bfooter.com... I Have Water on the Brain

Behind the Record

2010-04-19T19:50:00.000-05:00

Well, my humble little blog about water skiing has officially gone world wide. One of the organizers of the recent world record for number of skiers behind one boat has thanked me for the coverage of their many attempts and finally of their record.

David Bennett, one of the organizers of the event grew up in a family without a boat, but his family did join a local family based ski club and learned to ski and now will ski on just about anything... trampolines (on skis), ladders, milk crates on disks, bench seats and even computer keyboards and laptops. He's taught nearly 1000 people how to ski.

For those of you that have built the show ski pyramids in the states, here's something you may find interesting, They used an awful lot of ropes for that record...

That be a whole lot of ropes that they had to get the same length. Put that together with the engineering to devise something to pull that many people from a deep water start and you have quite the record.

1 Boat, 114 People, 1 Nautical Mile

2010-03-31T21:26:00.002-05:00

The combination of 1 boat, 114 people and 1 nautical mile equals a world record and the Aussies down in Tasmania final set their world record on March 29th.

Here's a video from a local TV station:

Aussies Break World Record [video]

More more details on their accomplishment, take a look at their website.

Lots of Skiers [an update]

2010-03-13T02:21:00.000-06:00

January 30, 2010 - 110 skiers up, 99 made it 1 nautical mile

Over in Tasmania, they are still trying to break the record for most skiers behind a boat. On January 30, 2010, they managed to get 110 skiers (of 120) up on plane from a deep water start, but only 99 skiers made it the nautical mile required for it to be a record.

They plan to try again and soon. Be sure to check out their website for more details, pictures and videos.

Hey a Water Skiing Related Post

2010-03-05T14:25:00.000-06:00

Two minutes and 21 seconds that changed television history...

[video]

Bags of Chips or Bags of Air?

2010-03-04T21:32:00.000-06:00

/off topic

Inspired by a friend that joined a Facebook group, I decided to write this post sharing a few details about why bags of chips contain so much air.

First off, the bags are packaged by large machines that weigh out a specific amount of chips to put into the bag. Since chips vary in size and shape, there needs to be extra space for the packaging process. As the chips are shipped to your local grocery store, they tend to 'settle' into a more compact space. Yes, this is the common reason given by most people, but it is only part of the reason.

Second, the bags of chips are typically shipped in large boxes. The air in the bag actually acts as packing peanuts and protects the chips from becoming crumbs. Without the air in the bag acting as padding, or spacing, for the chips, a large box containing many bags of chips would soon be all crumbs, which nobody wants. Try to crush the chips in a brand new unopened bag. Tag a bag of chips and squeeze it between the palms of your hands. Now not so hard that the bag will burst open, but enough to theoretically crush some chips. Chances are that air you complain about is doing a pretty good job of protecting the chips from any significant damage. So there are two options for this step, either put the extra air in the bag to protect its contents, or put styrofoam packing peanuts in with the chips and I'm off the opinion that this would be a bad idea.

Now I like my bags of chips, specifically Cheetos, and I would like the bags to be as full as possible, but I also want chips or Cheetos, I don't want a bag full of crumbs. So next time, instead of complaining about the half bag of air, be thankful for the half bag of chips you have. It could be a full bag of crumbs.

K'Nann on ACL

2010-01-19T20:03:00.000-06:00

/off topic

Since setting up my DVR to record Austin City Limits on PBS so I wouldn't miss the Pearl Jam episode that aired in November 2009, I've been treated to a lot of really good music. Some very familiar (Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson, Dave Mathews Band) and some that I hadn't heard of. It is of one of these that I'm going to tell you about.

The episode from this past Sunday featured the artist K'Naan and Mos Def. Mos Def I've heard of (and can't say I'm a huge fan of), but K'Naan was a complete unknown to me. I had never even heard the name.

The performance by K'Naan was amazing. His family is from Somali and left the country in 1991. His life growing up wasn't easy and he uses his music to give you a little bit of insight into that life. You can check out the full episode online here. Really, you need to watch it. I've posted an excerpt of it below.

K'Naan - Waving the Flag [video]

Mos Def performed for the second half of the show. Still not a big fan, but did like his song called Micheal which is a rendition of a Micheal Jackson song. The song right after that one, Quiet Dog I believe, was also very good. I did like him as Ford Prefect in the Hitchhikers Guide.

Did You Hear the One About the Water Skiing Elephant?

2010-01-14T22:43:00.001-06:00

So I know a lot of people have heard the tale of the water skiing elephant. I think Rykert and his dog Nola or the keyboardists over at the CRB mentioned the impressive pachyderm at some point, but I've actually managed to have my automated Google-bots track down the source of this legen- wait for it, and I hope you're not lactose-intolerant because the second half of this word is -dary story.

My Google-bots sent a link to a YouTube video uploaded by JPizzle1122. Who is JPizzle? Well, he is Jonny Paula, "the host of YouTube's only interactive movie review show." (That doesn't mean anything to me either.) In his January 13th episode he decided to review the Final Destination (not the original one that was OK, but the one from 2009 that was in 3D) and Honky Tonk Freeway. What is Honky Tonk Freeway you ask? I haven't heard of that movie you're saying. Well not many people have. It was a 1981 box office BOMB staring Beau Bridges and Beverly D'Angelo (before either of them were stars) and some others that you'd probably recognize from other great 80's movies.

The movie even warranted a Razzie award nomination back in 1982 for Worst Original Song ("You're Crazy But I Like You" by two people you haven't heard of). It also featured such memorable quotes as "Yep...goin' to the Super Bowl. Gonna sell me some cocaine." Needless to say, this little gem pulled in about $2 million total in box office revenue back in the day. With all the "soon" to be stars in this movie, it's probably worth watching in the way that you have to look at a car accident. You can even get it on Netflix.

Now I know you're asking yourself how does a water skiing elephant fit into the movie Honky Tonk Freeway? Well, the premise of the movie is a small Florida town is going to get by-passed by a freeway. And by by-passed, we mean by-passed. Not even an on-off ramp. People won't even have the option to stop. In an effort to "stop" the freeway, the small town mayor and the business decide to come up with tourist traps (for lack of a better description) that'll make people want to stop. One of those tourist traps is Bubbles the Water Skiing Elephant.

Bubbles the Water Skiing Elephant

By now I know you're itching to see the movie review that inspired me to write this bit of useless droll. So without further ado, here is Episode 10 of Movie Night - Water Skiing Elephant Killed in Bizarre Swimming Pool Accident... enjoy...

Movie Night - Episode 10 - Water Skiing Elephant Killing in Bizarre Swimming Pool Accident [video]

And now you know... the story behind the pachydrm that is proficient on pink pyramid boards. Wedge Out!

The Crazy People in Tasmania Are At It Again

2010-01-14T03:04:00.002-06:00

The Horsehead Water Ski Club in Strahan, Tasmania is going to try and break the world record for number of water skiers behind one boat again. The attempt is set for January 30, 2010. They've been trying the last couple of years, but have encountered some engineering difficulties that prevented them from succeeding.

The current record is 100 skiers from Oct 18, 1986. Here's the picture of everyone up on skis...

And if you want to see some video of it, here it is...

100 Water Skiers [video]

In 2008, they tried to break the record with 121 skiers. What will they try this year?

For more details, be sure to look around their website.

Naked Water Skiing

2010-01-12T19:02:00.000-06:00

Who knew that hangovers + nudity + waterskiing + near hypothermia = community event to boost business. Yeah, that's right, it's a community event to boost the communities business. They first tried the Bun Run (that's what they call it on) out on New Year's Eve, but that didn't work so well (put a dent in the supper business), so now they do it on New Year's Day and it's been working well for 30 years now. Granted it's happening in California, so the water is a "balmy" 46 degrees, but that's still cold.

You can read the full story here.

More People Preaching that the BCS is Good

2009-12-10T21:15:00.000-06:00

I love the BCS Twitter feed. It is so much fun to read...

First, they point us to this article that basically says a playoff would dilute the regular season for college football. That is bunk. If you have a 16 team playoff field that is populated with the 11 conference champions and 5 at large bids. Schools need to ensure a conference championship to punch an automatic ticket to the playoff. Every game will still count. If by chance they come in second in their conference, they'll be competing with about 110 other schools for the 5 at large spots so they'll need an impressive resume to punch their ticket so they'll need some big name out of conference wins to help get an invite.

This article basically says the BCS is good because it provides lots of money to schools/conferences that get to participate. I was still under the impression that college sports were still sports. Yes, they can't loose money, but they do need to break even and sports like football (and b-ball and at some schools, hockey) need to pay for the rest of the non-revenue sports, but isn't the ideal behind it that it is still a sport. (Pro-sports are a whole 'nother can of worms.) Isn't the NCAA suppose to help their member schools maximize the revenue of the sports. Not the revenue of their business?

It also says that for the 2 teams that make to the championship game, they'll have to go through so many extra games that the risk of injury increases and becomes to great. Whether they play a single bowl game or 4 games to win a championship, they'd probably end up practicing the same amount of time do the risk of injury isn't really that much greater.

I'm sick of hearing about everyone complaining that congress spent some time creating a law that says that the BCS can't call the winner a champion. I'm guessing the discussion went like this... Hey, the way the BCS decides a champion is bunk. Let's force them to make a playoff. Here's a proposed law. All in favor, say Aye. And then they went back to healthcare discussions.

And if the NCAA Football is a business worrying about providing lots of money to the conferences and schools, why are they even concerned for the well being of the players? They aren't. They use it as a distraction to protect their friends that run the bowls and makes a boat load of money for organizing a football game that the student athletes will remember for the rest of their lives. I can't wait to hear a player shout out in excitement "I'm so proud to be the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Champion. It is the crowning achievement of my college career." Oh wait, that'll never happen.

The Mess that is the BCS

2009-11-30T20:35:00.000-06:00

Alright everyone, I've been chomping at the bit to write this ever since I saw that the BCS has created a website dedicated to documenting the problems with a playoff in college football. I found out about via the BCS Twitter feed. Both have been providing me with a daily source of entertainment since I found them.

First, I'll mention an article that the BCS Twitter feed about how the BCS is going down the right path. It brings up the fact that there could be 5 undefeated teams at the end of the year and how it is nice that TCU, Boise State and Cincinnati are at least in the conversation of a national championship and how pre-BCS they never would have been. OK, I'll grant the BCS that, but with a true playoff, not only would they be in the conversation for a championship, they'd be in a playoff that would determine one. The best quote from the article which really doesn't help the BCS' cause is this:

That simple truth hasn't changed in the BCS which, for all its flaws, is largely a product of human whim.

For those unsure of the definition of whim, it is this (from dictionary.com) an odd or capricious notion or desire; a sudden or freakish fancy. With that definition in mind, the article that BCS uses to stump its case brings up the fact that the team's playing in the championship are decided by humans that really aren't giving a ton of thought to the votes. I've heard many mentions in the press that coaches really don't have time to fill out their polls in a meaningful way, they are busy figuring out how to win their next game. Press members really don't have the time either. Between the conclusion of games on Saturday and Sunday afternoon when the polls are released they need to thoughtfully evaluate all of the games from the previous day while writing their various articles for the local paper they work for or whatever media outlet they work for. They don't have the time.

Now back to their new website...

On the front page of playoffproblem.com they list off 7 questions with the intent being they'd dissuade you from wanting a playoff. I'll go through those one by one now...

1) Who would participate?

I'll just flat out say a 16-team playoff is necessary. Checking the college football schedule on ESPN.com I found that there are 12 football conferences. You can't have a bracket that doesn't have at least one spot for each conference champion. If winning your conference doesn't allow you to play for the national championship, it just isn't right.

2) How many automatic qualifiers?

I'd award each conference champion (however a conference decides it) and any undefeated team an automatic bid. If you want to open an extra at-large spot or two, you could put the caveat in that the conference champion would have to have 2 or fewer losses to earn an automatic bid. (I would personally lean to have the automatic berth require 2 or fewer losses). This would typically open another 2 or 3 spots (for example, this year, Conference USA, Sun Belt and possibly MAC conferences would not earn automatic bids because their champions have too many losses.) Each year there would typically be 4 to 7 at large berths.

3) What would would be the criteria to qualify?

I've already answered this question in my answer for how many automatic qualifiers. Look to my answer for the next question for filling the at-large berths.

4) What would be the criteria for seeding?

For the at-large berths and the seeding, I'd do what the NCAA does for their exciting basketball tournament. They sequester some people intimately involved in the sport (conference commissioners and athletic directors) to select teams for the at-large berths and seed them accordingly. They seem to do a good job for basketball. I'd personally put a heavy preference on undefeated teams getting top seeds, followed by conference champions with at-large's getting the last spots.

5) Where would the games be played?

In the first round of 8 games, I'd play them at the the higher seeds stadium. Give them a reward for a well down season. Second round games, I'd play them at a neutral stadium that can handle the demand of the two teams that is a fairly equal distant for traveling purposes for the teams/fans. Semi-final and championship could be played at traditional bowl locations.

6) When would they be played?

I'd play the first game the week after the regular season is done and then every two weeks thereafter. This would provide a break for finals at most universities between the 1st and 2nd round games and the 2 weeks between the 2nd round, semifinal and championship would provided adequate time for fans to arrange travel, etc. This would have games on the 2nd and 4th weekends of December and January. People may say this stretches it out too long, but that would only get really long for 2 schools and sort of long for 4 schools.

7) Would everyone be satisfied?

The BCS website says no, but I'd beg to difer. Maybe teams 17, 18 and 19 aren't too happy about not getting in, but guess what, they probably have 2, 3, or 4 losses and if they have that many, should they really have a reason to complain. No. The way things are today, there could be 3 undefeated teams on Sunday that don't get to play for the National Championship and I think they would have a lot more right to complain than team 17, 18 and 19.

Some other notes about how to get in and what nots...

No limits on how many teams from a single conference. If a conference has 2 undefeated teams, they'd both get in, one via the conference championship, one via going undefeated. (This could happen in the Big Ten for example.)
No special rules for any independent teams. They'd need to earn an at-large berth or go undefeated to get an automatic entry.

Finally, after digging deeper on the BCS website, they pose the question Why would a playoff diminish the regular season? Here is their answer:

Playoffs would weaken the regular season. It has happened in every other sport. Once a team has clinched a playoff berth, subsequent regular-season games often become meaningless. The interest of fans, sponsors, television viewers and others is redirected from the regular season into the playoff.

I take offense to their answer. The only way to clinch a berth is to win your conference. Many conferences have a championship game which is the last game of the year for those teams. They need to win it to get an automatic berth. If there is a maximum loss to keep the automatic bid, they'd also have reason to keep winning. I don't thin this will water down the regular season.

When they talk about about watering down an experience, I think they've successfully watered down the bowl experience. They say 68 teams get to go to a bowl game. Yes, some bowl games are rich with tradition (Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, Orange, etc) that every year have a quality match up. Now there is the Little Ceaser's Bowl. Yay, I'm the Little Ceaser's Bowl Champion... we defeated a 7-5 team and got some free pizza. (no offense to Little Ceaser's... I eat their pizza weekly.) I'd chalk that up as one of my great college experiences.... err, maybe not. Yeah, it would be fun. But playing for a true championship would be way more fun.

Finally, just because there is a playoff, doesn't mean the bowls can't go on. If 68 teams go to bowls today, why can't 52 teams go to bowls while the others play in De-January Madness.

50,000+ Specators for a Ski Show Practice

2009-11-06T20:48:00.003-06:00

There are some show skiers from the USA over in China right now and depending on who does the estimates, they are getting between 40,000 & 50,000+ spectators for practices. Here's a picture of the crowd.

For more about their trip, you can check out the blog of everything they are doing here.

2009-07-19T18:36:00.001-05:00

Mad-city is the state champs!

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Mad-City took 2nd in team

2009-07-16T18:13:00.001-05:00

Mad-City took 2nd in team jump. Bad Water Skeeters took 1st.

Mad-City just nailed Team Jump

2009-07-16T15:38:00.001-05:00

Mad-City just nailed Team Jump landing a 7 and a mobius!

Where are my Cheez-Its?

2009-04-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

While the CRB and Lake of Sin feud over an old cooler (that's gotta be just about empty by now since no one refills it), a paddle and a Lappy, I'm looking for my Cheez-Its so I can watch 24? I'm not sure who's going to star in 24 now that Nola has taken out Jake Baurer (still not completely sure how that happened?) Personally, I'm hoping Jack's daughter somehow saves him without getting kidnapped.

Personally, I think the CRB just needs to give up their quest and buy themselves a new cooler... maybe something like this...

I personally don't think that will hold enough "beverages" for the CRB'ers though. (I do think it'll fit there style perfectly) They might need something a little bigger like this...

But even that might not be big enough... This one might actually be able to satisfy their thirst...

That cooler doesn't have beer in it, but it might just be big enough to handle the beer needs of the CRB crew.

Meanwhile, I'll continue to look for a new source of Cheez-Its since CRB and the Lake of Sin have purchasing all of them for the nefarious needs. I'll offer up my casa to Nola if she wants to lay low for a while.

2009-04-16T19:49:00.001-05:00

UW Band Concert

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Some of My Favorite Pictures from 2008...

2009-04-15T21:56:00.004-05:00

Here's are some of my favorite pictures from the 2008 ski season.

2008.12.31 - Favorite Pictures of 2008

Now I'm looking forward to a great 2009 on the water.

15 Percent Concentrated Power of Will

2009-02-18T21:01:00.003-06:00

That is what it took to write this post... not really, but it has been along time coming. Here's a look back at some the best pictures from 2008. My photo blogging took a bit of nose dive last year after June 1st due to the lakes closing in Madison. When you drive 45 minutes to practice and don't get home till 10pm or so, you just don't have that much spare time. The camera was still busy, so here's a look back.

As those that follow the site know, my ski season started early in 2008. January 26th to be exact. I went south to get some skiing in, but not very far. Just a mere 30 minutes. The ski site looked like this...

From 2008.01.26 - Winter Waterland

And the water was cold...

From 2008.01.26 - Winter Waterland

But it wasa fun...

From 2008.01.26 - Winter Waterland

The the skiing too a hiatus for a few months. It took till the beginning of May before we back on the water...

From 2008.05.05 - Cinco de Mayo with Teri and Douch

But it has to complain when your nights on the water end like this...

From 2008.05.05 - Cinco de Mayo with Teri and Douch

A week later, the Best Dam Barefoot Race took place. It was a little cooler this year, but still a whole lot of fun.

From 2008.05.10 - Best Dam Barefoot Race 2008

As May wound down, we had some very nice weather, which we made good use of...

From 2008.05.24 - Saturday Morning Fun

Then, the rain hit, and it hit hard...

From 2008.06.07 - Clean Lakes Festival

Leaving us with this...

From 2008.06.13 - High Water on Lake Monona

And this....

From 2008.06.13 - High Water on Lake Monona

So Mad-City headed about 45 minutes north, to Lake Wisco, to practice. One of the nice things about that is we had nights that looked like this at the end of the night...

From 2008.06.29 - Mad-City - On Lake Wisconsin

And this...

From 2008.07.01 - Mad-City - On Lake Wisconsin

And resulted in fun practices like this...

From 2008.07.02 - Mad-City - On Lake Wisconsin - The Fun Practice

My boat also made a few trips to Lake Wisconsin too. One of the better trips was on July 4th. It took phone calls until 1am the night before to finalize the plans, but they were finalized and we skied on some nice water in some great scenary.

From 2008.07.04 - July 4 on Lake Wisconsin

When State arrived, the rain made another cameo appearance...

From 2008.07.17 - Thursday at State

But it didn't stick around too long...

From 2008.07.17 - Thursday at State

And it was still a whole lot of fun...

From 2008.07.17 - Antics at the Lodge

And we put on one hell of a good show...

Resulting in this...

From 2008.07.20 - State Awards

The following week we did a road show in Portage, so I had a chance to do doubles again...

From 2008.07.26 - Doubles at the Portage Road Show

And then the next week we did yet another road show, this time on Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, there were 4 foot rollers there to great us...

From 2008.08.02 - Lake Forest Road Show

Finally, Nationals arrived. After a season of driving, late practices and little sleep, our Nationals show went very well...

And after our show, we hit "The Bar"...

From 2008.08.09 - At The Bar

Our efforts were rewarded...

After Nationals, the Madison lakes slowly reopened, so then we just had some fun....

From 2008.08.16 - Tubing

And more fun...

From 2008.08.29 - Skiing - With Brianna & Imhof

And occasionally, we needed supplies delivered...

From 2008.08.29 - Skiing - With Brianna & Imhof

So the nights would end like this...

From 2008.08.29 - Skiing - With Brianna & Imhof

But then we'd go out again the next night...

From 2008.08.30 - Skiing with Paige, Brandon, Imhof, Austen, Laura and Sam

I did get to hit the ramp a little...

From 2008.09.12 - Skiing - With Sandy & Brandon

And the water...

From 2008.09.12 - Skiing - With Sandy & Brandon

Finally, fall arrived, and the last trip out on the lake...

From 2008.10.12 - Skiing with John & Sandy

Then winter arrived and more nights would end like this...

From 2008.12.29 - CBI

So that's the 2008 in pictures.

Think Tank

2009-02-10T17:08:00.004-06:00

I find it interesting that Think Tank has changed it's name. The reason I've heard is there are two many "think tanks" now and the name wasn't unique.

I think (and this is just my opinion) that they may have changed the name because some call it Drink Tank. So they've now dropped the old name for a new name, and the new acronym is WSCE, and as Steve Locke pointed out on USA Water Ski today...

WSCE (does that sound like whiskey?… just wondering)

So I'll be off to WSCE at the end of February, where they've dropped one drinking name for another.

Barefoot Worlds Coverage on Tales from the Foot

2009-01-28T22:44:00.004-06:00

Barefoot Worlds are going on right now in New Zealand. The best of best are over there tricking, slaloming and jumping. KSO is trying to defend is title.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world, at least those of interested in barefooting, are curious to know what's going on over there. So far, there hasn't been much, if any, official coverage, but I have managed to track down some sources to keep tabs on what's happening.

Instead of having to scour the internet yourself looking for info, I'm doing that for you. Just head over to my barefooting website Tales from the Foot. That link will show you all the World's Barefoot coverage that there is to know about so far.

While you're there, feel free to browse around the whole site.

Going for a Record... 122 Peoples, 1 Very Big Boat

2009-01-27T21:20:00.007-06:00

I wrote about their attempt last year (someone from Tasmanina even stopped by in December 2008 to let me know about this upcoming attempt on Jan 31st.) Well they are going to try it again. The Horsehead Water Ski Club in Tasmania is going to try to set a record. Don't know where that's at? Neither did I, so enter Google Maps, and you find out it's here...

Still not sure where that's at? Well that "island" is off the southern tip of Australia. It is west of New Zealand, if that helps. Here's a link to the location in Google Maps.

Enough geography for today, back to the task at hand. The World Record attempt. The current World Record, at least according to this YouTube video, so it's gotta be true, is 100 skiers.

100 Skiers, 1 Big Boat [video]

Anyways, the Horsehead Water Ski Club is gonna try it again this year. This weekend actually. They gonna try on Saturday, so that would be some time late on Friday here in the states if my international date line logic is current, but it could be wrong.

Anyways, good luck to all the participants in this attempt. You can check out this website for updates. I hope they let the world know how they do.

Heli Front

2009-01-26T12:45:00.003-06:00

I the show skiing world, we've seen barefooters pull front flips, but in the video below we have a guy doing a helicopter pulling a front flip... very nice.

Heli Front [video]

Why is Santa so Jolly?

2008-12-24T18:00:00.002-06:00

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
-George Carlin

A New Holiday Classic

2008-12-23T23:59:00.001-06:00

No, this isn't water skiing related, but it is a relatively new Christmas. This dates back all the to 2005 when Carson Williams put together this little light show for his neighborhood. I'm not sure if it was that year or next, but Miller picked it up for their holiday beer advertising. Then the following year they tried to create their own, but it wasn't nearly as good as the original.

Without further adoo, here is the original Symphony in Lights featuring the Wizards in Winter by TSO...

Symphony in Lights [video]