While I was at Footstock this year, Aaron Schoelzel came up to me and asked if I had heard about Banana George's Figure-8 tournament.  I asked what was up, and Aaron went on to explain that George had somehow convinced the IWSA (International Waterski Ski Association) to sanction his upcoming Figure-8 competition as the First World Endurance Barefoot Championship.  Aaron wanted to know if I'd heard about it and what I thought.  Here's basically how I replied:

First of all, just the fact that the IWSA would consider such a request, just shows me how out of touch with the sport of Figure-8 and Endurance barefooting the IWSA is.   What the IWSA failed to do is research the history of the sport and really determine if a single event such as George's warrants that type of distinction.  If they had done the research, they would have discovered many things happening in the sport of barefooting that would warrant further discussions about why George's event didn't warrant the distinction.  Here are a few things they should think about:

1. Figure-8 and Endurance are two different things.  Figure-8 is being able to ski over cross-rollers better than your competition while endurance in the pure sense of the word is skiing longer distances than your competition.  Most Figure-8's only last 3/4 of a lap and most figure-8r's don't spend much time in the gym.  Maybe the bar, but not the gym.  Only a few top skiers take the figure-8s to multiple 8s where physical endurance may come into play. Many figure-8's are so rough that it's more a competition of who can ski in the roughest water.

Endurance seems to be talking about, but one I feel not everyone truly sees the same way.  For instance, endurance is synonymous with barefoot racing events that are growing in popularity.  Barefooter racers actually train in the gym to increase their stamina and endurance more for racing than they do for Figure-8s, but even in racing, lasting longer than your competition isn't always the ultimate goal.  There's more strategy that surrounds racing.  Strategy like who should ski when, various speeds to run, when to transition, etc.. It sometimes makes more since to stop a skier short of their distance capabilities to replace them with a skier that can go much faster.  In my opinion, endurance barefooting, in the truest sense of the word, is getting two skiers up behind the boat, running a set speed, and seeing who can outlast the other. Or trying to ski long enough to break Billy's Nichol's world endurance record of over 2 hours. They have a double long-line endurance event each year at the Monster Mash in New Orleans.  It's the only one I know of that pits two skiers against each other in the true endurance fashion, and one of only a few sites in America that is long and straight enough to hold such an event. So if any event were to be sanctioned as the World Endurance Championship, I would say the Monster Mash would be it.  But so far, it's only been a fun add-on to there 3-Event tournament.  More for bragging rights and a warm up for the Dam-to-Dam barefoot race than anything else.

2.  As far as Figure-8 goes, all roads lead to Footstock.  To this day, Footstock is the largest and most competitive Figure-8 competition in the World.  Anybody who's anybody in the sport of Figure-8 barefooting knows that you'd have to crazy to claim to be the Figure-8 World Champion without first winning Footstock.  As the Figure-8r's all say: "To be the Best, you have to Beat the Best!"  For George Blair to convince the IWSA to sanction a tournament 1/4 the size of Footstock as the World Championships is a slap in the face to the sport of Figure-8 itself.  What was George thinking other than promoting his own event?  More importantly, what's the IWSA thinking?  My feedback to them is they should re-think their decision.  If they look at things a bit closer, I think they'll find out that George was acting on his own for his own self interest and had not solicited the support of the other Figure-8 organizers.  I don't have anything against Banana George.  He just did what he thought he needed to do to get more skiers to attend his event.  If the organizers of Frostbite Fest or Faceplant Fest had the connections George has, I'm sure they would jump at the chance to have their events dubbed the World Championships.  But what George has lost site of is that his event dwarfs in size to Footstock.  There's a reason they call Footstock the Figure-8 Nationals.  Footstock 2005 actually had more competitors attend it than did the 3-Event US Nationals in 2005.  Ultimately, George and the IWSA can proclaim the Blairfoot Bonanza whatever they wish, but Footstock will remain the event that every Figure-8 skier aspires to win.  It's not about the money or the medals.  It's about the respect they attain after winning such a heavily competitive event.  Well, in second thought, it is about the money.  Any true figure-8r needs to be able to by beer to celebrate and gas to get to the next figure-8.

Special Note:  I don't have anything against Mike Salber or JJ Link or any of the competitors that attended the 2005 Blairfoot Bonanaza.  Mike is one of Barefoot Central's top Promo Skiers, and more importantly, a very good friend.  JJ is making a name for himself in endurance racing this year.  Mike skied unbelievable at Footstock winning 1st in the Senior division and 9th in the Open division.  His 9th place in Open at Footstock was much harder due to the fact that he skied in 2 divisions and had a much larger and more seasoned field of competitors.  But the fact is, he did not win the Open division at Footstock.  That title belongs to Aaron Schoelzel.  And until Mike beats Aaron Schoelzel, he can not claim to be the World Champion in Figure 8.  You need to beat the best the sport has to offer at the event that packs the most pressure.  With that being said, I can't wait until Footstock 2006. 

Food for thought

With the rate that Figure-8 competitions are growing, what needs to happen to crown a true World Champion is to first get some international competitions happening in say Europe, South Africa and Australia.  Then invite the top 10 competitors from each country to meet for an international showdown.  

Another option would be to establish a three or four event series, a Triple Crown for all extensive purposes.  Award points to the top 10 finishers based on how they place.  The skier with the most accrued points at the end of the three events would be crowned the World Champion.  Weight the point system based on the size of the event, 2-30 skiers, 31-50 skiers, 51-80 skiers, 80-100, 101-130, over 130, etc...  The more skiers that attend an event, the more the points would be worth for winning that event.  What would result would be Footstock being the difference maker.  Organizers would be incented to grow their events to get their points weighted more.  

For those of you that lasted through my opinions and still want to know how the Blairfoot Bonanza turned out, we have an article submitted to us by Char Portman, who attended the event.  I'd like to thank Char for taking the time to write the story for all to enjoy.

18th IWSA Blairfoot Bananza
Winter Haven's Lake Sliver
(Char Portman)

As the sun rose above the trees on the Morning of October 1, there was barely a cloud in the sky. The forecast called for warm, but breezy conditions. It would prove to be a beautiful day. The water conditions, you could say, were far from perfect. This would be the cards that all the World Endurance Barefoot competitors would be dealt for the 18th Annual Blairfoot Bananza. Banana George got this tournament sanctioned as the First World Endurance Barefoot Championships. It would include an individual endurance competition for time on the first day and a figure 8 competition on the second day. David Slemp (Chief Judge) started the festivities by calling a skier's meeting to explain the rules about the circle endurance. One interesting rule is that you have to make a wake cross each time you make a circle. The first division was the juniors and wow, they were neat to watch. The second division was Men's I. There was also a female skier that pitted herself against the guys in this division. With the time of 1.52.72, Rachel Friede (Miami, FL) out skied the men and took first place. Then to the water came the Men's II competitors. Several of the competitors in this division foot together and are best friends. When this group took to the water, their friendships turned to fierce competition. You might say, they were out for blood! In third place was James Ware (Orlando, FL ), second went to David Smith (Orlando, FL ), and first place went to Jeff Pohlable (Port St. Lucie, FL). With the conclusion of Men's II came the Senior Men division. Boy, can they barefoot in some really bad water conditions! They could do a step off just like Footstock, but with the nearly white capping conditions it would prove to be risky. In this tough Senior Men's Division third place went to Fred Steinbaum, second went to Larry Allen and first to Mark Jackson (Washington, DC) with a time of 3.29.38 . Next was the Boom division with four footers. It was really great to see our young barefooters coming out and competing in the tournament. Now came the Big Guns to the water. Yes, it was time for the Open. The skiers were all down on the dock. Everyone was watching for the time they had to beat. It was really close. Third place went to Elaine Heller (Wisconsin), second place went to David Slemp (St. Augustine, FL), and first place went to JJ Link (Orlando, FL) with the time of 3.14.23, skiing in the worst conditions of the day. Jim was named the First IWSA Barefoot Endurance Champion in the World! At the close of day 1 competition, Banana George gave us an exhibition on his hydrofoil skis. Wow, he is amazing! The tournament ended about 2.30 PM. Everyone met at the hotel pool to hang out and have some drinks. Soon it was time to head to the banquet for some good barbecue food. It was really enjoyable getting to spend time with Banana George, now 90 and 9/12ths, as he would say. We finally retired from the banquet and everyone went back to the hotel. A few of us die hards gathered around the pool. Most of the competitors headed to bed. The big day would be tomorrow. The Figure 8 venue.

Day two brought more windy weather, but this wouldn't deter any competition. It may have even made it better. Once again Chief Judge Dave Slemp gathered us for a skier's meeting. He explained how to get an average speed that both skiers agree with and how you may enter the wake in a turn, but not cross the bubble line. Everyone was eager to get this on the road. The drivers: Brent Benoist, Paul McDonald, Richard Grey and Jon Mylle went to the water to drive the figure 8 course. They all seemed to be very consistent with the way they drove the course. The running order for the day would be the Juniors starting off, followed by Men I, Men II, the Seniors and then Open. They would run each division until they had a winner for that group. At the conclusion of each division the winner would be placed in a bracket to compete against yesterday's and today's winners. The victor would be crowned the First World Barefoot Figure 8 Endurance Champion. The most exciting division to watch proved to be Open. Elaine Heller was skiing the Open division and she was giving the guys a run for their money. There were only two competitors, JJ Link and Mike Salber, that would end up having to ski the full eight. JJ had a bye in the first bracket and was waiting for the winner of Salber vs. Kamp. Salber would prevail and face JJ. This is where the first full eight would be seen. It was the coolest thing to watch. I am sure that both of those guys were talking smack to each other out there on the water. JJ fell just after completing the 8 and was moved into the looser bracket. Mike Salber was still in the winner's bracket. He won once again. Now, he would meet his good friend, Dave Slemp, for the last bracket on the winner's side. Salber put Slemp into the loser's bracket with a tough run in white capping conditions. This would pit Slemp against Link. Once again two good friends battling it out knowing a loss would put that competitor out of the tournament. The boat accelerated to speed, they made the first turn, they crossed the two boat wakes, and as the boat started to make the next turn, down went Slemp. Now, JJ would get his rematch with Salber. Salber won the coin toss and chose what he thought was best lane, the passenger side. Both Mike and JJ did deep water starts. They rounded the first corner and then the second corner. They were hanging on for dear life. The crowd was screaming and yelling. Then as the guys almost got the second 8 of the day in JJ went down! Mike Salber was the first World Figure 8 Open Champion. The last thing to settle was the Overall Title. This would be decided by putting all of the figure 8 division winners, including the Open Endurance winner from yesterday, in a single elimination tournament. Winner take all! The bracket was drawn from a hat and again Salber faced JJ Link who had taken him the whole 8 two times that day. This time JJ won the coin toss and moved Salber off of the passenger side where he had been so comfortable most of the day. Link again was extremely tough, but proved to be no match for Salber who was locked in and seemed unbeatable. Mark Jackson, from Washington, found himself in the finals of the Overall facing the so far undefeated Salber. The crowd on the shoreline were on their feet in anticipation of who would be crowned the Overall World Figure 8 Champion. No one knew, but Banana George had 5 diamonds mounted in a Gold Medal waiting for the winner of this last match of the day. Jackson took Salber just shy of the 3/4 mark of the 8 before falling and leaving Salber undefeated for the weekend and the new World Barefoot Figure 8 Endurance Champion.