[Gariver]

I live in Puerto Rico. So every once in a while I get to see an ocean rower coming in from Europe. Believe me, I am always in awe of these hardy adventurers who risk their lives doing their ocean crossings.

The Ocean Rowing Society...
You can follow all the current crossings at the Ocean Rowing Society's site. To see the maps and positions, you must click on a rower's "last position." Take a look...

http://www.oceanrowing.com/index.htm

Ocean rowing is a dangerous sport. In the last decade, seven ocean rowers have died during their crossings!

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

People never cease to amaze me. Just when you start to think the human race has finally hit bottom in the stupidity pool you see something like this.

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by nebuchadnezzar People never cease to amaze me. Just when you start to think the human race has finally hit bottom in the stupidity pool you see something like this.

You know, some people just have a passion for things they want to do. Someone rowing across an ocean is no different than Lindberg flying across. They both have a drive that some people obviously don't have. Some call audiophiles stupid.. spending hundreds, usually thousands of dollars on audio systems. Why? Because they don't understand why someone wouldn't spend the money on something else.. like something the person thinking about it, would enjoy.

 

[gaineso]

Don't they know outboard motors have been around for over 75 years now?????

Proven technology. Don't need oars or paddles, just big gas tanks. Saves lots of effort and goes a hell of a lot faster!!!!

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

Quote:

Someone rowing across an ocean is no different than Lindberg flying across.

I totally disagree. Lindbergh was the first man to fly across. His flight united the Western world. It was the birth of an era of commonplace intercontinental travel.

Now, on the other hand, a man rowing across an ocean is not going to have any real affect on the world. These people just want to be able to say: "hey looky there what I did".


Quote:

Q:How are they all feeling about your trip? A:That's a good thing all the family has always been 100 percent behind my voyages in the past

He must be a real pain in the ass!

 

[Gariver]

Ocean rowing is a sport. That's all.

In many ways, it's like mountain climbing. If you ask a moutain climber why he climbs a mountain, he will say: "Because it's there! Because it's a challenge!" Well, I will never do any ocean rowing or mountain climbing, believe me! I'll stick with audio, like most of you guys.

Recently, an old friend, Dr Julio Toro, really surprised me. In 2002, he and his group climbed Mt Everest. Check out the name of his group: Mountain Madness! Ha! That's what is! It's a form of madness! Brrrrr....it's too cold up there!

http://www.mountainmadness.com/news/...2/announce.htm

In my view, Dr Bird is a very weird Puerto Rican. He climbed a very, very cold mountain. What's wrong with that? I'll tell what's wrong: Here in Puerto Rico, when the temperature drops below 75 F, people wear sweaters and parkas. I am hardier than that, of course. My limit is 60 F. That's when I reach for a sweater. Ha!

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by nebuchadnezzar I totally disagree. Lindbergh was the first man to fly across. His flight united the Western world. It was the birth of an era of commonplace intercontinental travel. Now, on the other hand, a man rowing across an ocean is not going to have any real affect on the world. These people just want to be able to say: "hey looky there what I did".

Heh.. bad example. I was trying to think of something sports related.,. but ended up with nothing really..

But yeah, what Gariver said.. Ocean rowing is a sport. Much like any other. It takes hard work and dedication to be able to play a sport (except Golf), and ocean rowing is no different. It's like those people who swim across the English Channel. While those people are crazy (in my opinion), it doesn't necessarily mean they're stupid.

 

[gaineso]

If you don't think golf at the top takes hard work and dedication, check out Tiger and the guys that are trying to beat him.

BTW, anybody catch the finish at Darlington yesterday????? 400 miles and Craven won by 0.002 seconds. Not really sure how they even time it that close.

 

[Gariver]

Craven won by about a foot! Hmm..0.002 sec. Amazing! I've never seen that before! Yeah, I would like know how they time that. Interesting!

OK. People that do ocean rowing are neither stupid nor crazy. They just do a very, very different sport, a sport that few people know about. That's precisely why I posted the OR site.

 

[vwap]

Quote:

Originally posted by gaineso If you don't think golf at the top takes hard work and dedication, check out Tiger and the guys that are trying to beat him.

OT:

I don't think I said anything about golf not taking hard work and dedication. All I said was that golf isn't a sport. You don't score points as a sport when all the guys do is putz around for three hours and hit a ball 70 times, all without breaking a sweat.



... just my two cents worth, anyway.

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

Quote:

All I said was that golf isn't a sport

I've been saying that for a long time!! If Golf is a sport then Billards is, too.(same game, less walking) NASCAR isn't a "sport" either, as far as I'm concered.

Quote:

It's like those people who swim across the English Channel. While those people are crazy (in my opinion), it doesn't necessarily mean they're stupid.

Seems pretty stupid to me

*guess I'm old-fasioned

 

[gaineso]

As far as NASCAR, they are some of the best, endurance trained athletes in the world.

3 to 4 hours in 130* plus temperatures, wearing a fire retardant suit, driving side by side at up to 200 MPH where the slightest distraction or inattention puts somebody into the concrete out of bounds marker.

Anytime you sweat off 5 to 10 pounds in 4 hours or less, that's serious workout. Reflexes and coordination so far beyond you and me that you could not believe it.

Next, somebody's gonna say baseball players aren't athletes. I might even agree with that.

 

[nebuchadnezzar]

we should get steel-workers into the Olympic Games then....

Eight plus hours a day...five or six days a week....
they don't even have roll cages!