At 3 PM today the finals of what could be one of the most savage wool bowl contest’s ever as Converse presents Coastal Carnage live from the sands of Huntington Beach, California.
Check in as Raven Tershay, Curren Caples, Ben Raybourn, Tom Remillard, Grant Taylor, Andrew Langi, Chad Bartie, Collin Provost, Kevin Kowalski, Pedro Barros, Christian Hosoi, Mike Peterson, Vince Del Valle, Jaws Homoki, Nilton Neves, Justin Strubing, Brent Atchley and more go at live on the web following the BMX event at 3 PM.
If we were writing a surfing screenplay there would have been no better story than Brett Simpson’s march to the title at the 2009 US Open of Surfing. In a final with very few waves and in front of what will likely be the largest live surfing event crowd ever, the local surfer rocked the world by edges former world champion Mick Fanning to take the $100,000 check in only his second ASP WQS win ever.
Simpson was pretty much beside himself after getting carried up the beach following the finals. “I’d like to thank everybody. You guys are awesome. All the support has been just amazing. Every time you think you’re a little bit tired just t energy level goes up a even more just from hearing everybody,” Simpson said from the stage. “I’d like to thank them and Bob and Paul and everybody at Hurley. It’s my main sponsor and they put on an awesome event. And Rob mentioned they should put in $100 grand and they end up doing it and I end up winning it so it’s even more better.”
Mick Fanning was a gracious in his defeat as he was committed to winning the event. “Brett I was there when you just missed out on qualifying, an mate winning in front of your hometown crowd is amazing,” Fanning said. “I am so stoked for you mate. That’s awesome.”
Brett said that the single most important thing to his win was sleeping at home and being able to run his normal routine even though a contest was going on. He was stoked. “It’s a dream come true,” he said.
etnies’ Pierre Andre had friends over to his Newport Beach loft last night (July 25, 2009) to celebrate the release of “The Malloys” new “eco-friendly” shoe The Jameson. Two out of the three brothers made it (Dan did not) and so did Jamie O’Brien with his manager, and celebrity Tweeter Charlie Smith.
We arrived late (Wahoo’s had already packed up their tacos) and Newport’s finest shut the music down early. But it was a warm summer night in Newport, so who can complain. [click to continue…]
Newport Beach, California’s The Wedge was going off today as a massive swell hit southern California. Sadly, an earlier tip to Boardistan has been confirmed by the Los Angeles Times. A body surfer, Monte Kevin Valantin, 50, of Lawndale died after being thrown against the rocks around noon today July 24, 2009.
The body surfer. . . was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital about noon in grave condition, said Jennifer Schulz, a spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Fire Department. . . Wedge veterans have left the beach with concussions, fractured vertebrae and broken bones. The waves ricochet off the rocky jetty at the tip of Balboa Peninsula, smashing together in white-frosted peaks that can tower 20 feet.
A little peek into some of what we missed at Mt. Hood this summer. No signs of a slowing economy at Windell’s Snowboard Camp, huh? It’s also good to see it the Rome SDS team in action.
The Hungtington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame in front of Jack’s Surboards got five news members as Hang Ten’sDuke Boyd; four-time world champion Wendy Botha; Fred Hemmings, considered the godfather of professional surfing; Mark Martinson, and local hero Jackie Baxter were recognized for their contributions to surfing, according to a story in the Orange County Register.
A standing room only crowd spilled onto Main Street in front of Jack’s Surfboards as the Surfing Walk of Fame paid tribute to iconic surfers who paved the way for a future generation.
Awards for OC Surfer of the Year were also awarded to Brett Simpson, Joe Aaron, Courtney Conlogue and Andrew Doheny. [Link: OC Register]
We didn’t see any of these stickers up anywhere at the 2009 Hurley US Open of Surfing and we’re a little skeptical when a perfect graphic version of a sticker begins showing up online, but it still makes us smile.
[Update: welcome banner spotted in the wild follow the jump. . .]
The last time we attended the Agenda Tradeshow we had some criticisms that didn’t go over so well with the event’s management. We didn’t really like the old beat down hall, or the shabby booth set up, or the fact that the show was running concurrently with the San Diego ASR Show.
Interestingly, all that has changed for the July 22-23, 2009 show in Huntington Beach, California. It’s almost like Agenda President Aaron Levant read everyone’s minds (or listened really well). The new venue at the Hyatt is clean and well lit. The booths were consistent and solid (except for the shelving in the Analog booth that dropped to the floor scaring half the people in the room).
Things were so nice in fact that we began wondering if it might be too nice for some of the smaller street brands. But everyone we spoke to (including some of the deepest LA street brands) loved the new venue, the new dates and the fact that Vans, Hurley, Volcom, Nike and RVCA were now coming to the party.
If you don’t believe us, watch the video, click here for the Agenda 09 photo gallery, or do both at the same time. See if we care.
How many live Internet streams does one surfing event really need? If it’s the 2009 US Open of Surfing apparently it needs a more than a couple.
Hurley is streaming it live on Ustream. Transworld (the official media sponsor) is streaming an “enhanced HD” stream on TransWorld Surf, and then Fuel.TV will be running an “exclusively True HD webcast” on Saturday and Sunday. And the best part? It’s all the same show: the same commentators, same graphics, same angles, same feed.
Great for the viewers like us, not so great for those trying to sell advertising packages around an “exclusive” webcast.
