Outside looking in.

[jacque_mehoff]

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN


As some of you already know, I do not work in the wake industry in any capacity and some would claim I am not part of it due to this fact. This point can be discussed in another thread. In the meantime, I spend a bunch of my time thinking, reading, watching , discussing and riding. I also spend a bunch of my money on the industry as well.

All my friends strap, due to this fact I started to come to ws.com to learn more, progress and meet other people that skate. For the record, my strapper friends turned me onto skating in the first place.

Quickly after joining ws.com I learned all about DA MAN. I think DA MAN is Bob Archer. It seems too many people here feel that the DA MAN is keeping everyone down and is to blame for the hardships some people feel is taking place in wakeskating today. Back to my strapper friends. I have never heard this name before ws.com. My friends just go out and ride. And other than the compliment on their new board or bindings the tech talk stops there and it’s all about riding and having a good time.

We rode yesterday and not one thing about the industry, forums, DA MAN or anything else was discussed. It was seeing friends and being on the water having the good times we are supposed to. I get on the water to leave my land problems behind.

As an outsider looking into this industry it reminds of a few things. First, there is this guy named Shannon Best, some of you might have heard his name before. If you have not, here is a quick overview. Shannon was a pro wakeboarder and turned kiteboarder and brought the wake style to the kite scene after Lou Wainman and others really started pushing wake in kiting. Shannon has started his own kite company and so did Lou another pro wakeboarder turned kiter. Shannon was able to drop the prices of kites without sacrificing materials or quality, in fact, he improved designs and some will say he has the best product on the market. While he did this, the industry got so pissed he was banned from competitions occasionally. I hope this doesn’t happen in skating.

Second, do these conversations about DA MAN happen outside skating or is it just in wakeskating?

Third, I know there are a few pro skaters that read these forums and post often. If you have every seen Dog Town and Z Boys, that is a great story of how the industry can pull people apart and profit from it. Or you can keep it together. Some will end up like Jay Adams, Christian Hosio or Mark Gator. Others will find themselves like Tony Hawk, Stacy Peralta etc. You can be succesfull without dropping your shorts and continue to progress the sport which many of the pro skaters are doing.

I will give a true shout out to Shane Dorian. Shane was on the pro surfing tour and quit to soul surf and he was embraced by the surf world for his decision. For Shane it was not about winning the tour but about having fun and the STOKE.

In another thread someone posted it’s all about the stoke. My stoke factor is so high, especially since I was able to ditch the wetsuit and ride in warm water and warm temps yesterday.

And since I started to post here, I have met some kick ass people from all over the country (and the world) who share this same feeling. I look forward to continuing these relationships and hopefully riding with you all. .

If I have offended anyone I apologize. I am not here to bash or criticize any person or company. I only came to ws.com to network with other skaters.

Start the flame because I know it’s coming. However it will not ruin my stoke!


Sincerely,

Jacque Mehoff

[Jesse]

Who's Bob Archer? Does he shred?

[jacque_mehoff]

Jesse,

[TTUFAN24]

jacque_mehoff, who cares? stick to making funny videos about people.

[jacque_mehoff]

TTUFAN24,

have i made funny vids before?

[TTUFAN24]

or was that capt. jack? arent you the same person. where's Esnow?

[jacque_mehoff]

TTUFAN24,

not this again, I am not captain jack or Grouch. I have been accused of being other people before, but be assured. I have had only two names on this site. one i can't remember because it was a while back and then this one.

[mergeleft3]

jacque_mehoff, AMEN!

[ridehatzic]

I don't have the capacity to read all these long posts jeez. lets make em short and sweet

[jacque_mehoff]

[quote="ridehatzic"]I don't have the capacity to read all these long posts jeez. lets make em short and sweet [/quote]

it justifies why all canuck fans must send me half their paychecks...... I will pm you an address.

[Vance Collins]

Can i write an essay too? Are we being graded/?

[jacque_mehoff]

vance,

you can, but you must use words that have more than 2 syllables ok?

[Vance Collins]

Damn, i cant do that

[jacque_mehoff]

vance,

you are one of the smartest cats on this site. come on

[mikeskatesonwater]

yeah my friend Dave put his name as EvenJesusHatesDave and he rides with me and he got deleted and everyone thought it was a joke....theres some shizzle....apparantly there is only one person with the name dave and to poke fun at such a name is grounds for termination from the site....worst part was i let him use my computer cause i got him into the wakeskating.com ness....so i had to get my ip unblocked....hahah shenanigans....

[BillyOLDS]

jacque_mehoff, good shizzle

[jacque_mehoff]

TTUFAN24,

My old s/n was XNUOUT2. I had two total post. I will spare you the links. I asked about a butter board and if LF owned them. The next question was in an integrity forum asking about the Tolstoy.

That is the only other screen name I have used here.

[s34n]

Did anyone actually read that? I commend whoever did. And also worry a bit.