Dr. Jim Controversy <--------------Check This Out!

[NautiqueJeff]

He's done. We'll never hear from him again.

[redelf75]

Thumbs Down!

[DizzyG]

Oops, forgot to make the album public,
you can try again if you like, should work this time
http://www.dizzyg.net/photos/thumbnails.php?album=122
if that doesn't work just go to dizzyg.net/photos

[Blue Ski]

I never met a skier I would not pull, now I know of one.

[Hollywood]

Wow, sure are a bunch of haters on here. First off, who knows if he really did it or someone else did it for him. Either way, he had to have known it was off and still didn't say anything. I don't know his motives but it doesn't really bother me. It sure got some attention, which is what our sport needs.

[darrel409]

If you have ever spent time with comp. skiers they are very serious about there sport.

[Hollywood]

They are very serious about THEIR OWN skiing. I have spent time with comp. skiiers, even pro qualifiers and what other people ski isn't their life.

[NautiqueJeff]

Here's the latest. He finally admitted it! He's kicked out of AWSA for six years.

It wasn't an illusion when water-skiers from around the world reported that the distance between the buoys at a competition course in Waukesha County appeared to widen after the first skier finished his run.

World-record-holder Jim Michaels - whose private lake near Dousman was the site of the event - admitted Monday that he set up an underwater mechanical system to manipulate the course and give himself a competitive advantage in the 2005 Malibu Open Waterski Championships and Wakeboard Exhibitions in June.

And Michaels, through a public relations specialist, acknowledged that he had cheated other times in the past in setting national records in slalom events at his lake.

"My competitive zeal got the better of me and clouded my judgment," Michaels said in a prepared statement released by a public relations consultant. "I have no excuse for this and recognize that it was a mistake."

Michaels' statement followed a decision by the American Water Skiing Association on Monday to suspend Michaels, 48, from the sport for six years and strip him of his national records for what it dubbed "unsportsmanlike conduct."

"I've been with the organization since 1993; I have not experienced anything like this," said Steve McDermeit, executive director of the association.

McDermeit said the association's chief officials and dozens of pro skiers at the event noticed the distance between the buoys mysteriously grow about 2 feet minutes after Michaels finished his run.

A lesser distance allowed Michaels to ski around more buoys with a shorter rope - criteria for winning the competition.

The event, which drew about 2,500 spectators, was temporarily halted, and Michaels withdrew from the competition.

He sent a letter to association board members Friday admitting he rigged the course.

Stripped of records
Both McDermeit and Michaels' public relations consultant, Evan Zeppos, said the June event was not the first time Michaels, a dentist, had cheated.

Michaels held national slalom records in the Men 4 and Masters Men 55K divisions held on his private lake, Lake Lynn Louise, which he built several years ago specifically for water skiing.

"He no longer holds any record that I'm aware of," McDermeit said.

The American Water Skiing Association also recommended that its parent, USA Water Ski, suspend Michaels' membership from that group, forbidding him to participate in other sanctioned water-skiing events such as show skiing or exhibitions.

In his statement, Michaels apologized to his fellow water-skiers, his coaches and family, all of whom he said had no prior knowledge of his scheme.

"He feels very remorseful about the situation," Zeppos said. "He accepts full responsibility for his poor judgment. He feels very badly about it."

Neither McDermeit nor Zeppos would say how Michaels controlled the underwater cables attached to the buoys, whether he or someone else pressed a button in the boathouse or whether the system was on a remote timer.

Investigators found no evidence of other skiers' involvement.

Zeppos said Michaels was not after the prize money, which totaled $100,000 for men's and women's winners in three events.

"I think it was just his competitive desire to win," Zeppos said.

Zeppos said Michaels doesn't expect his dishonesty with the water-skiing world will affect his dental practice.

"There's a pretty clear divide between what happened with his skiing and his dental practice," Zeppos said. "In his mind, there is no correlation. It's a practice built on experience. He's an excellent dentist."

[wakefun]

I thought I had heard it all...
This story sounds more like some bad made-for-tv movie that is so far fetched it can't be real.

[FatBoy]

I don't know what makes him think it won't hurt his practice. I know if my dentist was cought in a dishonest situation like this I would dump him. Why you ask? Because to me a lier is the same as a thief, and if he would do that he would overcharge or shortcut patient care. I just would not be able to trust him.

[66Skylark]

Diddo Fatboy!

I know I'd dump him if he was my dentist.

[SNMike]

About 11 years ago in my town, a highly respected dentist, also my entire family's dentist, was caught with video camera's in the ladies restroom, and the room for his dental assistant's to change. He was naturally sued for everything he had, lost his license for good, and his gorgeous sweet wife was atta there. I saw him one day during lunch and asked how he was. He was selling medical equipment, and said he didn't understand what one thing had to do with the other.
He was the only one who didn't. :shock: He moved!

[Michael_Freeman]

I don't know what makes him think it won't hurt his practice. I know if my dentist was cought in a dishonest situation like this I would dump him. Why you ask? Because to me a lier is the same as a thief, and if he would do that he would overcharge or shortcut patient care. I just would not be able to trust him.

I see it more as proof of sub standard quality.

If he can't make all the buoys move at the same time that is poor quality of workmanship.

[83sn2001]

Why only six years? It should be for life.

[Christopher-W.-Becker]

All,

If I remember correctly he is a faculty member at a Major University. Wonder if there will be an ethics reveiw.