"Accelerated evolution, not revolution!"

The Erik Logan reign has only just begun in Santa Monica but feels like its been in place since the very beginning of the Association of Surfing Professional’s transition to our World Surf League. It’s difficult to even recall Herr Paul Speaker’s voice. I honestly can no longer picture Generaloberst Sophie Goldschmidt’s face.

Her hair color.

Chief Executive Officer and Lord Commander of the Wall of Positive Noise Erik Logan’s blinding white smile has erased the past. Only the present remains.

And future.

But what does it hold?

How does it look?

Thankfully, Erik Larson* sat down with Front Office Sports and shared a singular vision of “accelerated evolution, not revolution.” Of “exponential growth.”

But what does that mean for you? For me?

For us the core audience?

Let’s discover.

FOS: How do you make sure you’re satisfying core fans with the content you’re putting out?

Larson: The league works like a lot of other leagues once you get to the last third of the season or so, it becomes about the world titles, re-qualification scenarios, and other positioning scenarios. For our core viewers, that is extremely important and drives so much of the consumption of our content. There will also be narratives born out of the Olympics that will also help craft the back half of the year from a content perspective.

While we’re leaning heavily into narratives like that, we also now have a full development slate for programming that we’re in active conversations with our platforms about. That’s for things like the Kelly Slater – HBO Sports 24/7 show.

We’re in the market right now pitching a surfing version of the Netflix show “Drive To Survive,” working with the same production company. We’re also in full production of a Kelley Slater documentary where we’ve spent the entire year with Kelly with unfettered access.

We know there is core league content that we can put out on our platforms, and then we have that from a studio perspective. Our goal is to have all of that happening in the background so we can create narratives and help create stories that connect the global surf community.

Easy to fun make but does that satisfy? An entire year with Kelley Slater more unfettered than his note-perfect Instagram account? A behind-the-scenes look Gabriel Medina waxing his board**? The “world titles, re-qualification scenarios and other positioning scenarios” yes of course but our Longtom covers those so infinitely much better than the League itself.

But, again, easy to fun make.

Satisfied?

You tell me!

*Logan’s name changes to Larson halfway through the interview. Erik Larson has a certain ring, no?

**Chest.

No large drinks... or musubis.

This Democratic presidential primary season, here in the United States of America, has seen an unprecedented attack on surfers and the surfer way of life. Who would have ever imagined that the party of acceptance, of benevolent social love, would field a candidate as viciously surf hating as Mayor Pete Buttigieg?

As Hillary Clinton before him?

Scary times for us and our families and it would behoove us all, or at least us all Americans, to crowdfund a large piece of property, fortify it, fortify it again then put signs up that declare “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here.”

I’m sorry.

I meant “Keep Country Country.”

But I worry if we build our dreamland in Hawaii it will get bombed off the face of the earth, along with Jon Pyzel* and us, because another Mayor has surged to the lead but this one hates our roots, our Hawaiian roots, and is also merciless and extraordinarily rich.

Mike Bloomberg.

Oh the horrors and… I’m currently in Hawaii right now. I won’t say where but…….. Maui. Working on my air game etc. Working on a very nice tan etc. And Hawaii’s time zone allowed me to watch last night’s Democratic presidential primary debate live feat. Mike Bloomberg for the very first time which terrified.

Students of history will recall that Bloomberg outlawed extra-large sodas when he was mayor of New York. A personal, deep-seated vendetta. A violent bloodlust.

Students of surf will know that Hawaiians favor extra-large sodas to all other sizes as well as Spam Musubi.

Spam Musubi is, no kidding, my favorite food.

But back to extra-large sodas. I fear, truly, that if Mayor Bloomberg becomes President Bloomberg his first official act will be to bomb Hawaii off the face of the earth.

We cannot let that happen.

SOS!

Save our Spam (Musubi).

*Do think Jon Pyzel ever considered changing his name, slightly, to John Pyzel in order to form the Super Team John John John Florence?

No more Gorkin Flips.

Floridians have long become accustomed to three things: Voter fraud, heart-attacks via combination of Hooter’s spicy wings and hooters, amputation via alligator, Castro hating, bad math, Gorkin Flips and shark nibbles via curious blacktip sharks.

Oh those blacktips ain’t mean, ain’t vicious at all, just bi-curious, and in this day and age is that so wrong?

A crime?

Absolutely not but a larger menace has arrived and refuses to vacate.

Great White sharks.

And it had always been assumed that the extra-vicious “man-eaters” only passed by the Sunshine State en route to somewhere better, either north or south, but just-released data suggests that they are staying put, much like elderly New Yorkers and let us go to the News Press for the absolute latest.

Several large tagged white sharks have “pinged” off the Sunshine State coast in recent weeks, with a handful popping up in the Atlantic Ocean and more recently in the Gulf of Mexico.

It’s nothing new to nature, but it is novel to Florida folklore, which has commonly said white sharks don’t come here.

“I hear from people all the time who are excited because Florida now has white sharks,” said Tyler Bowling, program manager for the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, “but they’ve always been here.”

The OCEARCH sharks that have recently pinged in Florida waters range from the 11 foot, 6 inch male known as Nova to the smaller 8-foot, 9-inch male called Brunswick.

Both pinged well offshore of Southwest Florida this month. A third recently pinged off the Panhandle.

Coronavirus or Great White? Floridians are going to be taken down by one of the two, or maybe both, seeing that many cruise ship also abuse the state.

If you were allowed to choose, which would you pick? Death by toothy beast or death by Carnival?

Much to ponder.

Multi-millions!

I once attended an extremely exclusive investment/financial conference in Miami. The founder of the event loved throwing curve balls at the attendees, a various assortment of the world’s richest men and most savvy investors, and I was that year’s Uncle Charlie, invited to interview General David Petraeus on stage.

After my duties were done, I mingled freely, trying to glean any insight I could as to how to actually make money. I chatted with some principal of some high-end firm and told him that everything investment-wise I ever touched turned to dust, every spark of inspiration I ever had was exactly wrong.

He told me that I was extremely valuable in his field and there was even a name for it which eludes me now but something like a canary in a coal mine. Someone who gets things so wrong at such a high frequency, has such bad instincts, that others can do the opposite and win.

It made me feel good.

Two years ago, BeachGrit‘s great business mind, Jazzy P, told me that Kanoa Igarashi was going to explode and become the face of surfing. I snorted so loudly that it shook the room.

Kanoa Igarashi?

Yeah right.

Today, the very mainstream New York Times confirmed that Kanoa is, indeed, the face of surfing and becoming very rich to boot, keeping my losing streak alive.

Some bites.

-With a back story ripped from a Hollywood script, crossover charisma and surfing skill that would impress Duke Kahanamoku, Kanoa Igarashi is riding a wave of opportunity that could carry him to Olympic gold and the sport to new heights.

-Last year with surfing’s Olympic introduction picking up buzz, Igarashi’s income hit $2 million, according to Bloomberg.

-Engaging, cool, distractingly polite, multi-lingual and accomplished, Igarashi is an endorser’s dream.

-Duke Kahanamoku is widely regarded as the father of surfing, even though he won five Olympic medals in swimming including gold at the 1912 and 1920 Games, while American Kelly Slater is seen as its greatest champion with 11 world titles. In between, however, there had been no transcendent figure, and the sport is hungry for its next one.

-Underscoring his crossover potential, you are just as likely to spot Igarashi in a GQ magazine photo spread as on surfing websites in ads for surf wear apparel company Quiksilver.

-If Igarashi’s story wasn’t compelling enough, the Olympics will bring it full circle when he competes for Olympic gold at the same Tsurigasaki-kaigan beaches where his father surfed growing up.

Etc.

So, are you going to push your chips onto Igarashi? Should I destroy the young man’s potential by pushing my chips on too?

More as the story develops.