I've been holding off on sending my end of the season report because I have been expecting some very good news from Stihl, which I have now received.

This news is that I have once again been chosen to appear on ESPN2's morning sports talk show, "Cold Pizza". I'll be flying to NY to appear live on this show, on this coming Wednesday morning Dec 21, sometime between 8 and 10 AM and then the show will be re-broadcast from 10-12 on the same day. You may remember from the video that I sent you last year that I had nearly 10 minutes on air with the Wood-Mizer logo when I did this show previously, and of course I'll be wearing the Wood-Mizer logo again this year.

Overall the 2005 season was a very good one for me, and I received quite a bit of exposure both in the US and abroad. We completed the 8 contest SAWA Pro Lumberjack Series in October and I was named the Overall Grand Champion for the third consecutive year. I successfully defended my axe throwing World Title in May at the Southeastern World Championships in WV, and won 5 out of 6 events to win the Alabama State Lumberjack Championships (Manual Division) in November. In August I competed on the Stihl Timbersports Series, the first round of which was recently broadcast on ESPN2. I performed very well in the opening round and managed to advance to the semi-finals which will be broadcast in the next couple of weeks. Round one has already aired twice on ESPN2, and is likely to air a number of times over the next several months, and my time on air for each broadcast is over 3 minutes, much of which with the Wood-Mizer logo in full view!

Overall I've competed this year live before over a 100,000 people, and countless 100's of thousands more (if not millions more) on my assorted TV appearances. And the continuing good news is that the Marketing Manager for Stihl has informed me that they intend to use me as a sort of competitor spokesman for the Stihl Timbersports Series, and so I will be invited to appear in virtually all of the media opportunities that come up, like the upcoming spot on "Cold Pizza"!

In between these competitive appearances, I have also made three trips to Europe to coach the Timbersports athletes in Germany, Switzerland and Austria in 2005. I am scheduled to return to all of these countries to coach in 2006 with the possibility of expanding my itinerary to include the Czech Republic and Poland. And of course my Wood-Mizer garb follows me around the world.

I'm very pleased with my ongoing relationship with Wood-Mizer. Happy Holidays and best wishes to you for the New Year!

Mike Slingerland "Mr. Wood-Mizer" Professional Lumberjack Sports Competitor