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FAREWELL TO JEFF RODGERS “Hi, Dave.
It’s Jeff. You are not going to like what I have to say. I am
not going to ski on GOODE this year.” said Jeff Rodgers in a phone
call to Dave Goode earlier this month. “I could not believe what I was hearing.” said Dave Goode. “Dawn and I had just skied with Jeff in March and he mentioned nothing of this.” Goode continues. “We were testing new product, taking photos and making plans. In fact, Jeff ran 4-1/2 @ 41’ off on a prototype ski that I wanted him to try and he was wearing a drysuit! About two weeks later, I received a phone call from Jeff and he asked if I could send him the ski that he set the World Record on. I promptly sent it to him with a remote control helicopter gift for his son, Austin. Then, a week later, I got “the” phone call!”
Goode continues, “My records show that we first
shipped a ski to Jeff in June, 1996. He had called me right after the
1996 U.S. Open, after not having qualified (finishing in the top 10)
in it or any pro tour stop in over one year. Jeff was sponsored by EP
Water Skis at that time. Two weeks later, at his first Pro Tour Stop,
skiing on his new GOODE Ski, he won the semi-finals and ended up
finishing 2nd to Wade Cox by ½ of a buoy.
Later that summer, Jeff set the U.S. National Record of 4 buoys
at 41’ off. Over the next year, Jeff just kept skiing better and
better. In August 1997, Jeff did something that no other skier ever
did; he ran a full pass at 41’off and set the still current World
Record of 1 buoy at 43’ off!” Just last summer, Jeff tied his own World Record
and only missed breaking it by 2 inches. Then, the crowning
achievement of his career came last September, when he won the 2003
World Championships in “To the many friends and customers who have asked, ‘Did he switch because of the ski or for money?’ All I can say is that I am going to keep the Official World Record Certificate and his signed picture that reads: "Dave - Thanks for the World's Greatest Ski - Jeff" hanging in our lobby." "Jeff will be missed at GOODE. My entire staff and I wish him all the best.”, Goode concludes.
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