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| Q&A: Slalom Pro Mike Maysey (2489 Posts)
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Hotwheels contest
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On 6/6/2003 Brady
wrote in from
(66.21.nnn.nnn)
I just received an email from aspaltplayground about the hotwheels contest. Unfortunately, it`s not in english so I can`t say if any slalom is involved. What intrigued me was the major sponsor...SNICKERS candy. Who`d thunk that?
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National Lampoons European Vacation with the Gordon family
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On 6/5/2003 John Gilmour
wrote in from
(209.6.nnn.nnn)
Howard you are in for a treat. Paulo Gatti, Luca and Ridoli, Ferrero will be at the Swiss race. I say get them dinner and have them coach Lauren and Dylan. There were a lot of great Swiss Juniors in Hombrechtikon that were all around 10-13 years old. in 1992. One young kid was Andreas I just can't remember his last name but Andreas would be listed in one of the Slalom! mags and the other Dynamic kids Duo were the Identical Zuerer (Alex?) (spelling) Twins. It would be great to see what these kids are up to now.
And of course culturally this is just the coolest field trip ever for your kids- bring that video camera.
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Paris
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On 6/5/2003
mike maysey
wrote in from
(65.234.nnn.nnn)
Seems we've come a long way in a very short period of time. I'm all for pushing it to the next level. John, thanks for the plug for Paris...next year I'm going to make the trip. I want to take a shot at Luca...or if nothing else, learn something from the guy.
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dream on ...
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On 6/5/2003
hg
wrote in from
(208.14.nnn.nnn)
JG - I recall our dicussions from less than two years ago where we speculated on how cool it would to participate in a race under the Eiffel Tower, though the likelihood seemed very remote. I recall Henry Hester's doctored photo of Gary Cross at Donner in 2001 with a vision of slalom TV coverage that was first realized less than 12 months later. How could I imagine when trying to get through cones with Lauren on Indiana boards in Central Park that both of my kids would end up in photos with skateboards in national magazines ?
Who is to say what is or isn't possible ?
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Arab...are you my dope dealer?
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On 6/5/2003 John Gilmour
wrote in from
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Me...... smoke weed? Arab what have you been smoking? I don't use any drugs, but if you want to try to convince people I do... give it your best shot- Good Luck- I can guarantee you that it would be much harder to convince people I do drugs than it will be for me to convince people that there are good competitions outside of the USA.
Actually I talked about the sport getting bigger and most responses to what I have said have been similar to yours.
Think about it for a minute- how far off are we? SSS doing Pacific Palisades was the only thing in there that isn't substantiated, but I figured maybe you would help to make that happen.
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Breck
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On 6/5/2003
mike maysey
wrote in from
(65.234.nnn.nnn)
Henry,
yeah, I'm leaving for breck this evening. And yeah, I did used to mountain bike quite a bit. Unfortunately San Francisco has claimed my mountain bike as well as my truck. I grew up in Morro Bay and never experienced things being stolen from me. Well, San Francisco has broken me of that ignorance. With my new job, I'm hoping to replace my truck and my bike shortly.
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New York, London, Paris, Munich, everyone talk about.....
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On 6/4/2003 John Gilmour
wrote in from
(209.6.nnn.nnn)
To keep this Mike related- since it is Maysey's forum, I hope that Mike who started slaloming in this renaissance will make the trip to Japan and Europe someday to compete as well. Mike would have done well in Paris quickness was at a premium- we missed you.
John Kim many thanks for your help- It would be great if you came along as I certainly could use a translator.
Actually I have been in contact with an active Japanese slalomer. There is a large Slalom event on Mt. Fugi with 60 competitors using breakaway style ski gates (Similar to what was used at WLAC at a few races). I won't be going to that event which runs in July. But I will try to make one of the two other events held in Yokohama later this year. I'll take a look at their rules and see how easy it would be to integrate one of their races with ours.
One thought I had is that if we have a global race circuit going- all it would take is an offer from a sponsor (say Red Bull or Sony...) to do a big $$$ purse points series using the results from several races around the world. Offering the top 6 slalomers from each country airfare would go a long way. Each local (Red Bull or Sony...) subsidiary could fund it (So I would hit up Red bull New England, Chicken would hit up Red Bull California,etc...), along with a crew of 3 videographers to doccument the footage. (Sounds crazy doesn't it?)
I would think it would be a good idea to have a World Cup tour include races from several different racing orgs. So a tour might go like this. Breck (FCR)(Denver), Paris/London (ISSA UKSSA) (back to back), Tokyo (AJTAC), NYC (?), Switzerland (Greuningen org)(Zurich), Pacific Palisades (SSS)(LAX). Of course the "World CUP" cities could change from year to year to rotate. The key is to always choose "gateway AIR cities" with cheap airfares so the cost is reasonable for the sponsors. Certainly all of the above would fall in that category.
We'll just have to wait and see.
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breckenridge
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On 6/4/2003 Henry
wrote in from
(68.63.nnn.nnn)
Mike,
Are you going to Breckenridge?
And someone once told me you mountain bike. Do you?
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Thanks for some good reading guys...
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On 6/4/2003
mike maysey
wrote in from
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...wow, now that's more like it...
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Skating In Asia
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On 6/4/2003
John Kim
wrote in from
(207.126.nnn.nnn)
Hey John Gilmour,
Was talking to HC about slalom in Japan and he mentioned that you had some connections over there. I used to live there and still speak Japanese. I'd be interested in trying to race over there or organize some kind of exchange. Send me an email if you have time.
John
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X-games Global
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On 6/4/2003 John Gilmour
wrote in from
(209.6.nnn.nnn)
Okay I have to jump in Here. I have skated East Coast, West Coast, Europe and soon Asia- yes there is a circuit over there- Jani Soderhall skated it years ago.
I have some wacked out visions for slalom, and in a strange way all seems to be going according to plan.
Why Global? Because sponsors think Global is cool. Global adds legitimacy. Slalom failed to make a solid jump to Corporate Sponsorship. Closest thing I think was the Pepsi team, and as skateboarding's image mutated in the 1970's the higher up Fortune 1000 companies seemed to lose interest just as they were starting to get interested.
I hope this will not happen again. There is a particular reason why I want to involve Private Secondary Schools in slalom racing. Look first to the sponsors of their yearbooks.
Off the top of my head from my old school, Brazil's "Escola Americana" in Rio de Janeiro, the sponsors for our yearbook 1979 included-
Coca-Cola, Texaco, IBM, Alantic Ritchfield, Xerox, Manufacturers Hanover, Chemical Bank, Citibank, American Express, McDonalds, Bankers Trust (at the time The Largest source for LBO funds), PetroBras (Brazilian Oil company, Pepsi, Ford, Marriot, Nestle, Raytheon, Gillette, and many others I would have dig up my yearbook to recall. Of course it was a killer yearbook with all those sponsorship dollars.
And why the sponsorship for a supposedly insignificant American School abroad? Perhaps because the students were either kids of Fortune 500 executives, Army Brats, or diplomats kids- but the message was clear it was a global school and sponsors wanted to have a global audience....even if it was just a highschool yearbook. Private Secondary Schools on the East Coast command similar sponsors for their yearbooks. The NorthEastern USA is the Education Capital of the World.
Being a Global sport with several different competition circuits will lay the foundation for bigger sponsors and bigger events and will eventually draw more participants into our sport.
Racing sports that use technology are unusual. For instance...how many Formula One cars are you supposed to sell if you win the F1 championships? How many Top fuel dragsters do you expect to sell?
Now lets look at low tech. How many Nike Shoes do you expect to sell if you win a Marathon?....tons of them.
Racing sports involving technology require corporate sponsors. Even racing sports for the super rich...ie. America's Cup yacht racing requires corporate sponsors (Bob Turner used to work on America's cup boats). Why should we be any different? Howard could tell you about sponsorship in high stakes Yachting.
Snowboarding and Inline Skating are fairly close parallels in terms of racing- though now both sports are much larger than us now. But when inline skating was in its infancy Bont Boots and Mogema frames were a popular choice for Inline racers (I'm sure Paul Dunn could tell you as he raced inline competitively and surely knows as he wrote articles for Inline Magazines and Jack Smith as well as they ran an Inline Mail Order company in the Midwest) but almost the entire K2 racing team wore Bonts and mohegas with K2 lace covers over their skates. Why?...because simply Bont and Mogema could not afford (as a specialty manufacturer of racing gear) to sponsor the events. K2 could...and likely as other events got larger K2 would eventually bow out as well. K2 made racing gear- but not competitive racing gear at the time.
So we should embrace the emergence of contest circuits other than FCR and not look at the circuits as competition for FCR but a way of making all races worth more. And yes...in time these circuits should ahve some overlap...or perhaps there could be a World cup tour where certain races from each circuit could go towards some championship. And no I don't really expect us to become a part of the X-Games- they already looked at our sport for that many years ago.
Just an opinion FWIW.
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2003 US racing
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On 6/4/2003 hg
wrote in from
(208.14.nnn.nnn)
The FCR and Hester races in 2001 and 2002 were great, and we supported them. With the exception of individual organizing efforts, there seems to be a gap in US race organization in 2003, but I would not be surprised to see that gap filled in 2004.
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Racing
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On 6/4/2003
Arab
wrote in from
(24.24.nnn.nnn)
Howard-Lets look at your 4 examples, and with all due respect to those that put on the events at these venues.
da Farm-What has been the Pro Level Of Competition there?, Pro Racers will travel if there is a Purse that might pay there way, this has been proven for the last 2 years.
Paso-Redbull/Bahne Cadillac Sponser FCR event and a Purse.
WLAC-Worst Surface EVER!, would you travel for that? Its the closest place for me to race and I dont bother with it.
JPL-Great little Outlaw event, How many people would Book Air/Car/Hotel to race an Outlasw race? Best Outlaw event I have been to.
Lets Compare those 40 with this,
La Costa
Catalina
Tahoe
Breckinridge
Mor ro Bay
Avila Beach
Donner
S.F. Presidio
S.F. GG Park
Of the 4 you listed only Paso Robles could fit in with the others I listed, why because it was a permitted race with sponsers and a purse.
You Make the Call!
I'll race anywhere, A purse is not a prerequisite to race for me, but a permit is, also I want to race against people that are better then me because it only makes me that much better, a man is measured by how he measures up to the guy standing next to him in the start ramp.
I think after KONA next week there isnt anybody that has traveled to as many events as me over the course of the last 2 years, I wont waste money to race Outlaw races(Exception Albakurky because there is such a veritabal plethora of places to race it doesnt matter if we get shut down in one spot we move to the next!) or Gather in a Park.
Adam Trahan and John Gilmour have been the biggest proponents of the ISSA in the US for 2 years, What has the ISSA, John Gilmour or Adam Trahan done for slalom in this time?
Adam Trahan is just some wannabe slalomer hanging on the coatails of whomever will be his friend, I'm not one to mince words but some guy that has a big ol ball beard trying to infiltrate slalom just because he has a stupid website with Jani Soderhall thinks he is doing something for slalom, They have done more to divide slalom then anybody in this sport, Why doesnt Jani and the ISSA ever post anything on this site? the biggest slalom site in the world, Because they have driven a wedge between themselves and have a stigma attached to them that nobody wants to be apart of, Ask the other Promotors in Europe why their races arnt ISSA sanctioned..........
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duh
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On 6/4/2003 arf arf
wrote in from
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i believe in capitolism i just cant spell it
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... "major sponsor" ...
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On 6/4/2003
hg
wrote in from
(208.14.nnn.nnn)
By "major sponsor", I meant someone who gives an event or series credibility with the media. Of FCR's 3 sponsors last year, only Vision potentially had any media clout, and they're not on the slalom radar this season. From my understanding, a number of credible companies, including Red Bull and OP did take some interest last season, but apparently nobody committed.
And at this point, it doesn't seem that "major sponsors" and $$$$$'s are an absolute requirement for the sport to grow. Some great races and series have been held without corporate sponsors, including "da Farm", Paso, WLAC, JPL, and most recently, Paris. However, these various events had in common committed organizers and a solid vision on how things should be done. Our contributions are small in comparison to what the race organizers bring, but we'll do what we can to support their efforts.
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Wheres the Beef, Show me the Money and checks in the mail!
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On 6/4/2003
Arab
wrote in from
(24.24.nnn.nnn)
I hope that Eastern Bloc countrys buy enough 3dm wheels for you and your family to make monthly trips to europe to race next year. Since of course there wont be an American Racing Series
The thing about these under privalged skaters that you have given wheels to, if they can afford a board then they can afford wheels, you see there is the upper class and the lower class, unless your sending complete boards to these people your efforts are really only beneifiting the upperclass who could afford your wheels anyways.
You might want to check the ISSA business practices because I heard that the wheels that were ment to be given away were sold at a discount and the pockets of the ISSA got padded.
Regardless your a business man, and I like you, believe in capitolism, I hope you make a s#@!load of money on slalom because nobody else is gonna, Myself, I do it because I'm a skateboarder that just wants to race.
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there is a bigger picture
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On 6/4/2003
hg
wrote in from
(208.14.nnn.nnn)
If FCR was a viable organizing body this season, they'd have my support. I really don't know what happened to them, though it seems that because they didn't succeed in signing a major sponsor, they backed away from serious promotion of a race series as a result of their "bottom line" analysis. Not quite certain how FCR "supported me" - only 3 companies put real money into FCR last season - Comet, Turner and Vision.
I don't understand the comments about "third world countries", though our export sales are now exceed our sales to US customers, and just on the basis of demographics, that trend should continue. Maybe it's in reference to the wheels we donated to help eastern European racers, but that seemed like a good investment, as it raises the level of competition across the board.
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Show me the Money!
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On 6/4/2003
Arab
wrote in from
(24.24.nnn.nnn)
"The missing piece is event organization on a grand scale"
The missing piece is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
To bad you dont support FCR anymore, You are the missing piece to event organization on a grand scale.
I can understand Howard that for you this is all about the bottomline, Putting money behind the ISSA who wants to promote slalom in 3rd world countrys, those same countrys who havent the funds to buy your products might be a step backwards, I would have hoped that you would support those that have supported you?
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ISSA
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On 6/4/2003
hg
wrote in from
(208.14.nnn.nnn)
Mike - with slalom as a grass-roots level activity, where a bunch of skaters get together and throw some money in a pool for racing from time to time, you certainly want to keep it simple. And maybe that's how it stays.
However, there are other models for slalom that have organizers, event calendars, sponsors, teams, prize money, rules, point rankings, championships, etc, and those models require a different level of organization and commitment.
It's a "trilateral" deal - 1. events, 2. equipment, 3. competitors. There have been periods in the history of slalom where the events drew real crowds (as well as media coverage), manufacturers sold a lot of product, and top riders made real money.
Two of the three ingredients are fundamentally in place today for the sport to move to another level which allow the various participants to experience the possibility of financial reward. The missing piece is event organization on a grand scale (not withstanding the heroic efforts of some individuals). and without it, the sport really never moves beyond its grass roots.
Bottom line - if I see an organizational effort that makes sense and seems to have a chance for success, I'll look forward to supporting it. I supported FCR, and would have continued to support their efforts if they had kept things going. I'm now supporting ISSA, and expect that they may assume a significant role in global growth of this sport.
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Identifying course types
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On 6/4/2003
W. Tucker
wrote in from
(205.188.nnn.nnn)
Mike,
I've said this before, but in context of what you said I'll repeat it here: Slalom has to be quantified, identified and labelled. And the simple reason for it is that not all equipment is appropriate for all courses.
So, when you're getting ready to jump on an airplane and ride several thousand miles to a race, you are often times limited in what you can pack. That means you have to pick the best equipment for the course. If, though, you don't know what kind of course (and surface) to expect, you are immediately handicapped.
I had a brief exchange with Richie C. about this last summer and the way I described it is this is probably the best example of a "home-town advantage." If a local can put every board he owns in the trunk of his car, then he really doesn't care what is layed out for a course. He's got the wheels, trucks and deck combination to make it work. If someone, though, gets off a plane and has their one full nose and one cut away but the course is set up so that a 24" wheelbase works best, then the traveler is pretty well screwed.
Knowing what to expect makes all the difference. How many times this year already have we heard, "if only I had brought such-and-such a board for the wheelbase. What I had just didn't have what it took to be competitive on the course and surface we rode."
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ISSA
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On 6/4/2003
mike maysey
wrote in from
(63.110.nnn.nnn)
I don't know much about the ISSA.
I have gone to their website and read results from races that were held quite a while ago as well as rules and guidelines for running and competing in races. I've read the entire ISSA rulebook (all 10 pages of it) which was given to me by John Gilmour. Too many details...but they are what they are.
I don't think we should adapt the ISSA rules here in the US. I don't think we should adapt any rules for that matter other than these simple two...ride a skateboard through a prescribed path and be penalized for knocking cones over. Of course there are others, but for sake of arguement, let's assume two rules. Of course, being the humans we are, we'll have to define a skateboard and a course. By now I would hope that we can all loosely agree on what a skateboard is and what a course is. Most of us have been riding them for the better parts of our lives.
Step back for a second though. Don't forget this is skateboarding. To me, if there's a skateboard involved and there are cones involved that the rider weaves in and out of...it's SLALOM. Don't bother me with details. I think, myself included, we get caught up in the details all too often. I say to hell with alling it TS, GS, HS, parallel, special....blah. Here's how I do it...I show up on race day with my slalom board(s), decide which board(s)I'll ride based on pitch and cone spacing.
But I've forgotten on fundamental thing...we're all human and we all have this need to identify and define everything. When we identify, we conquer. Why do you think we had to name all the animals in the animal kingdom and all the plants in the plant kingdom? Why do you think it's such a big deal to be the one who discovers blahblah...so you can name it and conquer it. I studied Social Science in college...spent many hours in classes on Anthropology, Archaeology, Sociology learning about the human condition, so I know a little bit about this subject.
Back to skatboarding...
Do we classify pool skating by the size, transition and depth of the pool? NO. Do we classify street skating by whether you're skating a ledge or a handrail or a curb? NO. Do we classify half-pipe skating by the size and vert of the ramp? NO. So why do we have to go round and round with deinfitions of slalom...
We need to conquer it. Right?
Here's my advice...I have a long, long way to go before conquering slalom. A long way. For me, for the time being, I prefer to call skateboarding around cones slalom. I call skating on the street, street skating and I call skating in pools, pool skating.
End of story.
How's that for a rant? hehe...back to work...can't wait to fly tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing all your smiling slalom faces in Breck.
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Arab
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On 6/4/2003 NinetyNine with respect to"66"
wrote in from
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Arab, just give up will you.
What American Race organisation ahs International credibility. Or any credibility at all.
Whats American slalom? Is that like Cali slalom?
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Mikeys Room
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On 6/4/2003
Arab
wrote in from
(24.24.nnn.nnn)
Mike,
Sorry all these people had to mukkity up your forum(Where were you), I made a small statement "The ISSA is Dead" and look what it turned into, fact of the matter is, I was right, the ISSA as we know it from its past is dead.
Their recent race in Paris used little if any of their rules/regulations and demands.
There is races happening all over Europe that are not promoted or are useing ISSA rules, WHY? I thought the ISSA was the figure head of European Slalom.......
If the ISSA wants to pretend they are back, then why dont they stick by there rules? Because they sucked then and they suck now!
So Slalom Pro Mike Maysey my question for you is, If the ISSA was to infiltrate American Slalom, do you think there previous rules should be used here?
For curiositys sake, punch in ISSA into the search function here within the slalom forum and what I have said is no different then what was said in previous years about the ISSA. the ISSA is dead!
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Mike Maysey
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On 6/4/2003
Wall Street Racing
wrote in from
(63.81.nnn.nnn)
Thanks for the great session at GGP this past Sunday and the new turner prototype was pretty bitchen too. Based on your recent practice runs, I'd expect you to do well in the SlalomCross and I think you will suprise some people in the Tight. Look forward to seeing you and the rest of the team at Breckenridge.
cheers...
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I just had a thought...
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On 6/4/2003
mike maysey
wrote in from
(65.234.nnn.nnn)
I have a sister who is 5 years younger than I. When we were kids, she used to constantly get on my nerves when my friends were over. I'd have my slot car track set up and me and my friends would race. My little sister would constantly come into my room and be a little pain. I would have to yell at her to get her to leave. Eventually she would no longer be effected by the yelling so I would have to physically pick her up and remove her from my room. Do you know what I would say to her when I was yelling?
GET OUT OF MY ROOM!!!
Understand the comparison?
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