Perhaps by doing the good deed of adding more surfing images to the web, I'll be blessed with some waves later today when the tide starts to roll in.
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008. Show all posts
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Flat Spell Continues...and some cool stuff
The soCal flat spell continues. Yes, now we're really into summer, even though it's almost over (according to the school year). Instead of surfing this AM due to no waves, I added more images to the Google Surf Images gadget for your enjoyment. Just shy of 2000 images now, and a ton more to come (as time permits). Added still images of:
Honda US Open 2008 in Huntington Beach, CA (July 2008) - not a ton of stills since we were mostly doing video. Will probably grab some stills from the video and post later on. Includes some nice close-ups of Shaun Thompson, Mark Richards, Wayne "Rabbit" Batholomue, Peter Townend, all signing autographs in promo of Bustin' Down the Door. Being in the presence of these four legends, all at the same time, was awe-inspiring. Volcom Totally Crustaceous Tour, Mandalay beach, Oxnard, CA (Nov 17,2007). Super blown-out day. All groms, but they handled the crap surf really well.
Perhaps by doing the good deed of adding more surfing images to the web, I'll be blessed with some waves later today when the tide starts to roll in.
Perhaps by doing the good deed of adding more surfing images to the web, I'll be blessed with some waves later today when the tide starts to roll in.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
As usual, no Surfing in the Olympics (2008)
Why are the following events in the 2008 Olympics, while surfing is not?
badminton rifle shooting ping pong handball synchronized diving (when was this introduced?) trampoline synchronized swimming
By the way, the IOC does "recognize" the sport of surfing, but just can't bring themselves to actually feature the sport in the Olympic games. The recognition is merely intended to appease folks like me who keep asking the question, "why is surfing not in the olympics?"
By the way, the IOC does "recognize" the sport of surfing, but just can't bring themselves to actually feature the sport in the Olympic games. The recognition is merely intended to appease folks like me who keep asking the question, "why is surfing not in the olympics?"
Sunday, June 1, 2008
A Bitchen Summer for Swells (2008)
We've been blessed for the past couple months with some pretty consistent south swells, a few lasting for up to a week each. That's unusual for so cal, which generally isn't too good during summer. If this is due to global warming, bring on the heat!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Honda US Open of Surfing (2008)
Huntington Beach, CA. The south swell continued into the week of the Open. The final 3 days were pretty killer. It's so impressive to see close out set waves get ripped to pieces by these guys and girls, men and women. Not to come off as chauvanistic, but the women are ripping like the guys. The talent in women's surfing is insane now. The O'Neill junior pro semis and finals were basically an all out expression session. These kids go for broke quite a bit more than their older male counterparts. Maybe that's just typical of the next generation of pros, or the way kids, in all aspects of life, are a bit more expressive than adults.
The whole festival part I can pretty much do without as so many of the displays have nothing at all to do with surfing. However, it was good to see bands other than mickey avalon and ozomatli, for once. I did miss the never-ending free flow of Lost energy drinks that occurred in 2007. New were redbull vending machines everywhere, including in the sand, at the typical gouge rate of $2.50 a can. There were crap loads of free branded beach umbrellas (o'neill, con zipper, spy, skull candy, and others) for the dedicated folks who actually spent most of their time watching the surfing. G211.com had their stuff together, especially with their web site. The heat sheets, stats, and results were all online and up-to-date in record time (thanks, in great part, to the efforts and technology by the BeachByte.com) Last year, in 2007, the online presence of the US Open was a travesty. Walking through the festival part of the US Open makes me really appreciate that there are the big-ass bleachers between the festival mayhem and the surfing.
Overall, the surfing was great, and the good surf didn't hurt. I think my favorite heat, aside from the pro junior semis and final, was the Boost Mobile Pro Shootout final. If you saw the Boost Pro last year at lowers, this was just like it (sans Slater). Full of airs and air-360s. I've got to admit, my heart broke at the end of the Tim Boal/Brett Simpson men's semifinal heat. Brett had it locked and loaded, then Tim executed a sweet final ride that gave him a .07 lead. Tim did get a sweet ride, but it would have been nice to see local-fav Brett move on to compete with other near-local fav Nate Curran. Then, sadly, the men's final was a real dud. By then the wind was probably blowing 15 knots, the tide was high and the surf went flat. Tim Boal (FRA) and Nathaniel Curran (USA) didn't have much to battle it out on, making it the longest 25 minutes during the week. Only a few waves caught by each finalist, no spectacular moves, and the judges scoring computer took a dump mid heat. When all was said and done, Nathaniel took it, but I've never witnessed such a quiet, and honestly boring, final. That being said, I'm impressed by all the competitors every year, and I never take for granted that the largest surf contest in the world is in my backyard. See some video clips here.
The whole festival part I can pretty much do without as so many of the displays have nothing at all to do with surfing. However, it was good to see bands other than mickey avalon and ozomatli, for once. I did miss the never-ending free flow of Lost energy drinks that occurred in 2007. New were redbull vending machines everywhere, including in the sand, at the typical gouge rate of $2.50 a can. There were crap loads of free branded beach umbrellas (o'neill, con zipper, spy, skull candy, and others) for the dedicated folks who actually spent most of their time watching the surfing. G211.com had their stuff together, especially with their web site. The heat sheets, stats, and results were all online and up-to-date in record time (thanks, in great part, to the efforts and technology by the BeachByte.com) Last year, in 2007, the online presence of the US Open was a travesty. Walking through the festival part of the US Open makes me really appreciate that there are the big-ass bleachers between the festival mayhem and the surfing.
Overall, the surfing was great, and the good surf didn't hurt. I think my favorite heat, aside from the pro junior semis and final, was the Boost Mobile Pro Shootout final. If you saw the Boost Pro last year at lowers, this was just like it (sans Slater). Full of airs and air-360s. I've got to admit, my heart broke at the end of the Tim Boal/Brett Simpson men's semifinal heat. Brett had it locked and loaded, then Tim executed a sweet final ride that gave him a .07 lead. Tim did get a sweet ride, but it would have been nice to see local-fav Brett move on to compete with other near-local fav Nate Curran. Then, sadly, the men's final was a real dud. By then the wind was probably blowing 15 knots, the tide was high and the surf went flat. Tim Boal (FRA) and Nathaniel Curran (USA) didn't have much to battle it out on, making it the longest 25 minutes during the week. Only a few waves caught by each finalist, no spectacular moves, and the judges scoring computer took a dump mid heat. When all was said and done, Nathaniel took it, but I've never witnessed such a quiet, and honestly boring, final. That being said, I'm impressed by all the competitors every year, and I never take for granted that the largest surf contest in the world is in my backyard. See some video clips here.
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