No logs! Of course!
Oh, the Gram is awash today with tributes for the late Surfing Magazine. All sincere and heartfelt except for one by Joel Tudor whom, if you recall, has long feuded with the 53-year-old publication for not including longboarding.
Cue, eye roll.
But wait! Maybe Joel is on to something!
Let’s examine.
“Sad to see Leroy Granni’s baby/surfing illustrated ( later becoming @surfing mag) close its doors. Had a subscription as a grom and frequently purchased issues during air travel. I feel for the staff that lost jobs and wish them luck on new opportunities. As I wish them well and thanks for the 53 years, y’all may of had a better chance of surviving if you had taken a more open view of our tribe. I tried to warn you guys many times but you never wanted to hear it! Aloha and mahalo”.
Now, nobody likes a “I told you so” but Joeljitsu has a point.
In the comment section he responds to a comment by Astrodeck matriarch Dibi Fletcher saying, “I hate online. Make houses look like libraries again. The value of looking at print is something that can’t disappear”.
But it is Joel! Magazine subscriptions are at an all-time low and advertising dollars are being re-routed from print towards sponsored online posts.
“I hate online. Make houses look like libraries again. The value of looking at print is something that can’t disappear.” Joel Tudor.
As a former staff writer for Surfing Mag, I can tell you that Joel is right when it comes to his qualms about the mag’s fragmented view on surfing. Where Surfer had a broad scope of the surf media landscape, including all sorts of wave riding and stories past and present, their adversary focused purely on progression, the here and the now.
Strangely, this difference in view created tension in the TransWorld building like you wouldn’t believe! Dildos would fly across the office at random! Fake announcements of a Todd Prodd art show were posted unabashedly in the break room.
Speaking of Surfer‘s Editor In Chief.
I interviewed with Todd before I got the job at Surfing and he told me some insight that I still hold dear to this day.
“Stab is for gossip,
What Youth for the trendy, and those who don’t do surf contest news,
BeachGrit for the surf industry insiders,
Surfing had the next generation covered,
The Inertia the clueless kook,
but Surfer, their goal was to appeal to everybody.”
Why Surfing failed is also what made it great.
The magazine was made by those whose passion burned for the evolution of wave riding.
To grace the pages, you had to not only be ripping but actively seeking a new precedence for the sport of kings. Peter Taras and Jimi Wilson didn’t want to see Joel Tudor surfing eloquently straight, they wanted Yago Dora combos at Lakey Peak.
And while it made for dazzling imagery, there is only so many air reverses a person can take.
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“I hope all your losers find work, told you you were going to lose your jobs, f’ng told ya man (phhhhtttttt hits the weed) f’king told you man… (under his breath) Condescend me man….
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Anyone who surfs Pipeline on a longboard is automatically a surf legend. Most of the haters here couldn’t do it even if Rawson shaped them a special 7’0 board for it.
I liked how Rory would write up a story about Round 2 Rio Pro or shit, starting by saying he hadn’t watched most of the heats coz he couldn’t be fucked, or coz time zone etc So yeah, on point
The world needs more Joel Tudor! I would read an occasional column by him since he is knowledgeable about surfing and it’s history plus he very opinionated. Please make this happen Chas.
The majority of people in the water are on boards that are too small, trying to do things they’ll never be good at. Then there’s Joel, who is truly a surf master but a total dork; and no matter how much Jitsu he learns, he’d still get cracks from the majority of the male population bc he weighs like 65lbs.
Clearly BG needs to hire Joel.
i’d read
It’s omission of logging is probably why it’s lasted this long
‘Chill Vibes Tudor’ strikes again!
Calling surfers a “tribe” without a hint of irony – oh, fuck you Joel.
I appreciate Joel for calling people out on things. He needs to be MORE of a grumpy old dude and I’ll start buying his Vans collection.
he’s almost on Grosso’s level
Be gone, Jake! You have been beaten by the marginally better man. Michael has you trumped. Which is ironic, because the pair of you are not unlike Donald and Hilary.
(Hilary is prettier than you and has better hair than that wankrag you call a haircut).
Think i just laughed out loud. And did Jake referred to me as an insider?
Malibuing is a fringe activity and is now practiced exclusively by old men and hipsters, neither of which ever read Surfing anyway Joel you fudge-stick.
This, and other publications, have failed simply because the industry that once relied on them, now ignore them. When one of the industry’s most respected honchos went online and told brands to stop advertising, the writing was on the wall.
Considering virtually every surf brand is now having a rough go of it, you gotta ask: how’s that working for ya?
Too many accountants running the biz with no clue as to how to build a brand.
too many accountants, or too many dopey surfers?
i bet the brands sell well, with accountants though
As an accountant, I can tell you this couldn’t be more obviously farther from the truth. The brands would be at least semi-solvent if that were the case.
You made my point. Perhaps if they spent more time on being semi-relevant the semi-solvent part would come?
joel had a better chance of surviving the danny fuller choke-hold had he just had an open view.
Classic joel tudor…. The guy always has an opinion on what other people should be doing.
Easily the best surfer in the world
He is good but.No way!
In Prodonavich’s list he left out the The Surfer’s Journal-for those whose attention span exceeds that required for reading a caption and turning to the next page
this is kinda fucked up but your screename fits your opinion about that self indulging publication all too well
No, it’s not fucked up.. 40 years building surfboards makes you both old and tired.
I like the journal but it’s often too long and boring. I think a surf magazine would do well by using National Geographic’s History magazine approach; short articles interspersed with snippets, photos, and maps.
…or not long enough. I could have read a Sebastian Junger/ Simon Winchester style book about the first guys at Macca’s or Lagundri, an article didn’t do justice.
As long as that book didn’t describe the surfing itself, maybe.
Could you post that again, with fewer words?
I upvoted you… thats kinda funny
TSJ is made for people who like to put pretty books on their coffeetable, but not actually read them.
That list includes myself.
Next story this has run dry!!!
Maybe we can crowd fund you Jake to start another mag ( or get on tour – this is your cover yes??)
A print magazine appealing only to adolescents (a demographic which no longer reads magazines), what could possibly go wrong!
Joel Tudor is a heck of a guy. Every Sunday he visits the local pediatric hospital and reminds the children in the oncology wing they have cancer.
What a guy!! Must be great to be reminded for them!!
You need to write articles for Beachgrit Nug