This guys great, total kook feast for the forum

yea that article was written by a hater,i nominate it for hater of the year.

should we buy cows from the farms,since the supermarkets are ripping us off?where do we get 1 bar of wax when we only need 1 bar because the shop closed down because nobody shops there.this guys bad for the economy.

oh yea miki dora was a thief.well when ur pretty much homeless living on the beach in the 60s or 70s whenever he was around,man has to eat,hes gonna steal something.not the same as someone breaking into ur car and taking ur radio or something.and drugs lol.football players do drugs.wall st people do drugs.i wouldn't classify the entire surfing community as a bunch of drug addicts.theres good people and bad people in every sport,race,religion,gender,etc.

 

whos what now?
pot/kettle?
I gotta disagree, cutting back and walking the nose on a boarding is easier than getting a deep pit or executing a proper off the top
surfing only makes you a better person if you want to be. You can still be a grade-A dbag even surfing 356
I dont want to render a shop obsolete, but I dont want to into a place if they are aloof and too cool to assist me. anyone that lets a stoney grom pick their gear deserves what they get

I agree, the guy is a snarky douche, but overall his points fit the bill

SLASHDOG:
and yep, this can be said for a bunch of sports/activities, but surfers do seem to think highly of themselves. I know that when I meet someone and they dont surf, I turn off a little bit inside when talking to them. I dont blow them off, but its like 'oh, you cant relate to this thing I have given my life to?' (and it has in turn given me the world) 'maybe we can connect on a different (albeit lower) level'.
its messed up, and maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental, but its where I am right now

 

I wont argue that riding a nose and getting barreled is equally the same,but not everyone has the same definition of surfing.some people like to cruise,some people like to sup,some like to hack the waves to pieces.

its like looking at skaters,and saying the person on the carver is a douchcanoe kook(no offense spicoli lol,just using an example here) compared to the dude grinding handrails and jumping off loading docks,just different styles,doesnt mean ur better.

in another perspective lol,saying a guy who builds racecars is better than an everyday mechanic that fixes shyt that's beyond fixable,but the guy who spends 2 years building a shiny racecar is a better mechanic than the guy changing timing belts in 2 hours.

like my old teacher used to say,opinions are like poopholes,everybodys got em

not everyone is trying to get on a magazine or on the internet.

 

I could go on and on, but just think about it. It's a battle and the end result, no matter how you size it up, is that the goal of every session is to go out and get as many waves, and the best waves that you can. I don't mean with reckless abandon, I just mean, regardless of you approach, that is the goal. And it is you again a lot of other people out there that all have the same goal.

I hear ya Zach but I still don't see the difference. If you play football you want to knock the sh*t out of some one and bang the homecoming queen. If it's basketball you want to be the guy that scores the winning basket and bangs the head cheerleader. You are happy when your team wins but you would still like to be the indivdual who wins it and bangs all the adoring female fans. The biggest A Holes I've ever encountered play golf! Half of the guys I played high school football/basketball with are dead or in jail. Most of the guys I grew up with surfing have grown up and left the stupid part of the surfing "image" behind.

 

more like armpits, everyone has a couple and they all stink

 

you should check out the rest of that guys work. check out this piece called dawn patrol.

http://damianfulton.deviantart.com/art/Dawn-Patrol-165559136

 

Great article!

I agree with very little of it.

 

its just a habit, neither bad nor good

 

I feel you on all of that. From within the surfing community, you are basically judged and respected based on how you surf. You can sit in a surf shop, BS with some guys, talk to a guy at work that also "surfs" but at the end of the day, what you do in the water is how you are viewed within the community. Point being, 9 out of 10 people that are out "cruising" and not hacking the waves to pieces, are not doing so because they do not posses the skill level to do so or the waves aren't good enough to do so.

So, I understand and agree that most of us are not out there hunting magazine covers, but we are trying to surf the best that we can on one level or another. It is very hard and very difficult to surf well. Its takes years, and thousands of hours in the water to even look half way decent. So, I think among the surfing community, your skill level is your badge of honor, it is the thing that identifies who you are in the water. So, the better people get, the more arrogant they become usually, simply because they know that they have worked harder, spent more time surfing etc. than the guy surfing worse than them, so they are quick to look down the nose at people.

And that is what it is. I am sure you have all encountered this. They grow on trees in California, but the "surfer" that you know from work or is a friend of a friend. And you guys always talk waves. You disscuss that last swell, maybe say where you went how things are. So, then one day, it happens. You actually end up "surfing" with this person, and by the time they stand up on their first wave you just think, ohh boy. Here we go. "Johnny Surfer" that talks my damn ear off all day about what a "surfer" he is, and the guy can barely standup. I had too many friends like this out west than I would like to even count. And believe me, I am not saying that a beginner, or someone who isn't out in the water a lot is any less of a man or a surfer because of their skill set. I am just saying the term "surfer" is a very loose one. Everyone that has ever stood up on a wave is technically "a surfer". But see the fabled volcom story. Some dude, never met him a day in his life. He knows nothing about me or anything and the first thing the guy tells me is that he "would smoke me in a heat". I almost spit my beer out. Like, who the fu** are you. 10 minutes later when he was done spouting off his resume, I was like, well... MAYBE you would smoke me in a heat. But I doubt it. That sh** goes to peoples heads. Makes them think they are as good at life as they are at surfing and some of them probably get their faces re-arranged in social settings for popping off their mouths out of the water.

Summation: Most people don't slash waves and get barrels.... Because they aren't good enough. Not because they aren't trying to be mainstream.

And it depends on your background in surfing, but I grew up in the short board revolution and I didn't even try and long board for years. And the first time I rode one, I just laughed and thought, man this is cheating. Was hanging 10 by my second wave. Just saying, Long boarding is fundamentally easy. I longboard all the time, but only because most of the waves around here don't justify the use of anything less. A longboard is a must in any quiver, but yeah, they are easy.

 

while not everyone is trying to make mag shots or get on the web, some people REALLY REALLY like writing. Cosmo is looking for sports writers, hop to it Frannie

 

Yes, it human nature to want "glory" in anything you do. But I just mean that team sports are different. Working as a team is different. Everyone does their job. They follow instruction. They have to accomplish certain things in order for other to do their jobs. Yeah, the QB gets all the glory, but the linemen are out doing their jobs, not throwing touchdown passes. I played PG in basketball. Did I love draining a 3? hell yes, but I had a job to do. Reacting to others. Knowing your team mates. Sometimes sacrificing the glory in order for the good of the team. Give it to a guy with a better look even when you think you have a better chance of making a shot. And you want to know a thankless job? Playing sweeper. That was my position in soccer all the way through college. Only goal I scored in my college career other than a PK was off a direct kick. Thankless job, but I was still one of the most important parts of that team. Without me helping my keeper out a ton, his job would have been fu**ed.

Just saying, I think surfing is different. Team sports are basically an extension of real life. Rules. Laws. Instructions. Consequences. Surfing is like playing basketball on a court in Harlem. No rules. No Refs. No structure. I am speaking on organized sports. Where you have a coach to answer to. When I tried to get fancy on the basketball court and break a full court press instead of running a time consuming play, I got benched. If you don't show up for practice, there are consequences....

Surfing is just a free for all, where everybody does what they want to, when they want to and really there is no one there to regulate anything. You can burn a guy all day and unless he fights you over it, there is nothing to learn there. You can just be a total d-bag....

And golfers are a-holes too. Lot of them. But that is because its a white collar, country club sport that is handed down via generations of wealth. A lot of golfers fit that M.O. But I golf too. And I will say, I have met WAAAAYYYY more cool people in strange golf pairings than I have in surf lineups.

 

They won't return my emails.

 

I surf because without a doubt everytime I get out of the water I'm happier than before.

If I gave half a sh!t what any other person thought of me I would be a complete toolbox.

That is some 8th grade bullsh!t!

i know I'm never going to be as good as a lot of other surfers, is that going to stop me from enjoying myself?!

Absolutely not.

This dude from the article sounds like he's missing out on the great things that come from spending quality time in the water.

As far as I'm concerned, he can also eat a =====D.

 

Right. That goes back to his first point. The surfer having the most fun is the best one.

I think some of the best days in surfing for me were the early days. The stoke of going down the line that first time. It's all relative.

I am just saying, if someone is capable of "hacking a wave to pieces" like cep mentioned, then that is what you do. You hack a wave to pieces every time there is a wave to hack to pieces. You don't just go out in the water one day while it's firing and just not rip. You either can or you can't. You either do or you don't. Im not saying you have to be able to land air reverses on the regular to have fun. I am just most people dont land air reverses because they aren't capable of doing so. When the waves are firing, great surfers don't just go out and cruise. That is game time. They put the logs away, get their potato chip out and go move a ton of water around.

And it's not really caring about what people think of you. Its just the non-verbal communication in the water. If you rip, you will get treated differently in the water even if no one is saying anything. So, it's not like anyone gives 2 sh**s about what some stranger thinks. But we are all out there sizing each other up. Seeing who is blowing the waves to make sure we are ready to paddle in when they blow the next one. Or when some guys just rips a wave and flies down the line making sections you didn't think he would make. Without saying a word, you are going to keep an eye on this person and know they are very likely to come out of no where and to never assume they aren't going to make it down the line.

But yeah, I can't remember a session in my entire life where I didn't feel better than I did before I paddled out. I think that is universal for all of us.

 

Remember that east coast bashing surf article I mentioned earlier. Well, it took some digging, but I found it. It's a short, sweet and swift kick in the nuts by an ESPN X Games contributor. When this article came out, I lived on the west coast and I think I may have even posted it. Reading it now. It's not that funny anymore. Enjoy.

http://xgames.espn.go.com/surfing/article/4364629/east-coast-envy

 

Ohh, and make sure to read the text right under the picture. Taking shots at Jersey right off the bat. Then they just have to bring South Carolina into it. Haha.

 

Refreshing to see The MISery Man back on his A-game.

 

The article kinda dismisses the "bigger picture" thing. Sure you can go out catch every wave and surf circles around everyone, establish dominance, and everyone will know your the ripper. But will they hate you cause your better than them, or because you ruined the session for everyone? Are they secretly wishing they were you so they could ruin it for everyone else? I don't think so. If anything it's the privileged/gifted surfers dismissing the social responsibility of keeping the heard happy. As much as rippers may not think they need the kooks on the inside, they do. Maybe you rip surfing but then your the kook at work, or at the gym, or bar or whatever. Its karma, it goes and it comes. Anyways, surfing ability is not how you should try to judge yourself as a person, and if it is then no one probably likes you.

 

Yeah, most really good surfers are generally responsible in the water and follow the rules making for a comfortable session for all. But yeah, once they get out of the water, they are mortal again. A person should not be judged for the surfing. But a surfer should be judged based on their surfing. I.E. Okay, this person is a potential danger in the water because I just watched them go over the falls twice. I am going to avoid paddling behind them and definitely going to keep an eye on them. And on the other hand, when Kelly slater is in the line up, you treat him differently. If a guy you have never seen surf before is paddling into a wave and you are behind them in position, its common and accepted to continue paddling into the wave while looking at them. At that point, if they get into it and go, you back off. If they blow it, you finished paddling in and go. When you are out with the local pro crew and one of them even looks at a set wave, you just turn around and see whats behind it. You know that person is getting that wave. Period. No point in wasting your time evening thinking about it.

 

Gotta say I agree with most of this, and I think I know what you mean about the turning off a little bit inside when they don't surf, it's just an automatic thing, because that makes you different in a way, but it's cool too because I like being different than others, but at the same time, i'm not the same but very similar to all of you, because of surfing. Which is what brings us all here, so we have a platform for those meaningful conversations that only surfers would get.