Tiago Pires ain't one of them...
Surfing is an ever changing tableau. Who matters today most likely didn’t matter yesterday and won’t matter tomorrow. Remember Joel Parkinson? Me either. But if the great modern feel-good philosophers have taught us anything it is that this minute right now is the only thing that matters. Or to quote Eckhart Tolle, “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.” Without further ado, here is who matters NOW:
Brodie Carr: The ASP is in massive trouble. Rumor has it that they are drying out of money and quickly. Big dreams of non-endemic sponsorship have run into the razorblades of surfing’s relatively small viewership. Aye-aye-aye! And when it goes into bankruptcy and is purchased, for five cents on the dollar, by a hedge fund who do you think they will turn to for day to day management? Brodie Carr. He is the only man, alive at this second, who can run that circus and he will ride in on a white Peugeot (he lives in France) to save the day. Terry Hardy will be so mad! And also so broke!
Dane Reynolds: Even five or six Coors Lights above fighting weight, Dane is still, and by far, the most mercurial surfer on the planet. He sees the wave differently. He tweaks his body differently. He rides his board differently. The kids want to surf like Dane. I want to watch Dane surf. Who knew that he would have such a long and fabulous run? I have no idea how he does it but there is no end in sight.
Bethany Hamilton: She has one arm. She is working on a film right now. You will never ever ever surf as good as her.
Joe G: Has quietly built a legacy making movies at Globe. They are each and every one beautiful but none more so than his latest, Strange Rumblings in Shangri-la. It is the first surf film, since Endless Summer, that is an actual film film. Like, it has story blended into hot action blended into gorgeous cinematography. He will go on to win Academy Awards and it will have started with a movie starring Dion Agius. Who would have ever guessed that? The Li’l Lion is a kingmaker!
Leonardo Fiorivanti: The Stallion shreds, charges, is Italian, speaks French and may well be surfing’s first global, Hollywood-level star. Sure, Kelly could have been what with all those good looks and Gisele Bundchens, but he chose to stay on tour, forever, and to get a bit weird with conspiracy theories. The fact that Leo is just now coming into his own is a happy day for our surf world. And a happy day for teenaged girls, around the world, fed up with Justin Beiber. He will turn the Beliebers into Fiora-fanatics and the sun will shine again on our bedraggled industry.
Gabby Medina: Your first Brazilian champ? He matters so much that he makes you get on Internet message boards and spew racist hate about a whole nation! If that ain’t power, I don’t know what is.
John John: Where Dane is mercurial, John John is consistently awesome. We all expect him to get very barreled, and he does. We all expect him to kick giant airs and he does. We expect his video parts to amaze, equally, with his competitive heats and they do. John John was worth waiting for and is he ever here!
Iouri Podlatchikov: The Olympic gold medal winning snowboarder from Russia/Switzerland does not surf but no one has ever looked better shredding and our world is buzzing. Take note. At the Olympics, the Swiss national team wore a very bland red and pukey brown ensemble. Iouri wore black on black on black, with a white Quiksilver logo, and smashed Shaun White’s face into the ice. If a man can look like that while competing in the most conservative sporting event on the planet why can’t surfers do it in the water?
You: Just kidding. Unless you are at the store, reading this on your phone while buying loads of surf t-shirts, boardshorts and flip-flops. Then you are giving Dane Reynolds a reason to paddle out in the morning. Bravo.