Cracks showing.
The World Surf League’s top brass had been missing from Instagram for a whopping ten days in the aftermath of the Surf Ranch Pro’s wild insurrection. Not a peep. Not an awkward physical encounter pressed into history like a daisy into a dictionary. As you well know, Chief Executive Erik Logan and his Chief of Sport Jessi Miley-Dyer have been riding high these past few years, issuing twice daily reminders of their chill on the aforementioned social media platform. No accolade too small, no bit of zany too… zany not to share with their thousands of followers.”You never know who you’ll run into while traveling. Championship tour surfers, and even a #quokka!” Logan posted on May 15 being a li’l goof.
“Looking good for finals day!! Come for the contest – stay for my jokes. I love this place,” Miley-Dyer posted on May 28, referencing a “joke” in the video wherein she chuckles over the mechanical reliability of Kelly Slater’s plow.
Ahhh May 28. The day before three top-tier Brazilian professionals, all former champions, questioned the judging and blew the doors right off the World Surf League.
Death threats followed and rage. A massive outpouring of pent-up over-it-ness, surf fans and professional surfers alike pouring gasoline on the already raging fire.
Yet silence from the top.
Not a sound.
Or, not a sound until hours ago when Miley-Dyer penned:
I am so very proud of our @wsl surfers who have provisionally qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics this week, through our friends at the @isasurfing ! The experience of being an Olympian and the attention it brings to surfing is a fantastic one for our sport and our athletes. We were so thrilled to have our reigning World Champions at the time take the Gold in Tokyo.
And can we all take a moment to think about @kaulivaast and @vahinefierro competing at home for an Olympic medal!? Crazy!
Of course, surfers like @kanoaigarashi and @jordysmith88 still have the chance to qualify through the WSL Championship Tour until August – as we are the Tier One Qualifier. For everyone not on the Championship Tour, there are still the 2023 Pan American Games, and the 2024 ISA World Games.
Oops.
South Africa’s Jordy Smith has already punched his ticket to Tahiti and many congratulations to him.
Huzzah etc.
I suppose increasingly awkward silence until Miley-Dyer realizes her mistake and attempts to rectify?
Or will South Africa declare war on the World Surf League too leaving us with another ten days of uncomfortable silence?
War is hell.