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Everything posted by Vertifly
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Why isn't skydiving part of the X-Games?
Vertifly replied to gerryfuss's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
That is a good point, Scott. Hmmmm, the word "anti-social" is one that I would have to disagree with though. We are an extremely social group at Crosskeys. Becoming skillful in OUR sport could often attract introverted people. Then again, to an extent, the best-of-the-best in any sport is going to idiolize the more introverted types. The way it is. -
Why isn't skydiving part of the X-Games?
Vertifly replied to gerryfuss's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
I paid close attention to the sport during that time. There was a routine in the SSI Pro Tour that ended up on the FlyBoyz party mix. It never appeared in the X-Games. We almost made it, but as I said - it is ALL about the $$$. Can't blame them. It will happen soon enough. We need to continue promoting freeflying and make the sport grow internally; then it will make it out the public when the sport can be better accepted. Until then, we get to watch Tony Hawk (who I remember being in the movie "Gleeming the Cube" as a Pizza Hut delivery boy. LOL ) be one of the most popular sports-advertising faces in America. To add to the confusion of why our sport doesn't make it out into the mainstream is REGULATIONS. We are FAA monitored. Most X-Games sports are advertisements for little Johny to purchase snowboards, skateboards, bicycles, rollerblades(, and etc., etc.). Little Johny's parents aren't worried about purchasing him a parachute when he's 18 because that is when he is expected to begin making it on his own. The average parent couldn't possibly afford their childs life at that age, not to mention the cost of AFF + gear. Especially given the fact that many of them are off to college. Look at the difference of what sponsorships offer pro competators in the different sports. A sponsored Burton Snowboard rider is given $50K+ per year to do what they want. That doesn't include gear, room, and board. That's because Burton is a private company with a unknown revenue (I suspect that it has an eight or nine figure gross profit margin). Could you possibly imagine how many skateboard wheels that Tony Hawk could sell if he came out with his own line. I don't know either, but it is probably in the range of LOTS. Of course, Tony Hawk is the golden-boy. Pay attention to the commercials during the X-Games this year. Try to think of some skydive equipment that a manufacturer can come up with to sell to the general public - This, in turn, will get people buying and into the sport and buying the product - Then the original sponsors pay the X-GAMES people to put on the show. ...That is the general cycle of how money is made when it comes to sports companies, ratings, and TV-networks. I doubt that any skydive corporation could pull that off these days. Let's face it, it takes a lot more that safe gear and responsible jumpers to convince the regular public that our sport is worth making a hobbie out of. This is the bottom line. Think of a way to solve this problem and cut me in for an additonal 10% and you're a multi-millionaire. Good luck. -
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I want to go to this but I am in Florida until the 14th! Crap! Well, I hope some of the Orange folk decide to come to the one at Xkeys in Sept.. I'll be down in Orange at some point to check out some of the vids that were done (also to promote the XKeys fest). I'm sure Dan will put on a nice one; his earlier videos (2000-2002) were pretty cool. Have fun with this one guys!
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Thailand update #11 (the big one)
Vertifly replied to billvon's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! ! ! ! ! ! ! That is SO awesome. You guys are my heros. How about a 35.7 way freefly big way!!!???? Maybe it's possible. -
If you keep wiping, there may be a secret message inside. Keep trying.
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Why isn't skydiving part of the X-Games?
Vertifly replied to gerryfuss's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Just an FYI... Freeflying was never an event in the X-Games. You may be thinking of the Pro-Tour that went on around 1998/1999. I really thought that when the public saw what the FlyBoyz were doing up there, that the sport was going to go crazy. I REALLY had faith in the sports ability to skyrocket. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. In fact, quite the opposite. Then the economy started to suck, less people began getting interested in our expensive sport, and then WHAMMO...Sept 11. Boy, did I go on a tangent. At least it is fairly accurate. Crazy. -
Not really... Well maybe, Now, you'll just have to get USED TO using it. It took me a while anyway. That is funny though.
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Why isn't skydiving part of the X-Games?
Vertifly replied to gerryfuss's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Can't argue with the reasoning of it. The last time that I checked, America WAS a capitalist country. -
This will make you feel very very small.....Powers of Ten
Vertifly replied to JoeyRamone's topic in The Bonfire
If you think that this is cool, Go to the Metro Museum of Natural History and visit the room where the planetarium is. It is all about comparing the size of the universe - all the way down to - a proton. UNBELIEVABLE - and the movie isn't that bad either. -
skydiving is a rush, not compared to guys trying to rob your work.
Vertifly replied to jdthomas's topic in The Bonfire
Dude, Find a better way to make $$$. THAT doesn't sound worth it. There are several kinds of positions out there (security guards, etc.) that will make you a lot of dough and probably allow for some extra study time simultaneously. Hell, how do you think I paid my way through grad school while being a skydiver? -
Why isn't skydiving part of the X-Games?
Vertifly replied to gerryfuss's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Yes, this is one of the symptoms of the problem. I mean, how would it be possible to send up an advertisement for a Drop Zone, skydiving brand, or DZ-store name? -
Seriously, This sport is about sooooo much more than being knowledgable about saving your own life. But, if you are VERY afraid to die, you better (1) either - use the sport to recognize that life is better to live rather than being afraid of everything that will kill you or (2) not jump anymore. That is what skydivers are all about. This is why we enjoy each others' company so much. And it is this common denominator that allows us to enjoy everything our sport has to offer. Not just jumping with friends, but hanging out and gettin freaky after sunset. Now think about it.
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Why isn't skydiving part of the X-Games?
Vertifly replied to gerryfuss's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
The X-Games makes money off of spectator sports. That is the real reason. That is why swooping has become so much more popular lately. It is actually quite an ingenious angle to work on. -
Wow, for once I'm under the popular vote. Saving Private Ryan. LOVED IT>
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LOL - I know exactly what you are saying. In North Carolina, they declare a state of emergency if the clouds are grey and it's 30 degrees outside. ???
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The 4th Puerto Rico Freefall Festival
Vertifly replied to FLsurfer's topic in Events & Places to Jump
4-days left. -
The 4th Puerto Rico Freefall Festival
Vertifly replied to FLsurfer's topic in Events & Places to Jump
I wish my plane was landing in San Juan at ##4:20## See you there too, dude. -
The 4th Puerto Rico Freefall Festival
Vertifly replied to FLsurfer's topic in Events & Places to Jump
...I'm ready to play; todaaaayyy, Look at meeeea, I can beeeeea, in a Freefly field. -
Something Windy This Way Comes (to Jersey)??
Vertifly replied to Vertifly's topic in General Skydiving Discussions
Geeezz!! Is this thing ever going to happen??? http://www.xarenasports.com It's right around the corner from me and I haven't heard anything more about it. I drive by the area almost every week. It just looks like a gravel parking lot. Commmmmmonn!!!! -
The 4th Puerto Rico Freefall Festival
Vertifly replied to FLsurfer's topic in Events & Places to Jump
6 days and counting. I'm soooo anxious about this!!! -
I think that you need therapy. J/K But than again, I think that all of us need therapy. Whoever being being practical was being impractical! No wuffo will understand our mindsets. Let them just go about there business like they aren't missing a thing. It will just leave more room in the plane for us.
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This is precisely why I don't have one.
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I'm quite literate when it comes to computer systems. The AMD processors are having issues with Adobe applications. I'm thinking that the freezing is being caused by a bottleneck in memory speeds, not memory amounts. Defragging the drive may help...hmm Yeah, I'm going to need a slave drive pretty soon. And another screen if I can afford it. Just hoping on the best advice for finding an inexpensive, yet, adaquate system.
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A friend of mine just gifted me with the entire software suite. Unfortunately, my computer is old enough to freeze when capturing the video. Can anyone recommend an affordable video editing computer? I guess I am thinking of spending not much more than 1.5 - 2G's for it; but, a lot less than that is always nice too. My current system is a DELL 1.8ghz with about 600mb ram (but the ram speeds suck at 133mhz) running the nvidia 128mb and this seems to be holding up quite well. Some of the latest PC's (with Xeon procs) are going for much more than that. Perhaps there is a distributor or company that someone here could recommend. ps. I will not do Apple - even though they are the most powerful thing going. too expensive and proprietary for me.