Olympic Anarchy

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with U.S. Laser sailor Andrew Campbell. He’s from San Diego, has been at or near the top of the U.S. laser rankings in recent years, and he has a burning desire to represent the US in the Laser class at the 2008 Olympics in China (where the racers will probably spend most of the time rolling around in windless slop, dodging sewage, and trying to avoid Rule 42 penalties). I’ve never met Campbell, but I feel like I know a lot about him because he writes an excellent blog called the Monday Morning Tactician, in which he takes readers inside his Olympic campaign and writes with brutal and refreshing honesty about everything from the mistakes he made to how he plans to get better. The guy is constantly on the road, racing and training, yet he still finds time to entertain and educate anyone who is interested in Laser sailing and the Olympics. That’s called giving something back.

Anyhow, one thing that is clear from his blog is that an Olympic campaign is a brutal marathon. It takes endurance to survive all the travel and endless training. And it takes money. Recently Campbell sailed in the Trofeo Princesa Sofia regatta in Palma. He finished 8th, and in his summary of the regatta the following caught my eye:

One of the glaring issues was the lack of coaching support on the water during the event. This will be one of my campaign budget issues that must be assessed in the coming months. If I cannot depend on US Sailing Team coaching at Palma, especially in a medal race where the US only had 4 boats sailing over the course of the entire day, then I am going to have to look for other options.

Hmm. That sounds pretty lame. So I had an idea, which is for Sailing Anarchists to step up and do something very cool: help a good guy get a little coaching so he can try to go and kick ass at the Olympics (read more about him here. Apparently, the way we in the good ‘ol US go about building Olympic success is a little thin, scratch-wise; if you are not Paul Cayard, you are sleeping on floors and scraping for dough. So let’s shake the system up. According to the Ed, some 40,000 of you mutts check this page every day (visits, -Ed). How about if 1,000 of you stop ranting, flaming and looking for porn to post in the forums just long enough to throw Andrew a little cash? If a thousand of us step up with at least $10 (JUST $10 BUCKS, fer Chrissake!), that will add up to a pretty hefty donation (we’ll negotiate the Anarchy logo on his boat later). Why, the cheapskates among you might ask, as you scratch your asses and wonder whether the chips in that open bag on your desk are stale? Well, here is my list of Top Ten Reasons to send Andrew Campbell some green:

10) His mother (who’s really nice) is very worried about him…

9) He’ll be able to afford a better looking web page…

8) The 3-Card Monte binge in New York City totally failed to pay off…

7) He’s a member of the San Diego Yacht Club, which you all love. Right?…

6) Big DC would rather throw his cash into another ratings-beater…

5) It’s hard to stay at Laser-weight eating only Ramen noodles…

4) He promises in return he’ll write at least one post called “Anna Tunnicliffe and Paige Railey:      Radial Sailors Gone Wild”…

3) His National Guard unit just got called up and if he doesn’t get the Olympic slot he’ll be sailing his Laser on Fallujah lake…

2) Hookers in China will be much more expensive with the Olympics in town…

1) I’m sick and tired of the f*cking Brits winning all the medals…

“Hmm, I wonder how much I can get for this stuff on E-Bay?”

What more do you need to know? Dig deep (it’s tax deductible), and let’s turn Olympic funding upside down. That’s what Anarchists do. Go here to donate with just a few clicks (in the “Designate My Donation” box, please write “Andrew Campbell/Anarchy”). I’ll update you on how we are doing in the coming weeks.

Have A Wetass Weekend,

Tim Zimmermann