CT riders get a bum rap from JD in WB mag

What’s up with JD (new owner) from Inland Water Sports shooting off his mouth in this months WB Mag. 50 States of Wake - Connecticut

“people tend to think they’re better wakeboards then they really are”

“they think a better board will make them better riders instead of spending those bucks and getting some lessons”

Everyone in our small wakeboard community has been offended by his comments. Over the years we have spent allot of money with TJ (previous owner) at Inland, never expecting that spending more money would make us better wakeboarders. Most of us just like buying new toys. But... I guess now we will have to spend our money elsewhere!

amen to that man. we gotta get CT a better rep this summer.

yeah. i'm a NY/NJ rider. definately noticed that comment. I don't know the parties invovled, but if JD thinks HIS RIDING can stand up, he's got a genuine invitation to come represent at the Wakefest in Jersey.

Everybody else from Conneticut should think about coming down too. Should be a great event!

I don't know who JD is, but it seems like this post is being a little malicious for a couple of reasons. First off, you mis-quoted him. Here is the entire quote...

"Not to be negative, but people tend to think they're better wakeboarders than they really are. Because there is quite a bit of money, they think a better board will make them better riders instead of spending those bucks and getting some lessons."

I don't think he's pointing at anyone in particular, but he's making a generalization about the clientele he sees. Don't take it personally if you don't fit the generalization. I'm sure that's a generalization that could be made in any area where the customers have a lot of money to dispose of. In fact, it probably applies quite a bit even when it's not a wealthy area.

Second, I would venture to guess that in most cases, he's 100% correct. A few lessons would benefit most people more than a new board will. At first I thought it was an odd thing for a guy to say when he sells wakeboards, but I guess they provide lessons as well. When I go to a shop, I'd like some good advice as to how to wisely spend my money and get the most out of it. It seems like that's what he's doing. If you prefer to have sunshine blown up your skirt just so that they can sell you a new board, then I guess we look for different things when it comes to customer service.

I agree with you DW.

Ya, this guy is probably right in what he is saying. I know that down here in miami, thats probably 99% of people.

If this is true in almost all of the country why pick on the little guy. CT doesn't have alot of riders and comments like that don't encourage people to pick up the sport. I'm not surprised though most of the dealers I've come in contact with in CT are full of themselves anyway.

On the brighter side has anyone stared riding in CT?

I was pissed when I saw that too, until I saw that the guy that was saying it was from inland water sports which is near candlewood lake, I then understood why he said that and did believe that most of his clients are like that, I mean look at all the money up by candlewood lake (no, I don't mean that literally) and most of the shops that I've been to I know more about wakeboarding then the people selling the boards, which are usually old guys who think that they are the best riders alive because they can get up and jump the wake. when In reality they know nothing, and they know it, and when they see that a teenage girl knows more about the sport then them they get even more insecure. so I respected his honest opinion based on what he has observed first hand. I wish I would have gone to him for my first board, I may have gotten a better set up for me and some advice other than the shop I went to where the guy told me that "wakeboarding is going to be to hard for you, you probably won't be able to do it, maybe you should just stick to snowboarding" actually two different people at two different places told me to stick to snowboarding!!!

It's not wakeboarding mag that's giving CT a bad rep it's most of the old guys at the shops in CT (if you can even find a shop in CT) I live too far away from inland but I can vogue for A&S boats they have a pretty decent CWB selection, I don’t know if they know what they are talking about though cause I’ve never talked to any of the people in there. Then again I’ve only been in there twice.

BTW I'm from CT if by reading this you haven't figured that out yet

ya i am from indiana but i had the saem feelings...all they did was give props to the IU wakeboard club which doesn't even compete...they did a writeup on surfing and how it is possibly bigger than wakeboarding in indiana...that was the biggest load of bs i have ever read....PROPS to wakeboard mag for getting out there and doing some interesting work. I think the 50 states was a good idea...however some of the info was just not that accurate..but i thought it was a pretty good issue overall?? anyone else?

MALICIOUS!! MAYBE. As a long time patron of Inland Water Sports let me clarify my point of view.

Of all the things to say about our small community, particularly Candlewood Lake, why would you say that? CT and Candlewood doesn’t even exist on the map of wakeboarding who’s who. But, we think we are extremely lucky to live in a small slice of heaven called Candlewood Lake .

We love supporting local business here, as wakeboarding is such a short season for us. My family is lucky enough to enjoy a great Mastercraft and new equipment, as we needed. All purchased from the local dealers. We know that if we had to rate our boarding ability on a scale of 1-10 we would tip the scale in the 3-4 ranges. Yes, we could use lessons! But the fun of this sport is learning together as a family! We love it and it keeps us tight as a wakeboarding family.

Its just my personal opinion that given the opportunity to highlight Candlewood and the rest of the CT lakes… I would have expected a more complementary statement from the new owner of Inland Water Sports to support his loyal customer base.

Let me share a positive point of view from Candlewood Lake. Morning glass from our back deck.....

Yea man Candlewood is awesome bro. Its in my back yard im across from chiken rock. DOnt be a stranger stop by

I'm glad that Wakeboard Mag did the 50 state article its a great idea. Unfortunately they interviewed someone that only sees the people that can afford the new boats and the pricey equipment. Alot of dealers have a pro shop but most if not all are incredibly over priced. I can seriously buy two boards from wakeside.com for the price of one board at these shops.

I'll once again say that most of the dealers up here are full of themselves. If you want a better idea of the people who wakeboard in the state try going to some of the lakes instead of the dealers. Theres a huge group of us that don't get our boats new and don't buy our boards at the "pro shops"

David...we are on the Danbury end across from the island where the fireworks are launched from.

Waters getting warmer!!!!!

Oh and lets get the CT riders together this year. If anyone has an idea for a place or time lets hear it.

I feel that 50 state's of wake should have been a writing contest. The local riders of the state would write to WBM and whoever could put together the most intelligent/decent story for their state would win the page or half page in the mag, pics included...

Then we wouldn't have people upset with the half ass report that was given to their state by some ignorant folks

Kyle, pick a lake and a date and I'll make sure to get my MA butt down there for the festivities!

(Message edited by Zuka666 on April 29, 2007)

That was a no win article. You are bound to tick off more people than you please since you can only state a couple of sentences. I agree with the Indiana comment- surfing?

Remember, the guy from CT might have spoken 2000 words in the interview and they chose a couple of sentences to print. Nothing intentionally malicious by WBM, just the way it is. Give the guy a break. He probably spoke 98% positive about CT wb and these couple of sentences don't reflect it.

A better idea. Do a tour of states and have one or 2 written up per issue. Maybe a standard article- Highlight a state.

Do a tour of states and have one or 2 written up per issue --RH

I agree!

I thought the most useful part of that entire article was that it said how many days out of the year are above 60 for every state. never knew some of the states were so warm and some are so cold.

i wasnt really pleased with the whole 50 states thing in general.

Arkansas got screwed.

nothing was mentioned of our INT league that KILLS at nationals...

And all of arkansas' main dealers were totally left out.

the wake scene here is growing fast and we dont even get a picture for our state?

And NOBODY rides on the arkansas river they can help it. Lake degrey, beaver fork, and heber springs are awesome.


(Message edited by dlwsrider on April 29, 2007)

Have only seen water skiers (3) so far this year. No Wakeboarders yet. At least on our end of the lake.

Without fail... we are in buy Memorial weekend. Looks like dry suit this year!

does anyone know if sliders are illegal on candlewood

Hey David - no sliders that I know about on Candlewood. The lake authority is strict on docks, swim platforms etc.. not sure how they will feel about sliders. But why not.. let put one in and see what happens.

I'll admit that I have probably fallen into this group a time or two. Thinking if I had a better board I could do some new trick. Then I see someone riding a piece of crap board and totally throwing down.

JD is a good guy and I'm sure that he didn't mean any harm. The real shame of that article was naming Candelwood as "where to ride" instead of Lillinonah. The water felt pretty warm yesterday. I think that I am going to ride for the first time next weekend.

With the states article, I'm sure they're always going to leave something out, and can't please everyone all the time, but this is the outcome of effort. WakeMag got a contact in each state, that would either lead them to a "knowledgable source", who would tell their story. ....... Nonetheless, Roger is right, they chose what went into the mag, and you have no idea what was said before that or was asked. The Indiana quote was really a middle of the sentence statement, that was meant differently. And Matt they do compete, and are actually going to host a tournament this year. Every state that I have knowledge of their scene was not fully portrayed correctly in the article. But, you can only cover one area of a state, if you only do one interview.

(Message edited by behindtheboat on April 30, 2007)

Not to contradict myself, but I did find the article a good idea and enjoyable to glance at.

a-dub where are they having the contest and when? ASU will make an effort to make it and support the contest if its planne dahead and everything.....will it be a collegiate event where all schools are invited? email me at crowem87@yahoo.com....thanks- Matt ..also i understand about the middle sentence quote....but i think surfing was somewhat of an off-topic thing for anyone to talk about when interviewed by wake mag....

Adam... let us know how your ride on Lillinonah was! Candlewood water still very cold and very brown