Stokeman:  Hey Greg, how is life treating you these days?

  Greg:  LIFE HAS BEEN TREATING ME WELL THANK YOU!

  Stokeman:    I hear that you picked back up an old hobby of yours over this winter?  What kind of craziness are you up to?

  Greg:  I USED TO COLLECT 60'S MUSCLE CARS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO AND SINCE DECEMBER 27TH I'VE BOUGHT QUITE A FEW MORE.

  Stokeman:  Muscle cars rule!!!  My favorite of all time is the 64 GTO.  My best friend in high school had a cherry one.  Tell us a little bit about your collection.

  Greg:  I BOUGHT FIVE GTO'S WITH TRI-POWER 4 SPEED SET UPS - THREE ARE 1964, ONE 1965, AND ONE 1966 - I ALSO BOUGHT A 1967 FACTORY AIR CONDITIONED CONVERTIBLE GTO WITH 37 FACTORY OPTIONS ALL ORIGINAL.  I ALSO BOUGHT A 1962 CORVETTE ROADSTER THAT WON THE OAKLAND ROADSTER SHOW LAST YEAR - IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!!

  Stokeman:  Enough about land lover activities.  Have you been on the water much this winter?

  Greg:  IT'S BEEN AN INTERESTING OFF SEASON AFTER SKIING AT TWO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN 2002 - I TOOK A WELL NEEDED VACATION FROM FOOTING AND NO I HAVEN'T BEEN ON THE WATER UNTIL JUST RECENTLY AND IT REALLY FEELS GREAT TO BE BACK!!

  Stokeman:  You execute the two most difficult starts in barefoot water skiing.  The pros don’t even do these starts in fear of missing them, if they can even do them.  Tell us about these starts and how you manage to be so consistent with them even in major competitions. 

  Greg:  I DO A BACK TOE UP WHICH I THINK IS VERY EASY - IT'S JUST A MATTER OF KEEPING THE HANDLE HOOKED AND BEING ABLE TO ROLL OVER ON YOUR STOMACH AT 42 MPH AND STAND UP - THE OTHER START I DO IS THE BACK TUMBLE TO ONE - I HAD NOT SKIED IN 6 MONTHS AND ON MY FIRST RUN OF THIS YEAR I NAILED THAT START  ON MY FIRST ATTEMPT SO I REALLY THINK IT'S MORE TECHNICAL THAN PHYSICAL AND WHEN YOU'VE BEEN OFF THE WATER FOR A LONG TIME I THINK YOU FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS.  AS FAR AS BEING "JOE CONSISTANT" ON DOING THESE IN COMPETITION I WILL JOG YOUR MEMORY BACK TO NATIONALS IN 2001 WHERE I MISSED BOTH STARTS AND SCORED DOUBLE GOOSE EGGS FOR MY TRICK RUN.........ZERO ZERO  

  Stokeman:  You are the man despite that choke job.  How critical is the driving in the success of these starts?

  Greg:  THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION - IN PRACTICE I TRY TO HAVE A DIFFERENT DRIVER PULL ME ALL THE TIME SO I DON'T GET USED TO A CERTAIN PULL OR DRIVER AND THE DRIVER CAN REALLY HELP OR REALLY HURT YOU AND I'VE CHANGED MY STYLE OVER THE YEARS TO TRY TO ELIMINATE THE DRIVER ASPECT OF THIS START - I NOW TUMBLE AROUND AND WAIT UNTIL THE BOAT IS AT 42 BEFORE I TRY TO STAND UP - THEN IT'S JUST YOU AGAINST YOU AND THE ACCELERATION OF THE BOAT IS A NON FACTOR BECAUSE YOU'RE JUST LAYING ON YOUR BELLY WAITING FOR THE 42 MPH AND YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHEN YOU'RE AT SPEED BECAUSE YOUR STOMACH WILL START TO HURT FROM THE SPEED.........

  Stokeman:  I know you have competed in every Senior World Championships since the first one in 1999.  I also know that you held the first ever World Senior Slalom Record.  There was a unique twist to setting this record.  What happened and does the record still stand?

  Greg:  YOU KNOW THE SILVER LINING TO MY BAREFOOTING IS MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN THE SLALOM EVENT - ALL THE THANKS TO JOE VALENTI FOR DRAGGING ME TO THE TOP  WITH HIM - I TRAIN WITH JOE AND HE'S NOT A GOOD TEACHER BUT HE IS AN AWSOME SLALOM GUY AND SKIING WITH JOE HAS BEEN VERY MOTIVATING - YOU JUST GET TIRED OF THE GUY KICKING YOUR ASS - AND NEVER BET WITH JOE IF "FOOD" IS THE PAYOFF - YOU WILL LOSE FOR SURE......AS FAR AS THE X-MAS GIFT I RECIEVED I WAS COMPLETELY SHOCKED......I WAS AWARDED THE FIRST EVER SENIOR WORLD SLALOM RECORD FROM HOUSTON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1999 - I WAS GIVEN THE RECORD  NOV 20TH 2002 FROM THE INTERNATIONAL WATER SKI FEDERATION WORLD BAREFOOT.  THE WAY WORLD RECORDS ARE RATIFIED TAKE AWHILE IN OUR SPORT BUT I DIDN'T EVEN MAKE THE FINALS SO TO BE AWARDED THE RECORD WAS A TOTAL SURPRISE.  THE TWIST ON THIS ALSO WAS JOE VALENTI WON THE EVENT AND CAME HOME WITH THE GOLD.  SO ON THAT DAY "LIVE" HE WAS THE BEST SKIER AND I CAME HOME VERY DISAPPOINTED TO MISS THE FINALS BY A MERE .2 - THE RECORD HAS BEEN BROKEN MANY MANY TIMES SINCE AND I BELIEVE RON SCARPA IS THE CURRENT HOLDER EVEN THOUGH IT'S EMBARASSING TO HIM JUST BECAUSE HE'S "OLD".  HA HA

  Stokeman:    The Senior Worlds are coming up again this October in Winter Haven, FL.  Do you plan to compete?

  Greg:  I WILL BE AT THE SENIOR WORLDS FOR SURE AS I'M GOING TO VISIT MY AUNT DOROTHY WHO LIVES IN COCO BEACH AS SHE IS MY FAVORITE RELATIVE!  PLUS IT'LL BE NICE TO SEE BILLY AND MIKE AND BLAKE AND ANDREA

  Stokeman:  Who motivated you to enter this sport, and who do you look up to most in the sport today?

  Greg:  ONE OF MY NOW BEST FRIENDS "MIKE TEMBY" INTRODUCED ME TO FOOTING 16 YEARS AGO .......HE BUGGED ME FOR EIGHT YEARS BEFORE GETTING ME TO COMPETE.........AS FAR AS WHO I LOOK UP TO IN THIS SPORT - I THINK REALLY EVERYONE WHO'S INVOLVED AS WERE A GYPSY TROOP THAT DOES WHAT WE DO FOR THE FUN  AND LOVE OF DOING IT, ALL AT  OUR OWN EXPENSE .I'D HAVE TO SINGLE OUT RON SCARPA FOR ALL THAT HE'S DONE IN AND FOR THIS SPORT AND FOR SURE KEITH ST. ONGE FOR TAKING THE TORCH AND KICKING ASS AS HE IS SO AWESOME.

  Stokeman:  Is there anyone that you would like to thank?

Greg:  I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVEYONE THAT LOVES BAREFOOTING FOR SHARING IN SUCH A WONDERFUL WAY OF LIFE.  PERSONALLY I'D LIKE TO THANK MIKE TEMBY FOR THE BEGINNING, JOE VALENTI FOR THE INSPIRATTION TO BECOME BETTER, MARK BERGTHOLD FOR BEING A GREAT TRAINING PARTNER, ALONG WITH ANDY, CHARLIE, ANDY, JERRY, ANDY, KATIE, ASHLEY, DANNY, RICH, AND ALL  THE OTHER BAFOONS  THAT I SKI WITH THAT I HAVEN'T NAMED, AS WELL AS GINA & MALCOM, GARY, TERRY, DOUG, BRIAN, AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST BING SETO....  EVERY ONE OF THESE PEOPLE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE SPORT ALONG WITH THEIR LOVED ONES AND I THANK THEM ALL.........

p.s.  I also want to thank all the wonderful people I’ve met thru world competition .......all the USA team members from Houston, Fergus Falls, New Zealand, and Austria and all of my international friends.

Greg, Andrea Eggert and Paul Stokes at the 2002 Worlds

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT NATIONALS IN ELK GROVE CALIFORNIA

Stokeman:  Well good luck this season.  I look forward to seeing you there.