"He's very talented..."
Ooooooee what would we have done the last few days if not for the Brothers’ George? Sam and Matt brought the heat, burning right through typical post-World Surf League event gloom. I’ve now read both of their fine works and all the comments and still have no idea what Matt is defending.
Do you?
Can you help me understand?
In other news, the Japanese have been surfing for over 100 years and Kanoa Igarashi, current world number five, is on track to become the face of the Olympic Games.
All true and I read about it this morning on Japan Today. Here, I’ll give you a taste.
A total of 26 sports applied for inclusion in the 2020 Games and in August of 2016, five new sports, including surfing , were added.
The IOC has also approved the inclusion of surfing on the program for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Surfing in Japan dates back over 100 years.
As detailed by Legendary Surfers, most Japanese-style wooden boats at the time had removable floor boards that were called Itago. When the boats were beached after fishing, the children of the fishermen took the Itago out of the boats and used them as body boards. This practice was commonly known as Itago-nori, meaning “Floor board riding.”
Japan, meanwhile, is hoping to get a boost from Kanoa Igarashi. Born in Huntington Beach, California, the 21-year-old Igarashi recently received dual citizenship in order to compete for his ancestral homeland in 2020. He has become one of the top surfers in the World Surf League and will be a medal contender next year.
In May, Igarashi became the first Japanese surfer to win an elite Championship Tour event when he topped the men’s competition at the Corona Bali Protected.
As host, Japan will get one automatic berth in each of the 20-surfer draws and will have a chance to earn another.
“He’s very talented, I think he could become a face of the games,” Fasulo said.
So, first, I would like to officially change the word “surfing” here to also be “floor board riding.” I think it is more accurate and also more poetic. A rare win-win.
Second, does it surprise you that Kanoa Igarashi is current world number five and that Kolohe Andino is current world number one? When I was laying out my projected midway rankings ahead of the 2019 season I did not have it like this, to be very honest. Professional floor board riding never ceases to confound and delight.
Third, are you still not on the Kanoa Igarashi train? As sometime BeachGrit contributor Jamie Tierney eloquently puts, “to know Kanoa is necessarily to love him.” I think he will make a fine face of the Olympic Games and I will do my best to run all the very cute Japanese commercials he appears in here.
Lastly, one of Kanoa Igarashi’s very strongest events, The U.S. Open of Floor Board Riding, is set to begin in seven days. Do you have plans to go to Huntington Beach? Are you a registered sex offender?
Just curious.
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1. I understand if 25% of the comments make no sense, but surely as editor you have a policy that 100% of content makes sense?
2. Will you petition that table jumping whilst in yellowbeanie be in the 2026 Paris Olympiad?
Somewhere at the opposite ends of the elliptical continuum of surf identity, the VALs and the Brothers George share a Laird-brand superfood smoothie before riding off into the sunset on fat tire e-bikes.
If I had a hammer I’d hammer in the morning
I’d hammer in the evening all over this land
I’d hammer out danger, I’d hammer out a warning
I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land…..
peter paul and mary? classic
Yes – bring the heat Jen! The air of entitlement permeating from both those articles was fucking nauseating. The world’s moved on boyos – you’re not relevant anymore.
Where’d Uncle Fester go? https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
The real story here is who is going to buy the wsl?
I’m told reliable it’s being shopped around.
Ziff’s picked it up dirt cheap. Built it up and got brand rec now it’s time cash the brand in .
Flipping business 101 for dummies
Pity the fool who buys that lemon
Umm, interesting. Can he show cash flow though, a profit to potential buyers?
I imagine a billionaires accountant would be able show almost anything via a spread sheet?
YouTube, Instagram or fb would be looking at other dynamics than just hard cash anyway.
But from everything we’ve seen from the WSL it seems there’s no way they could be having a positive cash flow at this point…… I believe it’s been stated that right now it takes 30 million a year to run the WSL I don’t think they’re getting anything close to that in revenue now……
Yes maybe but it still kind of comes down to the bottom line I believe , if it would be profitable…..
Dude, who cares about profit when you’ve inked the holy grail, scripted opportunities with Lionsgate?
Yes, very smart, try and sell it when you can ‘up play’ surfings so called popularity with the upcoming Olympics and tell possible buyers about all the ‘potential’ revenue someone could get from advertisers leading into and through the Olympics……
Seems Durk had an exit plan all along. Will anyone bite?
Jen, Jen Jen, not feeling it today I see?. Wow, tough Sunday or did someone hack you account? Yes the surf sucks in all parts California (south of Point Conception anyway) and that sucks, but keep up the Jen spirit we all know and love.
It would be wonderfully ironic if Kanoa ended being able to qualify for the Olympics under the USA flag!
So good!
1. No. 2. Not yet.
Try drinking prune juice.
I think you’re confusing communism with nepotism
“I did not understand what this old man was saying”
Note to self.
Don’t annoy this chick.
“chick” ….too late. You probs just did
Sheila?
Babes love it!
Noteworthy
Chicky babe!
Literarily?
Represent Jen. You’re a stand out.
Home ground advantage is gonna add a lot of rail.
I am very familiar floor boards having woken up on them quite often. I feel foolish for having never considered them surfable.
Don’t feel foolish. Give yourself credit for laying there prone in a drool puddle, and not woken standing with a cruel paddle.
Rip em up and go a big Round House … ?
Thanks Jen. Looking forward to telling my boss to go fuck himself in the morning. Not looking forward to crawl back on Wednesday afternoon begging for my job back.
Some words from a recent interview
Well, yeah… the bulk of my pay comes from non-surf, Japanese companies. I have a lot of sponsors like Visa and Dior, who are not getting stickers on my board but are major contributors to my career. If I wanted, I could have 15 Japanese companies that you’ve never heard of on my board, and I could be making a lot more money from that. But at the same time, I don’t want to be that guy that has all these random companies—like a miso soup company or whatever—on my board. At the end of the day, I want to keep my surfboard core with companies like Quiksilver, Red Bull, and Oakley.
But even beyond the stickers, my Japan deals are a little bit different from my endemic deals. Quiksilver is like my employer—I put the hat on, put some of their clothes on, get paid monthly, etc. But with a lot of these Japanese brands, I get hired for a specific campaign, so it’s like, “We’re going to give you a hundred grand to do this, bang!”
Whats interesting is that he doesn’t seem to have hit main stream recognition in Japan yet despite his recent win (which gave him a small spike – see below) and all these ads. Will be interesting to see how this picture changes in the next 12 months.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Quicksilver is still alive I thought it filed for bankruptcy
Endemic?
Wow.
Nice one Jen. That was a ripper of a comment to wake up to this morning. Its got me fired up to dominate today. Thanks.