dude, your posts almost always make me laugh so i'm willing to cut you some slack. plus it's almost 4:20...
I was surprised that every local I met in Maui for 10 days HATE Laird Hamilton. They blame him for the SUP situation. I mean, a few guys were talking really poorly on him. Right on the North Shore of Maui. His stomping ground. I think the dude is a beast, but they said his commercial influence crowded their island with SUP kooks who dont even know what they are doing.
charlie, you called me a liberal. You also claim that I have no responsibilities and live off of the gov't. I personally invite you to go F yourself because you have no idea what you are talking about. Ill be the dud when you become "Charlieintheemergencyroombecausehetalked****tosomeonehedoesntknow"
alright, I got a theory....and nobody thought of it this way yet...maybe the guy who makes Anthony's Coffee is a good friend of Laird's, just maybe Laird happens to drink his buddy's coffee one day and is like "Holy **** man, this is good, I'll bet we could put my name on it and you could sell ****loads of it and make some profit".....it could have happened...I'm pretty sure Laird and his professional volleyball playing smokin' ass hot ass wife, Gabby have plenty of chedda....
this is one dumbass person... http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/meet-the-man-whose-no-ticked-off-nike/2008/03/01/1204227049996.html Seems ironic to me: Smith spurned the huge pipeline of money that would have come from Nike. Because Smith wanted to stay 'surfer cool' - - in other words, he is very conscious of his image with his peers. So doesn't that make him a poseur of sorts? Because he is hyper-conscious of his cool-dude image & works hard at preserving that image? Where will those 'peers' be if he wrecks a knee & his surfing career ends with a snap? Any pro athlete will tell you that if you have the opportunity to set yourself up financially for life from the people who are going to make huge money from your efforts: just do it. What a dumbass Smith is. We hear about how surfing is a professional sport, not art, at Smith's level of competition. Yet, he turns down one of the premier professional sports & marketing outfits ever to stride the earth. Who's advising this guy ...?? Here's the lead to the story (link is above): JORDY SMITH took a phone call from Tiger Woods. He received an email from Michael Jordan. He was sent the shoe that Ronaldo used to kick a goal in a World Cup final. Nike offered him $5.3 million a year ... but he knocked them all back. Smith is a 20-year-old South African making his debut on the World Championship Tour on the Gold Coast this week. It's the most anticipated arrival since Kelly Slater rocked up in his Stars and Stripes boardshorts and won his first event in California in 1990. The former junior world champion's elevation triggered the most ruthless bidding war in the sport's history, with Nike throwing everything (and everyone) they had at him in an effort to enter the professional surfing market for the first time. He was flown to Nike's US headquarters in a private jet to meet the company's co-founder, Phil Knight. A set of Woods's clubs turned up in the post. They spoke on the phone for 45 minutes, and the message from the greatest golfer on the planet was simple: jump on board the good ship Nike.
He rips, but smith just aint the one. There is far more talent coming out of the u.s. in years to come, so Nike needs to keep its flavor on american soil anyway. Nike is american sports. Hopefully they can find an american to run on their international platform.. That would be nice. P.S. I would love to here verification that Tiger Woods called this kid. I seriously doubt that. An Michael Jordan? That sounds shady... I mean, why the f8** would Jordan care. He owns nike. He is nike. He doesnt need to call.
so anyone who buys or wears or surfs for or works for HURLEY is a sellout right ? since it is OWNED BY NIKE
It may be part of their contract with Nike. Recruiting the best talent to the corporate team, that is. Sort of like Joe Girardi & CC Sabathia recruiting Cliff Lee to the Yankees. The team thing, promoted by the organization...
Surfing's gurus would like nothing better than to inhale Nike's vapor trail. It's loaded with money & exposure. Look what XGames (ESPN's concoction) has done for moto, as well as that midget bicycle riding stuff & winter board sports. One of comp surfing's leading athletes rejects the most powerful sports conglomerate in America, if not the world. Leaving the people who are trying to take competitive surfing to the next level scratching their heads in frustration. Marketing, that's all it is. Not about sell-out, not about cool, it's all about making money in America & the world. Once an athlete learns that prime lesson, he can take down the bacon & have a wonderful ride. Smith has a very short shelf life, as does any top competitive athlete. Whatcha gonna do when they come for you ? Show me the money ! Just sayin' that anyone who turns down a 5 million dollar offer to essentially promote clothing, but then accepts 3 million dollars to do the same thing with another corporation, & then turns around & says he's true to the soul of his sport is ... confused. Definitely confused....
an article by PT As the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) celebrates its tenth-year anniversary, the industry is faced with many challenges none larger than keeping surfing and the act of riding waves “cool” with today’s youth. While surfing has received a good deal of mainstream media coverage lately, it’s clear that the sport of surfing is not close to reaching it potential in the minds of the mainstream. The lack of general-public attention to Kelly Slater’s record-breaking sixth world title and subsquent semi-retirement, the lack of major coverage of the WCT Tour in the United States, and the dismal performance of the U.S. National Team at the ISA World Surfing Games in Portugal all contribute to the mainstream consumer’s general apathy about surfing competitions. Kids connect with heroes. But the big question is: does the mainstream youth market know our sport’s heroes? The competitive side of surfing in America is failing the industry as a promotional vehicle. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The Australian Model In Australia everyone knows who the top surfers are even my parents who haven’t been to a surf contest in twenty years or read surf magazines for that matter. Every night on the evening news they see competitive surfing or read about it the next morning in the daily newspapers. Everyone knows who Occy is not just the people who read surf magazines. This success wasn’t left to chance. A decade ago Surfing Australia was formed to promote the sport. The success of their efforts are manifested in Australia’s current domination of ASP WCT rankings (50 percent and growing of the men’s and women’s competitors are Aussies). This helps drive a thriving Australian surfing industry where companies such as Rip Curl, Quiksilver, and Billabong are national brands not just surf brands. Making It Happen Here Two years ago, SIMA created Surfing America as a platform to build the “brand” of surfing through the sport, its stars, and developing talent. It’s a slow process to unite all the factions under one roof, but it’s something we need to do. The onus is on us. SIMA, the retail community, and the administrators of the competitive, educational, and environmental programs must come together to keep surfing vital to today’s youth culture. Together, we can make it happen. Peter Townend
"The competitive side of surfing in America is failing the industry as a promotional vehicle." "...the industry is faced with many challenges none larger than keeping surfing and the act of riding waves “cool” with today’s youth." "SIMA created Surfing America as a platform to build the “brand” of surfing..." _________________________________________________________________________ The above are quotes from PT's article. He's obviously not alone in the upper echelons of surfing's powers-that-be in his sentiments. As I've mentioned, the surf industry is yearning for more coverage, more exposure & more bucks. Good or bad ....? Everyone will have an opinion. Maybe it is just inevitable. The media machine is always looking for more, more of everything to feed its insatiable appetite for new. However, Jordy Smith's action of kicking Nike to the curb is not what I'd call "building a brand" in surfing. That's my observation.
Haha, my best friend is Bob Hurley's personal Chef! So Im calling him a sell-out next time i see his as$. He is the dude I took the Al Merrick From!!! But anyway, everyone knows Aussies treat surfing like we treat the NFL... And its funny because even with all that said, the young americans are BY FAR the superior talent. It took Mick and Taj a decade to even break into the top of the sport, while the kid from florida dominates the world for DECADES, with HI (American soil) and CA not far behind him the entire way... leaving Australia a distant 4th.... It took kelly slater taking his foot of the competetive gas pedal for Mick to even have a SHOT at that title. He should be calling Kelly every day for thanking him... Which is why it needs to start happening here. Im not being an anti-aussie, but every aussie ive met has the notion that they have this incredible talent pool over there... Really, they dont.... The kids in SoCal and Florida are progressing the sports. There are only a hand full of successful aussies these days... So for a nation that has NOTHING BUT COAST LINE, nothing but exposure and everyone in their nation watching.... Yes, im going to say it... AUSSIES SUCK!!! comparatively speaking.... =P
The Oz boyz may have "nothing but coast line" but there's one sliiiiiiight difference between Oz & America: USA total population 310 million (California population 36 million) (Florida population 18 million) (Southern Cal pop 23 million) Oz population 22 million And the Oz pop doesn't count surfing koalas... Pretty safe to say that the large nation with a huge & growing, affluent, sports-oriented youth population will produce more top athletes than the smaller nation. Unless, of course, we're going to talk about Ethiopia's runners...(no, no ! enough !)
I don't know how old are you guys, but the world tour started in 1976, and from that date until 2009, 13 titles had gone to the US, 13 to Australia, 5 to Hawaii, 1 to England and 1 to South Africa. Adding the Hawaiian makes 18 vs 13 to the Aussies, I don't think the sport is dominated by the US. There is definitely more surfers in the US and hawaii than anywhere in the world, but the numbers don't lie. Check for your self: http://www.aspworldtour.com/press-room/asp-world-tour-champions/ Now going back to the origin of this thred, if Laird is trying to make money selling his name, I don't think coffee is a bad option, $15 dls a pound?, starbucks is $11/lb average. Look at Tony Hawk, a freaking millionaire, it all depends who do you let use your name. Nothing wrong with making money.
