Thanks for featuring our event in this podcast.  We are certainly appreciative of the press.

You seem surprised... I think if you look back at the posts about the PP Ball it will show a trend of this emphasis on other things besides kayaking.  There is so much talk about what cannot be done because of the "ecenomy", the declining "industry"/"business" instead of focusing on what can be done which is going kayaking together.  You do not need a ramp, race or chili to do that.  IMHO, for an event that is supposed to be about the community, the events should be designed to include everyone versus only the "cool guys" in the group while those of us that are "less cool" watch.  Again, just my 2 cents.

James for city council!  

No need to get offended!!!  I just do not see how a rodeo in one of the two biggest features on the river, a race down a swollen Class IV stretch of river and a big ass ramp are for everyone. 

   P.P Balls are so much fun. It suck's if there yours but wash em off and move on  ! I think it's not a matter of cool or real skill to enter a contest. All the contest's are about paddling and the community. It's about putting forth effort.  If you sit around and watch that's on you. If you get up and join in maybe, you wouldn't feel so worthless or bitter about people having fun. It's not about winning or about being cool, It's about having fun with my friends and meeting new people !! New people that share some of the same passions. What ever the ball consists of , I'm sure at least in my mind it'll be off the hizzay. It's all what you make of it anyway !! No matter what it beat's sitting around the house stroking your own P.P ball's. Notice how I plugged the ball's at the begining and the end !!

Edited by Chuck e fresh - 12 May 2009 at 10:52am

Haha, you guys are pretty funny.  Weather in Seattle making people go crazy again?

Wasn't meaning to start anything just thought it was funny to hear Leif talk about the economy as the reasons for a smaller event this year.  Think all that talk is just naysaying doomsdayism.

You can make prizes super cheap w/ the slightest bit of creativity.  No reason to have to give away a kayak to have a successful event.  Go to the dollar store buy 20 paddle balls and write "Professor Paddle Ball 2009 Rodeo 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place, etc on them".  There 20 prizes for $20, think even Leif can afford that in this "downturn economy".  For the most part people are just as stoked on winning something like this as they are gear or swag.

To be honest I think large prizes like giving away boats do more to hurt the industry more than the economy does.  If every company helps out w/ requests to give away boats and gear they flood the market w/ crap that people sell super cheap.  

Last year's event was pretty inclusive of most boaters.  Anyone capable of running class IV could do the Icicle race last year, anyone who can paddle class II could have done the rodeo, and anyone who has a boat or sled could have enjoyed the ramp. If that was too much for people all throughout the weekend I heard about class I/II trips that people were going on w/ less experienced boaters that anyone was welcome to join.  It was by far one of the more inclusive events skillwise that I went to that year. 

Maybe a "fun float" from the campground to Cashmere where you have extra seats in rafts would be a good idea, sure one of the companies up there would be happy to donate a raft and gear if they aren't using it.  But then again in this "economy" it's more expensive to make a phone call and ask...

Starting to sound like Leif w/ how many times I said "economy" in this post.

I'll jump in and take responsibility for the formal 'shareholder's meeting' tone of the piece.  As a rule, I try to avoid promotion on the show - there's enough of that on other websites and paddling magazines.  I've been contacted by companies that want me to cover the release of their new helmet, paddle, or widget  - I've turned them down for that reason.

ProfessorPaddle is kind enough to allow me to post announcements of my show - something I don't take for granted.  Consequently, when there's an affiliated event - I'm glad to try to work something out with the folks/websites that support the show.  But, what I try to find is what the story is behind the event - or somewhere in the event (e.g., 'how do I know if I'm ready for the Gauley' in prep for Gauley Fest weekend).

Basically, I'm open to any and all story ideas for the show - as long as it's not "cover this because it's trendy and cool.'  The mentions of 'industry' and 'business' came at my prompting because I think grassroots events like the Professor Paddle Ball are rare - certainly when compared with the Teva Mtn Games or Gauley Festival.  I think there's a bit of a story there. (Whether I asked good questions it is another matter. I'm def not a pro at this and am figuring it out - based on feedback and experience - as I go along.)  More mentions of kayaking is a valid point I'll remember for future conversations. 

If there are any questions or comments, I'm eager to hear them - just drop me a note.

Thanks to ProfessorPaddle for allowing me to post and for contributing to the podcast.  And, thanks for listening. 

~jeffmc

Jeff,

The podcast was good, it's actually the 1st one that I've listed to because I wanted to hear what Leif had to say about the event.  It's fun to poke at Leif and his economy business industry lingo.  I've talked w/ him before about his doomsdayism & the paddling industry and this was just another one of those times.

There are a lot more "grassroots" (still have no idea what that means) events then there are commercial events, especially in the NW.  Teva, Gorge Games, and Fibark are kind of the exception.  Here's a list of events (races) in the NW alone:

March 21-22	Upper Wind	IV/V	Stabler-High Bridge	Wind River	WA	K(S/L/W),R(2,4),C	WWCS	ORT
March 21-22	Rich Weiss Cup	III/IV	-	Chilliwack	BC	-	NWSCR	-
March 28-29	River Redezvous	II/III	-	Deschutes	OR	S	NWSCR	-
April 4-5	Cedar River Races	II+	-	Cedar River	WA	-	NWDCR/NWSCR	-
April 11-12	Canyon Creek Race	IV+/V	Below Fly - Lake	Canyon Creek	WA	K(S),R(2),IK	WWCS	NWCC
April 18-19	Cowichan Slalom	III	-	Cowichan	BC	S	-	-
April 18-19	Upper Klamath	IV	-	Klamath	OR	K(S,L),R(4),C	WWCS	ORT
May 2	MF Snoqualamie DR Race	III-IV	-	MF Snoqualamie	WA	K(W,SL)	NWDCR	-
May 15-17	Upper Clackamas Fest	III+IV+	-	Clackamas	OR	K(S,L,W,SL),R,C	WWCS	UCWF
May 16	The Robe Race	V	Robe Canyon	SF Stillaguamish	WA	K(2x,S)	-	TRL
May 30-31	White Salmon Riverfest	III / V	Orletta / Truss	White Salmon	WA	K(S,L),R	-	WSRS
May 30-31	Icicle Race	IV(+)	Lower Icicle	Icicle	WA	K(S,L),R	-	PP
June 5-7	PBR Revival	IV-V	-	Payette	ID	K(S,L),R	WWCS	PBR
June 6-7	Slalom La Sac	II+	-	Cle Elum	WA	K(W,SL)	NWDCR/NWSCR	-
June 13-14	Wenatchee Festival	III(+)	-	Wenatchee	WA	K(S,L,W,IK),R,C	-	WF
June 20-21	Blackfoot River Fest	II-II+	-	Blackfoot	MT	K(SL,W)	-	BRF
June 25-26	Chilliawack River Slalom	III+	-	Chilliwack	BC	K(SL)	NWSCR	-
Aug 6-9	Canadian Nationals	II/III	-	Kananaskis	Alberta	K(SL,W),	NWDCR	-
Aug 22-23	Roaring River Slalom	II	-	Clackamas	OR	K(SL)	NWSCR	-
Sept 12-13	Lockaby Slalom	II+	-	Clackamas	OR	K(SL)	NWSCR	-
Sept 19-20	Skagit DR Fun Race	II/III	-	Skagit	WA	K(W)	NWDCR	-
Oct 3-4	WKC Nooksack Races	III-	-	NF Nooksack	WA	K(SL,W)	NWDCR/NWSCR	-
Unknown	Gorge Games	IV-/V	Truss & Maytag	White Salmon	WA	K(S,L)	-	GG
Unknown	Kings of the NF Payette	IV/V	-	NF Payette	ID	K(S,L)	-	KI
Unknown	Little White Race	V	Hatchery - Drano	Little White	WA	K(S)	-	-
Unknown	6 Mile Creek Race	-	-	6 Mile Creek	AK	K(S)	-	-
Unknown	Slough Slog	I/II	-	Sammamish Slough	WA	K(S,L,W,Sea,)	-	Paddler
Unknown	West Coast Women's Paddle Fest	III+	-	White Salmon	WA	K(S,L)	-	-
Unknown	Lower Wind Race	IV	Shipperd's Falls	Wind	WA	K(S)	-	-

Only a few of the races/events listed for the NW are commercial ventures.  The rest are pretty low key events that people simply just don't know of or haven't heard of because they don't market like the "non-grassroots" events.  Think the "grassroots style" is becoming an increasing trend as creek races become more and more popular. 

Again nice work on the Podcast, thanks for promoting the sport.

Paul

Yea ... Thanks again Jeff, sorry for the whining ... I can't help it...  it comes natural to me.

And Paulie... check your options now... should be back in the Edit mode. Freagin Moderators