I love hearing and seeing hobbyist first koi show and I do remember Dons first koi show. I think Don took home "Best in Size", it is always a cool site to see when it is someone's first show or first "big" win and those are the moments that I enjoy. Especially seeing Michael's surprise when he won RGC...
I think when one gets into the hobby we hear the names, but never really meet the people behind them. My main drive back then was to compete against the Morales, because their standard of showing was higher than most hobbyist. Most of all the rep back then was if you really wanted to see how your fish would do, you would have to go to SoCal and compete against the best. The Morales are and will always be the couple to compete against in my mind and they set the bar higher and higher each year. If there was any couple who has influenced the koi hobby more in the last 10years in Cali and around the country my choice is the Morales.
