http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/opinion/sunday/what-explains-brazils-surfing-boom.html hokey article for sure, and written by someone that understands Brazil but doesn't understand surfing. This is the second surfing related article in the NYT since the ASP became the WSL. if anything, ZoSea knows how to get their message into large scale main stream circulation. the delivery falls flat however.
I need a miracle everyday I would like to know more about Guido Schaffer , "the surfer angel". I googled him, after reading about him in the puff piece you linked. Guido Schaffer will likely be the first ever surfing saint. The Vatican will beatify the Brazilian surfer who drowned in 2009. I am curious as to what miracles he performed. I have lots of friends who have saved lives out there, me included, but we are no saints, that's for sure.
honestly, this part of the whole "puff piece" was a laugher. I think this has more to do with a) Christianity, and to a larger extent the role of Catholicism in brazil and b) the vatican trying anything to make itself look better globally. the author understands Brazil, and ultimately that's what i think this conversation has been lacking (the rise of brazilian surfers) but overall they totally miss the mark. the biggest take away to me though is, holy crap the NYT is talking about surfing in a nuanced form. now, is that because ZoSea/WSL can get the NYT to run these opinion pieces or is surfing actually become something in the mainstream.
NYT sent a reporter down here to do a feature on the shark feeding dive boat operators and the proposed ban of said idiots when I was heading the Surfrider campaign. The writers get spring fever and look for ways to milk their expense accounts so they can travel somewhere warm, IMO. Maybe the writer is dating a brazzo.
no she's brazilian born and is AP's rio correspondent and does op/eds for large papers. also has some books published. from her simon and shuster bio - Juliana Barbassa was born in Brazil, but had a nomadic life between her home country and Iraq, Malta, Libya, Spain, and France before settling in the United States. Barbassa began her career with the Dallas Observer, where she won a Katie Journalism Award in 1999. She joined the Associated Press in 2003, and after two more awards from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the APME, she returned Brazil in 2010 as the AP’s Rio de Janeiro correspondent. Dancing with the Devil in the City of God is her first book. she has legit reporting chops, which along with her understanding of brazilian culture, provides an interesting look at all of this.
The NY Times writes about surfing constantly. At least a half dozen pieces a year. As a reporter and a surfer I follow coverage of surfing in the mainstream press closely and the Times seems somewhat obsessed with our sport. With the Times and most mainstream reporting, there is often a lot of nuance and even facts that that screwed up, but this is one of the better pieces I've read, putting the surfing boom in the larger context of the country's growing middle class and other trends. I'm curious why folks here thought it was "hokey" or "a puff piece." If you remember, surfing's rise in another country also coincided with a rise of a huge middle class that suddenly found itself with freedom to choose lifestyles and a bit of spending power. Remember that place?
the nyt is obsessed with our sport in the same manner that a 98 pound weakling is obsessed with weightlifters.
"constantly" and "obsessed" is a bit dramatic in terms of how often or voraciously they write about surfing when you're talking about 6 stories over an entire year. The reason why i said it's hokey or puff piece is as you said, "there is often a lot of nuance and even facts that get screwed up" the piece sounds like a smart person talking about something they're not all that clued in on. At the same time, her voice and to a broader extent, her understanding of the culture is the exact thing that's been missing from the entire debate of brazilians in surfing. It's hard to truly write about a movement when 9 out of 10 surfing reporters are white americans or aussies. brazil's middle class has risen in the last few years, and it is on the precipice of becoming a truly powerful force in south america, however recently there has been more bad than good happening and i have a feeling there is going to be some rough times ahead in the lead up to the olympics.
My main issue is it glosses over the aggro nature and lack of etiquette most Brazilian surfers exhibit. Down here in SoFla, they are like ISIS at certain spots like Deerfield Pier. Maybe it's just me. Any one else encountered this lately? The article also tries to get readers to stand up and cheer for Brazil. It's not objective journalism.
I remember as a kid getting stoked on articles surrounding skating and surfing in the newspaper. I would save them, read them often, and dream about cool ****. What happened to this? Why is everything considered hokey, lame, gay, stupid etc? Your style sucks, your board sucks, you being stoked sucks, you living there sucks, you excited about this next swell? well your an idiot it probably wont happen. I enjoyed the article, give the brazzos some hope, have a discussion about surfing with someone that doesnt surf, thats rad.
There was a guy 'checking it out front' saturday, all sour, says "Ihaven't seen one makeable wave yet"...meanwhile dudes are getting shacked left and right, coming out of barrels. Gotta love it.
I don't even want a surf camp with local kids clogging up the lineup, never mind an entire nation of ill mannered shoulder hoppers. If seeking rad is talking to someone who doesn't surf, be careful. That is really pushing the envelope. Totally radical brah!
