From Down the Line Surf Talk Radio, May 15th, 2011
You can listen on Sunday morning at 8 AM on AM 1360
Top Five Stories
1) Over the past month and a half we have been following the story in Japan regarding the countries efforts to maintain their nuclear reactors and the waste that has built up in their facilities since the massive tsunami that hit their country. Recently we have learned that even the tankers which come from Japan will register nuclear radiation on the Geiger counters used to detect nuclear weaponry at our ports and harbors. As the story unfolds we continue to see humanity at work, despite disaster. There is one lone surfer who has been seen surfing the waters off of Sendai. He is undoubtedly being irradiated and is aware of the fact that the waters are unsafe, but according to an industry source that is familiar with the situation on the island, he is surfing the waters he has grown up knowing and loving, alone and in spite of the harsh situation life has presented to him. The deeply symbolic act he is partaking in has established him as a sort of martyr to a surfing community with a sympathy and compassion for its brethren around the globe. Although there isn’t much news coming from the mainstream media regarding the month-old situation in Japan, efforts are being established to curb this ominous situation. The disaster that has befallen the established surfing community in Japan should be of the highest importance to the surfing community
Fairwinds.com
2) DavidPuu.com: a new blog with a very unique perspective. The blog is run by David, a noted photographer, surfer, and shaper who has grown up locally in Ventura, California. It is an op-ed from David’s perspective on Californian culture – the premiere of the blog features an article about the manufacturing of the Corvair in California during the early 60’s. Check out this new, entertaining blog as soon as you get a chance.
3) Nike 6.0 announces it will move into the Australian contest circuit, designing a robust set of events which will commence shortly after Nike’s Action Sports Festival in Huntington Beach, California in early 2012. Nike has the backing of iconic Aussie surfers such as “Rabbit” Bartholomew and Barton Lynch. Nike has been building its relationship with the pro surfing tour for many years now and have developed a hot brand through promotional gun-slinging as well as picking up the most talented and attractive young surfers in the world. The up-and-coming company will offer up an enormous sum of money in order to try to lure the best surfers from around the world to attend this event which they plan to hold in Australian between the ASP Snapper Rocks and Bells events. It is rumored that the prize will exceed one million US dollars and may be the biggest prize ever awarded. It seems Nike is poised to create its own PRIME series, holding multiple events in densely populated metropolitan areas around the globe. The combo of cash prizes and points for the World Tour will have a deep draw for the most competitive surfers competing on the World Tour.
4) Despite Occy’s great physical form, he has posted the worst performance ever on Australia’s Dancing with the Stars according the judges who were highly critical of his performance. Fortunately for us, he made it past heat 1…or, round 1, and will have another opportunity to prove his dancing prowess. At least it can be said that there is really nowhere for him to go from here but up.
5) Check out The Battle of the Paddle
Extra) Check out the video of Garret Maknamera’s motorized stand-up paddle.
Brad Gerlach stops by the studio to talk to Bassy & Baldy about all things surfing. The guys get his thoughts on the new ASP ‘Metro’ Tour, of which he says he is excited and supportive. His claim is that although it may be a different scene then what we are used to seeing, it should be good for the progressive nature of modern surfing. The top surfers are incredible in mediocre surf, almost even more progressive in mediocre surf, and the viewers can actually feel a little bit closer to the guys when they surf mundane beach-breaks versus some aquamarine tropical point. It also lends itself to the brands and getting them more exposure by reaching out to people in populated metropolitan venues. With the use of the waiting period, which is a relatively new system on the tour, you have the ability to hold the event while waiting for good surf to come into town. Gerlach has been spending a lot of time on the beach coaching, picking up a small contingent of young, competitive groms. He noted that Kolohe Andino’s choice to take on Mike Parsons as a coach is going to greatly raise his chances of winning a World Title, and winning it soon. Although Parsons has been a mentor to ‘Brother’ since he was just a young boy, Mike has officially signed on to tour and train with Kolohe throughout the entire year. Brad is coaching young up-and-comer Connor Coffin, who will be competing throughout the year with other young talents such as Kolohe Evan Geiselman, Jack Freestone, and his brother Parker Coffin. Chris Gallagher, a good friend of Gerlach’s, has entered the coaching scene along with other notable name in Barton Lynch. This level of talent on the beach is almost as high as it is in the water, but despite these guys long history of competition the atmosphere remains light-hearted amongst the group of coaches. The guys agree that Dane Reynolds is another young surfer who could greatly benefit from the use a coach or mentor. He has recently overcome of an injury and with those long periods out of the water often comes reflection on surfing motives and techniques. Dane has consistently looked conflicted, surfing well but lacking the killer instinct necessary to make big moves on the World Tour. Perhaps his respectful nature is creating an inner conflict as he tries to motivate himself to take down the surfing heroes he grew up idolizing. All these aspects of Dane Reynold’s surfing contribute to his needing a coach of some kind in order to keep his mind focused on his goals. As the next generation of surfers come into the spotlight and push some of the older, more experienced surfers off the tour, he could possibly find himself a little bit more mature and willing to accept an expert tour surfer onto his team. Quiksilver is doing a great job in working with Dane to establish an entire motif around his laidback style, whether it be a decision of Dane’s or the Quiksilver marketing team. He is a sort of anti-Kelly, and they are running with it.
Brad is content with the tour as it stands, and is appreciative of the new rules and ideas the ASP has recently instituted. When asked about the possibility of creating a sort of final playoff at Pipeline between the top four surfers at the end of the ASP Tour season, he tended to disagree, leaning more towards the surfers well-being and competitive mindset. Although he agrees it would be a very entertaining finish to the year, it might be a hindrance to the competitive nature you see at each of the stops on the tour. If the top ten guys begin thinking that they can coast into the final rounds of the tour, looking just to get a fourth place finish and make the final, we could see a real deterioration in the level of surfing.
You can see Brad Gerlach surfing this year in the Pipe Masters Contest.
A Few E-mails:
“Dear Bassy, I have to take issue with your Alana Blanchard is Anna Kournikova of surfing take. Yes, they are both hot and get lots of sponsorship opportunities because of their hotness. The thing is Anna Kournikova has never won a WTA singles Title, thus the nickname, ‘Anna Quarterfinal-ica, where as Alana Blanchard has gotten wins and beaten the best female surfer out there head-to-head, Stephanie Gilmore. Sure Steph may have gotten a bad deal with Rip Curl signing only Alana Blanchard and not Step, but that’s not Alana’s fault. You’re being a bit tough on Blanchard to call her Anna, it’s not her fault she is super hot. Just some thoughts - from a fan of you and Anna.
Mark, NC
BASSY: Let me just say this, Alana Blanchard has never won a WT event. The analogy is that neither one of them has ever won an event – they’re both super hot and they’re being marketed for that hotness. I’m not against Blanchard – I think that she should take some capital from her Rip Curl earnings and payouts to start her own brand. Her father, whose a smart guy, would be wise to start an Alana Blanchard Bikini brand – stuff you can wear in the surf that is super hot, put an ad in Transworld Magazine, just call it Alana, and get running with her own brand. She could make millions of dollars just like Anna Kournikova. I don’t believe she needs Rip Curl. The paradigm has already been established by Anna that you don’t have to win to be a hot brand in certain markets. She looks like a supermodel because she is a supermodel in the world of surfing. She lost her heat this morning in Rio, Brazil, but really, who cares…
“I want to comment on the world tour and Matt Warshaw’s article on the search and using Travelocity to find San Francisco. I understand a bit of what Warshaw is saying about it being a non-search because you don’t have to search for the OB in San Fran - everyone knows that it exists, but I also like what Chris Cote, editor of Transworld Surf, had to say about it being a place where people can go and watch the pros while having easy access to watch them. I’m on Long Island in New York and its going to be very interesting to see what happens when Quiksilver comes here this summer. Its good for Quiksilver and the sport of surfing, but if the waves are marginal to crappy, which they are most of the time here, who knows what’s gonna happen. Most of the places on the tour can hold a swell for a week or so, but a Long Island swell in September may only last 5 – 8 hours if you’re lucky. I’m hoping for the best so it’s not just a skateboard and lifestyle festival in New York City. Otherwise, I’d rather be watching a webcast of the pros surfing in G-land. Thanks for the great show.
Jim, NY
BALDY: I was with a guy who was visiting down from San Francisco. He lives right on Ocean Beach front and center who was saying, ‘I can’t wait, I’m so excited.’ I think Quiksilver’s model is different with the skating, DC is involved, and there is a lot of other stuff going on.
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