You heard it correctly. Nick Jones, Corey Bradley, and myself attended this year Brostock at Smith Mountain Lake. It was Awesome with a capital A. We all rode and did a couple clinics for some riders, showed some riders a thing or two. Although pretty much we just got down with our bad selves. Joined the Liquid Force team in a couple contests of the adult sort and dominated. Corey and I even had ourselves a hula hoop battle. And I also learned that I can dance really really well. I think i just finally grew into my body and can fully understand it. Wish you guys could have all been there. Now its time to fly home and I have never been happier too. Keep on keeping on, see ya when I see ya.
DG

What’s up guys. it’s been a long time since my last blog entry. Too long. Right now I am up in my hometown in Spring Lake, MI. Its awesome up here. It’s been 80 degrees and sunny everyday I have been home, except for today where it was 65 and cloudy. I have been enjoying myself. I have been riding everyday still behind my X-Star but instead of the same old blah in Florida everyday I get to go to the beach, go longboarding, cruise down the channel in my boat, or just chill between sets. It’s awesome to see my family again too. And get to go out with my Dad on Father’s day and hang with him. I love Michigan. I go to Fargo, N.D. this weekend for a clinic which should be fun. And then after that I go back home for four days then stright to Arizona for the 4th tour stop then on a houseboat trip for CWB. Even more fun. Anyways later guys.
DG

Quarterfinals of the Pro tour didn’t go so well for CWB today. Only two riders from our team qualified and they were Andrew Adkison and Jimmy Trask. I guess its true that you just can’t have your best run everyday and sometimes i believe the judges opinions are wrong, but I guess opinions can’t be wrong cause they are opinions. The riders should be able to vote and approve a judge before they let them judge. Bryan Hutton actually qualified but then do to complications they put Shaun Murray through instead and threw my awesome friend B Hutts under the bus. Its fine though, things can’t always go the way of CWB even though we wish it would (in my mind and most other riders a mute switch heelside 360 is harder than an ungrabbed regular backside 360, and a melon backside 540 is alot harder than a toeside 720). I guess its how the cookie crumbles hahaha. Everything has its ups and downs and the Pro Tour is still alot of fun. Wish you all could be here with us. Laughing and joking around. And battling at iCopter. Thanks for supporting us. Without you guys we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. And I really appreciate it. iPhone.
DG

Were in Minnesota and it is cold. Word on the street is that tomorrow a high pressure front is supposed to come through and there is supposed to be a headwind of up to 20 mph’s. Suck. Right now though I am sitting in a hotel room with comrades Corey Bradley and Trevor Hansen creator of the Marius. We were discussing if we can swear on the blog. I don’t think it would be appropriate. And also uncharacteristic of us because none of us actually curse. In all seriousness though. We were actually discussing the overall amazingness of The Original Dominators Backside Bigger Spin. Ridiculous is it not?!?!? We all at CWB just think he is the cat’s meow. And he is. Now down to business. I told you I would teach you how to do an Heelside Indy Back Roll to Backside 180. And here it is.

Step One- You need to make sure that you have a really solid indy back roll as well as a solid backside 180 and are comfortable landing blind.
Step Two- Start out as wide as you can. The farther out you start the less speed you have to use cutting in to clear the wake. Your momentum will carry you across. When you reach the wake wait till the peak of it to initiate to the flip. As you coming off the wake immediately go for the grab.
Step Three- As soon as you get the grab prepare yourself to start spotting your landing. Right when you see the water start turning for the backside 180.
Step Four- When you have completed both the spin and flip get ready to brace for impact. If all done correctly you will come down perfectly on the transition of the wake. Make sure to keep your eyes locked on the horizon and not to turn your head towards the boat. If you turn your head towards the boat you will continue to spin and slip out. Ride away clean and throw shakas for the gals in the boat. Now you have a big smile on your face and with your confidence you have from landing a new trick are ready to take on the world.

So that is how to do a Indy Back Roll to Backside 180. Best of luck.
DG

The new iCopter high score is 3663. It appears I have to much time on my hands. Also Andrew got 3125 which is also extremely amazing. Wow our team is really stepping it up. I still haven’t left for Minnesota but I leave early in the morning. I will probably oversleep like I do everytime, then have to rush to the airport and try to get on a flight where because I wasn’t originally booked on so I get stuck in the middle seat. That happens to me alot. I need someone to wake me up like my Mommy used to do. And get my rumproast moving. Or maybe I should just travel with my sister. She is far more responsible than me and is always watching out for my best interests. I love her. Her name is Megan Joy Grasman. And after a lot of years of going to college she finally graduated on May 17, 2008. We are all so proud of her. She has a real job now and is jumping head first into the real world. Anyways once again I hope you are all out there pushing yourselves to the max. I always forget to talk about wakeboarding on here, but i think next post I want to give some trick tips. Maybe I will describe how to do an heelside indy back late backside 180. They are really fun. Definitely my favorite trick. Along with toeside beackside mute 180’s. Have an awesome day everyone!!!!! Maybe we can hang out in Minnesota.
DG

Hello all. It appears that my iCopter score is still untouchable. Seeing as noone as come within a thousand points of it. Anyways I just got done doing my laundry. This time of year we pretty much get home take our dirty clothes out of the bag, into the washing machine and then directly back into our suitcases. So I actually just got done packing again. I am leaving for MN on Friday morning for the 3rd stop of the Mastercraft Pro WakeBoard Tour. And boy am I excited. Not for the tour stop though (although the Pro Tour is a very good time). On June 9 I am flying to Michigan to see my family (although June 9 is my 22nd birthday and I will be spending it traveling all day. No partying for me. Unless I get upgraded to first class where the drinks will flow like a river!). I haven’t been home since New Years and I am especially excited to get home pick up my boat and go ride. My parents live in Spring Lake, MI and it is the closest thing to heaven that I can imagine. And if the waves on Lake Michigan are alright I may even do some tow ins in the big lake. I will keep you guys posted. Waters 55 degrees though.
It is going to be amazing getting to wake up, take a longboard down the driveway, hop in the boat with my bros James Hindes, Nick Capisciolto, Jordan Konow, Zach Doornbos and Andrew Krikke. (haha name dropping my bros for sure) and take a shred set. Riding in Spring Lake feels like a small coastal town where everyone and everything is peaceful and beautiful. I will hopefully get some pics up for you guys. Anyways time to go to bed. Hope you are all out there pushing wakeboarding and remembering why you ride. Whether it be for personnel joy, to one up your friend, to show off for some ladies, for the feeling of landing that new trick or whatever else it may be. Wakeboarding can be anything you want it to be. There is no right or wrong. It is all right. As long as your smiling. Hopefully I will see you sometime soon.
DG

Here at CWB the athletes are kindof competitive with eachother, but not really in the normal ways. We find ourselves constantly battling at random games and other stupid human things. The latest in the string of games is a little thing properly named iCopter. What once was a popular computer game is now available on iPhones. And since 6 out of 9 riders on our pro team has one (along with team manager Steve Bates) only naturally would we gravitate towards something electronic. We try to stay up on our gadgetry although most of us do not even know how to properly attach a file to an email. Were all pretty hung up on all things Mac. And were stuck in alot of airports due to the constant delays nowadays. So iCopter is what keeps our minds away from the boredom.
It is getting pretty competitive and I would like all of you guys to get in out competition and try to battle for the number one spot. The leader board is as follows:

3: Stuart Shinn 1933 (The Original Dominator, has amazing flying skills as well as style. Always a contender for the top.)

2: Andrew Adkison 1998 (Mr. Determination, In some opinion the best. Known for having the drive to stay up all night trying to take over the leader board. The first to close in on the coveted 2000.)

1: Derek Grasman 3274 (The Natural, a relative newcomer best known for being able to constantly break 1500, also the first to break 2000 with the previous highscore of 2033. Considered by some to be the greatest of all time due to years of computer training. Some say his most recent high score will never be touched or even closed in on.)

Honorable Mentions:
Trevor Hansen 1347 (Has the ability and focus to be in the top 3 just hasn’t had the right luck. May be in part to constantly being interrupted by text messages and phone calls which end flights on contact.)
Steve Bates (Has the drive to be in the mix just needs to have the confidence in his flying)
Corey Bradley 587 (Needs to work on skills)

Once again hello fellow wakers. On this entry I am going to talk about our friendly road trip that me and a couple of your favorite wakeboarders and filmmakers are on. And also touch on a topic that has been on my mind for a couple days now.
To start off I am on a road trip. This road trip consists of four riders and a filmer all in one 2007 Honda Odyssey. The crew is Andrew Adkison, Jimmy Trask, Jeff House, W.I.T. Productions filmmaker Spencer Norris, and myself. We started off the trip the Monday after Wake Games in Orlando. We all got into our trucks and caravanned to Panama City, FL where Andrew owns a house on an incredible lake called Lucas Lake. We stayed there for two nights just hanging out, doing some riding and shooting and just having a good time. We actually went and rode on the lake that Andrew learned to wakeboard on and got to meet Delbert who is one of the raddest person I have ever met. He is around 50 years old or so and rips it so hard you could not believe it. He started out with a huge 180 into the flats and from there on out throwing a huge variation of rolls and spins. We also got to meet up with and ride with our old friend Devin Rogers who we all haven’t seen in too long. So for it being the first leg of the trip it was better than I could have even imagined. I mean we got to shoot guns and I picked up a new hobby all in one day. Photography is my new hobby by the way. I am in love. I just need to get a camera.
On Wednesday morning we got up around 6 a.m. got into the van and got on the road to Hammond, LA. This is the only place where we actually have to do something that was planned out before. We are stopping in Louisiana to take photos for WBM’s My Scene. Where they pick peoples local spots and feature them each month in their magazine. THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!!! I have been alot of places through wakeboarding and this is on my top 3 favorite. Not only is it perfect conditions no matter what every day. They have a fully loaded Mastercraft X-Star, a pond with three rails radass rails to hit behind the four-wheeler, and also a step down pool gap with a banked rail on one side and step down A-Frame on the other. I mean its a full winch park and wakeboarding paradise. Ok I was excited and kind of got ahead of myself and forgot the most awesome part. And that is Chip Smith. He is the owner of Rukus boardshop in Hammond, LA. IF it wasn’t for him this would not be possible. He hooked us up so hard with everything from a place to stay, two brand new sea-doos to shoot video and photos, a brand new X-Star, and he even got some of his crew to build us two of the sickest rails just for us to hit and session as much as we want. As I am writing this it is 10 o clock at night and I am watching Jeff House and Andrew sessioning a rail under stadium lighting. Remember that song about the skatepark in heaven. I hope there is a heaven for wakeboarders because this would be it. We got to ride twice each day and session the rails as much as we could handle. And tomorrow to our disappointment we are leaving and going to the TSR for Cablestock. I shouldn’t be so bummed though because the the TSR is another one of the sickest places to wakeboard. It’s literally a compound dedicated to action sports and its awesome. And the people who run it have the right vision and want the right thing for our wonderful sport. And not to mention they are great people. So as we reach our halfway mark of the road trip it is obvious that this is the funnest trip I have been on in my career. I am surrounded by good friends (I wish a couple more could have fit but thats how the cookies crumbles), incredible riding conditions, and lots of laughs. I will fill you in with more in the next couple days about the rest of our trip.
Now to the point I wanted to get across thats been weighing on brain for the past couple days. Traveling around and meeting new people is awesome. Especially when everywhere you go you are surrounded by amazing people who share the same interests. It is like everywhere we go we are surrounded by good friends. Even if we have just met the people we are with because of wakeboarding we instantly have a common bond that brings us closer than so many things. Its amazing that everyone we meet we instantly get along with and can have an amazing time. I love this sport and the way it brings everyone together. Thank you and adios amigos.
DG

Have you ever watched a tv show so many times that even though extremely funny the first few times you saw it, by the 30th time it becomes dull and just doesn’t have that same effect it once had. Well NBC’s The Office is not that show. Since Club 506 owns every season of this show out on DVD it seems that not a day goes by with out it gracing our tv screens. I love it and you should too, which I am sure you do.
And that leads me to my next point. Wakeboarding is fun. And Zane did give himself a swollen eye by hitting himself in the face with a handle. Although near certain death also certainly funny. I guess that when the limits get pushed someone is bound to get taken down. Next time around it will probably be me. Until then.
DG

Hello wakers,
My name is Derek Grasman and this is my fist blog on ridecwb.com. I am in Winter Haven, FL on the grand chain of lakes. Anyways the weather is finally warming up and it feels like spring is among us. This is good because I hate wearing wetsuits. Unless it’s a fullsuit because for some reason I really enjoy wearing a fullsuit. As long as I don’t have shorts over it. It makes me feel like a surfer and I am just shredding the wakes of Babylon.

As this is my first blog with CWB I want to address that after being injured for the past six months 2008 looks like it is going to be one of the better years. From being able to ride again to being able to ride the best product in the business to being able to travel and spend time with some of my best friends with the exception of one. It’s awesome to be involved with the best company in the business and thanks to all you guys for supporting CWB for all these years. And thank you all for just wakeboarding period. Alright I am outie like a belly button.

DG

Zane rips.