Bravos to the moon.

I think it is now safe to say that no sporting governing body, professional or otherwise, has experienced a string of successes anything near what our World Surf League has in the past few months. Win, win, win, baby, win. What began as one of the most watched events in history, Final’s Day there on Lower Trestles cobbled stone, led directly to WSL Senior Vice President of Tours, Head of Competition Jessi Miley-Dyer being named one of the august Sports Business Journal’s “Game Changers” for 2022, buoying World Surf League owner Dirk Ziff rocketing up Forbes definitive list of American billionaires and now this.

Being shortlisted for the “Purpose and Sustainability” prize at the Leaders in Sport Awards proudly presented by Abu Dhabi.

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For those who have never been to the United Arab Emirates, the beautiful country that counts the aforementioned Abu as its capital, let me share that both purpose and sustainability are tantamount. Desalinization plants allow the desert to bloom. Tallest buildings in the world shoot to the moon in nearby Dubai.

Golf courses where there was once only sand.

Bugattis replacing camels.

The WSL did not win, I think, but being considered victory in and of itself.

Those plants, planted near Bells Beach in Australia saving… something.

Plants planted elsewhere doing the same.

Never has greenwashing looked so good.

Many bravos.

Bravos to the moon and/or Burj Khalifa.

The Savior.

While important stories on Jonah Hill, Nathan Florence becoming a baron and etc. continue to dominate headlines, a very subtle yet profound shift has occurred in the world of professional surfing. Namely, the rise of El Salvador.

The one-time war-torn banana republic has been on the forefront of cryptocurrency, yes, but the very height of professional surfing too. El Salvador is set to host its second World Surf League Championship Tour stop next year but, more importantly, will decide Olympic gold.

Battling Huntington Beach, the self-proclaimed “Surf City” in El Sunzai and La Bocana has just been announced as the host of the International Surfing Association’s 2023 World Surfing Games.

Per the press release:

“El Salvador continues to solidify itself as an essential part of the pathway to Olympic surfing,” ISA President Fernando Aguerre said.

“We are grateful to President Bukele and [Tourism] Minister [Morena] Valdez for their understanding of the ISA’s mission, but also for their strong commitment to surfing.

“We are happy to continue to expand and strengthen this partnership, and to show the world that El Salvador is a surfing destination worthy of the world’s best events and surfers.

“Our surfers and teams from around the world have come to love and appreciate El Salvador’s beauty, warm hospitality and excellent waves.

“We look forward to returning next year as part of our paddle for a better world through surfing.”

The country’s president also added, “Surf is freedom.”

Can you imagine anything better than paddling for a better world?

Surf being freedom, as dictated from on high?

Should we move to El Salvador yesterday?

Between this and crypto, I’m begging for a negative take.

Viva the savior.

He's baaaaaack!

Surfers near and far are very aware of the great Miki Dora, how he owned Malibu during halcyon days then became vaguely reclusive, popping back on the scene from time to time before popping back out. Mystery and mayhem. Well, it appears that his heir apparent, one Jonah Hill, has taken notes and become something of a cenobite himself.

Hill recently announced that he would know longer promote his films in a public-facing manner, as it causes anxiety, and also deleted his Instagram.

Vanished from view… until, that is, he was spotted near Ventura, California in a “luxury camper.”

The Daily Mail described the “Mercedes adventure vehicle, also known as the Beast Mode 4×4” thusly:

The luxury camper van is fully decked out with mod-cons that include a two-person bed, tons of storage space, a shower, fridge and microwave.

It also is also equipped with a state of the art AC and heating system and gets its power from solar panels that are mounted on the roof.

Hill was companionless, in keeping with his new lifestyle choices, though seemed happy to be snapped, smiling and sharing a generous thumbs up.

You must click here to see.

Heart warming.

But where do you think he will go in the Beast Mode 4×4? Down Baja? Mainland Mex? Through the Darién Plug?

Adventure awaits.

To the moon!

American billionaires around the world had trouble sleeping last night as they knew Forbes would be releasing its definitive guide to some of the world’s richest people in the early morning. Who would rise? Who would fall? Who would be feted and who would be deeply shamed, unable to show poverty-stricken face in polite society again?

Well, let’s all stand and cheer professional surfing’s grand patron, the one and only Dirk Ziff who soared up one whole place to land at equal 160.

The spike can only be attributed to the most watched season in World Surf League history.

Numbers, still trickling in, are robust though very much denied by correspondent JP Currie who called them “ludicrous” and declared it a “campaign of such deliberate misinformation and manipulation that it amounts to sheer lies.”

Forbes, though, knows this sort of game better than we do and must have weighed those 8.3 million viewers for Final’s Day, there on Lower Trestles cobbled stone, accurately. Assigning each real value. Launching wealth. Ziff, and his brothers, are each worth $5.7 billion and while I don’t know where his brothers invested their riches I know surfing and I know stratospheric surges and I read chief strategist Dave Prodan discuss the reality of boom.

To the moon.

Speaking of, Elon Musk took the number one slot with his $251 billion, a whole $100b over number two Jeff Bezos. Surfing’s Mark Zuckerberg fell to eleven.

Savor the rest here.