CRB Brings The Sexy (16 pics)

Lots more sexy after the jump!

Chasing Canguro (43 pics)

Alex Luther is the great grandson of Harry Luther who completed one of the most epic water ski marathons in history.  He started in Tangiers, Morocco and ended in Cervia on the east coast of Italy, a trip of 5010 km, that is 3113 miles.  This means he started on the Atlantic coast of Morocco traveled thru the straight of Gibralter, up the coast of Spain, past the Mediteranian coast of France and Monaco, down the west coast of Italy, around the boat and up the Adriatic coast of Italy to his final destination.  Doing all of this behind a outboard twin rigged Spirit 166 called the "Miss Pepsi" on a single ski.  The whole trip took 10 days and 5 hours to complete.   

All of the pictures are from Alex's blog Chasing Canguro and show pictures and news clippings from his grandfathers marathon ski run and new pictures from his training for his attempt to complete the same run.  Alex is either crazy or is just looking to wreck his body, but either way its bad ass.  

Lots more pics after the jump

People Are Amazing and so is This Vid!

The title says it all. The song is freaking bad ass!



(h/t to redbull)

Pro Athletes and Big Houses (26 pics)

Adrian Beltre

Our sport seems to be slowly growing in popularity again, good crowds at a few of the tournaments in the past couple years, a little better media attention then we had seen in quite a while as well. If we keep this up all of our pros can get together and buy the guest house at one of these. To get our sport to the point where we can truly have a full pro water ski tour that actually pays enough for our elite to make a decent living we need to look outside the sport. Bring in a large sponsor again, we once had companies like Coors and Budweiser as sponsors. Our boat companies can not put up enough to get us beyond where we are. There are few sports with as high of an average income as water skiers have, how about Net Jet or Gulfstream? The Leer Jet Open sounds good to me! Also we like to drink (we as in the collective we, not just the CRB we) so how about the Jack Daniels Invite or the Bud Light Open?

Alex Rodriguez

Lots more awesome houses after the jump. Click the link yo!

Get Get Random, Come On Baby Make It Random (15 pics)

I suggest avoiding this lake

Lots more pics after the jump.

Vid Day Monday

A couple weeks ago we posted a video of a ski show from the mid 50s, today we have the king of ski shows Cypress Gardens from 1963 and a show from the Netherlands in 1965. Quality of the vids is lacking a bit but then again they are 50 years old...


Water Skiing in 1963-65 from George Jurgens on Vimeo.

Vid Day Monday

This vid is from the MCWSA's Winter Conference. I went to Winter Conference once, this is a model for a winter meeting that the other regions need to take a look at and copy. The Midwest skiers are a closer knit group then any other community of skiers in the country.

Vid Day Monday

Go Pro Cameras are freaking awesome. See below for exhibit #7452



Thanks for the tip Big Tex.

Its Spring, Lets Go Skiing! (16 pics)

1952 Nationals - Minocqua Wisconsin

Lots more pics after the jump, click the link yo!

Perth Night Jump

Solid news report from The West Australian News about the Perth Night Jump that kicks off at 5:30PM Perth time tonight or 5:30AM/4:30AM central time. Check out the Perth Night Jump website for all the haps.

The Perth Night Jump wraps up the Australian events of the pro water ski season. Must say they seemed to do it pretty well this year. 4 weekends in a row of awesomeness, way to go Aussies!

Not sure if there is a webcast but hopefully there is, because there is nothing the world likes more then an ODBF that has to get up early and start drinking to watch a night jump. Or you could follow the Minions plan of shooting speed all day and night, no idea if he would watch the skiing though, he just likes drugs. Damn junkies.

Kyle Eade Is The Man!

So it has been awhile since I have posted on here and ODBF keeps bitching at me. Sorry ODBF but your mom takes up a lot of my time.

So about 2 years ago Kyle Eade took a nasty spill and was paralyzed. Well not anymore he is up and walking around. Truly an inspirational guy! Plus he has awesome hair and a cool accent. We wish Kyle and his family the best, keep it up man!

Who Needs Skis? (12 pics 1 vid)

Many more pics after the jump, click the link yo!

Olympic Water Skiing

Brian Detrick found this interesting vid and Ball Of Spray beat me to posting it (damn you Horton). It makes a point that I started arguing a few years back, cable skiing is our only shot at getting into the Olympics. The 1972 Munich Olympics are mostly only remembered for the murder of the Israeli athletes by Arab terrorists from the PLO, but water skiers should also remember it as what should have been the end of our quest to get our sport into the games.

The German water ski federation along with the World Water Ski Union (precursor to the IWSF) were able to get skiing in to the games as an exhibition sport. This was our chance to shine and show how we were ready to compete on the largest world stage there was. Instead of shining they held the event in one of the roughest locations one could imagine, the national federations fought each other and in general acted like babies and the skiing was sub par even considering the conditions. In the end the World Olympic community was less then impressed by our sports lackluster presentation and then to top it all over no one wanted to remember anything about the games after what happened in the Olympic village and on the airport runway to the Israeli athletes.

We were unlucky to have chosen a games when the PLO decided to commit such a vile act against those that should have been covered by the Olympic peace but our disaster of an event on all fronts showed the WOC that they had no reason to look into allowing a motorized sport back in.

Now Cable wake boarding seems to have a small chance at making it which if it works for wake boarding their is also a small chance that cable 3 event could make it as well. Some day maybe we will see Zach Worden and Alex Lauratano standing on the Olympic podium with gold medals around their necks. Of course, they will have to head over to OWC and learn how it rolls. And USAWS will have to get their heads out of their asses and get out of the mindset that has led our sport to waste piles of money for a dream that will never be over these past 40 years.

Skiing Does Not Work Without Me (15 pics)

1972 Master Craft.  These boats sound awesome on the water.   

Lots more pics after the jump.

Crash Like You Mean It (8 pics)

Stephanie Griffiths (AUS) took her first jump at the U17 Moomba Masters a little off course. She popped the handle and eats the side curtain for lunch then picked herself up and hit the ramp properly twice more, grabbing herself a 3rd place podium spot.

More pics after the jump. Click the linky yo!

Vid Day Monday

We posted a show ski video from the 50s a while back since then I have been looking for more old ski vids and boom! This one is a classic! We like to make fun of how crazy ski racers are and this vid shows that they have always been insane. How no one dies in this race is beyond me.

The jumping at the end is fantastic as well, whole vid is worth a watch.

World Cup - Mandurah

The IWSF World Cup held a event in Mandurah this past weekend. Many non competitors were complaining on the interblags about the conditions at the site, which did look very rough. We here at the CRB are big proponents of running events where the people are and from the video it looks like there was a decent number of spectators along the shore so this event is OK in our view, not great for sure. Yes, the conditions were not ideal but if we want money in this sport then continue to put the skiers in front of the crowd.

Ideal would be a lake specially built for skiing with no wind and the shores lined with spectators...but that is not going to happen so stop your bitching and enjoy the fact that we are getting out in front of crowds and our skiers are making money. For years the private lake events with little or no advertising have been killing our sport, finally we are getting back where we belong. There is a long way to go and we are nowhere near where we should be, but its a start.

I have spoken with several pro skiers who have all said the same thing, 'get us the money, we will ski anywhere'. These guys are trying to make a living on a fringe sport, private lakes are fine for the mens 3 and 4 rating mill events, but they do no good for the pros.

The LA Night Jam is an example of a private lake that does it right, but that is an exception to the rule. They advertise well and are able to bring in the crowds, no other tourny in recent memory has been able to do that.

Now with all of that said, that site looked really rough, I would not have wanted to ski there, but I also am not out to make a living on skiing.  If the site is always this windy and rough then questioning why it was held at this site is a fair question to ask.  I often question what the IWSF is thinking as it seems 90% of their actions are more for the benefit of the IWSF leadership then for the skiers.

Vid Day Monday

Go Pro? Hellz Yea!

Aurelien Serrault jumping with a helmet cam, awesome view.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Drink, Drank, Drunk

Crazy People

Felix Baumgartner is gunning for the worlds highest skydive and on Thursday March 15th he jumped from 71,000 feet up. Space suit and all he rides up in a balloon and jumps. This is over twice as high as a HALO (High Altitude Low Open) jump.



Joseph Kittenger is an advisor on the Red Bull Stratus program and also a certified bad ass or lunatic...either or. He jumped from over 100,000 feet in 1960! Go to 6:10 in the vid, or watch the whole thing because its sick.

Surfing Hotness (14 pics 1 vid)

This may not be water skiing but surfing is awesome and its on the water so we dig it. This surfing hotty is Stephanie Gilmore, enjoy.

Lots more pics after the jump, click the link yo!

Nature, Way Better Then Work (13 pics and 1 vid)

Lots more pics after the jump.

Controversy is Fun

This pic shows Billy Susi at 5 ball at the Moomba Masters this past weekend. The judges say he did not round the ball and this pic is causing many to question the ruling. We don't even see the buoy.  What do you think?

Head bands for all!!

Billy has Tweeted this pic saying Moomba is returning his protest fee, so it would appear that they agree he did go around the buoy, bit late for that judgement to help. But as a Cubs fan I can say "There is always next year".

Dolla Dolla Bills Y'all

The Frozen Leprechaun

**Public service post**

Please join the Belleville Lake Waterski Club on Saturday, March 17, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. as we open the 2012 Waterski Season at Johnny's on the Lake, located at 146 High Street, Belleville, MI 48111. Come, watch and cheer on a parade of Belleville's bravest (craziest) Water Skiers as we dodge the icebergs of Belleville Lake for one of the community's most important charities, the Van Buren Public Schools Education Foundation.
This important organization has raised and awarded more than $100,000 for grants to our public schools, and each and every dollar donated will be utilized for direct grants to benefit the schools and our local students.

Originally known as the Belleville Lake Stump Jumpers, the waterski club was organized in 1970. Since then, many club members have won State, Regional, National, and International waterski titles. This successful history can be attributed to the naturally protected waterski site that Belleville Lake offers.
Other than traditional three-event waterskiing, the waterski club hosts several events on Lake Belleville each year, including an exciting water ski show and exhibition as a part of the annual Taste of Belleville, waterski clinics, and the St. Patrcick’s Frozen Leprechaun fundraiser.
With membership open to all interested, the club promotes the enjoyment of waterskiing and wakeboarding with safety and respect for other boaters. If you like waterskiing, we like you!

for more information please visit
Bellevillelakewaterski.com
Facebook.com/groups/BLWSC/

Vid Day Monday

With Moomba getting us all worked up all week it seems fitting to end Vid Day Monday with an Australian jumper exploding all over the water. Tim Bradstreet is a big up and coming jumper who has already started making waves but instead of showing off a big jump we like big crashes here at the CRB.

So watch him splat.

Vid Day Monday

Cant really say much here except 'MERICA!

Vid Day Monday - NKOTB Edition

WE REGRET NOTHING!!!!!


SING IT LOUD, SING IT PROUD!!

OHHH OHHH OHHH OHHH OHHHH!!!

Vid Day Monday

Freddy going huge is something we have all seen before on many vids, but to see it in person is incredible. But that is not why we posted this vid today, what is special about this vid is the guy on the bike stopping to watch. This is a perfect example of why skiing in public locations is the best way to get our sport back out there, to show people how freaking cool skiing really is. The Malibu Open the last two years in Milwaukee Wisconsin has had the same ability to draw people off the street like Moomba does. The US Open at Downtown Disney did this as well. People will be going about their normal day, wandering by or out for a bike ride, and come across one of our events, they will stop and watch for a bit, they will catch Freddy going 220 feet or Jimmy stomping trick flips like a boss, or Nate rocking a few buoys at 41 off, and just maybe they will remember to come back the next year and watch the whole event. Maybe they will be interested enough to teach their kids how to ski or go to a ski school to learn this sport that drew their attention and caused them to sit and watch for an hour or two on that warm sunny day they were out for a quick bike ride.

I talked to some people at the Malibu Open last year that had seen the tournament while driving by the first year and had stopped for a few minutes to watch then decided to come down and watch for a few hours when they heard it was back again. It has come to a point where we need to leave the private lake pro events in our past and come back to the people, bring our sport out it the open, leave the private lakes for practice.

CRB NCAA BB Domination Pool

It is that time of year again, no we don't mean the return of warm weather and water ski season, we mean the return of the world famous CRB NCAA Basket Ball Domination Pool!  Hellz yea!  Lets do this!

Basketball

You know you want to match your wits against the greatest blog in water ski history. Come match your wits with the ODBF, Dig Dug, Life Jacket, Rowboat Abides *RIP*, CRB Minion *prison*, Norm from the AP department and all the rest of the CRB staff.

Join the pool right HERE  <---------- Click there bro!

Password for the pool is CRB

Starting on Sunday you can complete your bracket but you can register anytime. DO IT NOW!

The winner of the pool gets a CRB T-shirt, we would show you said T-shirt but we have not made them yet. So for now just imagine it being so coolest thing in your wardrobe and how you will wear it every day.

The shirt will probably look nothing like this.  

Moomba Starts Now

The Moomba Masters has just started but sadly there is no webcast. So to get the most up to date scores follow AUSkier on twitter here.

You can also check out Moomba's web page here.

Moomba Masters 2012 (12 pics)

The first major tournament of the year, The Moomba Masters, in the view of American skiers started at 4PM/5PM central time Tuesday night, 8AM Wednesday Melbourne time. The first two days of the Moomba Masters will be the Junior Moomba events. It all started off with girls tricks at 8AM Melbourne time. There is very little news rolling in on the scores so instead of scores how about a whole bunch of pics from past Moombas.

Lots more pics after the jump.

Nature Kicks Ass (12 pics)

Today we go with sweet pics of places that would rule to ski, climb, live, or anything really. Nature kicks ass!

Lots more pics after the page break.

Vid Day Monday

This vid is a blast from the past, 59 years ago to be exact. The oldest continually active ski club in the country still puts on 3 shows a week during the summer.  This vid is from 1953 and shows early jumping and what appears to be early swivel skiing and doubles.  Doubles was actually an event held with traditional waterski tournaments until the late 60s or early 70s.

The best part comes late in the vid with boats jumping the ramp and a boat on hydrofoils.  Who needs a Sky Ski when you have a Sky Boat?

Vid Day Monday

This vid is great on multiple levels. If you are not a small minded person you will love what he has to say and the amazing images, or if you do not care about the larger world and universe and things beyond yourself and just care about who is currently the favorite on American Idol then you should still enjoy the images which are amazing. If you don't like either then you are a dip shit, I don't like you and hope you die in a fire.

YouTube description: Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?" This is his answer.

Vid Day Monday

How have we not seen this before? Have we been hibernating? Dead? On a jihad? WHAT, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TELL ME!!!

This is the O'Neil Wake The Line World Cable Wake Boarding champs in Germany from January of 2011. This is something that I could see working as a televised event. Hint Hint!!!

2 Vids today, first off we have the second place run by Shawn Watson and below the jump is a promo vid for the whole event.

Vid Day Monday

I am not good with a hula hoop, most of us just look like idiots with them. This girl on the other hand makes it look crazy hot.

CRB Brings The Sexy (12 pics)

It is Saturday which means most of us do not have to work today...it also means CRB Sexy time!

Lots more of the CRB Sexy after the jump.

Its Cold Out, Heat Up With Ski Pics! (16 pics)

Its March 1st and its still to cold to ski in much of the US, you jerks in the southern US and southern hemisphere can go suck an egg. What do we do when we look outside and its to cold to hit the water? We dream about what we will do in a few months when its warm enough to drop the Ski Masterbu in the lake and tear it up...and we look at ski pics.

So with that in mind here is a bunch of sweet pics!

Lots more after the jump as well.

Lots more pics below!