Dog got your tongue? (photo: Cortese)

Well my friends, as a great man once said, “all good things must come to an end.” I’ve been ranting and raving about all things good andbadasIseethemforoverayearanditisnowtimetopassthe torch. You see, the Matters column is a place for riders to tell it how they see it, a place to get something off their chest and hopefully make a positive impact on the sport in doing so. Well guess what? My chest is bald… I think the authors of this column will always have an expiration date, just like that gallon of milk sitting in your refrigerator which you’ve been drinking frantically because it expires tomorrow and it’s STILL HALF FULL! Sure, I could keep going with this column, but I imagine that you would rather hear from someone whose chest has blossomed into a hair farm so thick it covers their nipples. Look no further because the beast is biting at my coat tails. I won’t tell you the name of this 5’ 7” male stallion, but I will tell you this… He’s one of my favorite riders to watch and his Star Wars name is Nimajneb. He’ll also be super pumped that I’ve not only mentioned his height in another one of my articles, but I’ve now labeled him as a hairy beast. SOOooo Stoked.

Before I shake your hand and walk away, let me leave you with this: In all honesty I would have to say that I am pretty stoked on the current state of wakeboarding. Sure, there are people still grabbing their boards improperly and sure there are still contests held in two-foot wind chop. Yes, there are still wakeboards that look like the tail fin of the Batmobile, but just like my time as author of this column, these faults will hopefully soon expire. There’s actually a lot of positive direction in wakeboarding right now. New technologies in equipment (good ones too, not water flowing through or over your board), new board companies with impressive new visions, new contest formats, new cable parks to ride (a lot more on the way too), and a whole lot of fresh new faces. There’s also no better time to be a fan of our sport. I remember back when I was just getting into wakeboarding there were maybe two videos a year to watch and get amped on riding. Now there is a constant and endless supply of new videos, photos, articles, and discussions just a click away. Just remember to check alliancewake.com first before you end up watching YouTube videos of Joe and his friends from Michigan as they ride behind their 15-foot Whaler. Ha.

Thanks for spending your time with me and don’t forget to come visit “The Dustpan” in every issue. In the words of my good friend Travis Dopp: “Be good… No, f#@%k it. Be great.”

by: Jeff McKee