Big trouble in little Coronado.

We all, each of us, love a David vs. Goliath story. Little guy taking down the giant with moxie and a few smooth pebbles. Small crushing big. Though, in life, the hulk generally wins and the bantam is swept away. And let us travel to the island of Coronado, just off San Diego, to learn of a Goliath vs. David story that has a billionaires fist pumping and a sole proprietor surf school owner obliterated.

Teevan McManus, who has lived in Coronado for much of his life and runs the Coronado Surfing Academy. Much of his business comes from lessons through the iconic Hotel del Coronado but his contract has just been terminated and handed over to the Jamie O’Brien Surfing Experience.

Was McManus piloting a leaky ship? Making poor decisions? Losing much money?

“I would understand if we did a bad job, but we did everything that was asked,” McManus told The Coronado Times. “We doubled business without a lot of support. We were cranking. We were working nonstop seven days a week. We didn’t miss a beat. I was here 83 days in a row.”

Coronado Surfing Academy grew business by 86% as compared to the Del’s previous vendor, figured out how to make it all work though sewage spills and Covid and invested between $25,000 and $30,000 for new soft tops and wetsuits. It has a five-star rating on Yelp and hires local high schoolers as instructors.

The problem?

Again, per The Coronado Times:

McManus says the decision to terminate the contract wasn’t made by the Hotel Del. He says the hotel staff has been “great” and has had nothing but praise for the Coronado Surf Academy. But his bosses at the Hotel del Coronado also have bosses.

He says that Blackstone, the New York-based private equity giant that owns the Del, ultimately made the decision to replace him with a non-local company out of Hawaii. McManus says it’s bad business.

“We kicked butt,” said McManus. “Now, they are going to replace us with a guy (Jamie O’Brien) who’s not even going to be here.”

Turns out, in addition to owning the Del, Blackstone also owns Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, which is home to pro-surfer Jamie O’Brien’s surf school brand, the Jamie O’Brien Surf Experience. McManus says that it’s because of this corporate relationship that the change was made. Jamie O’Brien has no ties to Coronado, and is only contracted to actually teach at the Del about six times a year, according to McManus.

“The thing is, these guys aren’t local,” said McManus. “I mean, if I tried to go to Hawaii and open up Teevan’s Snorkeling Tours, they would lose their minds.”

But you have certainly heard of Blackstone, no? The firm worth almost one trillion dollars that was recently involved in a child labour scandal?

I would love to have dear Jamie O’Brien close by, though, even if just six times a year.

But Blackstone really is the worst.

Conflicted.

Stab in the back.

They say that death and taxes are the only things certain in this wild world but I would also include surfing’s Stab spinelessly bending to whichever way the wind is blowing. The media house, which has bounced from one hip location just passed its prime to another, has long, and I truly hate to be crass, sucked World Surf League dick.

Always cheering, never jeering, the now Oceanside-based members-only surf blog has vigorously championed every move made by the World Surf League since billionaire Dirk Ziff’s purchase for free in 2015.

Clearly hoping to get some o dat.

Alas, some o dat did not come and now the propagandist organ is stabbing, no pun intended, the aforementioned Ziff, Chief Executive Erik Logan and the whole shooting match directly in the back.

Judas-like.

In a new bit of paywall journalism, Stab has declared the WSL is up for sale while being extremely rude to figures it once fellated.

Back in 2013, an American billionaire with a surf-enthralled wife decided to buy the Association of Surfing Professionals. He then gave it a shiny new name, restructured the operation from top to bottom, and developed an AI software called “Erik Logan” to help sell the dream, creating the World Surf League that we all know and love today.

Unfortunately, the WSL has recorded tens of millions in losses since its inception. And because the WSL is a private company with no outside investment, that means Dirk Ziff has recorded tens of millions in losses since its inception.

When you’re a billionaire, this isn’t the end of the world — a “tax write-off” as some would put it (people who make a lot of money need some losses to offset their gains). But when you’re a billionaire, you also know when the time is right to make a deal. And from the intel we’ve gathered, Ziff is in the market for a sale. Reportedly, he’s already had meetings with “very serious” suitors who are looking to take the League off his hands.

Furthering our suspicions is the fact that at the recent Surf Ranch Pro, despite very public protests from some of surfing’s biggest stars at this same event, the WSL remained incredibly calm and level-headed, and minus a tongue-lashing from Erik Logan decided not to punish Gabriel Medina, Filipe Toledo, and Italo Ferreira for their reprisals of the League

— at least not publicly.

Also: In recent weeks, we’ve heard whispers that WSL owner Dirk Ziff has been in talks to sell his entire enterprise — the league, broadcast channels, KS Wave Co, and everything in between.

The use of “whispers” and “intel we’ve gathered” is clearly disturbing, alongside Gabriel Medina, Filipe Toledo and Italo Ferreira’s “reprisals of the League” plus the lie of “no outside investment,” as Slater Wave Co. prospectors have been roped into the World Surf League, but I have been saying this World Surf League is cooked for months now.

Stab’s jumping off the ship like a rat further proof.

Extremely shoddy surf journalism to boot.

More as the story develops.