winning contests??

[skimcentral]

What does it mean to you personally to win or do well in a contest??

[George Bush]

Well to me i dont think it is about making sure that i am better than others but to me its more of making sure that i am progressing, because i see it as if i get better each contest i am inproving. I dont enter in them to see if i am better than anybody else unless im up against a friend who talks alot of shit. It gives me a good confidence boaster

[paddymack]

meeting the goal that i have set for myself that contest...

its is also fufilling to me when i feel that i did what i could to the best of my ability with the skim that i have...and advancing is somehting that i love to do as well...

i have had a handfull of third places and a butload of fourth places...but not a 1st or 2nd...still lookin for that...but i am happy with what i have accomplished on the contest scene...but i have some recognition in many parts of FL and i like that just as good as winning a contest

[pcb skimmer]

respect and bragging rights.

[HopeyMc]

I agree with progression. especially with girls I mean have you seen some of the chicks that enter these contests? Can't even stand on a board. I just don't want guys to think that every girl out there sucks.

Plus winning rocks! hurray winning!

[ZapBulletRider]

What does it mean to you personally to win or do well in a contest??

I don't know, as I've never won, nor have I even done well, in any of the 3 skim contests I've entered. But it feels great to repeatedly win art contests. And that 1st in a regional math competition felt good too.

[SteveTaylor]

it matters who you're skimming against and how they are skimming in comparison to how you are skimming. if i go out and almost beat grady in a heat, you can bet your ass im proud of myself. or if paulo comes up to me after a heat and says "you scared me a little bit there, good job" even if i lost the heat, i know i put out my best and that's the most rewarding. when your peers tell you you've done well, it's all good.

[paddymack]

well said...i had that happen with steve bradford and i think onetime with benji...def a confidence booster

[narwhal]

get out of my first heat is my only goal.

When It happens, I quit.

[Mmm... Pasta]

Totally validates my life.
Or not. I actually wouldn't know.
It was fun skimming in the Skimbash this year though, with music playing and the announcer yelling about everything anyone does.

[J. Saunders]

to me idk if its bout winning i mean im always like shit i gotta win... but if i place anywhere top 4 im happy... depending on the ppl who place ahead of me

[Benji]

the vibe.

contests are about enoyment I think. (or at least thats what they should be about) in a majority of any heats ive been in it has all been about fun. im with a bunch of people i kno and respect and were having a good time competing and hanging out. its all about that vibe it gives you, to be with a bunch of good guys, enjoying the friendly competition. doing well is just a bonus on top of that.

at least thats what i look forward to at these things

[ZapBulletRider]

yeah the va beach contests are pretty laid back, nice vibe, fun to participate in even if you do shitty. But nobody likes to do shitty.

[Mmm... Pasta]

Fun to get to skim Aliso and 26th with just 2 other guys too... Even if it kinda sucked for my heats...

[mattyb]

pretty much means nothing at all to me. just another trophy and makes my sponsors happy. doesnt make my nose grow an extra 2 inches or something.

[boardhead jim]

me and d were just talking about this last night, mike. weird you were thinking about it right around the same time.

but we were talking about the local surf kids and all the contests they do, how they're such "look at me" sponsor whores. plastering photos of only themselves all over local messageboards. hanging out at surfshops. acting like they are little surf gods and everyone else should bow down.

seems alot of these kids, if they make their fianls, just have one more notch in their belt to either show to their sponsors and suck out more free stuff, or add to their resume to whore out more sponsors.
when in reality, they won this little local contest that only a couple dozen people entered.
but their "sponsors" don't know that. they just want to hear "placed top 3".
dumb sponsors, if they only knew.

not so much of that attitude in skimmin as in surfing though.
it's more like others were saying above, it's a mental goal within yourself against your better peers. you strive to better yourself all the time. but if you can beat "so-and-so" just this one time, you feel like you've achieved that goal, if only for that 10 minute heat.

personally i don't care if i win or lose, i just want to play

[Rob Morris-old]

yea i like the challenge, and free stuff

[Rob Morris-old]

pretty much means nothing at all to me. just another trophy and makes my sponsors happy. doesnt make my pepe grow an extra 2 inches or something.

eww

[Matt Head]

What does a contest mean to me? Well it means a lot of different things. To do well in a comp against some of best riders that you have come a crossed shows the amount of effort you have put forth to progress yourself. Every year the competition gets better, new and more agile riders come out with newer and harder tricks, and then to place or beat those shows you worked hard and deserved what happens. There is no greater feeling then to prove yourself worth and ability that one has worked so hard for. It is a sense of pride, and with that pride comes more hard work, because like I said before there are always new riders and to progress yourself more to stay on top is more than worth the time that got you there.

[Matt Head]

me and d were just talking about this last night, mike. weird you were thinking about it right around the same time.

but we were talking about the local surf kids and all the contests they do, how they're such "look at me" sponsor whores. plastering photos of only themselves all over local messageboards. hanging out at surfshops. acting like they are little surf gods and everyone else should bow down.

seems alot of these kids, if they make their fianls, just have one more notch in their belt to either show to their sponsors and suck out more free stuff, or add to their resume to whore out more sponsors.
when in reality, they won this little local contest that only a couple dozen people entered.
but their "sponsors" don't know that. they just want to hear "placed top 3".
dumb sponsors, if they only knew.

not so much of that attitude in skimmin as in surfing though.
it's more like others were saying above, it's a mental goal within yourself against your better peers. you strive to better yourself all the time. but if you can beat "so-and-so" just this one time, you feel like you've achieved that goal, if only for that 10 minute heat.

personally i don't care if i win or lose, i just want to play

Well said, I wish I would have read this before I posted mine. +1

[RexSkimmer]

new england needs to get some contests goin'

[skim NJ 609]

new england needs to get some contests goin'

im pretty sure theres one on long island if there isnt make the trip down to jersey we got a few contests

respect and bragging rights plus the whole atmosphere is good times cause your skimming with some of the people you dont see very often

[Rob Morris-old]

yea

[Max Shapiro]

winning a contest or heat means no more to me than that i was skimming better than 3 other people in certain conditions for 8-10 minutes, in the 5 judges opinion who are picked by skim city greg who probobly sponsors at least one kid im competing against.

[skimcentral]

When I first entered contests back in the early 80's it seemed to mean something.

I quickly began to realize that I really didn't care about winning or even being in the contest for the purpose of beating people.

One of the things that first pushed me this direction was the fact that I lost first place in a few finals to guys that could hardly ride waves...but they were from the area of the contest and/or sponsored by the company who put it on.

It made me quite mad at the time but it helped me learn some humility and to realize that those contests really didn't matter in the grand scheme of life.

I really don't care for contests myself--I like hanging out and seeing people--having fun with everyone. But I really don't like having to be there
for 2 whole days on that beach. I am restless I guess. I don't even like being there one whole day and evening.

By the time the awards ceremony is getting ready to get going I am like "why don't we just give em the trophies and stuff right after their finals so that everyone doesn't have to be here forever!!"

[boardhead jim]

mike, i've tried giving out some trophies after heat finals, purposly running the minis, menes, girls totally before lunch at a few contests. sponsoring shop owners were hating on that idea. to them, it's their highlight to hand prizes and trophies to the winners in front of everyone there at the end. like their big finale. after all, they did put up the most schwag for a reason.

but i just knew that the parents of those groms were happy to be leaving the beach after 4 hours, cause most of those parents had even younger sibblings with them, trying to control them around the water and so many skimmers, and watch the other one(s) compete. it's hard for them.

but older guys, it's their choice to compete. and i feel if they can't hang long enough to recieve that trophy from the sponsor, then they shoulda never entered in the first place, and let some other deserving guy have that spot.
just my 2 cents.

[i skim compton]

Beating the shits i dont like.

[Harrison Welsh]

its about seeing people you dont get to see all that often and skimming with them.

i just love it because people do things you might not have thought of. and then everyone gets better.

[TheRealVortex]

Still havent won a contest yet came close but when i place top 10 im happy.

my goal is usually make it out of my first heat then go from there.

free stuff is always a plus thoe

[Blak_skimmer220]

do work.

[Rob Morris-old]

yea winning doesnt really matter, its just the thrill of the happening

[Kyle Thoresen]

Wow. I have a totally different view on contests than most people...guess I am or was just that competitive.

My first couple contests were to prove to everyone that I could skim, which a lot of them already knew I could but to prove to all teh Laguna kids and others that the inlanders could kick some ass hahaha

I remember going into the Vic just wanting to destroy everyone and come out on top. After the first couple contests and a few wins it was more about proving to myself that I could still beat anyone in any crappy condition possible. If there were crappy high tide trough, I was going to be the best in those 12 minutes of crappy trough.

It does suck though when others don't skim there best, or the nerves got to them, or they just have a shitty heat. COntests certainly don't prove who is the best but it does for the moment.

I always hated contests when someone who really wasn't that good of a skimmer and could only wrap 3/10 waves on a normal aliso day would win a heat because they got a couple better and lucky waves than the other people. My problem with any skim, surf, sponge contest is that its wave permitting and someone can luck out just because of a good wave.

[Rob Morris-old]

deffinite about not doing so well and that means ones better than the other, thats so much bull shit when people think that, one could be just havin a bad day