Jack M

Channel 17, code 7

Click here for info: http://www.eces.us/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=81#81 There is plenty of room in every session. Sign up by noon today to get in! Beckman will make you think about your carving in ways you never knew possible.

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You can't get to Sugarloaf from North Conway. ;) And, um, Willy, the ECES starts on Monday. Not this weekend. Fin, don't forget, about 6% of the same sex will notice the PTC tune too!

That's great. Spillway is one of my favorites, but it was in rough shape at the last ECES. That will be a great trail for us to hit over and over, so we can watch each other from the chairlift!

The East Coast Expression Session Schedule of Events is here: www.eces.us/latestupdate.htm See you there!

Check out our Welcome Center for some info. That board may be a bit much if it is a Burton Factory Prime. If it's an Alp, give it a try, but I'd recommend starting on an all-mountain carver like the Donek Axis, Prior 4WD, or Burton Coil (aka Wire, aka E-deck).

Welcome!

Bingo. Having the flex in the bindings is bad, imo, because then the board is moving around independently of your foot. You're not getting feedback from your ankle. Your ankle doesn't know what the board is doing, and it also can't affect the board as, um, effectively. If the boot is flexing, then so is your ankle. Then you can feel exactly what is going on with the board because the board is positively connected to your foot. Or maybe this all just goes out the window when riding on race ruts.

No you wouldn't. Unless your name is JJFluff, the rails eventually work-harden and snap. That was the design intent of the original Burton variplate. You'd be repeating history. Ancient history. For the rails to be durable enough to be safe, they would be heavy and quite ridgid. The suspension kit is an add-on. You mount it between the board and your existing TD2s, and it adds about a 1/4" of cushion.

I have never ridden one, but I believe they are supposed to be extra damp to deal with race ruts. You may or may not consider that a good thing for freecarving. They certainly look da bomb and have all the trophies to wave around, but part of me wonders how much "bandwagon mentality" is in effect here, which I believe is rampant in racing. That is, would the Olympic and FIS standings look any different if the Schoch brothers weren't on Kessler? Or what if Jewell had the only Kessler at the Olympics, would he have medalled? Just musing here, again I've never even seen a Kessler in person. And I also want a piece of this titanal action too, hence my recent Prior Metal acquisition.

Sugarloaf is reporting 8.5" of new white stuff this morning! This is good news for the ECES.

Dr D, have you seen these? http://www.bomberonline.com/store/accessories/suspension_kit.cfm JJFluff, there are exceptions to every rule. And then there are freaks. ;) 12yo variplates! That's got to be a world record.

Someday, one of us freecarvers who has learned how to carve on <i>real</i> bindings is going to decide to race. His coach is going to say, you've got to get rid of those stiff bindings, and you've got to forget that technique and ride like I tell you. And he's going to respond, to hell with those flimsy bindings, and I ride just fine the way I do. And he's going to race his way, and beat up on the other cookie-cutter racers with rubber bands on their feet. Oh wait, someone already did that and won 5 world championships.

What the heck happened to Bozzetto? Double binding explosion, wha-how!

How many <i>seconds</i> did that coverage last? I suppose if Jewell had been a medal contender we would have seen a lot more of the elimination rounds. Oh well. At least we didn't have to sit through *any* figure skating - or anything else! Now if I can just set my VCR for 2010...

Heh, don't get me started on feigned humbleness. "Humble" atheletes enjoy opening the whop-ass can just as much as anyone. You don't need to do that inside of a race or competition. So why do you? That's fine, but why are you in the competition to begin with? Or maybe they're just honest about why they like to compete. I think most of us including me like to include other senses of satisfaction, like competing for personal achievement, or just for fun, or for fitness, or whatever. But at the end of the competition, even if only for a fleeting moment, you enjoy the raw sense of pride knowing that the people you beat have to look at you and know that at that moment, you are the superior player. Bonus if there are any spectators. Not that there's anything wrong with that! :)

When I went out for the crew team, I didn't know if I had what it took to last the season. I wanted to find out. But why? I think subconsciously it was to know that I could do something that a lot of other people couldn't. In other words, to see how I "measure up". 95 guys tried out for the team in the fall. 20 were left come springtime, and I was proud to be one of them. I taught myself a new level of perseverance in the process, and that is the biggest benefit. But I'd be lying if I told you I didn't care what other people think of that. Both. Of course - because in a real game, you care about getting closer to the championship. Or in a real race, you care about where you finish. I don't think you're stopping to think about what I'm asking. The question is, "why compete?". Let's neglect fund raising for the sake of argument. I think that's different and irrelevant. I think when you boil it down, you compete either to show people that you're good or are the best, or, to see how you measure up against others when it's on the record. In the former case, you obviously care what other people think about you. In the latter case, you get a personal sense of satisfaction, but you also get an ace up your sleeve that you can play whenever you want. You can then say to someone "hey, I ran the Boston Marathon", at any time afterwards in your life if you need to for whatever reason. Even if you never play that card, just having it is a form of insurance you can use to affect what other people think of you. If you feel you need that, then you care what other people think of you. If you just want to see if you can run a marathon, you don't have to actually run the Boston Marathon. So why bother? It's the tree falling in the forest thing. Again, nothing wrong with caring what other people think of you. I just call BS whenever a competitor claims they don't.

If they didn't care what people think, they'd just use a stopwatch and "race" themselves whenever they felt the urge. Absolutely. In a big race like that where you have no chance of winning, but you do it anyway (like a marathon or something) you do it just so you can tell other people that you did it. Maybe you even put one of those "26.2" oval stickers on your car too. If you didn't care what people think about you, you'd just step outside your door one day and run 26.2 miles and time yourself, and keep your piehole shut about it. Hey, I have no problem with people who care what others think about them - I obviously do, and I think it's human nature. My beef is with people who do, but claim they don't. That's just phony.

Not sure what I was looking at..... My local listings indeed show Women's PGS on Thursday, but only at 4pm - no primetime coverage? Lame.

Go Tyler! NBC coverage starts at 8pm. And fortunately we'll only have to sit through minimal figureskating to see it! Women on Friday!

When Pedro Martinez started talking trash about the Red Sox the instant he crossed the New York border, I lost all respect for him. And the comment someone made about doing this for herself and not caring what other people think is incorrect. If you don't care what other people think, you don't compete. The very definition of competition is the drive to be acknowleged as the best (or at least good) by your peers and anyone else paying attention.

give it a try and get back to us. But I'd say the guy in the picture is a little too far back, and too bent over.

I guaranfreakingtee you she would not do that grab over again given the chance, nor will she ever attempt another stalled moneyshot grab in another boardercross ever again. You're right, the worst part is she has to answer to herself for what she did. But don't pretend for a second she doesn't or shouldn't care what other people think of her. You don't compete if you don't care what other people think.