Oh to be 26 again!
And now that the U.S. Open of Surfing has drawn
to a close we can reminisce together about all the good times that
were. All the moments we shared under that Huntington Beach sun,
delicate silicon filling lungs.
Oh, not my lungs. As you know, I was in Copenhagen all week and
am now headed to Paris, the City of Light.
My flight is at an eye-bleedingly early hour but I did get to
read Derek Rielly’s
quintessential contest wrap. Perfect in every way.
He covered the most important bits, like who won (Yago Dora) and
who really won, surpassing Joltin’ Joe Turpel, ‘89 World Champ
Martin “Pottz” Potter and one Ronald Blakey as the “voice of surf,”
Chris Cote.
Chris deserves the honor very much and the piece in the Los
Angeles Times only briefly deals with his early socio-linguistic
work in the “bro” field.
A winner that Derek Rielly left out of his wrap, though, was Kai
Lenny who was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame alongside
Steve Hawk and Janice Aragon.
The Orange County
Register reports:
Lenny, at 26, received an early induction into the Hall of
Fame. But, already, he has a list of accomplishments that have
people calling him the best waterman that has ever lived.
Father Martin Lenny talked about how his son was restless as
a young boy with a lot of energy to burn – so they took him to the
beach every day to run around the sand and swim in the warm Maui
waters.
“When he learned how to surf, he had been in the shorebreak,
getting clobbered, and would just go back for more,’ he
said.
Etc.
Deserving and all true but, let’s be very honest together. Let’s
really speak the truth. Doesn’t 26 seem like a crazy early
induction? Like, shouldn’t Hall of Fame-style stuff be left for the
twilight of a career when those invited can look back upon years
and years of accomplishments and reminisce together just like we
are doing right now about the U.S. Open of Surfing?
Hmmm.
I think so.
I think this early induction business is a sham and a grave sin
against Miki Dora and Barry Bonds but what do you think?
Are you furious?
