ok, i know its kinda not what we’re all here for BUTT i think that these guys don’t know shit about surfing and how much more training you have to go through to become an 8 time world champ (including youngest and oldest)
if you can please click here and click the red “launch whos now” button on the middle of the screen and vote for kelly, that would be great
and listen to these jackasses talk about kelly V. lebron…
ignorant i tell you… ignorant
Bro, I love surfing, and I voted for Slater because of loyalty to my #1 passion (btw, not a sport, beyond sport).
But I love basketball too, and Lebron is the MAN. Lebron should win the whole thing.
There is no way that you can say that Slater is more “NOW” than Lebron.
Thank God that surfing is not as huge as basketball, and thank God that Slater is not nearly as “NOW” as Lebron.
P.S. This is probably the most stupid competition ever.
Has Lebron revolutionized a sport lately?
Had such a huge impact on that sport that it changes the way everybody approaches it?
A bit ethnocentric here. Who gives a rats arse (English slang spelling) about Basketball outside the US?
thats why i brought it up… lebron won by the way… but thats cause ESPN doesn’t know a rats ass about surfing… if you would have heard how they described kelly and his surfing… “he has a board, he takes his shirt off, he gets in the water” and then they rant and rave about lebron like basketball is the hardest sport known to man kind…
well, lebron hasn’t done anything to revolutionize bsaketball nor will he ever…
kelly slater made spoiled californians (sorry guys… i really don’t mean that in a bad way… please forgive) that only went out if it was bigger than chest high break out their boards and try to surf 1.57893 foot malibu
which i wouldn’t doubt was quite difficult for some at first
people have to understand that lebron does have talent and skill but he’s over rated
kelly slater has talent and skill but, in my humble opinion, is not nearly as over rated as lebron…
the only time you see kelly in the spot light, other than when he wins an event, (one weeks worth of hype from FUEL TV) is when he wins another world title… nd thats big enough to be busy with ten different surfing magazines for a good two months
This is one of the worst shows ESPN has ever produced. July 3: (2) LaDainian Tomlinson def. (7) David Beckham (50.8% - 49.2). Ask anyone outside the US who LaDainian Tomlinson is.
The show should be called “Who’s now in highly covered U.S. sports and entertainment”, because that’s who’s gonna win the votes. I don’t get my surf news or reports from ESPN, and I don’t think people go to Surfline to get their NFL news.
Slater is up there with Jordan, Gretzky, Woods, Ruth, and Armstrong as far as all-time greats go. But he would probably lose if he was up against Nichole Richie in “Who’s Now”. If the show was “Who’s Forever” well, that may be a different story. But I still don’t know how many middle Americans would vote for Slater. People just don’t understand how difficult surfing is unless they’ve done it.
I once asked Dan Morino what he did for a living… he plays basketball right? He had some sort of “superbasket ring” on. I know squat about ball sports. I surf and play guitar.
I saw this on ESPN the other morning – I was stunned just to see surfing on ESPN at all…
Having said that, it was (I think) a test of who is more popular at the moment, and nothing else. Hence the title, “Who’s Now”. In that context, I have to agree with LeBron winning – basketball is obviously much more popular, so it’s a silly question to begin with.
However, I immediately started arguing the merits of LeBron vs Slater with everyone around me. On a career-achievement level, I maintain, LeBron doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned on the same planet as Slater, since LeBron has never (and might never) won a damn thing, while Slater’s name is synonymous with championships in surfing, and his achievements may never be surpassed.
I agree that on an athletic level Slater could never hold a candle to LeBron, but sports are not about athleticism, but rather how you can master your athleticism by harnessing it with skill in order to win.
Having said all that, I think pro surfing is a stain on the face of surfing, and is largely responsible for everything imperfect in surfing. At least in professional (pick a sport, say auto racing) the pros are pushing the technology forward, to the benefit of those who aren’t professionals.
In surfing, the envelope of technology is pushed further here at Sways in a month than in a lifetime of Slaters and Irons’s and whoever else.
Same with performance in surfing – the biggest waves were surfed by “amateurs” long before any pro came along. Aerials, noseriding, whatever you consider “great surfing” – it was done by an amateur long before it was ever done by a pro.
Just one guy’s two cents…
lebron scored more points than anybody in his rookie debut game, but who cares, kelly won the world championship his first year on tour and has shaped the way groms like myself up to the top performers today surf and think about surfing. The guy is the man.