by The Editors on December 11, 2009
We’ve been John John Florence fans for a while now, but nothing compares to watching the 16-year-old frolicking in the Billabong Pipeline Masters. This morning he playfully decimated Brazil’s Heitor Alves with a 18.90 and logged the highest score of the day. John John has been surfing so perfectly in his own zone that it will be interesting to see if anyone can stop him.
“I’m just going crazy out there with only three people out,” Florence said. “There are so many fun waves and I was just trying to catch as many as I could while I had the chance. It’s good to know the lineup out here when it’s smaller because a lot of times they run along the reef faster and those right barrels get really small and can be tough to make it out of.”
Tomorrow, Bobby Martinez gets his chance in heat four of round three.
The most potentially reality warping matchup of the contest comes tomorrow in heat two when Mick Fanning meets Torrey Meister. Meister wouldn’t even be in the Masters if Sunny Garcia hadn’t showed up 5 minutes late for his round one heat against Nic Muscroft. Strange twists of fate like this often end up writing history.
Tomorrow the biggest stars of the ASP meet the North Shores offensive line and there’s a high probability for things to get seriously scrambled. Follow the jump for the ASP release from today.
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by The Editors on December 11, 2009
Richard McKee, a political activist from Huntington Beach, California is suing the The Huntington Beach Marketing and Visitors Bureau and the Huntington Beach Hotel/Motel Business Improvement District because he says the money they spent in their legal battle with Noland’s on the Wharf and Shoreline Surf Shop in Santa Cruz over rights to the term “Surf City USA” may have been a wasted of taxpayer’s money, according to a story in the Orange County Register.
He alleges in the October suit that the groups are public agencies and must respond to his public records requests about a confidential January 2008 settlement concerning the Surf City USA logo. McKee said the settlement documents could prove that a lawsuit between the bureau and a Santa Cruz shop owner was not necessary because the moniker used before and after the suit is almost identical.
McKee says the public has the right to know.
[Link: The OC Register]
by The Editors on December 11, 2009
In his most recent column for Huck magazine surf scribe Jamie Brisick drinks “three-quarters of a bottle of bad red” wine, watches some Jackass clips and then settles down to explaining just why Spike Jonze’s video for The Beastie Boys Sabotage is so amazingly rad.
Spike Jonze’s music videos. . . exude humour, mischief and the refusal to grow up. The first one that comes to mind is ‘Sabotage’ by the Beastie Boys. As a seventies American kid, this is powerful on several levels. I’m reminded of Starsky and Hutch, Baretta, SWAT and Hawaii Five-0. The tone and urgency of the song is pure nineties, but the moustaches and suits and mock screen credits belong to the seventies. It’s an incredibly fun, high-energy video, but for me, and I suspect for many of my contemporaries, it is also nostalgic.
And after approaching bad red wine with high expectations, no one does nostalgia better than Mr. Brisick.
[Link: Huck magazine]
by The Editors on December 10, 2009
The final ASP WCT showdown begins today at the Banzai Pipeline with round one of the Billabong Pipeline Masters. Here’s who is up in round one:
Heat 1: Jihad Khodr (BRA) vs. Gavin Gillette (HAW)
Heat 2: Gabe Kling (USA) vs. Kalani Chapman (HAW)
Heat 3: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Marcus Hickman (HAW)
Heat 4: Aritz Aranburu (EUK) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 5: Nathaniel Curran (USA) vs. Liam McNamara (HAW)
Heat 6: David Weare (ZAF) vs. Hank Gaskell (HAW)
Heat 7: Bruce Irons (HAW) vs. Reed McIntosh (HAW)
Heat 8: Nic Muscroft (AUS) vs. Sunny Garcia (HAW)
Heat 9: Michael Picon (FRA) vs. Manoa Drollet (PYF)
Heat 10: Shane Dorian (HAW) vs. Kamalei Alexander (HAW)
Heat 11: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Jonah Morgan (HAW)
Heat 12: Luke Stedman (AUS) vs. Flynn Novak (HAW)
Heat 13: Dustin Barca (HAW) vs. Sion Miloski (HAW)
Heat 14: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Danny Fuller (HAW)
Heat 15: Jay Thompson (AUS) vs. Mason Ho (HAW)
Heat 16: Phillip MacDonald (AUS) vs. Jamie O’Brien (HAW)
Follow the jump for even more details. Or click here to watch it live.
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by The Editors on December 9, 2009
Stephanie Gilmore is rad.
Follow the jump for a little more color from the ASP.
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by The Editors on December 9, 2009
For most of the day we all thought Kelly Slater was going to walk away with a win on a board he claimed he hadn’t surfed since “Bruce won it” in 2004, the last time The Quiksilver In Memory of Eddie Aikau was held. Then, in the final heat of the day, San Clemente, California’s Greg Long charged through with all four of his high scoring waves including a perfect 100.
“I’m so happy just to be here, invited into the biggest event of big waves in the world with all my heroes, I’m so excited,” said Long. . . “It’s a dream come true for me. Riding big waves is my passion and I’ve been following The Eddie since I knew exactly what it was, I was probably 12-years-old just getting into surfing. Since then, I’ve had every single poster from Brock Little to Bruce Irons on my wall. I look to those guys for inspiration and to be standing up here with Sunny (Garcia) and Kelly Slater is a dream come true for me. I never would have thought that this is my first year surfing the event and to come away with a victory is really a childhood dream become real.”
Maybe it is good to go last at Waimea. . . follow the jump for the ASP press release.
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by The Editors on December 9, 2009
by The Editors on December 8, 2009
by The Editors on December 8, 2009
Surfers have a little more to worry about in Grisborne, New Zealand. Moko the friendly dolphin has apparently become too aggressive, according to a story on abc.net.au.
Grant Fussell, the president of the local surf club, has had to rescue six people terrorised by Moko in the past two weeks. . . “The problem is we do have a lot of people going out and getting into trouble and they’re not aware of his weight and his strength,” he said. . . . “Some [cases are] not so serious – people wanting to get their surfboards back.”
One woman nearly drowned after the dolphin wouldn’t let her go back to shore because he wasn’t “finished playing with her yet.” Some even fear that Moko may try to “mate” with a human in the near future. Seriously. Brings a whole new meaning to the term “getting dropped in on.”
[Link: ABC.net.au and The Australian]
by The Editors on December 7, 2009
The ASP is playing up The Billabong Pipeline Masters battle of surf titans (which could begin tomorrow) with good reason, but here is the lowdown on the title race between Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson:
– Fanning finishes 33rd through a 9th at Pipeline, Parkinson needs a 3rd or better to overtake.
– Fanning finishes 5th at Pipeline, Parkinson needs a 2nd or better to overtake.
– Fanning finishes 3rd at Pipeline, Parkinson needs win the event to overtake.
– If Fanning finishes 2nd or better at Pipeline, he will clinch the 2009 ASP World Title.
We know Parko edged him at Sunset, but our money is on Mick Fanning. Follow the jump for all the details in the official press release.
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