Has Kayaking Jumped the Shark? Boo Means Nope.

Now, this may fall under the heading of "Too Much Information" but some people read in the bathroom and some don't. If you do, you need reading material - it is a big decision and I'm sure some sociologist has done a study on this. If not, I'm sure many bloggers have written millions of word about it, so I'll cut this short - my choice is Time magazine, after years ago deserting my parent's standard for the bathroom library, Reader's Digest.

OK, if you must know: Reader's Digest is monthly and just doesn't provide enough material to last for a month. Time magazine is weekly, so there you go.

One thing about Time magazine is that whenever  it declares something is a new trend, it means either:

1. Two people bogged about doing something like ear candling or trampolines for goldfish and Time says it is sweeping the planet.
2. The trend has peaked and there will be lots of Tae Bo videotapes and Segway scooters showing up for sale on eBay.

So, I started to worry when I noticed an article in the this week's edition of Time on kayaking - uh oh. It must mean that a drastic decline is kayaking is right around the corner as everyone moves to kite surfing or solar powered pogo sticking.

The print article had some additional pictures that  labeled the cargo hatches on kayaks "deep wells" (if they turn into deep wells, you are probably sinking) but it also included an analyst quote about the decline in group sports and the growth of more individual sports like archery and kayaking:

"It's really part of this greater trend of people wanting to self-express themselves," says Mark J. Penn, author of Microtrends.

Now, of course, other trend-watchers are declaring a resurgence in group sports, like kickball and probably duck, duck, goose. Seems like health club group exercise classes are a big growth industry and there sure seem to be loads of groups of old people hopping on buses and jamming casinos (and every Chinese restaurant in my area,) So, I dunno about this self-expression stuff but now I have this image in my head of bringing a cross-bow while I kayak and being able to really express myself when an annoying jet skier gets too close.

And then I read a kayak blog by an 11 year old girl (SuperBoo) whose mother has breast cancer and I know kayaking has a lot of miles left.

Comments

[Joyce]

Hmm. It is disconcerting when "main stream media" starts reporting on a sport like kayaking. As a kayaker, I'd rather think I was as far from a trend-setter as possible and just someone who like to paddle around, meet other paddlers and have some fun. Blast Time for trying to turn me into some sort of a social statement. Just let me paddle, man.

[John P.]

Yeah, it is kinda like when you buy a cool t-shirt that you think is unique and then you see it at Sears...