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I4 May 2004 - I Finally Figgered It Out - Why The High Anxiety In The Lineup

I gotta bunch of junk to complete this figgering out process - but let's start by comparing surfing and its participants, to some other sports:

I wanna ski - One can take lessons. The lesson areas are far removed from even the beginner slopes - much less the advanced skier slopes - plus - all the runs are marked by difficulty. I doubt, but I'm not positive, that a professional skier would have to worry too much about a 10 year old beginner dropping in on the same ski run.

I wanna play baseball - Depending upon one's age, one can play by age division, coed or non coed divisions, skill level, etc. In other words, a professional pitcher, who throws the baseball at 90 mph, would never be competing on the same field as a 12 year old girl.

I wanna race motorcycles - When I started racing - and I imagine it's kindda the same now - racers were segregated by size of bike, plus their skill level. The skill levels I remember were Novice, Amateur, and Expert - and then various levels of professional skills. I wouldn't have even thought about being on the same track, and competing against, even an Expert racer, much less a professional.

- BUT -

I wanna surf - Surfing is about the only sport I know of, where, in one lump, all competing for the same "thing" [a wave], can you find surfers, and maybe non-surfers, who are:

  • soul surfing
  • professionals
  • great
  • good
  • average
  • below average
  • beginners
  • kooks
  • old men
  • young men
  • old women
  • young women
  • little kids
  • big kids
  • mean guys
  • nice guys
  • long boarding
  • jail birds
  • short boarding
  • booger boarding
  • fathers
  • mothers
  • grandfathers
  • grandmothers
  • tied to boards
  • not tied to boards
  • kayaking - not a surfer -
  • butt boarding
  • taking the sport seriously
  • surfing as if for "hit and giggles" [Party Wave]
  • clued in
  • no clue
  • drowning
  • smarties
  • dummies
  • jail bait

    • ETC!

    No wonder tensions in the lineup sometimes rise to volcanic eruptions of anger, frustration, or maybe - please god forgive us - violence.

    Anyway - if I'm in the line-up, I've got more protection than I know what to do with....



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    Later,

    BA

     

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