Texas6

Attitude is everything Jim - keep it up

I had no idea the great ski sticker phenomenon went back that far. Although I'm still with @Sethski that the sticker is good for at least two buoys

Makes a ton of sense in a big surf boat, pushing 8-9000 lbs down the lake at 8-9mph. Fuel economy, and raw pulling power just aren't the gas motors forte. Doubt you'll see it in a slalom boat until/unless they can figure out how to deal with ZO speed variations which diesel lag times likely can't keep up with today

Only playing @Horton - but yes your videos have improved drastically - and the quirkiness of it all is a reason they all get watched. Hell that cat plated a role at BOS for a while with the Ballers, and that's why!

That's terrible

Man that hurt

I know numerous Ballers, myself included, who are more than generous with their time, their boats, boat gas , etc. Hell I enjoy skiing with new people - opening up people's neighborhoods to the general public will never happen and it isn't the answer

I know numerous Ballers, myself included, who are more than generous with their time, their boats, boat gas , etc. Hell I enjoy skiing with new people - opening up people's neighborhoods to the general public will never happen and it isn't the answer

Wow, was that a Triple Panda? Nicely done @gt2003 congrats! I know of only one or maybe two triple panda award receipients ever. Big day for you

Wow, was that a Triple Panda? Nicely done @gt2003 congrats! I know of only one or maybe two triple panda award receipients ever. Big day for you

@ski6jones - I completely agree on all fronts. The ambassador program idea is great, and I'd be more than willing to be one of the supporters down here, as would many of you. But the access issue shines a bright light on one of the areas USAWS can provide air cover to aspiring members. I see this as an obvious value add to the general water sports community

@ski6jones - I completely agree on all fronts. The ambassador program idea is great, and I'd be more than willing to be one of the supporters down here, as would many of you. But the access issue shines a bright light on one of the areas USAWS can provide air cover to aspiring members. I see this as an obvious value add to the general water sports community

@Horton - your dangerously close to giving yourself a Panda with those hats

@Horton - your dangerously close to giving yourself a Panda with those hats

Im open to that also @Wish, just thought there would be more people pushing back on a home base on demand tourney counting towards rankings the same exact way as a Class C. And I do think they will bring higher scores, not entirely sure why that's bad the more I think about it

@LeonL - the premise behind the 10% penalty is that is about how much better most ski in tournaments vs practice and it equalizes the format a bit. The percentage may not be optimal, perhaps 5 is the right number (or 10 below 35 and 5 over 35). Im only suggesting that I don't think it's fair to count scores towards a ranking if you don't handicap the format a little.

As far as weighting goes - you could potentially apply a 10% buoy penalty to all on demand rounds, and/or require 5 on demand rounds before they can be leveraged toward a ranking (10% penalty remains). If anyone is worried about cheating require an iPhone video upload. Three guys in the boat, driver, judge, video. Asterisk on the rankings list indicating on demand scores

It's a fantastic idea - and I believe it would make USAWS money if you simply charged for each on demand tournament round. I'm a great example of added potential revenue in this example as are many guys I ski with. Every summer I tell my wife and kids I'm going to get in 5 tournaments this year and I go through the calendar and pick the ones that make the most sense. In ten years of tournament skiing I've never made more than 3 because of busy schedules and/or life complications. Id probably do ten plus per year if this was an option

Their are a heck of a lot more high end skis sold than there are USAWS competitors - that is a huge target audience but I don't have the data to quantify it. The collegiate is as well, and more easily quantifiable. I don't think we are limited to one:).

@Wish - I'm a huge proponent of the virtual tournament idea, as indicated in my other posts. But I like where you are going with it. Skier profiles, tell you more about who's skiing that day and what you're up against. And it isn't technically complicated. This is the easiest way to bring more competition to your tournament weekend and the kids will eat it up. You could even do virtual competitions of this ski club vs that one, or Lakes of Katy Versus Lakes of Whoever, or everyone competing from this region or that region on a given weekend is virtually competing; options are endless this way.

+1 on "free memberships" with high end ski purchases. If you ONLY gave free memberships to people who have NEVER been a USAWS member, you really have zero to lose. They've never competed before, but might now that they have a new ski and membership, and you either convert a new free member to a renewal at years end or you don't. What a great way to expose people to USAWS, the prospect of a tourney, and maybe a renewal at years end that you NEVER would have had otherwise. Everybody wins. Make it a half year membership if you want. No better target prospect than that

On the magazine; I honestly don't see why it's a discussion topic if it costs as much as I've heard it does. You can do everything you need to online. Cut your losses, BUS101

I think Horton nailed it. Rankings work great in lieu of a competitive local tournament. Optimally winning your age group against other age group competitors in a local tournament would be the goal. But today, that format is called regionals and nationals, as that's really the only tournament that brings enough age group competition. I don't think rankings have hurt anything, and I think they can co-exist with local format changes. But bringing real competition back to class c would improve the local format. Even if that means competing against other age group members around the country at different tournaments at different lakes on the same day. Now it's not only about rankings (and I do ski for a ranking), I'm still competing that day and there is a winner.

@bigskieridaho - fair point but go price out a high end set of golf clubs, a decent guitar, a nice road bike, a good mountain bike, a nice rifle, maybe a UTV, heck you can spend $500 on a tennis racket now! Point is that no matter what the hobby, the high end gear will come with a price tag

4 seasons in my Stokes "Mapple" vest - favorite vest I've ever owned; still going strong