HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOBIE!!

HOBART SHERWOOD BILLINGSLEY (aka "HOBIE") -- The Man, The Myth, The Legend -- just celebrated his 83rd Birthday on December 2, 2009. Retired now from coaching, but still travelling the world visiting old friends and former divers as well as giving clinics, hosting seminars, talking about diving, teaching coaches and now writing his THIRD Book.

That's right -- Hobie is writing yet another book -- this one his autobiography at the request of the Indiana University Athletic Hall of Fame. Rumor has it he can be found working on this manuscript right this very moment tucked away in a cozy farmhouse somewhere on the outskirts of Moultrie, GA where there is reported to be "lots of Moss."

Can't wait to read the finished product. Happy Birthday, Hobie!

** Photo above shows another diving legend Dr. Sammy Lee sitting with Hobie at the FINA Grand Prix Meet in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Keeping The Hogs Cool!

For those coaches who are lucky enough to have diving programs with an outdoor tower facility and if you have Rough-tex installed as your non-skid surface -- specifically BLACK Rough-tex -- you are well aware just how hot the material can get on any summertime afternoon.

Try this remedy: run a garden hose (or 1/2" PVC pipe) up the back of the tower and then attach to another PVC pipe or hose that runs along one or both outside edges of each tower. The PVC pipe or hose should contain numerous pin size holes. When the water is turned on, the pipes or hoses that run along the side edges of the towers will spray a very fine mist of water onto the top surface of the tower. In most cases, this will make your BLACK Rough-tex surface quite comfortable -- definitely cool enough to stand, walk or dive on without burning your feet.

I first saw this set-up while attending the Moss Farms Diving Invitational in Moultrie, GA back in the mid 1990's. Those who have had the opportunity to attend a meet at this well known diving facility in southern Georgia know how hot it can get in the summer months. I asked "Moose" Moss -- the legendary (and now late) diving coach at Moss Farms -- where he got that idea and he said in that oh so memorable slow southern drawl of his -- "Uh, that's how we keep the HOGS cool in the summertime."

So there it is.

In honor of "Moose" Moss, go ahead and add some hog coolers to your diving platforms -- your divers will very much appreciate it!