Do you love the ASP? Or do you love to ride waves???

Been that way since the 80's. Nothing new.

 

I'd prefer mainstream media kept surfing out of the loop. The more mainstream and "popular" surfing is portrayed as, the more crowded lineups will become

 

I only care about surfing, could care less about the pro's or what they are doing. Is Kelly the best surfer on the planet? Most likely, but w/e. As long as I get waves without a hassle i'm good to go. Too many open peaks around to be bothered by crowds. Most of which only go during the summer months. When the water gets chilly the panzies that would pick up surfing as a result of seeing something like this won't have the motivation to get out there.

 

I also think that pro surfing / competitions end up having a very specific style of riding; extremely aggressive "what is the maximum number of cutbacks that can be performed in the 30 seconds I'm on a wave" or "what is the biggest aerial move possible without breaking my ankles on landing" etc. It's cool to be able to "rip" occaisionally but to my mind the very idea of "ripping" is antithetical to going with the flow.... Competitive surfing is as silly as figure skating, there's always a Russian judge who gives you a bad score...

I'm more about the soul surfing / freesurfing

 

Surf schools should make you more nervous if you are concerned about crowded lineups.

 

did i read in that article that the pro tour is owned by somebody named ziff?
if true, um, wtf is he??

 

epictetus used the word "antithetical". That makes up for 162 of your spelling errors bros. Love me some quality vocab. There's hope for us after all!

 

yeah but as long as the schools are teaching etiquette with the ins and outs of everything I'd take that over some yahoos just grabbing a board and getting down to the beach because they saw on tv surfing is the new cool thing to do. even if that happened, I'm sure it wouldn't last very long, as dawnpatrol said the cold temps thin out the lineups. speaking of yahoos, last thursday some guy who appeared to be beyond wasted paddled out on a soft top where I was surfing with a buddy and a old head with a long board. swear one of us was going to have to save him at some point, he could barely swim and was using his foam log as a kick board...

 

This is not directed at anyone, but surfers who have never had the skill or lack the opportunities to compete competitively in surfing are the first ones to be critical of it. It reminds me of so many guys I have talked to that say, "You know, Hawaii, California, they just aren't for me. I decided to stay here, because those places are just too crowded, I LOVE 6 mil wetsuits and freezing cold water and the waves here are better anyway".... We all make the best out of what we have, but you have to be honest to yourself about it to.

Cause let's be clear, if someone knocked on your door tomorrow and said, listen dude, I represent company X and we want to pay you 6 figures, plus bonuses to travel the world and compete. But the catch is, you will have to make pit stops in Hollywood and NYC for some photo ops with super models... I mean, come on now gentleman, how bad is it really?

The ASP is in the business of exposure and making money. Every surfer on tour is also responsible for spreading the brand.

Some people may not like it, but most of us are on here, watching web cams of heats.

I don't think you have to pick sides. And I don't think that a photo of Kelly Slater standing next to Tom Cruise's ex-wife is really going to shake up the lineups either.

 

How many schools actually teach that though?

 

Our local school is actually pretty respectful and from what I have seen, they teach proper etiquette and are also under heavy supervision in the water by very respected surfers.

But we all love to surf for a reason, you can't blame the next guy or next kid trying to get out in the ocean for whatever reason. That was each of us at some point.

We all go through it. That magical place we used to go to get away and surf, year after year becomes more crowded, with less and less respectful people. Those waves that we got to ourselves with a few friends 15 years ago, now are frequented by many. That is life.

We are probably not the pioneers that we think we are. If you found a place that is that good, 10 more will follow, and life goes on. Blame google, blame the intraweb, blame apple, blame whomever. We used to have to wait for checks to arrive in the mail, now we scan them on phones.

Nothing is sacred anymore, but that is just in all walks of life, not just surfing. Surfing is not immune to the wretches of society.

If one day, you thought "This is too good to be true". Well, you were right. So I hope you enjoyed it. But it aint the ASPs fault. I bet you more people get motivated to get in the water by watching US surf. The very people on this site. That is how it started with me. About 12th street or so in OC MD, I was 8 years old. As soon as the guards went in, I saw two guys go out on longboards and I was mesmerized for an hour. From that day forward, I knew what I had to do... And it wasn't because of a Ron Jon ad, or a Hobie commercial. Its because of real life. And I know, especially in CA, when there are 600 people crammed on a pier taking photos of random locals, they all long to do what we do....

Blame the media, but I blame us. In a good way.

 

Good viewpoint. I'm sure many of us would take that offer in a heartbeat, just on the exotic trips aspect alone. To soul surf or sell your soul to surf tis' the question.

 

How so? I guess I shouldn't say "nothing is sacred" if that is what you mean. I guess what I should say is, just because we consider something sacred, doesn't mean it means sh** to anyone else. I guess.

 

i like to ride waves and I like to watch really good people ride waves, but contests take waves away from locals. that's a fact