Drambuie Letter

Here's a letter I wrote a year and a half ago for the Drambuie Pursuit.

(If you're asking yourself, "what is the Drambuie Pursuit?" You are not alone. Go here: www.drambuiepursuit.com.)

A buddy of mine, Jesse Peralta, who I worked with at the time told me about this race/contest in Scotland he'd entered, and how he wanted me to be on the team. He showed me a video, told me it was free, and although I was skeptical it was real, I was in. Jesse asked me to write the entry essay, which was a given since he'd stolen my xmas evite verbatum two months prior and used it for his own party, and then sent it to me - ha!

I wrote this letter the last afternoon it could be submitted (true procrastination). Also, I wrote a version before this that somehow got deleted and I (we) sorta freaked out b/c it was within the hour. But I still knew what I wanted to say and was able to take a whole different approach. And while this letter isnt great, I like it better than the first copy that was lost. Lesson learned: sometimes it's better to start over from scratch on the same idea.

FWIW, I remember deciding I was only going to write one solid page and submit it, people like brevity. (Note: this is my blog so I dont have to be brief. )




2008 Drambuie Pursuit

Date: January 25th, 2008

To: Doug Morris & Giles Hanson

From: Mason Davis – Pursuit of Glory

Re: Drambuie Pursuit


To Doug & Giles,

I’m sure a selection process like this is daunting; and probably not much fun at all. But your job should be a little easier now; you definitely have a keeper here.

Now I’m sure you’ve heard every excuse why [insert random team here] is the perfect choice for this event, but we really are. Why? Because we’re from the Pacific Northwest and we live for this stuff. We’ve been raised in the rivers, oceans, gorges of this region and eat this stuff up all year long. Put us on a glacier, in a wave, on a rapid or out in the high desert on a trail and one thing I can promise you is, you’ll see us grinning; guaranteed. Plus, we plan on taking a team approach, a team approach designed on one principle – winning.

Now, being that we are a “team” that means we exemplify, but are not limited to the following: cool handshakes, team chants and celebratory dance moves. Plus, we’ve got a set of killer smiles – seriously!

In all seriousness, we really are eagerly awaiting the good news from you – which is our acceptance.

Our team looks at this as an amazing opportunity, and for that we thank you. But, we also look at this as a viable victory, and for that we beg you. Give us a chance to represent Oregonians and you will not be sorry.


Sincerely,

Mason Davis


PS - Here are some articles off espn outdoor. When they were first written they were on the main page of espn.com "what's hot" feed, or something like that. It even had the pic of me looking off that bluff for the logo icon. Pretty tight. Plus they drop my name a few times in the article so read it!!

Mainbar
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/news/story?id=3391735

Teams
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/news/story?id=3388409

Photo galleries
http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/gallery?page=drambuie