Who is the greatest surfer to ever come out of Newport Beach? Come inside!
There is a fine profile in this morning’s Los Angeles Times of Newport Beach’s Parker Cohn. The seventeen-year-old surfer was once sponsored by Hurley but now dons the RVCA (“I absolutely love what RVCA is representing at the moment,” he tells the paper. “A lot of the older guys on the team are guys I look up to, Bruce Irons, Luke Davis and Colin Moran, and the list goes on and on.”)
He is the number 1 seed in the NSSA National Championships which begins tomorrow at Huntington Beach and will be surfing with Newport Beach on his heart and mind.
“I love to represent this city,” says Cohn in the article, “I’ve lived here my entire life and I love it here. Newport Beach is practically the best place you can grow up as a surfer.”
“Could he be the next great surfer to come out of Newport Beach?” the reporter asks before answering, quickly, “Yes, he just might be the next great surfer to come out of Newport Beach.”
Which made me wonder. Who was the last great surfer to come out of Newport Beach? I’m not talking Andrew Droid Doheny, though he is very good, or Josh Hoyer or Richie Collins. Maybe Danny Kwock? Maybe Preston Murray? Alex Knost?
Oh, I’m not denying Newport’s place in the surf pantheon. It will forever be the “hottest 100 yards!” I’m simply asking, has Newport Beach ever had a great surfer?
Will Parker Cohn put the town on the map just like Kelly Slater put Cocoa Beach on it? Will they one day erect a statue of him on the peninsula?
Let’s watch and see!
(read the entire profile here!)
Winner = Skeletor. No one else had his level of success on surfing’s biggest stage. Plus, I used to see him out a lot, and he was a far better surfer than the other posts indicate. Not to mention, his nickname is probably the best ever from anywhere.
Lots of gyrations back in the 70’s/80’s in Newps. We surfed 54th/56th everyday for years and had to put up with Richie, Parker*, Preston, so much arms & hips, so little rail. Kwock was less of a spaz, but still a strong part of that group. The best, by far, despite being the darkhorse with black suits and clear boards, was Steve Richardson.
*Jeff Parker drove a long f***** way to get to Newport each day.
Wasn’t Tom Curren born in Newport?
Best Newport surfer ever ready for it? Kyle Kennely
Wasn’t Todd Miller from Newport and could of sworn Timmy Reyes said he hails from?
Newport Beach Australia is just a little beach and we have no billionaires. But Newport Beach Australia made lil brother Tommy and Derek Hynd and Mike Newling and even me, and those first two have more going for them as surfers than pretty much anyone from Newport Beach California.
Except for Richie, Richie is epic.
After two more years of competitive surfing, Parker Cohn will cement himself in surf history as the next Newport up and comer that ends up doing drugs and burning out in Droid’s garage.
METAL NECK 3.
Will said P. Cohn be the next Slater? Nay, just another well financed epic fail along with all the other “next Slaters” of the past 25 years
Ritchie Collins rang the Bell and was always good for a ridiculous quote.
But great?
The question was “who is the greatest surfer from Newport?” Would Skeletor make my top 100 surfers of all time? Hell no. But nobody else from there has done much more than snorted a bunch of coke, made ugly looking board shorts and sexually harassed their female subordinates. Oh and maybe scored a photo in a mag.
A.P.E.S yo, A.P.E.S.!
There was a time when he was holding it down for the USA on the tour. Webbed gloves and all.
for his 15 minutes, perhaps. Gyro-spaz antics were encouraged back then
Great? Of course! Any self-hating Christian who talks publicly about wanking, self harming and belting other surfers is officially an all time great in my eyes. He also beat Curren and Pottz in ASP finals in their prime. A lovely, fucking lunatic, the WSL would have banned him as soon as he got on tour.
Richie was from Costa Mesa. He’s out.
Trojan! We miss you!
If only I hadn’t backburnered my surf career to have a baby 4 months ago, this could be me. I could’ve been with all the other 36-year old RVCA teamriders!
The baby will rule the WSL in the future…. become a surf dad! Or mom!
Haha. Have fun.
No thanks!
Hey, at least you got a CA winter in beforehand. Congrats. Running one click ahead of you on life shit, just skating lots and lots more (cuz night sessions after kid sleeps). Wiseman homie once said, “I’m not getting older, I’m getting better.”
I’m reading this as I’m icing my back. So the skate sessions probably aren’t gonna increase any time soon.
And, thank you!
So many great surfers were born at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, California. So many. You just don’t flourish until you leave the city limits.
I was born at Hoag. Left the area a long time ago. Still suck.
I’ve always said the L.A. County surf scene has had more great white hopes that crashed and burned than any other scene in the surf world.The stories seem endless. the end result being either death or a 50 year old guy ripping like a 20 year old after getting off the drugs and penal system.Strange how tight lipped the surf world has always been.Like no one wants to snitch on anyone. LOL Nothing shocks me having grown up in South L.A. Always been right at home amongst the dirt and grime.
Still waiting for San Diego’s world-title contender, too…
no doubt! too many distractions, too much trouble potential. better to have a world-class wave out front and nothing else to do. LA/Orange county is pretty much the inverse