"Why does everyone have a hard-on for people surfing at 70%?"
Do you like opinion? Of course you do. Who doesn’t? But the avoidance of anything resembling opinion has become a fetish in the surf world.
If you were to scroll through as many BeachGrit posts as you could stomach, you would find it all pretty tame, a squabble here and there, a few high words, some cheap jokes, not much else. But the angry scenes! The recriminations!
A “veteran” or anyone barely throwing tail is not progression it’s the opposite it’s moving backwards.
Isn’t humour and satire and real talk compensation for the drizzly dreariness of our lives?
Let’s ask Albee Layer, the noted Maui surfer, for his opinion on the Quiksilver Pro, 2016.
On his always mouthy IG account he writes, “Thoughts from first CT event at Snapper.
- Why the f**k does everyone have a hard-on for people surfing at 70% surfing won’t progress any where like that.
- 80% of people on and running CT don’t understand the difference between different airs. A full rotation, an air reverse, a single grab a double grab are all vastly different and are not on the same level of difficulty. Also landings should matter
- A “veteran” or anyone barely throwing tail is not progression it’s the opposite it’s moving backwards.
- Contests bring out the best out of some people and kind of suffocate others true potential (JJF).”
What are Albee’s credentials for such criticisms? See below.
sit the fuck down ya little grub.
i like my surfing normal.
i fucken hate waves over 5ft
i hate surfing when its windy
and i really fucken hate ally oops
Hence no major sponsor. Street cred doesn’t pay the bills
Looking at the amount of shit Mr Layer’s post is getting overall and what the most upvoted reactions are right here, on the usually open-minded BeachGrit, there is no doubt why the surf scene is status quo bound at best. Was Albee’s comment meant to glorify himself? No. Was he saying he belongs on tour? No. Was Albee’s comment meant to low-key apply for WSL wildcards? No. Was Albee’s post published to “gargle JJF’s balls”? No… Would that be so crazy to think that Albee’s purpose was simply to express himself and try to highlight specific potential for improvement? Please all chill out and learn to recognize and praise constructive criticism!!! Especially when it comes from Albee Layer, the most influential surfer in the past three decades hands down! And that would be proper, indecent balls-gargling for you, see the difference?
The problem is Albee always seems so angry about whatever subject he is talking. It’s hard to take seriously one who is perpetually mad at the world. Most influential surfer of the last three decades? Good one. Almost nobody outside Beach Grit readers knows who he is.
Hey Thomas, is that Speedies in your little picture?
http://magicseaweed.com/new… Chas or dezza I thought you’d be all over this gossip I want dirt ??
I don’t know, I’m pretty sure Albee can call out virtually anything at this point. He’s as well rounded a surfer as anyone on tour. Charging Jaws, winning an event at a gutless wavepool? When anyone on this forum can match that shit go ahead and talk. Until then, catch a couple rails at your collective beach breaks.
Blood Feud?
Isn’t this the guy who gave Noa Deane loads of self righteous grief for “fuck the WSL” comment?
Isn’t he saying almost the same thing now (albeit in a much more constructive, less xanaxed manner)?
Sit down Albee
More truth and shade thrown from Albee than the Stab comment section. Loved it, send it to fucking Pottz, that rambling old man wants everyone to surf safe.
The Jocks here disagreeing need a lesson from Bobby on this fucking Tennis Tour
Albee is definitely right about most of the surfers/judges not knowing the varying degrees of difficulty or subtle nuances of different airs. I can’t remember which member of the commentary team said this a day or two back when breaking down a pretty basic air reverse from Filipe where he safety grabbed almost all the way from whitewater to the flats.
“He holds onto that rail nice and long, lots of control”.
The only thing they broke down was what a tail blow was….. several times
You learn something new every day…
i heard that too, fucking awful
Everyone says this yet nothing changes..sit down Albee
I like it. I watch. I don’t care much for Albee though.
yeah great Albee – why doesn’t he get on tour and show us all surfing at 100%. No doubt he rips but if you slam the guys there now you gotta put your money where your mouth is.
WSL throw him few wild cards please
you will never see him get a wild card.
Chicken or egg:
Did his opinionated tendencies kill the wildcard hopes or did a lack of wildcards spawn his opinions?
either way, he’s fucked now. since Noa’s awards ceremony it’s been pretty clear that “freesurfer” is a term no longer used in company communications, like when Rick Scott banned “global warming” in Fla.
He’s not wrong, pretty bullshit when you can earn a nearly perfect score for 10 of the same turns down the wave. The judges only encourage it by rewarding that shit
It’s also pretty bullshit when videos can have the same 2 second wave that ends in the same air 30 times within a 2 minute edit (or if you’re Nick Rozsa, the same backside turn) yet still be considered “epic.”
I hate each of those scenarios equally
yeah exactly like snowboard videos all pretty fuckin contrived – 50 attempts for the one complete sort of shit
100%. some guys are grinders and will hike a jump all day to make one. other guys do better in a “one chance at it” (comp) format where its like “ok, do entertaining shit with a 75% make-ratio. if you can ride out of an air, try em, but you can get the same score without em”. all they would have to do is go to single best wave score, or the double your high score deal they do in the big wave events and things would get way more exciting. only Toledo, JJF, and Medina would win anything but it would certainly be more “progressive”. right now, huckers like Albee and Meola are going to be doing snowboard vids.
Yep 100% – single best wave is only way forward to prevent guys “surfing safe”. The excitement level would go up as hopefully guys be trying to be progressive and actually beat their competition.
Maybe that will stop all the backslapping, put a bit more aggro against each other!!!
The thing about calling bullshit on a pro like fanning (you didn’t but he’s usually the recipient of the most hate) who throws ten of the same turns on one wave is that 99.99% of the surfing world couldn’t even do just one of those turns once in their entire lives. If you show me a surfer critiquing mick who can do a forehand wrap like him, I’d ask why he wasn’t on tour. What he makes look basic really is not basic at all.
Definitely not aimed fanning he has alot more variety of turns than some over waves I’ve seen get an excellent score this contest
That’s a pretty controversial way of saying nothing controversial Albee. There was never any doubt you had a big enough mouth to gargle JJF’s balls.