And the key to his city. Does it make you want to trade teams?
Longboarding is something I generally spend 0.05% of my life thinking about. Maybe when I go to the beach and a woman on a longboard does a neat spin on the nose or something I think about it. Or when I see a longboard tumbling rail to rail straight for my head. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about it a little more and all thanks to Devon Howard. The La Jolla local is very famous amongst those people and I enjoy his candor and quick mind, not to mention debonair vintage California good looks.
We had a chat a week ago about longboarding and other things and while I will never touch one, save violently kicking, he opened my eyes to the complex stratification in that scene. There seems to be a cold war between traditionalists and modernists. Interesting, maybe, because no such thing exists on the real surfing side. Right? I mean, surfing is always and only about progression. Even fishes etc. feature fancy new templates.
I read today that the United States won team gold at the 2018 ISA World Longboard Surfing Championship at Riyue Bay in Hainan, China all thanks to a man named Tony Silvangi.
He lives in Florida and when I read about him helping Team USA win gold I had a two thoughts.
The first, why was this news popping into my feed? Has enjoying Devon Howard’s candor, quick mind and vintage good looks poisoned my well?
The second, Does Devon Howard know him?
I am a little reticent to inform you of that second thought because it feels a little racist, no? Like, if you meet an Korean-American man and wonder if he knows the other Korean-American man you know.
In any case, Tony Silvangi is getting the key to his city today. He is from Carolina Beach, North Carolina. And he is also getting a parade in just a few short hours.
Has anyone ever thrown you a parade?
Me neither.
Should we have a BeachGrit parade later this year? Who should it be for?
Boardies from the 90’s, golden locks and a USA cap – This guy is legit.
“Those people”, how dare you.
…fuck the parade, he got chaired by Princess Elsa!
Let it go . . .
Mid nineties era, Sale of the Century was the program and she was Jo Bailey until my hero maried my celebrity crush. She was the whole package. Sigh.
Julian Wilson is quite a skilful longboarder.
Why the fuck did I bring that up,
there’s a longboarder on the cover of TSJ this time around, too. i’m starting to feel a little paranoid. like, they’re coming for us, maybe.
Chas, now that you’re over 40 plus years of age with a broken wing you might reconsider your bias towards boards over 9 ft. You’ve got the perfect body style to look good doing it. What are you like 6-2 and 170? Just think you could surf in your favorite pink dress shirt and expose that pre cancerous chest to the worlds. Get after it merman.
In Australia people are waking up saying “no no it’s Silvagni! Vag!’ The best ever fullback who married the most beautiful woman on earth!
I know tony, he is a great surfer but he’s not versitle,like he ain’t ryan burch
I’ve seen Tony rip on shortboards, and I have a particular memory of him doing a mental backside turn on a huge wave, riding a quad: it was very “Ryan Burchy.”
I think it was in Peru
Go Tony!
Theres an oppressive undercurrent to giving a longboarder a key to the city. A subconscious reminder that pinnacle achievement in longboarding cannot open doors for their chosen pursuit. A beautifully gift wrapped limitation celebration.
Remember, a longboard is just a mid length egg going through puberty. They just need your patience and support, never condone their surly behaviour.
key to the city is overrated, it doesn’t even give you access to the ladies locker room at the tennis club. go lame for a questionable title, no thanks
if it was an unlimited supply of KFC I might think about it.
amazing gravy….