Wow Mavericks is on CNN.com and NYTimes.com… Is this a good thing for the sport? A bad thing? Since when did a surf competition turn into the Indy500?
Seems kind of funny that the people who brought you the “Surfing sucks, don’t try it” bumper sticker are now hosting a huge media event… How many more people are going to turn up at your local break next season as a result of this?
Also it seems like the swell is barely adequate… was this a deliberate choice because the weather is good, and thus easier to televise? How’s that for a conspiracy theory?
Stupid but good for the industry. Injects a lot of cash for XXL contests. Can you imagine…30,000 expected at Pillars Point! That’s insane. But then again, Jeff Clark does promote the contest and thus the consequences for that sort of action. North Shore’s the Eddie along with a few other contests also has big draws and media coverage as well. Surfing has become very corpo. Welcome to the 21st century.
Some of us are old enough to remember Chris Economaki chuckling at Gerry Lopez’s use of the word “gnarly” on one of ABC’s Wide World of Sports occasional forays into surfing. The Pipe Masters was the perfect set-up, too: Close to the beach, good light, cute girls in skimpy bikinis on the beach (remember- the bulk of the audience was hunkered down for winter). The surfing was easy for the general audience to understand (“shoot the tube”? Good! “wipeout”? even better!). And the crew was happy to get a paid winter-break week in Hawaii. It was a win-win all the way around.
Somehow, though, a trip to Pilar Pt to view a crew of Ugg-shod fleece-wrapped stocky big-wave chargers just doesn’t have the same overall eye-appeal (at least not to me…). Cap it off with a wave that’s really hard for a non-surfer to grasp and either far-away from the bluff shots that don’t show the heaviness, or seasick inducing from-a-boat watershots, and you get a whole lotta folks tuning into something else.
swell was moderate, but weather good and it was Saturday = $$$$…saw way better surfing at the Lane yesterday afternoon and the Hook about 1.5 hour ago…no interviews though, bummer…
Swell barely adequate when Nelscott Reef tow contest happened yesterday, and they’re considering the Eddie for tomorrow? The high tide killed most of the swell today up there. That’s why it didn’t look all that big, IMHO. The waves seemed to get bigger during the final when the tide was dropping. Also consider this… NBC broadcast the event on national television 2 years ago. To the best of my knowledge, they did not film it this year. As it was stated earlier, people who don’t understand surfing are going to tune in to something different (read: a large majority of American viewers). It’s just not marketable except for a small portion of coastal (and Great Lakes) folks. I don’t think it will have much of an impact on the sport. That’s my 2C.
I watched some of it on the web. It was good web coverage…much better than the online coverage of the Sebastian Inlet Pro contest here. Go211 sucked for online surf coverage here. I couldn’t believe the crowd on the bluff/point and the amount of boats in the water.
I remember talking to an A.F. tech (and surfer) that spent some time at Pillar Point who used to tell me of the waves he saw there in the 70’s-80’s and around the general area. Of course, we are both from Florida, and it was just a dream to think about riding something like that. Personally, I just liked the stories more than the reality.
im certainly not having a go at you for this because im as guilty as a lot of people for it. complaining about the crowds going through the roof because of surf companies holding comps like this to sell more shit.
i probably started surfing from seeing it through the media in one form or another and so did a lot of people. maybe even you? a mag maybe?
im just part of the crowd problem and so are you. surfing is an epidemic!
I spent the day at the contest yesterday. it was a circus as usual, but they had it together better than past events.
The local Mavs guys don’t get too bummed about the contest because it’s really Jeff’s spot and they feel he deserves to get something back for his years of personal investment. On non-contest days you’re mostly on your own after the hour-long paddle to the lineup… which is getting more and more crowded.
I was on the beach for the first four heats. The crowd was mostly people who have not and will not ever surf. They just came to see the “Superbowl of Surfing”. You can’t see squat from the beach other than the crowds. Only media and competitors were allowed on the cliff… which is still a mile from the peak. They did have a big screen TV that brought the action close-up. I talked to some people that went to Pac Bell Park to watch it on the Jumbotron for $25. They said it was packed.
I jumped on a boat and watched the semis and finals close up. It was Mavs at it’s most inviting. Not too much consequence if you ate it, but there were a few spectacular air drops on the rare set waves.
In the beginning of the final heat the guys were feeling all competitive and trying to out position each other. After ten minutes of waiting for waves they started talking. When Greg Long won first place he said they’d agreed to split the purse - which he did. He did the same thing at Shipstearns… what a cool move.
The Mavericks event is one of the coolest ones I’ve been to vibe-wise. It’s a relatively small group that surfs there and they all know each other. The visiting pros show tons of respect to the local guys whether they make the contest or not and they all party together afterwards. When the show is over and the cameras shut down it goes back to normal… a bunch of locals that respect the spot and respect each other.
Good and bad. Bad as no doubt plenty of try hards will start turning up now as it’s the “cool thing to do”. Good as I think some people may start getting some well deserved recognition. Bad because heaps more people will now know about the place and it will become a lot more crowded. So more negative for me.