Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
I'm a Hydro Geek......
....and very proud to be one! Still am one today....maybe bigger now than when I was a kid. I admit it, I was a little hydro geek growing up in Owensboro, Ky in the 70s. Not hard to be one, "back in the day." All those piston powered unlimited hydroplanes making that wonderful noise a few miles from my house in June. My life long buddy, Jimmy (most of you know his wonderful hydro photographs under the name James Crisp), and I lived and breathed hydros year round. Our rooms at home were "hydro rooms". Nothing but regatta pictures, posters, programs and buttons. Buttons. We had lots. We lived for securing those collectibles. Back then each team would hand them out. It was so much fun getting all we could. Getting one was great. Extras were trade material for the collectors on the west coast. Some were hard to get, some weren't. Bud buttons were everywhere. Everybody had them, lots of them. I saw on Ebay that someone was asking $32 for one of those large Bud buttons. I thought he was crazy! Good luck on making that sale.
We had so much fun getting those buttons. Jimmy was much better at getting those hard to get ones than I was. I got a few, but he got lots more. After our regatta, and later going to Madison, we spent the summer and winter months making trades with guys in the Seattle area. Bob Senior comes to mind. With only pen and paper, "Back in the day", we wrote to Bob or whoever and offered buttons of east coast teams. They in return would offer west coast buttons. Needless to say, writing back and forth took some time--counter offers and the like. But, it's what we had and it was a blast!
Once in college, and when the teams stopped handing out buttons, my collecting days ended as well. Until this past year. I still had my collection in drawer. With ebay and the "Button Man", my desire to start collecting again was reborn. I try to get deals on ebay, buying "lots" of buttons, all those years I stopped collecting. I'd get an occasional button, but nothing like I was as a kid. It's fun again and I have a lot of catching up to do.
I mentioned the "Button Man"----Kerry Sauley. If you have ever been to Madison the last 8 years or so, you know him well. He was raised in Madison, nows lives in Baton Rouge, but comes home every year to the regatta. He makes, at his own expense, buttons and passes them out to anybody and everybody. For FREE!! They aren't cheapies either. High quality buttons. Mostly of the Oberto, U-3 and Formula. Lots of them. This year I asked. 10,000 buttons. Yes, 10,000 he made and passed out! There were 70 different varieties. Boat buttons, driver buttons, Madison Regatta buttons. You name it, he made it and gave them ALL away for free. Why? His passion for the sport and it's his way to help promote the sport. You must come to Madison next year. Guarantee your button collection will grow. I know mine did!!
I could write alll night long about this disease I have---being a Hydro Geek. Trust me, I could. More in later editions of the HydroNation.
Shameless plug time. The week of the Gold Cup this year, my buddy Mike (fellow Hydro Geek, business partner and friend) started the website for Ed Cooper. It's Go3racing.com. Please visit. It's for all hydroplane fans, not just those of Jimmy King and the Go3 team (that's the new name they want to get going, so we are pushing it here and on the site). We are fans of the sport. The website has come a long way in a few weeks, but has a long way to go. Hopefully the content we put there is stuff you want to see. We think it is, because it's what we want to see on hydro websites. Our goal and promise is to keep adding content all the time. Especially during the season. We'll be adding whatever we can---and video is our main goal. So far we have lots and lots more is on the way. Keep checking back.
This website is for you. We will not abandon it after San Diego and pick it back up next June. We'll be making monthly visits to Ed's boat shop in Posey County. We'll have something---pictures, videos, new information, but it will be alive during the winter. That's a promise.
Enough of my hydro geekness! Let's go racing!!
We had so much fun getting those buttons. Jimmy was much better at getting those hard to get ones than I was. I got a few, but he got lots more. After our regatta, and later going to Madison, we spent the summer and winter months making trades with guys in the Seattle area. Bob Senior comes to mind. With only pen and paper, "Back in the day", we wrote to Bob or whoever and offered buttons of east coast teams. They in return would offer west coast buttons. Needless to say, writing back and forth took some time--counter offers and the like. But, it's what we had and it was a blast!
Once in college, and when the teams stopped handing out buttons, my collecting days ended as well. Until this past year. I still had my collection in drawer. With ebay and the "Button Man", my desire to start collecting again was reborn. I try to get deals on ebay, buying "lots" of buttons, all those years I stopped collecting. I'd get an occasional button, but nothing like I was as a kid. It's fun again and I have a lot of catching up to do.
I mentioned the "Button Man"----Kerry Sauley. If you have ever been to Madison the last 8 years or so, you know him well. He was raised in Madison, nows lives in Baton Rouge, but comes home every year to the regatta. He makes, at his own expense, buttons and passes them out to anybody and everybody. For FREE!! They aren't cheapies either. High quality buttons. Mostly of the Oberto, U-3 and Formula. Lots of them. This year I asked. 10,000 buttons. Yes, 10,000 he made and passed out! There were 70 different varieties. Boat buttons, driver buttons, Madison Regatta buttons. You name it, he made it and gave them ALL away for free. Why? His passion for the sport and it's his way to help promote the sport. You must come to Madison next year. Guarantee your button collection will grow. I know mine did!!
I could write alll night long about this disease I have---being a Hydro Geek. Trust me, I could. More in later editions of the HydroNation.
Shameless plug time. The week of the Gold Cup this year, my buddy Mike (fellow Hydro Geek, business partner and friend) started the website for Ed Cooper. It's Go3racing.com. Please visit. It's for all hydroplane fans, not just those of Jimmy King and the Go3 team (that's the new name they want to get going, so we are pushing it here and on the site). We are fans of the sport. The website has come a long way in a few weeks, but has a long way to go. Hopefully the content we put there is stuff you want to see. We think it is, because it's what we want to see on hydro websites. Our goal and promise is to keep adding content all the time. Especially during the season. We'll be adding whatever we can---and video is our main goal. So far we have lots and lots more is on the way. Keep checking back.
This website is for you. We will not abandon it after San Diego and pick it back up next June. We'll be making monthly visits to Ed's boat shop in Posey County. We'll have something---pictures, videos, new information, but it will be alive during the winter. That's a promise.
Enough of my hydro geekness! Let's go racing!!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Lots of Live coverage for Tri-Cities hydro racing!
You can watch on TV, Online, or on the radio. There's someone covering every second of hydro racing Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Tri-Cities!!
TV: If you're in Yakima or Tri-Cities, you can watch the LIVE TV COVERAGE on KNDO-TV or KNDU-TV.
ON-LINE: HydroINSIDER.com will be streaming the 2008 Lamb Weston Columbia Cup races LIVE online. On the times we're not on, you can catch audio streaming on KONA Radio.
Friday, July 25th, 2008
LIVE on KNDO-TV (Yakima) and KNDU-TV (Tri-Cities)
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING ON HydroINSIDER.com
5:00pm - Catch the Dale Thomas HVAC Unlimited Dash For Cash
6:00pm - Unlimited Lights Racing
6:30pm - Columbia Cup Hydroplane Boat Races Preview Show
FRI-SAT 9AM-5PM Live Audio Streaming (KONA Radio)
Sunday, July 27th, 2008
LIVE on KNDO-TV (Yakima) and KNDU-TV(Tri-Cities)
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING ON HydroINSIDER.com
10:00am to 5:00pm - 7 HOURS of Hydro racing coverage LIVE ONLINE and on KNDO and KNDU TV. Stories about the drivers, the boats, about Water Follies, and of course, all the Unlimited Hydroplane Heats will be covered.
Our coverage won't end until one racing team takes home the Columbia Cup trophy!
TV: If you're in Yakima or Tri-Cities, you can watch the LIVE TV COVERAGE on KNDO-TV or KNDU-TV.
ON-LINE: HydroINSIDER.com will be streaming the 2008 Lamb Weston Columbia Cup races LIVE online. On the times we're not on, you can catch audio streaming on KONA Radio.
Friday, July 25th, 2008
LIVE on KNDO-TV (Yakima) and KNDU-TV (Tri-Cities)
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING ON HydroINSIDER.com
5:00pm - Catch the Dale Thomas HVAC Unlimited Dash For Cash
6:00pm - Unlimited Lights Racing
6:30pm - Columbia Cup Hydroplane Boat Races Preview Show
FRI-SAT 9AM-5PM Live Audio Streaming (KONA Radio)
Sunday, July 27th, 2008
LIVE on KNDO-TV (Yakima) and KNDU-TV(Tri-Cities)
LIVE VIDEO STREAMING ON HydroINSIDER.com
10:00am to 5:00pm - 7 HOURS of Hydro racing coverage LIVE ONLINE and on KNDO and KNDU TV. Stories about the drivers, the boats, about Water Follies, and of course, all the Unlimited Hydroplane Heats will be covered.
Our coverage won't end until one racing team takes home the Columbia Cup trophy!
Friday, July 18, 2008
Applause for the ABRA
I applaud the ABRA's decision to count the points from Detroit.
It's pretty simple. The Gold Cup is an APBA event. APBA went by its rulebook and the tradition of the Gold Cup in declaring it a no contest.
I don't get what all the debate is about.... but then, isn't that half the fun of sports?
Paul Dughi
HydroInsider.com
It's pretty simple. The Gold Cup is an APBA event. APBA went by its rulebook and the tradition of the Gold Cup in declaring it a no contest.
By APBA rules, the race didn't meet the minimum requirementsABRA, on the other hand, isn't bound by those same rules. ABRA went by its rulebook which let them count the points.
necessary to be declared a completed race. The APBA rules is that all four sets
of elimination heats must be completed for the race to be ruled
official.
SOURCE: ABRAHydroplanes.comRegardless of what team you root for, you have to respect the effort and dedication of the teams that went to Detroit and the conditions they raced under. If you could survive that and rack up some points, I think you ought to keep them... especially since the rules say you can!
High Points shall be awarded at all sanctioned regattas where a minimum field of three boats
crosses the starting line in heat one. The total points scored by each boat in
each sanctioned event shall be credited toward the National Boat
Championship.
I don't get what all the debate is about.... but then, isn't that half the fun of sports?
Paul Dughi
HydroInsider.com
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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