What on earth is wrong with windsurfing?

[wildflower]

Anyone see "This Week" this morning?

I was watching it and they showed a clip from Jay Leno, talking about how Kerry went down to survey the damage in New Orleans. He said the trip showed Kerry's failure to connect with the people and then showed a clip of Kerry windsurfing.

Okay, I might have thought this was funny if (a) there hadn't been so much made of Kerry's windsurfing last year and (b) if the meme about "not connecting with people" had been left out of it. But it just upset me.

I've just never been able to figure out what is wrong with windsurfing?

Thanks for letting me rant. :)

wildflower

[Mass]

1. Not sure either.

I guess that states that are not coastal or have lakes, it may appear as something rare and weird.

But I imagine that it may also be that reporters are so elitist that they think ordinary people are going to find that elitist.

[jillan]

2. Maybe they're just jealous

read on -

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/magazine/02/05/kerry0209/index.html

The Democratic Presidential candidate and senator from Massachusets played hockey, lacrosse and soccer at Yale and, at 60, is still a jock



SI: If you could challenge President Bush to any sport, one-on-one, what would it be?

Kerry: He's a better runner; I'm a better hockey player. Maybe we'd have to compete on neither ice nor asphalt -- how about windsurfing?

SI: A few years ago you were profiled in American Windsurfer and said windsurfing can be like meditation. Explain.

Kerry: It's the mixture of the wind and the sea and flying. There's a lot of freedom, and when everything is dialed in right, you're just right there, focused on getting it right.

SI: Haven't you windsurfed from Cape Cod to Nantucket?

Kerry: Yes, four times. It takes about six hours. When you get tired, you just drop your sail and sit for a minute. Or if you get dunked, you drop your sail too.
________________________________________________________________________

The whole article is great about our favorite jock:P

It just pisses me off to no end that they make fun of him for being so athletic. I remember when he was windsurfing during the RNC, and I thought how great it was that Kerry was really getting away from it all and doing something that takes all his concentration away from what was going on at the RNC.

[wildflower]

3. Yeah, I don't get that...I thought being athletic was a good thing?

I guess only if you have an (R) after your name.

wildflower

[TayTay]

9. Oh, oh, Oh, yes, yes, yes

Yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself:

SI: Have you forgiven Grady Little for leaving Pedro Martinez in against the Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS?

Kerry: No! That was just unbelievable. We were screaming at the TV, "Take him out!" I could see leaving Martinez in for one more batter, but after he gave up a hit .... Well, it still is just unbelievable.

SI: Were you happy when the Marlins beat the Yankees?

Kerry: Oh, yes. You bet I was.

Right answer! Spoken like a true Sawx fan. I had a friggin aneurysm that night. Hell no, I don't forgive Grady. He's got eight years to go on that one. (But I'm not bitter.) Thanks Senator! (Spoken like a native Masshole, really! And we knew we would carry NY, so just tell the truth.) And, to your everlasting credit, you never made bets with Sen. Schumer about who would win the AL East. If I had to see Uncle Ted on the steps of the Capitol with a Yankees cap (aarrrghhh) on his head singing 'New York, New York' one more time, I was gonna hurl massively. Youz' a class act, Sentah!

[rockymountaindem]

4. Or skiing for that matter?

What's wrong with skiing? As someone who skis as much as I can (which sadly isn't much while I'm at college) and who loves it very much, I was really pissed off by that. Even people on DU fell for that shit about his skiing trip. Everyone was like "Oh, it costs like 500 dollars per minute to go skiing!!!" I remember many a thread where I was trying to show people how it's possible for somebody to ski for $30 a day.

Somehow I don't think a picture of JK watching a 68" TV would have aroused such ire. People seem ok with people spending big bucks to waste their time. Hell, it costs more to get into Disneyland than it does to get a lift ticket at places I go. When you think about how much it takes to buy souvenirs and food, that probably covers ski and boot rental. Would people freak out saying "Kerry went to Disneyland, how elitist!!!!11111

Doubt it. But when someone goes outdoors, burns a few calories and takes in a lake or a beach or a mountain, suddenly it gets elitist.

[whometense]

5. It's not the activity,

it's the frame. Rove has all those media jerks out there willing to parrot whatever line of bull he hands them. Then they repeat it and repeat it until it's drummed into peoples' heads as received wisdom. Look, even the people over at GD believe half that stuff.

And, as I said in the other thread, not one democrat has the decency to go out and say this is bullshit, will you please look at what the actual person in charge - the president was NOT doing at a moment of national crisis, instead of trying to do your usual - Look!! Over there!!! John Kerry windsurfs!!! A single democrat who is not Ted Kennedy. Is that asking too much?? Apparently so.

Gag me.

[ray of light]

6. Right on!

And each Democrat should have been said, "This is a nonissue...NEXT question! And said it until they stopped asking.

OR said,

"The REAL issue is: ____________. And by the way, thank you for focusing on the issues average Americans want to have addressed."

[politicasista]

7. You guys nail it!

I was thinking those same thoughts. I know people (outside the internet) repeated and believed that stuff.


:grr:

[karynnj]

8. Even more than a frame, it was probably a pre-emptive strike

to keep the Democrats from using the fact the fact that Kerry was/is an incredible athlete - in a sports obsessed culture.Not to mention that he had no drug/alchohl problems. Imagine what they would have done if Bush played 4 sports in college and Kerry was a cheerleader in Prep school.

I agree with all of you that the Democrats should have defended him on this - why on earth was Bush's time spent riding bikes (and falling off) good and normal while Kerry's one day windsurfing - which required skill and focus, bad?

[wildflower]

10. I think you're right

As someone who's not too athletic myself, I was always very impressed with Kerry's athleticism on top of all his other qualities. I would have thought windsurfing was a good thing. You said:

Imagine what they would have done if Bush played 4 sports in college and Kerry was a cheerleader in Prep school.

You're right.

wildflower

[karynnj]

11. I could care less whether a candidate was athletic

but I loved the windsurf article and the SI article earlier in the thread more because they showed a person who clearly enjoyed things he was doing. But even this would have had no bearing on whether I would vote for someone in a prmary.

[TayTay]

12. I agree with that. The athleticism s beside the point.

(Though the baseball comments did warm the cockles of my heart. Snark LOL!)

Kerry has always been one of those people who is on the go. I'm not surprised he is into a lot of different athletic pursuits and I always like it when he shows up at Denis Leary's Charity Hockey games in Worcester. I know Kerry's 61 now, but he looks good on the ice and these games are a lot of fun for a good cause. (And hell, I've never seen him in the penalty box, so he must play nice.) I think Leary will have another game in Dec. to mark the 6th anniversary of the warehouse fire, and maybe the Junior Senator will show. That would be nice.

Some people are just on the go. Always have that nervous energy to work off and athletics are as good an outlet as any.

[wildflower]

13. Agreed. But they make the public believe...

that these things are important. Personally I think it has to do with making the candidate seem masculine, though keep in mind I'm a feminist. In that vein, it's not just the athletics, but the brush-clearing on "ranch," the "tough stance on security," etc. that they use to promote the masculinity.

Anyway, as I said, I agree...FDR and John F. Kennedy, among others, had serious health problems, but it was their ability to lead as president that was important, not whether they could run a mile in under 4 minutes.

Nonetheless, I'm impressed by Kerry's athletic ability (having little myself) and have been dumbfounded at the way they turned it into something to be derided.

wildflower

[jillan]

14. The one thing that gets me, is that you can tell that Kerry really enjoys

whatever he's doing. Whether it's sports, campaigning, getting down on the Senate floor, being a family man. You really get the feeling that this man gives everything 110% (Ahem :P )He is one of those people that enjoys life.

And why he gets so much negative attention for it is beyond me.
I have to go back to my original post in this thread - jealousy!

[beachmom]

16. Biggest difference between Kerry and * and sports, et al

* rides his bike 2 hours a day, because he has to. Kerry does various sports because he LOVES it and enjoys it immensely. Now I'm not saying * hates biking but his motivation is purely this "self discipline" business. With Kerry, he doesn't need to discipline himself to work out. From that Windsurfer article, I get the impression that he experiences pure joy when windsurfing, because he must focus on one thing and one thing only. Riding the water and the air. If his mind wanders, then he could go under. And that's why I think it's meditation for him. When I see Kerry doing all that he does in his life -- be it sports, guitar, art, poetry, and, of course, politiking -- I see a guy living his life fully, doing what he would like to do most. Tell me that * really looks like he's EVER doing what he wants to do. And explain to me, why the American people have demanded that our presidents be caricatures of something we supposedly want instead of getting a real human being in there?

Windsurf as much as you can, Senator, and to hell with THEM.

[JI7]

15. if the fucking Chimpanzee knew how to windsurf

the media, republicans and all the other whores would talk about it in a positive way and how it shows he is athletic and tough and other crap.

[beachmom]

17. Hey Pirhana, great minds think alike!

I just posted my message, and then read yours and it was very similar! Are we all in sync or what?

[jillan]

18. Us Kerrycrats are all on the same page :)

We know the difference between a genuine smile, and a smirk!