Today I barefooted with Ron Scarpa. In fact, I spent the last 3 evenings sharing dinner and life with him as well.
To most of you, that means nothing. Many of you may not even know what barefoot waterskiing is . . . but it is one of my passions.
To put things into perspective, Ron Scarpa is to barefooting what Tiger Woods is to golf, what Michael Jordan is to basketball, what Jeff Gordon is to NASCAR, what . . . Do you get the picture?!?
Scarpa is THE greatest barefooter of all time and I had the privelage of just hangin' out and footin' with him.
The real credit and gratitude goes to my footin' buddy (and Scarpa look-alike) Bob Ragland who arranged for Scarpa to come up here and teach a clinic for 3 days. Unfortunately, Ron had to head back home to Florida a little early to help his wife with the aftermath of Hurricane Charlie. We all enjoyed his companionship and coaching and certainly hope to bring him back next summer. It's really inspiring to work and play with a world-class athlete.
Here are 3 of my footin' family members pictured with Scarpa: Bob Ragland, Jon Mark, and Kyle Downey. (Not pictured: Patrick Pfefferkorn) Obviously, that is me with Scarpa in the corner photo. I think it's safe to say that I am the only one that Ron kissed good-bye . . .
Did you leave your wife, Steve, home babysitting again while you played with the boys?
Wondered if you took advantage of that. There was something in the Warsaw and Syracuse papers about him. Pretty impressive!!
I have to admit that I missed taking Rachel to her first day of school so that I could "go to school" too --- and hang out with the boys! (Hey, I live, work and play in a man's world. Why try to fight it?) BUT . . . I think Daddy enjoyed the opportunity to take his not-so-little girl to school instead.
I didn't make the picture because I actually had to work!
However, the first two days of the week I got to play on the water with Ron, Rags, and Kyle all day.
I was actually convinced by Ron to try a back to front surface turn. Rags and Kyle suggested it also, but for their own benefit of watching me ram my skull into the gravel pit abyss. I took off backwards and found myself surprisingly frontwards toward the end of the run. However, I will admit, I didn't think I had a chance in barefoot hell, but somehow Ron knew I would do it and the magic happened. Honestly, I think Ron wanted to see me ram my head also. I was so surprised that once I was in forward position I raised my hand as a sign of victory...only to catch a toe that still was thinking/skiing backwards. It didn't matter I still counted it Kyle! Rags has the video clip if there's anyone out there that needs a good laugh (you have to watch it in slow motion).
Great time had by all!
Erin you get most improved this year. Great job on the toe-holds and back-deeps...watch out Jon Mark, she's kickin' your butt!
Thanks for the "visit" Patrick. Long time no see!!! Ron returns in June . . . Psych up!
Where's Patrick? We hear about him. We talk about him. We think about him. Where the hell is he? We never see him...never! No pictures of him hanging out with Erin. I wonder if Erin edits him out of all photos. What did Patrick do to deserve this? Barefooters are suppose to look out for one another. No respect...as if he were a bluegill fisherman or personal watercraft on a calm early morning.
Erin, I kissed everyone!