Hey All, It is our right—nay, our duty and obligation—to bitch about the WSL and all its many shortfalls. But let us agree that the standard WSL-approved competition setup (man-on-man format, two best waves counted per surfer per heat, subjective 1-10 scoring system) is the way to go. Alternative formats have been tried. All were failures—but one failed a lot slower than the rest, and that was th...
Hey All, This began as a 10 Biggest Moments in Surf From the 2010s list, but I remembered Surf’s Up came out in 2007 so I had to push the start date back to 2000. Then I added a few more events. So here, in chronological order, is my list of the 13 Biggest Moments in Surf From the Latest and Possibly Last Millennium. 2000: LAIRD HAMILTON’S “MILLENNIUM WAVE” Laird opened the new year-decade-centu...
Hey All, Gabe Medina has comboed my mind. On one hand, from my distant view up here in the corner bleachers of the Pacific Northwest, Gabe is a deeply unlovable athlete, and this notion was amplified after watching his palsy video chat last spring with Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (who recently told a reporter “You have a terribly homosexual face”). I began every contest in the 2019 WSL sea...
Hey All, Big overflowing red-velvet Santa’s bag of EOS coming your way this evening, so let’s jump right in. Just posted an EOS page for Victoria’s Gail Couper, 5x Australian champ, 10x Bells winner, and see that pic? That is one of just TWO surf images, total, Gail has of herself riding waves. Female surfers were Kryptonite to Aussie photogs. Magazine editors weren’t much better. Gail took 4th ...
Hey All, I’ll go years without thinking about Roddy Doyle, then here comes something like The Curfew, Doyle’s latest, and just like that I’m giddy remembering what an absolute treasure of a writer he is. I’m partial to Doyle’s early stuff: The Commitments, The Snapper, and especially The Van (collectively known as The Barrytown Trilogy), which are now 30 years old, give or take, but just as sharp...
Hey All, World tour pro surfing came to Mainland America for the first time on August 16, 1977, at the Florida Pro, on the same day Elvis Presley toppled off his Graceland toilet in a Quaalude coma and hip-swiveled his way to the Great Hereafter. The King’s death was huge and dramatic and slightly tawdry. The Florida Pro was small and dramatic and slightly tawdry. Read Bruce Valluzzi’s report on ...
Hey All, “Still upright and taking nourishment” is the standard dry-as-toast reply from my neighbor Old John, an 80-something retired auto shop teacher, whenever I ask how he’s doing. Same answer every time, and I’m never not thankful for both the wit and the predictability. Sameness goes up value as we age. Mostly what I want from that exchange with Old John is to not hear is “Stage 4” or “the I...
Hey All, Dean Randazzo’s EOS page went up on Monday, and the fever took hold, and I went full Jersey Devil fanboy for the better part of the week. Here’s Dean’s Above the Roar interview, here’s a great profile piece by Kimball Taylor, and here’s the video that shows why a lot of tuned-in people thought Randazzo was among the best freesurfers in the world throughout the 1990s. Style to burn, knock...
Hey All, I make no pretense to humility when it comes to musical selections for EOS videos. My ear is keen. My sticky fingers deft. But good is not infallible and having just rewatched this clip of EOS 2019 fundraiser coverboy and plus-sized marvel Chubby Mitchell, I realize it should be scored to Otis Redding’s deep-cut gem “Ton of Joy.” By the beard of Zeus, I will get in there someday and make...
Hey All, The official rollout happens next Friday, November 1, but operators are already standing by, and with this Sunday Joint I hereby declare the 2019 EOS fundraiser ON. If your credit card has sprung to attention, click here to donate. We are a fully registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Tax-deductible! In 2017, when EOS was flatlining, we put out the SOS and you guys saved the site. Today, we’ve...