Flagging, old media, tits and ass magazine Sports Illustrated recently had a contest that would allow fans to pick the best sports moment of 2011 and have it featured on the magazine’s last cover of the year.
Kelly Slater winning his 11th ASP World title was up for that spot, along with a soccer player named Lionel Messia, Yankees player Derek Jeter, but the cover apparently went to football player named Eric LeGrand who was paralyzed when he used his head to tackle a guy returning a kick off and has finally returned to the sidelines in a wheelchair, according to a story in the Orlando Sentinel.
On a snowy Oct. 29, he led the Rutgers football team onto the field for the first time since his accident during the opening moments of the Scarlet Knights’ game against West Virginia. He was surrounded by his teammates and coaches. . . That moment has been voted as Sports Illustrated’s Best Moments of 2011 by the fans.
We’re not really sure what it says about SI’s readership when the world’s greatest athlete gets snubbed in favor of a guy who broke his neck plowing head-first into a kick return specialist. Then again, it’s only print. And who reads that anymore anyway, aside from fans of college football, apparently?
The good news is there appears to be a floor stopping Billabong’s two-day free fall. Yes, on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 shares bounced up 10.16 percent to close at $1.95, according to a story on Business Spectator.
Surfwear retailer and manufacturer Billabong International Ltd has lifted over 10 per cent, clawing back some of its massive losses from earlier in the week.
And though it’s not exactly back in solid terrain, at least the stock didn’t fall below a dollar. That may be thanks to IOOF Holdings 1.1 million share purchase on Monday, December 19, 2011.
We doubt there is anyone who types words about surfing who hasn’t made some kind of comment or 10 about Dane Reynolds and what he should or should not be doing with all that raw talent. We’re guilty. Sometimes we start thinking like old high school principals. We see Dane’s crazy, insane surfing skills, his dashing personality, and star power and we believe he has a responsibility to perform on the ASP world tour. Anything less is complete and utter waste of all that potential. Or something like that.
Thankfully, Dane has decided that rather than let all of us “twitter impostors, eggy surf bloggers, overzealous surf photographers” continue to speculate, he’ll just lay it all out in one blog post. It begins like this and includes no capital letters (shift key must be broken):
i’ve been getting some pressure from various people and/or websites to write something, sorta like an official statement concerning my exit from the world tour. my dismount. my pirouette. ‘an opportunity level with your fans.’ that’s what they tell me. people wanna know whats goin on. be up to date. i can understand that. i like knowing whats going on. i like being up to date. . . .one thing to remember is that i have a heart and i have bones and muscle and skin and eyes and teeth. i have emotions. sometimes i act according to emotions. sometimes i think and make a conscious decision. i usually do that. in fact i usually think too much. sorta neurotic. i make mistakes, and i deal with them. i have fears and i have anxiety and i have insecurities and i have vices which i often give in to. social situations enhance all of these qualities. i could probably use some discipline, and lots of things bum me out, but generally i’m happy, and i enjoy making other people happy. sometimes all it takes is a smile. sometimes it takes a lot more than that. i try to be honest. especially with myself. i know that i’m fortunate. i’m sitting here and i have a pulse and i can breath and i hear birds outside and the buzz of the freeway and the suns about to set and it’s a friday. that’s fortune. i also know that i’m fortunate in many other ways. three brands support me and enable me to surf every day and travel and eat and have a house to live in. in return i represent their company in a positive way. i feel like i do a decent job. but that’s obviously up for debate. surfing is my passion in life. i always think about how lucky we are that there’s even an ocean, and its not too hot or too turbulent and it’s not made of acid that burns our skin off. and how lucky is it that the land tapers into the ocean in just the right way so that when lumps of energy approach from a thousand miles away they gently rise up and crash at just the perfect speed so that we can wave our little arms and match their speed and hang at the crest weightless for just a second before sliding down the face. free to ride it in any way you please. and there’s not just one of them. there’s tons of them. they keep coming. all different sizes shapes and speeds. everyday they’re different. endless joy.
As usual, it’s very difficult to argue with Dane because he’s always so honest and witty and, well, right. Click the link to read the rest. We don’t want to put any more words in his mouth.
An Sunday, December 18, 2011, while filming at Maverick’s for a movie on the life of big wave surfer Jay Moriarity, actor Gerard Butler (who plays Rick “Frosty” Hesson in the film) got tumbled through a two-wave hold down and took “five more on the head before being washed through the rocks on the inside,” according to a Frank Quirarte story on ESPN/Action.
Talking to Wormhoudt on the dock, he said they were all sitting on the inside when a large outside set came through, swung way to the south, caught them off-guard and mowed them all down.
Butler was taken to Stanford Medical Center for observation, but was on his feet on the dock before getting into the ambulance. Assuming he’s fine, it was probably great research for his role.
Her royal hotness Gisele Bundchen is staring in a new series of ads for designer label Givenchy. In the ads, she and two pouty bros appear rather miffed to be stuck on a stormy beach with surfboards, but no boardshorts nor bikinis. Here are the details from Fashionista.
Like the Versace ads, these were also shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, and they show off Riccardo Tisci’s goth asesthetic perfectly. The beach, usually a sunny and joyful place, gets dark and stormy in Tisci’s hands.
If Gisele wants to surf, guess she’s going to have to paddle out in her undress.
Vans released numbers today saying that the Triple Crown of Surfing served 10.4 million live streams during the 13 days of competition for the 2011 season.
Even if you figure that many of the people (like us) signed in at least 30 times during those days that’s still a lot. in fact, Vans says 1.8 million unique individuals tuned into the events. They’re calling it an action sports record.
“Surfing’s audience is passionate, active and adventurous, and, if they cannot watch in person, they’re finding Vans Triple Crown of Surfing events on their computers and mobile devices,” says Vans Vice President of Marketing, Doug Palladini. “Hawaii also helps us to reach a broader audience than any other surfing event given it’s incredible scenery, dramatic waves and rich beach culture.”
Now, if we figure that one day of modern surf webcasting costs roughly $55,000 (on the low end), then Vans, Reef, and Billabong and the rest of the sponsors of the Triple Crown ended up spending about 40 cents to reach each viewer. That may not seem all that expensive considering the brand bath viewers are immersed in while watching surf broadcasts. On the other hand, if Boardistan.com charged those ad rates then we’d definitely have someone else typing these words right now.
“It is unfortunate that we announce the cancellation of the 2012 Quiksilver Pro New York,” Dave Prodan, ASP International spokesman, said. “The 2011 installment was a fantastic event with excellent waves, tremendous local support and some of the best surfing we enjoyed all season. That said, we understand the factors leading to Quiksilver’s withdrawal of the New York event from the 2012 schedule. We appreciate Quiksilver’s continued support of the world’s best surfers with the Australian and European elite level events in 2012.”
For those who are worried, Quik CEO Bob McKnight was quick to point out that this has nothing to do with Quiksilver’s commitment to surfing, “Quiksilver is still very much committed to the ASP and the professional surfing tour in 2012 with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast (Australia) and the Quiksilver Pro France.” No, we’re guessing it has more to do with Quiksilver’s continuing commitment to the bottom line. NYC is expensive, right?
Eagle River, Alaska surfer Scott Jones was out for a December surf on Kodiak Island when Mother Nature began conspiring against him. He say he felt like “all the bad things that could happen, happened at once,” according to a story in the Alaska Dispatch.
“I started paddling against the rip and realized there was no way I was going to get out of this,” Jones said when reached by telephone Wednesday. So he did the smart thing and went with the flow as he angled toward shore. . . “That’s when the gale force winds picked up,” Jones said. He went ashore to wait, thinking they’d die down. They didn’t. He said he tried once to paddle out and around the point. But between the rip and the wind, sea conditions were brutal. “I was getting slammed by head-high waves,” Jones said.
He ended up having to climb into a cave where he waited for either the tide to go back out so he could walk back around the point, or a helicopter rescue. The later arrived soon after and now, Jones has a Youtube rescue video to remember it by.
Thanks to those tiny camera from that one company, we all get to see Pipeline the way the Mark Healey, Anthony Walsh, Mikey Bruneau, Jamie Sterling and Koa Smith see it. And it’s about as close as many of us will ever get.
Flagging, old media, tits and ass magazine Sports Illustrated recently had a contest that would allow fans to pick the best sports moment of 2011 and have it featured on the magazine’s last cover of the year.
