Pro surfer Kelly Slater, who won his ninth world title in 2008, is often described as "the Michael Jordan of surfing." This is not just a simple comparison. The comparison goes far beyond both being known as the all-time bests in their respective sports.

Kelly Slater and Michael Jordan both took breaks in the middle of their careers and then surprised fans when they returned at even higher levels of excellence. But in the comeback department, Slater has been even more amazing than Jordan. The time gap for Michael Jordan was less than two years. For Kelly Slater, it was five years.

Both Kelly Slater and Michael Jordan coped, at mid-career, with the loss of their fathers. James Jordan was murdered in 1993, and Steve Slater died of cancer in 2002.

Another common factor is that Michael Jordan (2-17-63) and Kelly Slater (2-11-72) both are Aquarians, for what that may or may not be worth.

Despite the nine-year age difference, they became champions only one year apart. Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls won the first of their six championships in 1991, when Jordan was 28. Kelly Slater captured the first of his nine titles during 1992, when Slater was a mere 20.

Jordan "retired" after winning his third consecutive NBA (National Basketball Association) title in 1993. Slater stopped competing after he captured his sixth crown, including five in a row, in 1998.

Jordan's absence ended when he rejoined the Chicago Bulls near the end of the 1995 season. The Bulls were defeated that year, as Jordan fought to rediscover his game, but they won another three in a row in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Slater came back for the 2003 season of the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) but barely lost the season championship to Andy Irons. He says his frustration with the defeat caused him to slump during 2004, but he won championships in 2005 and 2006, and again in 2008. Slater says he remains undecided regarding the 2009 season, but competitors such as 2007 champ Mick Fanning have encouraged him to stay on tour.

Michael Jordan adjusted during his comeback career by shooting more jump shots, rather than driving so often for dazzling dunks. Kelly Slater has shifted to a smaller board, more than a foot shorter than his foes.

Kelly Slater says that 2008 was his best season ever. The surfer once was a mate of celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and Cameron Diaz, but he keeps private the name of his current significant other.

Kelly Slater explains: "It's probably my personal life. That's the biggest change in my life. I'm happy and settled, and I've got the support there that just feels amazing."

Sources:
http://www.aspworldtour.com/2008/news_show.asp?rEvent=aspwct&rcode=11547
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1860698,00.html?xid=rss-nation
http://surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/slater05/index1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Slater

Pro surfer Bobby Martinez, 26, has sort of double life in Santa Barbara. He comes from a neighborhood that he describes as "100-percent Mexican," with many peers who don't see much of a future, much less a chance to take the time to see the nearby ocean. But Bobby Martinez has always seen the water, which is why he is one of the best pro surfers in the world.

"I think that where I come from definitely helps keep me humble," Martinez says.

Pro surfers, by and large, are good people with open minds. Still, there is not a whole lot of ethnicity in pro surfing. While Bobby Martinez was taking to the water on a boogie board, his Mexican-American peers were not doing the same. In that part of his life along Santa Barbara's Pacific Ocean shoreline, Martinez was a loner. He would hang out with his friends in his neighborhood. Then, when he went to the surf, he would encounter mostly white or Hawaiian kids.

Bobby Martinez is sometimes portrayed as a "gangsta" in the pro surfing world.

"Maybe it's because I'm Mexican, and I've got tattoos, and I listen to hip-hop," he says. "I don't know. I just trip out on it."

Born in 1982, Bobby Martinez was a hot pro surfing prospect at the turn of the millennium. Still, he did not truly emerge until the past three years.

Bobby Martinez says he started taking surfing seriously in 2003, when he was 21, but he still needed a couple years of hard practice before he emerged in the pro surfing tour.

Martinez got married a year ago to Cleo Neuman from the Australian Gold Coast. They have a new house in Santa Barbara that's one block from the beach.

"That's the best thing," Bobby Martinez told a reporter. "I have dreams in terms of surfing, but more than that, I've got dreams as a person. I've always wanted to own a home, and now I can do that because of surfing, and I realize that it's a gift."

Sources:
http://surfermag.com/magazine/archivedissues/almost-not-famous-july-2007/index4.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Martinez

In the land of cheese, bratwursts and beer - Wisconsin - there is more than heavy food and drink. Snowboarding enthusiasts will be delighted with a less-publicized product of Wisconsin that is light and fluffy.

So-called "lake-effect" snow constantly falls near Wisconsin's coastlines along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. This is different than the lake nearest you, because you need a really big lake to get lake-effect snow. Such as a Great Lake.

Skies can be clear in other places, but lake-effect snow still will be falling in these areas. Don't worry, snowboarders, this doesn't mean that you're going daffy. This happens because the water quantity is so great on the Great Lakes that the water stays warmer compared to inland lakes, ponds and rivers, which freeze over. The frigid winter air hits this warmer Great Lakes' water, and there you have it: lake-effect snow.

Buffalo, Syracuse and New York's entire northwest, upstate areas get socked for a similar reason, but Wisconsin gets less attention for its prodigious snowfalls. For example, Crystal Ridge Ski Area and Wilmot Mountain are located just a few miles from downtown Milwaukee, and Milwaukee = lake effect (as well as beer). If you head 35 north of Milwaukee, you will encounter Sunburst Ski Area, where the lake effect is in full effect. Then there's Hidden Valley Ski Area near Green Bay, but don't try to get Packers' football tickets, because there is something like a 20-year waiting list, and Packers fans generally aren't into scalping.

You can find great Wisconsin inland locations as well for a day of snowboarding, a weekend, a full vacation or even a reasonably priced season pass for just a few hundred bucks. Wisconsin is by no means a mountainous state, but the glaciers left behind some really neat gorges and long sloping hills. For example, there's Granite Peak, which is smack dab in the center of the state. You can get a 700-foot vertical at Granite Peak, which is virtually unheard of in the Midwest.

The snowboarding culture is fully alive in Wisconsin, sparked in part by the presence of the University of Wisconsin's main campus at Madison and other campuses that dot the state. UW is known both as a liberal school and a party school. Hey, what can you say about a school that had its marching band suspended this fall for hazing?

Also recommended: Tyrol Basin, Alpine Valley and Mt. La Crosse.

Sources:
http://www.travelwisconsin.com/Snowboarding_Wisconsin.aspx
http://www.snowboardingwisconsin.com