Big Fish, Little Pond
In high school, I got really good grades, graduating in the top 5 in a class of about 350. But I had a math teacher who liked to help his students keep from getting cocky. “You’re big fish in a little pond,” he would occasionally remind the students of his advanced classes, some of whom would then go off to be small students in the big ponds such as the University of Michigan.
I thought of Mr. Bernadini today when I pulled a glossy brochure from NASTAR out of my mailbox.
“YOU QUALIFIED!,” reads the top of the brochure. “CONGRATULATIONS” runs down the side.
Me? Apparently so.
The inside of the brochure explains: Congratulations! You qualified for the 2009 Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships! You ranked in the top 3 in your age & gender category in your division at a participating Nature Valley NASTAR resort as of February 16, 2009.
I’m honored, I guess. But it all reminds me of one-year career as coronet player. I was third chair. Out of three students. Sometimes I was second chair, though–when the other kid didn’t show up.
Nationally, I haven’t done so hot: Right now, I’m 97 out of over 115 in my class, nationally, and certainly below the 50th percentile of all men who race on snowboards. A country salesman I once knew said that he “was in the half of my graduating class that made the top half possible.” I feel the same way about my place in the racing world.
Is it in fact true that I’m in the top three of my ski area only because there aren’t four men of my age on a board? Perhaps. I do know that a fellow I’ve shared with the course with is in fact national caliber when it comes to running GS gates on a board. Then again, he has an alpine setup with binding angles that are about 3 degrees each, hard boots, a carving board built for speed–and lots of practice and perhaps little fear.
But I’ve qualified anyway. Will I go to Steamboat Springs and partake? I’d like to get there sometime, but it probably won’t happen this year. Besides, I hear that it’s really the place to ride in the trees.