Ron Scarpa, of Winter Haven, Florida was  selected as the September 2000

Footer of the Month.  

I selected Ron as footer of the month for several reasons:

In the last two weeks, this man has once again proven that he will not go quietly into the night.  He came to the Nationals and US Open ready to prove to the world that he is still the most dominant skier in this sport.

Though Ron only won one medal at Nationals (a bronze in Slalom), he didn't let that get him down.  It was like he was using Nationals as a warm-up to the US Open and Worlds.

The day after Ron had to sit and watch Keith St. Onge accept the Overall Gold Medal at Nationals, he went out to the US Open and conquered the Jump and Trick Events in the one-on-one elimination style tournament.  The US Open format plays well into Ron's competitive style.  Instead of skiing one set against a big group of skiers like at Nations, to win the US Open you have to ski 3 rounds against the top 8 skiers in the Nation.  So the most consistent skier has the advantage.   Everybody knows that Ron rarely falls, so that gives him the mental advantage as well.  You just know that if you are skiing in the US Open, you'll be going one-on-one with Ron at some point.  If that doesn't put a chill up your spine, nothing will.

Despite all the talk amongst the footing community that Scarpa has lost his edge to Keith St. Onge, he came out and broke Keith's World Trick Record at the US Open with a score of 7,540, then two weeks later led the US team to another World Championship and walked away with the Individual World Overall Title.

So for those of you keeping score on how many 2000 championships these guys have:

If you would like to find out more about Ron, check out his web-site:

Congratulations Ron, on being selected the September 2000 Barefoot Central Footer of the Month. You are now eligible to win the "Mack Daddy" of all prizes.  Next January, you could be voted by your peers to be the 2000 Barefoot Central Footer of the Year.  It's no easy prize to win, just ask Heath Cooper, the 1999 Footer of the Year.

Don't forget to check out the other month's winners.