Wednesday, February 15, 2012

ZUMA JAY



Jefferson Wagner, aka Zuma Jay, surfing legend and surf shop owner, Malibu City Council Member and Mayor, and as reported here,  Ralph Lauren model, Marlboro Man, Clint Eastwood stand-in, explosive expert, and some-time rock and roller, among other things - but most importantly, Jay is a basketball player.  Check out the Zuma Jay link for more pictures of The Man dating back to the 70's.


And I guess this is one of the perquisites of being Mayor of Malibu.


But back to basketball.  I met Jay while playing Wednesday night open gym adult basketball at Malibu High School.  Jay was a regular, along with Downtown Scotty Brown, Doug-I-Am-Not-Related-to-Adam Sandler and his son Nick, Vinnie, Eddie, Pablo and Pedro, Dave and Big Dave, Justin, Philippe,Steve, Tall Paul, Crazy Mike, Doc Sam and gym custodian Sam.  While Jay was not the most talented player on the court, he certainly was among the most competitive.  He has good skills, good basketball sense, and an intense desire to win, particularly since winners stay on the court while losers sit. Smiles don't come easy to Jay when he is playing ball!  I much preferred playing with Jay than against him, particularly since he is quite good at exploiting any height advantage he might have.  His signature move is a fake shot followed by a drive to the basket, and his signature MO is calling a foul when he missed his shot - OK - I overstate just a bit, but would wager that Jay is among the leaders in calling fouls against players on defense.  

Jay spends most of his time at his shop on the land side of the PCH in mid-Malibu, close to the Malibu Pier, so if you are out that way, stop by and say hello.


6 comments:

  1. Just Wonderin'6:26 AM

    An interesting and fulfilling life, but as my preacher would say, "Zuma, if you died right this minute, where would you be five minutes from now?" (This question is posed to everyone in the baptismal tank.)

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  2. hoosierdaddy11:16 AM

    JW - a better question from your preacher would be "how have you treated your fellow humans regardless of their station in life?" a la Matthew 25 which is the only time Jesus talked about judgement. And don't give me the canard that Jesus was talking about countries - biblical scholars agree that all nations refers to all of the people of all of the nations. Besides, would God curse the righteous of an evil nation because of the actions of the unrighteous? One would hope not. Many who proclaim Lord, Lord will not be heard - talk is cheap and actions count, as in orthopraxy trumps orthodoxy.

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  3. Just Wonderin'10:05 AM

    Hoosier, getting back to the dunk tank, Matthew 28:18-20. "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, BAPTIZING them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."
    Have always thought the Anabaptists were more into The Great Commission (orthodoxy), than giving stuff to people (orthopraxy). Get their minds right first, then good works will follow. If not, then their minds ain't quite right yet.
    I do very much appreciate the interesting stories about interesting people doing interesting things, however, older people (me) are much more aware of our own mortality and naturally curious as to the spritual condition of our fellow earthlings and where they might spend eternity.

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  4. hoosierdaddy10:28 AM

    JW - yes, as we Anabaptists like to say, baptism is an outward sign of an inward commitment. And, we also generally see the great commission not as orthodoxy but orthopraxis - show the folks the way of Jesus before teaching about the way of Jesus. MCC - giving a glass of water in the name of Jesus is right on as far as I am concerned.

    You are right about us old farts and mortality! :-)

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  5. Just Wonderin'10:35 AM

    Makes sense to me! I guess orthopraxy vs. orthodoxy isn't so philosophically mind-boggling after all.

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  6. Thanks gents for the discussion.

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