Paul Stokes (left) and Jason Lee in front of Ron Scarpa's house	Paul McDonald, Paul Stokes, Ron Scarpa, & Jason Lee after photo shoot

Friday night was the Foot Fest welcome party back in Orlando at the site. Jason followed me to the airport were I dropped off my rental car and rode with Jason the rest of the weekend. The party was cool. They had food, drinks, and music. It was great to catch up with everyone.

Day 1 at Foot Fest

Saturday morning about 10 am the competition began. There were only about 35 skiers, but the field was stacked deep. Big names were there like Peter Fleck, Keith St. Onge, Jason Lee, Aaron Schoelzel, Bob Mahnke, and David Slemp. The water had about a 3-5 inch chop.

My first head to head was against my good friend PJ Nassar. Some of you may know him from the three event side of barefoot competition. He is a National Overall Champion and a Junior World Jump Champion. This was PJ’s first appearance at a figure 8 event. PJ had a good excuse, he hadn’t been on skis since he was 8 years old, which is the year he learned how to deep water barefoot. I, on the other hand, had no excuses competing on slalom and performing in ski shows for years. Our experience that day was memorable. A stray set of rollers were right in the step off zone. We both missed our step offs. How embarrassing is that? We both agreed on doing deep waters. I advanced my way through the winners bracket all day Saturday.

PJ Nassar Struggling with those skis

I have never laughed so hard when later in the competition, PJ couldn’t get up on a slalom. After two missed attempts, they allowed him to take off on two skis and drop one. He popped right up on two skis, immediately dropped and went to one, followed quickly by a swan dive. I was laughing so hard, I couldn’t breathe. Believe it or not, PJ ended up advancing from this head to head.

Falling on a step off can happen to anybody, especially in these conditions. These competitions level the playing field. Anyone could go down at anytime. It doesn’t matter how many turns or flips you can do. Anyone you walk to the end of the dock with could knock you out of the competition. This is all about strategy, skill, endurance, and a little luck. That’s what is so great about these competitions.

To learn more about figure 8’s click here:

Dave Mueller - Announcer Extraordinar

Day 1 at Foot Fest

Sunday was a whole new ball game. The water had about a 7-9 inch chop, and there was more lake traffic. The two brackets, in the final four of the winners bracket of the open advance division, were Bob Mahnke vs. Paul Stokes and Keith St. Onge vs. Aaron Schoelzel. As Dave the announcer would say, "I beat the Mahnke", but it wasn’t easy. We had one of the few long runs of the day. Aaron advanced over Keith to meet me in the finals of the winners bracket. The winner of our head to head would have the advantage. The winner would have to be beaten twice for the championship. The loser would have to work to earn the right for a re-match.

At this point in the game, the water conditions had become ferocious. The coin toss had become a treasure. Aaron won our toss. Aaron played the odds by putting me on the driver side of the boat. That side of the boat was worse for the step off and the first 30 seconds of the battle. If you could hang on through that section, the rest had been reported to be ski-able, so I still thought that I had a chance. All that didn’t matter (yet), because I busted my @$$ on a step off, handing the victory to Aaron. Aaron would wait to see who would come out of the losers bracket.

I faced Keith St. Onge in the losers bracket final. The losers bracket had taken care of all those big names we spoke about above. I won the toss, and Keith proceeded to miss a step off. Like I said, It can happen to anyone. After knocking Keith out of the competition to finish third, our friend Danny Boy wrestled me into the lake.

Danny Boy wrestles me into the water after beating Keith St. Onge

I now had the honor of facing Aaron Schoelzel in the finals of the open advance. Fate would be on my side this day. I won the coin toss, and played the odds putting Aaron on the drivers side. It worked; Aaron made his step-off, but could only make it through about 25 seconds of the treacherous course. I won the second toss the passenger side came through again. It was a great competition. Aaron was a great sportsman in defeat. He congratulated me with honor and I appreciate that. Aaron is a great competitor.

Aaron Schoelzel does his best to psych me out	Aaron congratulates me on victory

Foot Fest 2002 Final Results

Pro - Open Advance	Open	Senior 40+	Junior < 16
1. Paul Stokes	1. Michael Frank	1. Tom Ingram	1. Tim Meagher
2. Aaron Schoelzel	2. Oscar Ortiz	2. Bob Mahnke	2. Ryan Harrower
3. Keith St. Onge	3. Tim Meagher	3. John Friede	3. Mike Suarez
4. Bob Mahnke	4. Mike Suarez		Women
5. Jason Lee	5. DJ Jordan		1. Sharon Remy
6. Peter Fleck			1. Rachel Friede

Figure 8 tournaments are a blast. There are a lot of great people and good times in and around these events. Make sure to go to a figure 8 near you to take the challenge. I first competed in a figure 8 four years ago and finishing 7th out of 120 footers battling my way through the losers bracket. I told the organizers that I wanted to be their champion. That was Foot Stock ‘98. Foot Fest ‘02 was my first taste of a win, and now I have my eyes set on Foot Stock ‘02.

Pro Division Winners Keith St. Onge, Paul Stokes and Aaron Schoelzel

I had a great weekend. The photo shoot was phat. The parties rocked. And I had what I consider a big win at Foot Fest.

Thanks goes out to Scott Hannigan, Danny Boy, and Jim Ware for the free places to stay. I’d also like to thank Jim Ware and the Desire’s Water Ski Team for hosting a great event. They are switching gears in 2003 and having Foot Fest in the Fall. For more information Call Jim @ 407-834-1183 or e-mail Charlene Ziggy48327@aol.com

Peace, Love and Dave

Who’s your daddy?

What am I talking about?

Come to Foot Stock to find out and be a part of all the action and excitement!

Foot Stock is the mother of all figure 8 contest.

For more information on Foot Stock e-mail Buckeye Dailey alanaleighdailey@yahoo.com

All ages and ability levels compete. The spectators have a blast witnessing the spirit of competition.

Stokeman OUT!!!

From left: Jim Ware, Paul Stokes, Aaron Schoelzel, Keith St. Onge, Bob Mahnke, and JJ

Paul Stokes with the organizers of Foot Fest

To see more pictures of Foot Fest 2002 - Click Here