"Back in the day, when Dino was a hot commodity, I worked at Victory Wetsuits..."
San Clemente’s Kolohe Andino is, without doubt, one of America’s greatest surfing talents. The still-young man, strong and proud, has grown up in the spotlight. Born to a professional surfing father and showing much promise early, a bright future perched easy on his broad shoulders. Andino went on to win more National Scholastic Surfing Association titles in history then burst onto the then-Association of Surfing Professionals ready to conquer the world.
Except… a decade-plus on and he has yet to win a Championship Tour event.
Not one.
Making matters worse, he is currently sitting well below the mid-season cut line with grim prospects of Challenger and Qualifying Series ahead.
What went wrong?
Surf fans have scratched a collective head for years but the answer to the riddle, and its possible solution, was just delivered from beyond the grave.
David Lee Scales and I get together weekly for a chat, as you know, and some fantastic characters who have been part of that ride. One of the most memorable was Drummer Dave. On yesterday’s program, Drummer Dave’s longtime friend The Ripper called in to share that his pal had lost his fight with cancer and was no longer with us. David Lee and I reflected on the laughs, with David Lee providing an old email that Drummer Dave had sent.
I heard you guys talking about Dino Andino today and it reminded me of an encounter with him,” it began. “I thought I’d share.”
Back in the day, when Dino was a hot commodity, I worked at Victory Wetsuits. I was the shipping guy and the iron on logo guy which by default made me the team wetsuit guy. Back then guys would get paid if they got a pic in a mag showing a logo. So the team guys would come in and get their suits and have me put logos where they thought they could get in a pic. Dino came in to get a suit and while he was waiting for me to do the logos he decided he would just go into the break room fridge and get something to eat and drink. The fridge was in the area that was an employee break room. It had a table with a coffee maker, micro wave, toaster oven, etc., the fridge, time clock, table for eating lunch, and a couch. Well Dino just dug in. All the people that worked in the warehouse were basically Chinese immigrants who worked in the gluing section or the sewing section, and I could see they were getting upset. I tried to tell Dino not to do it but he was just clueless and didn’t seem to get it. I wouldn’t want to accuse him of being high or anything but it wouldn’t surprise me. I told the boss about it and it was just swept under the rug because he was a team rider. It left a bad taste in my mouth for Dino from then on. And actually I find myself not allowing myself to even like Kolohe lol.
Ha!
But also, a brilliant way forward for Kolohe? A breaking the log jam? I’d imagine all he needs to do is hire a food truck, pull it up in front of a factory where many Chinese laborers work, preferably one that makes wetsuits, and feed them all lunch.
Boom.
And thank you, Drummer Dave.
Too many talented surfers walk in their fathers shadows and are doomed forever.
Just a beautiful new blood feud and fairly convenient for Dino to drive down a few Exits and land a solid Chas jab
Technically he was an employee, so not sure what the issue would be.
I don’t know if your labeling of Parsons as a”Big Wave” surfer is an indication of your age or not… but you do know that in the 80’s and 90’s he was a PSAA Tour champ – where all events were held in small surf (as was Dino, Machado, Knox etc), was on the World Tour for over a decade and unlike his pupil has actually won a CT event (maybe two?) in an era where Curren, Occy, Barton, Carrol, Sunny and Pottz competed. Which is more CT victories than I can say for current, acclaimed coaches in Micro or say Tom Whitaker. He was not even close to being a top level, small wave surfer – which probably lends even more credence to his competitive heat strategies. I don’t think Snips is the problem. I think Kolohe is.
But Snips has never eaten brown bread in his life.
Oh I’m not saying anything different.
The story illustrates the kind of shit that sponsors would put up with. They got a guy with talent, and nothing else mattered. It went to some guys’ heads, and they’d crash and burn. Some were successful enough in the water that their bullshit was tolerated. Surfers even revered certain dicks, for being dicks — what we now call “beta male behavior” I guess. Miki Dora was probably the pioneer.
Before Andy, there was David Eggers in La Jolla. It took 5 more years before he ODed out in the desert. These guys were mentally ill and really needed help. Nobody wanted to rock that boat.
Like with so many rock stars over the years, the money people looked the other way. Andy Irons was a wakeup call, though I doubt the Woozle really gives a fuck. They just act like they do because otherwise they’d look evil.
Ever hang out with someone with a Red Bull sponsorship? It’s interesting.
Red Bull takes it upon themselves to teach their athletes how to behave like civil adults, and also makes it clear that they pay well, so they expect their athletes to act like professional athletes, not junkies.
It’s a very different world. I may miss the grit when I remember old working class, biker Huntington Beach. But the darkest underbelly of surfing wasn’t exactly pretty.
OTOH when I was little, spiny lobster was so cheap, I remember my Dad cooking it up all the time. I loved it. And you could catch legal (22″+) halibut off the HB Pier.
Dino was a jerk among a crowd of jerks. At least he wasn’t hooked in with the Norteños like the Santa Cruz guys that the magazines hyped up and also covered for.
Nostalgia is a mixed bag, especially when we remember the assholes and the ODs.
But I feel like I’m babbling now.😁
We all have been stoned and done something stupid. The Andinos are good family men and they are alright with me.
He would literally have to go to China to do that.
Come to think of it, do you think there are Taco trucks in China?
The guy was a PSAA/Bud Tour turned big-wave tow-surfer… not a whole lot of ‘CT experiences to share. I DID think he was cool in the old Rusty videos when I was a grom. He played the sponsor game really well in the 80’s.
…He was on the CT for close to 10yrs I believe (maybe more) and I know he actually DID WIN at least one CT event in small shitty Australian lefts. So he does not really have a lack of CT experience.
Right you are Bob.. I did a little digging around and found He was in fact on the ASP World tour and was as high as 5th (tied w/ Curren) one time in the rankings but generally hovered around 14th spot. Soo in closing I guess we can say he has SOME world tour experience to share…just not the winning formulas K-hole needed.
Gorilla: https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Kolohe is a very successful surfer and a bro. What are you guys even talking about?
You gotta give it Chloe. Out of all the so called prodigies, he/she is still hanging in there, like a turd that won’t flush
before i get further along…(target)…
Cruising! He’s set for life $$$
Dino just had da munchies give him a break
Kolohe’s team can only be blamed but for so much. More than a decade on tour without a single win? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, if he’s hungry. It takes more than talent. Tour winners aren’t just competitors. They are insatiable predators. Look at the killer instincts of surfers like Andy. He would’ve paddled out with a baseball bat to bludgeon Kelly if the rules allowed. Kelly was cool on land to a point, but was famous for diabolical head games and took no prisoners in the water. Mick and the Aussies used national pride to fuel their fire. They couldn’t stand Slater and broadcast their not so subtle opinions, calling Americans “seppos,” short for septic tank. That’s what it takes to win on tour. Kolohe’s talent was enough to win amateurs, but everyone on tour is gifted. You gotta be a shark to win on tour. Kolohe looks like a Koala. We all know what a Shark would do to a Koala in the water.
Septic Tank=Yank
Cockney rhyme not necessarily as much of a slur as could be interpreted.
Like not really wanting to put dead-horse on a pie.
Where I come from, a monkey suit is something you buy at Macy’s.
Kolohe surfing is too coached, he was much spicier as a junior.
Parson’s reinvented himself big wave, but the bulk of his career was a system surfer, the opposite of Dino.
Parson’s tapped the lip to make Dave Stansfield seoon under PTs instruction. No spray, no risk ride it to the sand. Homogeneous sterile and impotent. He and Chris Mauro drove down from Laguna listening to PTs instruction on 8 track tape. Vanilla custard was the Bud Tours fav flavor and they free surfed to that criteria. Well, reality is they both never free surfed.
Dino was a wild animal by comparison.
When Kolohe got burned by judges at Dbah, he flew home instead of to Victoria. No dog in him, none. Accepted loss for the comfort of home. No dog in him.
Ke11y never flew home.
In fact, those of us of that time and place could NEVER imagine Dino’s kid being coached by Parsons someday. Polar opposites
kolohe’s headset pre-contest play list needs revised…
Less Enya, for sure.
find i musta got lost by JGeil’s. its a motivator. early swat…sleppin, jivin…betta than rap.
Kolohe just needs to identify as a chick.
Dino was a feral kid, from a generation where surfing was gritty, breaks were none too friendly, and San Clemente was not so freshly painted as it is today. It wasn’t so expensive, either.
Kolohe lives in a sanitized world by comparison. That means pros need to approach competition more like a business. Talent is just the foundation.
Gen Xers like me kind of miss the grit and find the WSL’s PGA-like image with some added enviro-hippie lip service between heats, to be progressively more nauseating.
But then, one can actually make a living off being a top pro, now. Pro Billiards used to be a better choice, financially.
But really, the world where Kolohe is trying to rise to the top, is different from Dino’s world.
Thank God for Sex Wax and neoprene. At least a surf shop still smells the same.
Fuck yeah.
Spot on about the clam too….
nippon clams or pisxmo? upon delivery…smell ’em first
San Clemente
knock-off tacos and small shrimps…the capistramos birds…steep cliffs…built ladder stairs/
Don’t feel too bad for them. They are millionaires.
I don’t.
Makes sense, given your name.
Look around, around
The second drummer drowned
His telephone is found