🌊 100 Foot Waves & 13K Foot Dives

In this week's P.O. Box:

Like many of you, I spent the past few days closely following the sad and bizarre Titanic submersible story (with it even spilling over into some of my shows, sometimes purposefully and sometimes inadvertently).

I’ve also been watching the second season of 100 Foot Wave on HBO (err Max), a show that follows a crew of big wave surfers as they attempt to survive and conquer one of the largest waves in the world in the small fishing village of Nazaré, Portugal.

I always find it fascinating to learn about the different internal motivations and justifications that compel these adventure seekers to risk their life with these seemingly irrational pursuits.

I remember this topic gaining national attention when Alex Honold free solo-ascended El Capitan. I’ll never forget his response to people who told him he had a death wish:

On 100 Foot Wave, legendary surfer Garrett McNamara certainly falls into the Honold mold of an elite athlete who requires the constant drip of dopamine, adrenaline, and endorphins that comes from thrill-seeking. Surfing consumes him to the point that he relocates his pregnant wife from their home in Hawaii to Nazaré so he could surf up until the birth of their third child.

But some of the surfers on the show have different motivations aside from raw, uncut thrill-seeking.

A lot of the second season takes place in the wake of COVID, an event that put the surfing circuit and sponsorship money on hold. When things opened back up, semi-professional surfers felt the need to take shots on big waves and make a name for themselves with only a handful of golden ticket sponsorships up for grabs.

It’s one thing to go shot taking in a GPP you don’t have the proper bankroll for, it’s another animal to get towed into one of the least forgiving waves on the planet when you aren’t prepared for the challenge.

That’s what makes the Titanic submersible story so bizarre. I assume the five, extremely wealthy individuals getting on the OceanGate dinghy each did their own risk/consequence calculations (whether explicitly or subconsciously).

I would be fascinated to know what percentage chance they assigned to things failing and costing them their life. What would the number need to be to tip the scales in favor of not taking the risk to peer through a tiny little hole at 13,000 feet below the surface to stare at wooden rubble?

5%? 1%?? .01%???

I mean, you’d have to really fucking love the Titanic to even risk a one-in-a-thousand chance at losing your life. And I have to imagine the true odds of that sub holding up at 6,000 PSI are much shorter than .01%.

Which really does beg the question…why?

I guess it’s slightly easier for me to understand what compels Honold and McNamara. In addition to fueling their deep desire for thrills, at least there is notoriety, sponsorships, and money at the end of the rainbow.

But I’m struggling to understand the risk/reward calc for an underwater mission to depths that world class Naval outfits have no interest in exploring themselves.

This wasn’t a Honold situation where they had reduced their risk with hundreds of dress rehearsals, test runs, and studying. The consequence and the risk were both very high in the case of the submersible mission.

So for what? An Instagram flex post? Another story to put in the cocktail party quiver?

Probably just boredom. Who knows, though? The human mind—specifically of those with unfathomable amounts of money—is a bizarre thing.

All I know is that I’ll stick to my basement and limit my shot taking endeavors to best ball tournaments.

📺 BBM4 Drafts: #57 & #58 Best Ball Breakfast, #59 & #60 Splash Play, #61 w/ Kerrane, #62 w/ Siegele, #63 Swolecast (+ failed mission), #64 LOLz

🕵️ 2 Key Backfield Mysteries To Solve. I’m watching these RB2 battles closely.

💡 Best Ball Tips. #26: The Perfect Zero RB picks & #27: The Worst Playoff Schedule.

✍️ How to handle the Elite QBs. Went back and forth with Jonathan on Fantasy Life discussing the QB landscape in drafts and our preferred way to stacking the Top QBs.

🎡 The Lawrence Jackson Randomizer. Lawrence calls up Matthew Berry, teaches me the Dirty Bird dance, reveals a star QB who follows him on Twitter, performs his Kyle Pitts single, and dons a shit ton of hats. Here’s a highlight reel.

🚢 Nihilism, Bye Week Blindness & A Draft For $30K. Pat and I discuss the submersible, death, nihilism, signs from God, and our favorite documentaries while drafting a $101 Dalmation team.

🎯 Why I can’t stop drafting Marvin Mims. Please don’t be KJ Hamler.

⁉️ Does stacking matter in best ball? Nothing like a mid-summer best ball data beef.

🏆️ Is This The Start Of A Nuggets Dynasty? ETR's Drew Dinkmeyer joined us to talk about the Nuggets winning their first title, the coronation of Nikola Jokic, and predictions for their future. We also got an all-time hilarious moment from Jennings talking about the Zion sex tape stuff.

📺️ Let’s get The Fantasy Sanctuary to 1K. Hopped on Tom’s show to discuss my favorite Zero RB targets and biggest fades. Subscribe while you are there.

Tonight night at 9pm ET the Best Ball After Dark streams roll on with Fantasy Life’s Dwain McFarland. Join us for some drinks, discussion about Dwain’s background, best ball, high stakes fantasy, and a BBM4 draft. Become a YouTube member here for access.

Shout out to the aptly named ”Elon Muskular” from the Deposit Kingdom for wearing the new Best Ball Breakfast tank as well as you possible can…

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