Right this very moment the 2013 World Championships are going on, somewhere, they are on the youtubes via
tony and probably a bunch of other worthwhile things that we should be paying attention to as waterski people.
However, there are way more important things to worry about, such as, do I have enough whiskey to make it through tomorrow afternoon, am I going to go crazy hanging out with my family, and most important, can I fall asleep on the couch and will people leave me alone.
Thats the thanksgiving spirit right there!
That and the absolutely foul black friday shopping bullshit.
There is actually a group of people who work at a whole foods in Chicago who are protesting that they have to work on
Thanksgiving, ostensibly so they can spend time with their families.
Hopefully the people that read this site, who are via google demographics, elite wealthy and educated, aren't one of the idiots that go out at all hours of the night to save a couple bucks on a god damn flat screen tv. Fire up amazon.com, hit purchase and relax. Idiots.
This is going to be an interesting year around the CRB tables as this will be the first time in 25 years that this website has been around that all of the people that make up the CRB will be together in once place to eat turkey and drink beer.
Thats a lie of course. The site has been around for 40. Ask Al Gore you earth hating heathens.
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The waterski world has alot to be thankful for this year as well. We have had some really awesome things happen, like Ryan Dodd
kicking ass, Freddy proving he is a
bad-ass, Erick Lang
setting records, Regina being
insanely good, Peter Fleck being a
barefoot god and in the continued attempt to make every other discipline look lame, the wakeboard world continues to dominate.
There was also some bad times, Banana George, our yellow wearing, fruit loving old barefooter
passed away from
old age and in one of our favorite sports, waterski racing,
Sarah Teelow died after a crash in a competition.
Both those good ones and the bad ones do not diminish the amount of thanks given. You give the proper amount at all times to all things. Banana George had many years, Sarah did not, Ryan and Freddy and Ericka and Regina and the like hopefully have many more.
This is why this time of year is important. In all of our busy lives, in all of our bullshit that we think is important at times needs to be stripped away and remember why we do it and why this is important.
Remember the people that help you out, that assist you, that lift you up when need by and bring you back to earth when its correct.
Waterskiing doesn't have a nationally televised awards show with gravitas and in-memorandum, we don't have a big deal publication or big deal website that provides news to the masses, i.e, espn or SI or TMZ or whatever, we have our little publications...waterski mag or alliance wake or plumbing quarterly.
As a sport...as a sport, we need to cherish and promote and provide love to all our waterski people for good and bad, because no one else does.
A while back, Alex Laurentano was a "Faces in the crowd" feature in Sports Illustrated, in passing that she was bad ass at waterskiing. This isn't me or you, this was Alex fucking Laurentano, one of the best women skiers in the world and she was a passing thing in a magazine.
Yuck. No Thanks.
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| No Thanks |
Beyond all that, what we all have to do in our little world is be thankful for all the people that make our sport what it is, the effort that they put in and have made it into what it is.
My god, think of it. There may have been some doldrums but, I think waterskiing as a whole is coming back strong. Even the show ski world, the Janesville Show Ski Team is getting millions of dollars of love from their city to turn their site into
something world class
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No one really knows where technology or our sport is going to be in 5 or 10 or 20 years. Will technology allow us affordable boats to take it to the masses? Will cable skiing and private lakes become a sort of hockey ethos, where it becomes a bit easier to explore our sport on the cheap?
I think we all know, as with any sport really, that money really does talk. If you, as a parent, can afford to sponsor your kids waterski addiction the odds of your kid becoming good (OTHER THEN SKILL), is greatly increased.
But, whatever.
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We at the CRB are thankful for alot of things this year and lets tackle them in a bullet point format, because we can.
1) Waterskiing
Well duh you say! Neigh we say in retort. Sometimes its the absence of things that makes your heart grow fonder. This past year, or two...yeah, closer to two, we (as in I), haven't been able to ski near as much as I would like. Entirely work related, but, I can break it down real simple. once this last summer 5 or 6 times the previous. Thats awful.
Occasionally over time and throughout our lives we almost look at skiing as a task or a job or a hassle, its only until you don't have it anymore you realize how god damn much you miss it.
Be it free skiing (I see you Marcus), or in a competitive environment or simply working on tricks or whatever...the simple feeling of being on/in the water, getting wet (hi-ooo), and enjoying a day on the lake gets lost in the confluence of events around life, but, then its gone.
God Damn....
I want to ski.
2) Chicken.
I love chicken. Its delicious. You can use it in many different dishes, and its hard to screw up. Thanks
chicken for being delicious and adorable.
3) My car.
Thanks for being an awesome place to take a nap at lunch. Side note: thanks to tinted windows so I can sleep and not be spied upon. Also, thanks for taking me from place to place. Thanks car.
4) Miley Cyrus.
Thanks for reminding me that I don't want to be a teen aged person anymore. Im glad to be grown up and not deal with shit like that anymore, same goes to you beiber and one direction and...ehh, im tired now, going to take a nap. get the fuck off my lawn.
5) My Boat.
Your still broken and stuffed in the garage. Think there is anyway to slap that nano goo from terminator 2 on you and make you work again? no? go to hell.
6) The new bar down the street from CRB HQ
Your a new place, you have good food, you have a lot of beer choices, your chill, we hope you make it.
7) Justin.
We swear to god we will get to your email. The sea horsey. That thing is....something. We aren't sure, but damn if you aren't persistent. *dap*
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But, many thanks to the people that read our nonsense and look at our pictures and interact with us, the Daft Punks of the waterski world. You will never figure out who we are, how many we are or why we keep doing this. (hint: all that sweet sweet nasa money), but, we are appreciative of it all.
Hope that everyone out there has a great thanksgiving either with their families, their friends, or by themselves chillin in front of the TV with a turkey burrito. Thanksgiving is, yes, a specific time of the year, but it is not a requirement on that day.
You can give thanks at any time, at any day, for whatever reason to the people, things and animals that matter to you.
Sure, its a convenient time right now, but, life isn't always that way, if you don't have friends or a family or a whatever to celebrate it with at this moment, it doesn't matter!!!
Everyone everywhere has something to be thankful for, health or life or a strong drink or a nice hand shake from a stranger.
Life isn't defined by meaningless platitudes from others, its defined by whats inside your heart. Whatever that may be this thanksgiving, let it out, let someone know about it, or admit it to yourself.
Life is dope. Enjoy it.
We are lucky to have what we have no matter what it is we have. Celebrate the simple ability for you to make a difference in someones life, a difference in your own...celebrate the fact that you are alive, right now, in this world with all of the possibilites out there available to you.
