ESPN destroys dreams of Dirk and Natasha Ziff!
It has been exactly one week, or thereabouts, since the owners of professional surfing Dirk and Natasha Ziff were feted at a grand Waterman’s Ball where they both received the coveted Waterman of the Year award. Mr. Dirk decided it was the perfect moment to stand up in front of his Surf Industry Manufacturers Association peers and really accept much praise for his World Surf League saving professional surfing from the slough of despond and also light into “hater surf journalists.”
Even though his mic was unplugged he felt it important enough to stand and shout (while Graham Stapelberg allegedly got into a verbal altercation with the event site manager behind him):
And I ask you: Why (the hate)? It seems pretty obvious that if the WSL keeps growing in popularity, and surfing takes its rightful place among the great and elite competitive sports, everyone connected with our sport, and certainly all the members of SIMA, will prosper, except maybe a few grumpy locals who have to deal with some new faces in the lineup. So…why not work together?
Ahhh the dream of taking our place among the great and elite competitive sports. So close now that Mr. Dirk is half in charge. Right?
Maybe not. For today on ESPN, home of great and elite competitive sports, the co-host of daytime programming introduced an older clip from Nazare thusly:
Happy trails to the previous record for the highest wave ever surfed. Yes some dopes from something called the World Surf League claim to keep track of junk like that. This story is nine months old but video obsessed millennial producers reminded somehow that this guy Rodrigo Koxa riding this 80 foot wave off the coast of Portugal…
Ohhh does that sound like a ringing endorsement? Some dopes from something called the World Surf League?
If you were Mr. Dirk and had been spending every ounce of your emotional capital rescuing professional surfing from the grip of a few grumpy locals in order to deliver it to the likes of ESPN except in its daytime programming, the lowest tier of any, a co-host had no idea the WSL existed but knew it was staffed by “dopes” would you feel bad?
Should Mr. Dirk feel bad?
I don’t think so. I think he should try on his grumpy pants and join us in the gutter. The water is 80 plus!
Watch here!
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Is Paul Speaker behind all this, wasn’t he in the NFL, and by extension ESPN, of course I don’t know what I’m talking about, ESPN cater to that small niche New World category North American Sports”,
ES(Sports)PN and the dopes from the WSL… Listen to Spicoli’s words from decades ago. “Surfing is not a sport. It is a way of life…” Spicoli was illuminati.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
I know, coming from people that spend their life obsessing over children’s games, it doesn’t mean much
Classic you can’t script stuff like this
I’m all for striking an alliance between the ESPN crew and BG’s hater surf journalist/grumpy local demographic. Those guys can probably afford cocaine.
Sold
I love this.
Keep surfing small, keep it schtum.
Let those knuckleheads do us down. Power to ‘em. Let Spiccoli’s image forever be our embassy to the masses.
Waterman of the year. For sure.
Don’t they know who I am
I’m Waterman of the year Goddammit
To be fair, we don’t know Dirk Zifflers tax status. Maybe he was lamenting to his buddy Kelly, and got a tip on a great liability with cool PR…well played co-waterman of the year
Maybe I am being oversensitive, but that hurts my feelings a little bit. I thought better of Mr. Wilbon.
It really is hurtful to all of us.
Why ? Means nothing.
It’s prolly got more to do with WSL deciding to go with fb instead of them, or something like that. A petty, bitchy offhand remark like we make here all the time.
Can’t get too precious, Chas.
hows that, I watch the wsl tour on espnhd/sky steady since 2015 here in brazzoland, dont you gringos get that feed?
I’m based in nz at the moment – yes, you can watch thru Sky here.
I think foxtel in Oz.
Surfing don’t touch tv on mainland US. Ever.
Probably a good thing, American tv is such a headfuck.
one of many marvels of brazzoland…
Hey Mr. ESPN-talking-head-man, would “dopes” hang w/ hollywood power players?
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Somebody solicited a massage here
Um ain’t that Harvey handcuffs Weinstein next to Dirk Diggler?
#metoo
Medina and Harvey.
now it all makes sense!
Is that woman behind Weinstein running?
She’s actually running
Notice the women are all crossing their legs near Harvey?
I’m confused, is someone accusing someone of doping? That’s a pretty serious accusation!
Little known fact:
If a North American Moose were able to talk, it would be unable to pronounce Rodrigo Koxa due to the shape of its larynx.