DOWN THE LINE Surf Talk Radio

Oct 30 … surf news, surfing industry news, surf talk radio

Audio from Oct 30 Down The Line Surf Talk Radio

Some questions for Joe Turpel:

Who exactly do you work for? The ASP or event sponsors?

Where did you learn to surf?

How did you get involved with ASP webcasting? Broadcasting school?

Is the tour a tight knit circle? Do you eat dinner with the pros? Are there some that are your buds?

Bobby Martinez, have we seen the last of Bobby competing at ASP events?

Dane Reynolds, has the asp fined him enough ? Can he just pay the fines and pick and choose which events he surfs? Does he need to prove himself at Pipe or can he, because of his obvious greatness, get around Hawaii as a proving ground?

Is he cheating his fans? Does he owe us?

San Fran … The Search. Your take… no jet ski assist? Unique situation for the pros? Gabe Medina, weighs about a buck thirty, will some pros not make it out?

Who is your immediate boss?

Production meetings, they tell you what you can and cannot say?

who is the smartest pro on tour?

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Australian charger Mark Mathews (above) and his cohorts Ryan Hipwood, Richie Vas and Laurie Towner are the world’s leading slab hunters, and according to Paul, “they’re among the craziest surfers alive, and talented too, which is a scary combination. Photographer Tim Bonython stays busy just trying to keep up with them. After a mind-boggling day in Tasmania earlier this year, the boys were walking tall having conquered the ferocious Shipstern’s Bluff with a handful of historic rides. But last week they met a new foe over in Western Australia, and it’s safe to say this one got the better of them. This following is what happened as they tried to take on a wave known only as: The Right.

TOP 5 Stories This Week Oct 30 2011
#1 A Monterey man suffered multiple injuries Saturday morning when he was attacked by a shark while surfing at Marina State Beach.

Eric Tarantino, 27, was bitten on the neck and right forearm by a shark that took a 19-inch chunk from his red surfboard. The attack occurred shortly after 7 a.m., about 10 minutes after he and a friend, Brandon McKibben of Salinas, had entered the water.

With help from McKibben, Tarantino managed to get out of the water, then climbed to the parking lot on his own power, where a half-dozen or more fellow surfers used beach towels to apply a tourniquet to his arm and staunch the bleeding from his neck.

Paramedics arrived just minutes later and treated Tarantino at the scene before transporting him to Marina Municipal Airport, from which he was airlifted to San Jose Regional Medical Center.

Dana M. Jones, Monterey Sector Superintendent for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, said his injuries did not appear to be life threatening.

Jones said signs will be posted along beaches from Fort Ord to Moss Landing advising of shark danger, recommending that beach-goers refrain from any water activities over the next seven days. The sand portion of the beaches will remain open, and the the waters will be observed in the coming days for additional shark activity, Jones said.

#2 Will Vans make Dane compete in the Triple Crown?
We know he doesn’t care … so why should Vans? Besides the contract and all that… And can Dane’s case of over-it-itis extend to Hawaii, where, according to all we believe in as consumers of Western surf culture, you must prove yourself… or has Dane trumped even the Holy Grail of surf culture, “to achieve greatness, you must prove it in Hawaii.”

C’mon, you know Dane doesn’t want to wallow around in the burdensome ego-filled front yards of the washed up, scrapping for ego-points (way worse than contest points) and having his Coors light spiked with urine flavored energy drink when he could be exploring Western Saharan right points and learning Berber via Rosetta Stone & MacBook! Pending HD space, of course.

#3 Kerr Ignites Waddell Creek at ASP PRIME O’Neill Cold Water Classic California
The ASP PRIME O’Neill Cold Water Classic California utilized both the primary venue of Steamer Lane and the backup location of Waddell Creek today to complete both the Round of 24 and the three-man non-elimination Round of 12.

Josh Kerr (AUS), 27, who posted the highest scores of yesterday’s competition, returned to form today at Waddell creek and took to the air on his backhand to net the day’s highest scores including a 16.77 (out of 20) heat total to advance through to the Quarterfinals.

#4 The 14-day holding period of the $85,000 HIC PRO, presented by Vans, opens today at Sunset Beach. Organizers have elected to call a lay day today in preparation for a solid new swell that is forecast for Monday and Tuesday.

The HIC PRO is a 4-Star ASP men’s event that will decide the 2011 ASP Hawaii regional champion and reward him with one highly coveted berth into the first two events of the Vans Triple Crown, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink, Nov.12-Dec.20. The HIC PRO requires three full days of competition to crown a champion.

“It looks like we’ve got great swell on tap for Monday and Tuesday – somewhere in the range of 8-12 feet,” said Event Director Marty Thomas. “We will continue to assess the surf each morning from today, but at this stage Monday looks like the most probable start.

#5 With thirty-six of the word’s best surfers descending on the north stretch of Ocean Beach for the Rip Curl Pro Search surf contest—the first major San Francisco surf contest—the City becomes the unlikely focal point of the professional surfing industry Nov. 1-12.

surf news, surf industry, surfing insight

Oct 23, 2011 –

Bruce Irons talks about the massive beast at Teahupoo that took his board shorts. Bruce is getting better.

Surf News – Top 5 Stories of the Week Oct 23rd
:
#1 Kelly Slater’s Board in Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

KellySlater, 39, has helped progress surfing and represented the sport in a positive manner, and this week it was announced that the Floridian has donated one of his boards to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
“Over the past 20 years, his approach to surfing as a professional and dedicated philanthropist has changed how people surf and view the sport,” said Jane Rogers, curator at the museum, which collects and preserves items of American heritage to portray the American experience.The board is on display in the museum’s first-floor Artifact Walls exhibit.

Is there a better representation of and / or for surfing? Tom Blake paddleboard? A Simmons post WWII tech inspired foam n fiberglass?

#2 Slater wrap up 11th title @ Rip Curl Search – San Fran – they used Travelocity to SEARCH for this one.
From TransworldSURF:

“If this was any other event on the ASP schedule (Kelly’s won them all) it’d be hard to envision an early exit—but in San Francisco, at Ocean Beach, and without the use of Jet Ski assistance of any sort, the playing field may be leveled to the point that an early Slater loss is not entirely out of the question. Long shot, yes, but still possible. Man versus (hopefully) large Ocean Beach peaks might just make things interesting.”

#3 GW Shark hunt in West Oz as 3rd diver is taken out by 10′ great white; they are protected, but Oz govt issuing killing orders for what they feel is a rogue GWS that is responsible. a culling of GWS is not out of the picture.

Another surfer in NWest hit by massive GW Shark with photos of his …LOST Surfboard showing a gargantuan bite / Jaws mark.

#4 Twitter News/Faves: @Danes_neckbeard, @WhoisJOB, @Daynolds, some real ego clashing going on. During their best moments they are funny, insightful, stinging, at there worst they are haters, ignorant or trying to hard. Sort of like us on DTL radio? Internet everyone is a comedian or a hater or a know it all… or should I say “NOW” it all. So instantaneous, this web thingy.

#5 ISA World Masters Finals day in El Salvador with Sarlo O50, Curren, Hogan O45 in the Grand Finals. Does anyone care?

October 16, 2011 Surfing News; Surf News Quiksilver Dane Reynolds Top 10 moments

Dane Reynolds’ virulent strain

By: Chris Mauro, GrindTV.com

Given all the Dane Reynolds hype of late it’s easy to understand how Daneofilia (DANE-oh-FEEL -yah) is now infecting a wide swath of today’s young surfing prodigies. Some doctors describe the disease as a virulent strain of languorous behavior, others refer to it as syndrome more commonly known as the fuck-its.

Notable young talents (especially those residing along the surf-industry-laden California coast) run the highest risks of contracting this virus, but the symptoms typically flair up once they’ve left their comfy little pond for the bigger, badder world of global talent, where they soon discover winning isn’t nearly as easy as they, their publicist, biographers, videographers, agents, managers, coaches, bloggers and astrologers, thought it would be.

Consumed by self doubt, they begin to question not just the nipple they’ve been sucking on since they got their first pair of free trunks, but the very body producing all the nourishment. And the fleeting nature of their most flavored surfer status hits hard. If things don’t work out…they soon discover…they’re replaceable. At the end of the day they’re just tools. Marketing tools. Being exploited to sell wares. Oh the horror.

The lucky ones, like Dane Reynolds, seemingly have a choice in this matter. They can make a career out of being anti-pros, choosing to go down a “soul surfing” route filled with cameras and cameos. The vast majority of pros don’t really have that luxury.

Take Adriano de Souza, who by most measuring sticks is the anti-Dane. They both love surfing, no doubt, but Adriano actually thrives in competition. That makes him incredibly uncool in hipster circles. After all, he always gives 100% (what a jock!) He loves to claim (kook!), and what’s with that (fugly) wide stance? All that annoying hard work and touchdown dance behavior makes Adriano the tour’s perfect villain.

But look deeper into his story and you might begin to see things differently. While growing up in a poor corner Sau Paulo Brazil there were years when his next meal wasn’t guaranteed. He and his family fought hard for everything they had, and when the remote possibility of a surfing career first became possible he had to leave home for good to chase it.

Thanks to hard work and dedication he’s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Today both his mother and brother are living in houses that Adriano provided with his winnings. Knowing all that, you might understand the passion behind the claims, and you may even start respecting some of his surfing strengths, like how he manages to put his board in all the right places with healthy dose of speed and power.

Adriano’s path was undoubtedly a tough one. And it remains so in the court of public opinion. Meanwhile, as we learn in the new Surfer Magazine interview issue, Dane Reynolds road has been obstacle free, and he’s essentially flying blind out there.

After all, he prefers to travel with six packs over exercise balls. He doesn’t want to waste energy chasing a 5.5 to get through heats just to please sponsors. He finds his friends in Oxnard a lot more interesting than all the exotic people he ignores while traveling. And, oh yeah, Kelly Slater really hasn’t done all that much for surfing. (Apparently Dane doesn’t count the zeroes in his checks before depositing them.)

All this listlessness makes him a huge surfing hero.

Now he’s searching for even less stress. He wants to ride ugly boards in mushy point waves and hang out with his friends scribbling on T-shirts, posting on his blog and making webisodes.

And not surprisingly a handful of younger “highly touted” Californians think the same path will work just as well for them. Incidental stardom is apparently just a cool little blog away.

Of course they’d kinda like to skip that part that Dane had to endure…y’know, the part where he actually earned all his value, the part where he made the tour and validated his hype with brilliant victories on a big stage.

Wait – victories?

Well yes and no. As Slater so aptly noted during his Surfer Poll speech last year, Dane Reynold’s has never won anything. Not even the NSSA Nationals. But we needn’t weep for him.

Fact is Dane’s simply not cut from the same heat-winning cloth as most tour stars. Nevertheless the tour is filled with Daneophiles (DANE-oh-FILEs) for good reason: once he made the tour, he subsequently made more than a few dents with his freakish flying and carnivorous carves. Dane’s biggest victories haven’t been mathematical ones, they come in statement form – by how he wins heats, and sometimes by the way he loses them. Either way he’s made more than a few boundary pushing proclamations in his contest jersey, and that’s what’s made him the A-lister he is. He’s won hearts.

But whether Dane knows it or not, he won the majority of hearts up on the big stage, and his message resonates more from that platform than anywhere else. There’s a simple reason for that. Performing on demand in front of hundreds of thousands without the safety net of Final Cut Pro is simply more difficult than posting on a blog, drawing up T-shirts, and shooting videos.

Nothing cheap and easy has value, which is why all that other stuff is considered just surf porn. It’s great for a few seconds of fleeting pleasure. Given the choice, the majority of Dane’s fans would rather see him keep pushing.

Of course, after years of grueling travel and that hefty work schedule they have on the ASP he’s certainly earned the right to pursue what makes him truly happy, be it fashion and film or beer bongs and surf smut. If we’ve learned nothing else from the dearly departed Steve Jobs it’s that loving what you do is the only way to do great work. And we love Dane’s great work.

But history tells us that once surfers leave the tour behind a clock starts ticking on their allure, because flash fades a bit faster in this new media age. A few short years from now when Dane’s added 15 pounds to his boiler, his neckbeard is grown out, and he’s home watching a new generation of stars pick up where he left off, it’s possible he could feel more exploited than ever being a video floozy seeking Facebook followers…By then a few 5.5s might just pale in comparison.

GREAT EMAIL #1:Baldy n Bassy:
Been a listener for a while now, all through the podcasts. It’s a
great show but I have a some suggestions (in no particular order):
- Don’t plug Sacred Craft so much. We get it. It’s coming. We’ll seek out the info and details online.
- Don’t talk over the guests. There’s a tendency to interject personal
thoughts/opinions/experiences too much. Let the guests talk.
- No need for Top 5 stories when you do have guests. It just wastes time and leaves a lot less time for the interview(s).
- Bring to light the lesser known stories from the surf world. Be unique. Anyone can log onto the ASP site and get competition-related news.

Anyway, thanks for listening/reading. Obviously these are just my opinions and how you do your show is your prerogative. Keep up the great work. Respectfully,
Clarence