<p>A friend’s son is an outstanding golfer - no. 1 on a state championship team. Also a brilliant kid. He went off to an excellent southern school and walked on to the golf team and played two years and then quit playing on the team because it was too difficult to balance golf and academics. A friend’s daughter will be playing D1 volleyball - I hope they realize how much that school is going to “own” their child. A local kid will be playing big time hoops next year - at a perennial top program. It was a big deal when the coach walked through our HS. </p>
<p>And another local kid was a top national jr. tennis player - went on to big time D1 success (as in national championship), quit school after 1 1/2 yrs and is trying to play on the pro circuit. Only half-heartedly does physical conditioning training and it’s showing in his results.</p>
<p>My son would love to play college golf - but he’s looking at DIII at best. It’s too tough to play college golf. Mackinaw - he’d probably love to be a professional poker player. At 15, he’s already earning his living that way (and that’s a pretty scary thought!).</p>
<p>Probably not what you are looking for but I have a good young friend who has graduated high school early (this past December) and is pursuing his dream to be a World Champion Motorcycle Roadracer-The World’s Most Dangerous Sport. At age sixteen he was tabbed as a "Young Gun " by RoadRacingWorld Magazine and raced about half of last year’s AMA Professional Series. He has been Club Racing and winning regional titles since he was six. </p>
<p>This is a sport where the word extreme doesn’t begin to describe a leather clad youngster (women ,too. Katja Petersen competed in the same bike class) going around a tight corner at 140 mph with his knee dragging on the ground like an outrigger to keep the bike from falling over, so that he can then barrel down the straight at well over 160 mph. It is the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff. </p>
<p>I’ll brag on the Kid , his name is Ryan Andrews and at press time he will be riding for a new Ducati N.A. team in Formula Extreme. He is a remarkable young man and I believe he will win a championship in the U.S.A. within 3 years if they can put a good bike under him. (Luckily, his father is an ex-racer and his mother’s father is an ex-racer so the family is well aware of the risks.)</p>
<p>Curmudgeon; Are you a celebrity? Just curious.</p>
<p>We have a local family, Italians, who made big name for themselves in the motorcycle business.They have several boys who I think all quit h.s. to go into the family business. Their business is across from a K.F.C. and once when I was in the K.F.C. I saw the boys ‘playing’. They were under 10 and were on full size motorcycles in their parking lot trying to jump over those little concrete parking barriers. I was watching this and thinking, those kids are going to get killed. One boy fell off the motorcycle, and just jumped back on and tried again. Anyway, several years later there was a sad obituary- one of those boys, at 17, was doing ‘wheelies’ on a local residental road and had an accident and was killed. They had the beat up motocycle at the police yard and at night several kids came and stole the parts from the wreck. The fmily business is stilla great success but the obit almented the dead boy was the family’s heir apparent.</p>
<p>Fredo; Real interesting- hey, would be great to have us two lefty’s play each other! I never played another woman lefty before. You family sounds very athletic too.</p>
<p>bhg, what would the opposite of a celebrity be? While I’m searching my 30 word vocabulary for the proper …uhhhh…word (sheesh)-I’ll just say no, I am not a celebrity, minor or major. Regular Joe, hermit in training.</p>
<p>Fredo, poker playing for a living IS scary. One thing I told my son when he started getting into this seriously a little more than a year ago is that I wouldn’t bail him out if he got into debt. So far, at least, he’s way ahead. And he seems to be taking his other job – his baseball statistics and writing – seriously enough as well. He’s an adult so pretty much all I can do at this point is sit tight and (mostly) keep my opinions to myself.</p>
<p>curmudgeon; Well I know there are groups of motorcyclists who do daring trips and some of them are movie stars, young and old ones. And some rock stars, young and old do these things too. Hey! Do you know anything about those motorcyclists who went to see Bush about last Memorial Day? On behalf of the Vietnam War MIA’s?</p>
<p>Poker playing for gain? Makes me thing of James Garner as Maverick. Sounds potentially addictive. Makes me think of bookmaking, cigars and smoky rooms…and people getting their legs broken!</p>
<p>You know folks, I DO have a life, just not too much of one right now with all that snow out there!</p>
<p>A large contingent of Central Texas bikers -some vets , some not, have ridden to D.C. in support of Veterans issues. I am sure they were at the one you speak about. Fairly recently a large, very large group rumbled over to our local VA hospital to protest it’s closing when Princippi was in town. They routinely wear “colors” supporting Veterans, and POW/MIA’s. Our local Veteran’s Day parade always has several bikers there to support their brothers and sisters and when the traveling “Wall” exhibit came through town, they basically stood watch at the site. Pretty moving stuff.</p>
<p>On the Celeb note, I was at a shop in Austin when the “Rush” rock group tour bus (with band members aboard) showed up last year pulling a trailer of bikes. I pretended not to be impressed (although “Limelight” is on my personal top ten.)</p>
<p>We saw some of the bikers on their way to Wash. on I95, must have been at least 30 of them. They were traveling 2x2’s. First of all I noticed how proud they all were, very proud demeanor all with the U.S. and MIA flags too, and touching bumper stickers’ We ride, for those who can’t’. Secondly, I was a little fearful for them. There were some pot holes in the road and you know on I95 the traffic is moving pretty fast. And everyone syncronized as they were all in two. But, these folks are pros, as I am sure you are, too. That night in our hotel tv I saw the guys on the road with President Bush.</p>
<p>There is a modern generation of mostly on-line poker players who basically draw on their strong skills at math and statistics, a willingness to take risk, and the patience to play the long-run odds (they don’t try to win every hand when the odds are against them). And then there is a much much larger group of on-line players who lack the skill or the patience and have too much money on their hands. The second group is easy prey to the first group.</p>