has 16 more skiers in it I believe. They ski before the Sweet 16 on Friday morning.

@liquid d Thanks for posting the pic. My kid's, Finn and Macy, had fun helping that day. See you at the finals on Thursday.

I think the fascination with Nate is that he is so thin and he doesn't work out or follow a special diet and yet he is one of the best. This flies in the face of what we assume pro skiers need to be/do to get to that level. I have met him twice at Okeheelee and he just seems like a kid you would see at the local skateboard park or something like that. I find him to be a breath of fresh air. It proves you don't need to be so big and muscular to get it done. Another case in point is Samantha Dumala. She is 115 lbs, 15 years old and gets into 39.

@skiray I can hook you up with someone at Okeheelee if you would like. Email me at teresasamad@gmail.com

This thread should be titled "My spouse..." because not all of us on here are men. Just sayin'. My husband made some attempts to ski when I first met him but he could not get up. He has no athletic ability so we just left it alone. Fortunately he lets me ski as much as I want.

My 9 year old daughter refuses to ski but my son, who just turned 7, seems to love it. He is ready to start dropping a ski. It is great for his self confidence. He loves the fact that he can do something that his sister and his friends can't. I started him at age 5 and the best thing is that he has no fear of the water or the boat and does not panic when he falls. That is huge with little kids.

I don't like it either. It is confusing and dilutes the integrity of what the Big Dawg series is. It is great the way it is although I can foresee a day where it may be necessary to add a 55 plus division as these guys age and new young guys keep coming in.

I think he is trying to start a new school of thought with the sternum facing the direction of the ski. I am not convinced.

I don't have tons of experience with driving so I have dumb question. What would you do differently when swinging out a very short line skier at the end of the course to drop? I am worried that I would get the amount of swing wrong or not slow down the boat fast enough and the rope would get pulled out of the skier's hands. I imagine one would have to be more precise with the boat's movements when the rope is so short, no?

I like how all these 15 off skiers are coming out of the woodwork here. I think it's good for this site.

Hockey (although I still suck at it even after 11 years of Senior Ladies House League). Trampoline. There is a local club that has adult classes and it's such good exercise and so fun, especially doing the flips!

@swc5150 I meant from the time one started course skiing, so not including years spent open water skiing. I imagine I will be able to run 28off this season as I left off last season with 2 at 28. If that is the case, it will be 7 seasons of course skiing to make it from 15-28 for me. I wish I was more of a natural athlete. I think that is the problem for me as everything else is in place (fitness, equipment, decent coaching, time on the water, etc.) Oh well, I guess we just have to work with what we have and try to have fun of course. Sometimes I don't have as much fun as I should because I'm too busy beating myself up over my slow progression.

It would be good for beginning skiers to hear what is a realistic time line for achieving this goal. I know it will depend on a number of factors like time on the water, coaching, etc. But what were your experiences going from 15 to 28? In hindsight, is there anything you would/could have done differently to get there sooner? (Secretly I'm hoping to hear from people who took a long time so I don't feel so bad about myself.)

Whitney does not get the attention she deserves compared to Regina and Karina. I'm not surprised that she is tying the world record, her technique is flawless and she's always made it look easy.

Haven't skied up north here yet but I just got my favorite email of the year from the guy who runs the club I ski at. The ice was off the lake March 14th. The courses went in last week and the club is open for business tomorrow. @travnews Where do you live that you are still getting that much snow?

@chrispenner Nobody has a money printer in their basement. It takes a real type A personality to be successful in your career AND to run 39 and shorter. It is a testament to their dedication that they can find time to juggle a high paying job and spend enough time on the water to get that good. Plus a healthy dose of talent.

Weird thing about Okeheelee is that almost everyone likes to ski from the main dock. This past New Years Eve day at one point there were 14 boats at the main dock which is 1 or 2 more than there are slips for. And there was NO ONE at the north docks which can accommodate 6 boats. My point is that you can always use the north course if you don't feel the need to hob nob with everyone at the main dock.

Interesting how a discussion about kilograms to pounds has turned into a debate on how much women should weigh. As a female, I will weigh in on the subject. With the exception of April and possibly Clem, I doubt there are many pro female skiers that are under 130 pounds. I remember watching women's Olympic down hill ski racing where the announcer was giving the skier's weights and being struck by how much these fit, athletic girls weighed. They all went between 130 and 150. Personally, at 5'-6" and 122, I am more like April than Regina. Although I like my build for everyday life, I find it a bit of a disadvantage in water skiing. I just don't have the power that the other more muscular girls do.

Interesting how a discussion about kilograms to pounds has turned into a debate on how much women should weigh. As a female, I will weigh in on the subject. With the exception of April and possibly Clem, I doubt there are many pro female skiers that are under 130 pounds. I remember watching women's Olympic down hill ski racing where the announcer was giving the skier's weights and being struck by how much these fit, athletic girls weighed. They all went between 130 and 150. Personally, at 5'-6" and 122, I am more like April than Regina. Although I like my build for everyday life, I find it a bit of a disadvantage in water skiing. I just don't have the power that the other more muscular girls do.

I don't mind that Harry isn't a pro skier and I found the "Professor" schtick made the post more entertaining. He's not trying to put forth any new radical theories (one would need some credibility for that), he's just reiterating some common sense. I can relate to the post because there are guys like skier A and B at my ski club. Their egos are too big to allow them to slow down or use longer line lengths and they are so stuck in their ways that they wouldn't listen if someone tried to change their sets. And they never improve, year after year they ski the same. I don't get it, but there really are people out there who don't seem to want to change.

@Roger I realized I won't be in Florida until next Wednesday Feb. 7th (got my weeks mixed up) so I won't be at the meeting. Hope to be skiing though. I will be there for 5 days. I'm not so sure if you guys would be jealous if you could see the inside of the place. But I will post pictures once it has been restored.

Thanks for the info. I guess I would consider skiing there as a second choice.