Hoop Dreams

I need your help. Yes -- you, noble reader of this humble blog...

Please follow this link to the Lipton Disc Golf website, and vote for me -- so that I might have a chance to try out for the Dutch national disc golf team. Of course, you may vote your conscience (which would mean providing a rating of anywhere from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest) -- but I might be so bold as to suggest that you rate me "10" so that I can come as high up in the rankings as possible.

I usually try to avoid using my blog for stupid gimmicks like this. But with your cooperation in this voting contest (follow the link now!), I could see a life-long dream fulfilled...

Well... OK. So I haven't exactly been hoping and dreaming about this my whole life long (maybe ten years, actually, at the most)... And, all right, I don't even know if something like trying out for the Dutch national disc golf team could actually qualify as a true "life goal" or "dream"... But I can definitely say that I enjoy disc golf as a hobby (ever since my latter years in Bowling Green, Ohio). And I'm all in favor of raising disc golf awareness in the Netherlands (hoping that communities may eventually create more disc golf courses in public spaces throughout the country). And it could certainly be fun to say that I tried out for the Dutch national disc golf team...

Heck, I figure I might even make the team if I can get as far as the tryouts.

But qualifying for the tryouts basically seems to be a popularity contest. The more often you're rated at a higher level by other viewers, the higher you rank in the standings. So, if you could take it upon yourself to vote for me (please!) and help me get into the Top 500 -- my chances of trying out for the team on August 5th would be that much improved.

I fear that I'm a bit handicapped in my "foto/filmpje" entry, since it's just a static shot of me (and the great Jason Slack)... But believe it or not, I actually made the effort to visit the Lipton promotional event on the Leidseplein and have a "filmpje" (little video clip) made of my real-life disc golf skills. But the good people at Lipton seem to be having some technical difficulties with uploading the materials from their promtional events to their website, so I went an alternate route to -- forgive the pun -- "throw my hat into the ring" and get in the contest before it's too late (and to be honest, I missed the 10-meter shot that was caught on camera, anyway). So in case you're wondering why my "foto/filmpje" seems to be the most boring one on-line, that's why! And besides, I have faith that you, my friends, can help to overcome this handicap by responding to this blog and going directly to vote for me on-line (and please feel free to vote as many times as you like, as there seems to be no rule against this!)!

In case you're not so good with your Dutch, here are the basic instructions: First, you'll have to click on the link (have I made this point clear yet?); then, it will take you to the website with a picture of me (and the great Jason Slack) standing on a grassy hill next to a disc golf basket. The site will automatically run through some instructions (in Dutch) that basically tell you what I've already outlined above, and then it will come to a stopping point where it says "Start nu met stemmen!" ("Start voting now!") -- and if you click on the button that says "Start" you'll be able to see the full picture (that had been in the background of the instructions) with a vertical listing of numbers (from 1 to 10) along the left side of the screen. Again, you're free to vote your conscience (and pick any number you'd like) -- but if you're asking me, I'd encourage you to give me a "10." Then, the site will bring up another picture or video clip, and you can choose to vote for some others, or you could simply exit after voting for me.

I hope that makes sense. Thanks for playing along with this gimmick.