“The best thing about a Republican woman is no penis!”

Ever since the WSL’s popular CEO and former Oprah confidante Erik Logan was mysteriously disappeared midway through the Vivo Rio Pro, there has been much speculation about his long-term replacement. 

Surfer magazine, once the bible of the sport now a “dystopian zombie site” following a takeover by a tech-powered media company”, has anointed Dave Prodan, the WSL’s Strategy and Brand Officer, the living embodiment of the WSL’s pivot away from surfing’s roots and to its generously inclusive LGBTQ+ friendly model.

The Australian surf website, Stabmag, meanwhile, has veered sharply left, choosing pro snowboarder-turned-super-agent Circe Wallace, also the wife of BeachGrit principal Charlie Smith. 

The smart money, of course has always been on Dana Point’s Pat O’Connell, the fifty-two-year-old president of Florence Marine X, the eponymous waterman-brand of two-time world champ John John Florence. 

Patty, noted for being fiercely proud of and prone to exhibiting his monstrously elongated scrotum, pivoted out of a successful pro surfing career into VP Of sports marketing job at Hurley before becoming the WSL’s Head of Tour and Competition and, two years ago, joining his old mentor Bob Hurley at FMX. 

While Head of Tours and Competition at the WSL, Patty was adored for his King Solomon-like decision making. 

In one decision so sage and so wonderful it could be registered in an updated version of the Hebrew Bible Patty  ordered one of the two injury wildcards to be split between the Australian Mikey Wright and the Italian Leonardo Fioravanti.

And we can’t forget when Pat pushed back against a rebellious Kelly Slater in Brazil in 2019. Read, “Tensions flare in Brazil as Kelly Slater challenges WSL’s Pat O’Connell during filming of epic docuseries Lost Tapes”

Who better to step into Erik Logan’s oversized boots, yes? 

An online sleuth has thrown Patty’s candidacy into doubt, however, after rummaging through his Twitter likes.

“Not entirely the WSL’s values align with those of Mr O’Connell. Just a hunch,” writes Full-On Steez IV.

The former world #11 who has wrinkles on his face like cat whiskers and who once told Surfer he wanted to be friends with everybody on tour liked what might be called, in zeitgeist-y parlance, “problematic” tweets, including one from Ted Nugent where he writes “the best thing about Republican women is…no penis.” 

Another tweet liked, “The GOP has introduced a bill that will only allow American flags to fly over US embassies. No more BLM or pride flags. DO YOU SUPPORT THIS BILL?” 

As I said, very problematic. 

So, if no Patty, then who? 

“I’ve never felt so alone and powerless”

The five-time world surfing champion Carissa Moore, the living embodiment of the famous Aloha spirit, says she was “violated” and “handled inappropriately”by Houston airport security earlier today as she made her way back to Hawaii from Brazil. 

In a story to her more than half-a-million fans the thirty-year-old Olympic gold medallist who finished third in the Vivo Rio Pro wrote, 

“Went through security at the Houston airport, felt violated and disrespected when I was searched. No one had the decency to listen and treat me with kindness. I’ve never felt so alone and powerless. I’m fine but pretty shaken up. I don’t think I deserved to be treated that way. No one does. Trying to have some empathy for them. Maybe they are going through something, how knows. Let’s try to be a little more patient, kind and understanding with each other.” 

A few hours later Moore continued, 

“I really appreciate all the kind messages. I’m truly grateful for the loving community around me and support. I definitely don’t feel alone. 

“What happened to me was unacceptable and I just hope to encourage some improvement. I am more than ok. I realise how fortunate I am that I don’t ever have to deal with these types of situations and others have been though or have had to deal with way worse situations of being handled inappropriately or feeling powerless.

“We all have the power everyday to choose the kind of person we want to be and the kind of energy we want to share with the world. To those working TSA, I hope to encourage more patience, kindness and empathy towards travellers. I feel fortunate to be able to travel a lot and have a decent understanding of the flow at the airport but others do not. Some people move a little slower than others, don’t know what to take out of their bags and put in a bin or how to stand in an X-ray machine.

“Pat downs are uncomfortable and an invasion of personal space but we all do it for the safety of each other. I’ve had more than I can count and all have been pretty fine. Please proceed with care, be gentle and sensitive.

“You as a trained officer have the power to make this experience for someone a positive one, to ease someone’s anxiety and send them on their journey with your love and kindness. You matter and make a difference.” 

Ain’t that the sweetest takedown ever? A lesson in conflict resolution, a model for all Americans?

"Your (sic) lying. Stop it…your mistruths and lies about what happened are just that – lies… this is one area where you're (sic) attempt to rewrite history won't work." 

As music fans move heaven and hell to get a seat at one of the Taylor Swift Eras Tour gigs, a three-hour show that covers each of Swift’s studio albums, freshly exhumed tweets from dumped WSL Erik Logan have revealed the wild blood feud between the two cultural giants. 

Logan, now fifty-two, you’ll remember, was disappeared by the WSL mid-event at the Vivo Rio Pro, no reason given, only a curtly worded press release that neither thanked nor exalted their high-profile CEO. 

“Today, the World Surf League (WSL) announced that CEO Erik Logan has departed the company, effective immediately. As the WSL begins the process of identifying a new CEO, Emily Hofer, WSL’s Chief People and Purpose Officer, and Bob Kane, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer, will jointly lead the company and continue to drive the WSL’s mission to showcase the world’s best surfers on the world’s best waves as the global home of competitive surfing.”

You’ll remember the contrast with his predecessor Sophie Goldschmidt’s presser.

“Sophie has had a huge impact on the WSL. She is responsible for transforming both our business capabilities and culture in her tenure as CEO. With the converging trends in sports, media and entertainment, we mutually agreed it was time to make a change. Erik Logan is a proven leader and a world-class media executive with a profound personal connection to the sport of surfing. We are excited about what he will accomplish as CEO. We will always be grateful to Sophie for her contributions to surfing and we look forward to the WSL’s next chapter.”

In the deleted Tweets from four years ago, Logan, in the words of BeachGrit’s Chas Smith, “came swinging in on a dispute she has with a man named Scooter Braun. Scooter Braun is a manager who represents or represented Kanye West, Justin Bieber etc. He somehow gained control of Taylor Swift’s back catalogue and she wrote an angry missive on Tumblr (the “lemon squeezey” Instagram) declaring, “I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.”

According to Elle Magazine… “Erik Logan, the former president of the Oprah Winfrey Network and a board member of Big Machine, wrote a scathing letter to Swift on Twitter that he has since deleted. In the message, he said, “For someone who draws such power from being the ‘voice’ and against all the things you talk about, I’m watching you violate what you allegedly stand for. You’re the real bully.”

The deleted tweets are something, Logan telling Swift “your power is fading, your shine is dull and this is what bully’s do, they lash out – especially when they are called to stand in the truth. Your (sic) lying. Stop it…your mistruths and lies about what happened are just that – lies… this is one area where you’re (sic) attempt to rewrite history won’t work.”

The main takeaway from the old tweets, I suppose, is Logan’s struggle with the concept of your and you’re.

The confusion between “your” and “you’re” often arises due to their similar pronunciation. However, as Logan must know, they have different meanings and uses.

“Your” is a possessive pronoun that indicates something belongs to or is associated with the person or group being addressed. For example, “I like your pussy” means that the pussy belongs to the person you are speaking to.

“You’re” is a contraction of “you are.” It combines the pronoun “you” with the verb “are” to express a state of being or an action. For example, “You’re going to get sacked” means “You are going to get sacked”.

The confusion often occurs because both “your” and “you’re” sound the same when spoken, making it easy to mix them up in writing. Logan may not fully understand the grammatical rules or may simply have made the  mistakes while typing or writing quickly, perhaps too furious.

“They’re targeting toxic dopamine hits instead of showcasing great surfing in great waves.”

The World Surf League has backed up the sudden disappearing of its very public CEO Erik “Elo” Logan mid-event with another controversy, this time missing only the second perfect ride of the season on the final day at the Vivo Rio Pro.

(Unfancied Australian Callum Robson, you’ll remember, “melted brains of surf fans with first perfect ten of the season at ‘crazy, dangerous’ Portugal Pro.”)

If you were watching the contest live, instead of being gifted the sight of Brazilian Yago Dora’s beautifully executed frontside 540 you were being shown a panorama of spectators on the beach, not untypical of an organisation that regularly misses key moment in its broadcast.

Aside from debate over whether or not the air should’ve been given a ten (“At least the judges get out of Brazil’ alive”), fans on the WSL’s own account were furious they had to watch it as a reply and not live.

Terrible broadcast, at the time of the most important wave they cut to commercial. No one saw Yago Dora’s 10 due to WSL incompetence. Shame!

wsl doesn’t know how to make entertainment. that doesn’t happen in the NBA.

What kind of broadcast takes breaks in the middle of sets?? Like “here’s 1st and goal for a game winning touchdown, let’s take a quick commercial break”

just like the JJF vs Yago heat. 2 min left in the heat with JJF needing a 6.6 and they cut to introduce Simmers and Wright for literally no reason.

They’re targeting toxic dopamine hits instead of showcasing great surfing in great waves. It sucks.

they have gotten REALLY bad at missing live action with fluff bullshit. It’s beyond frustrating.

Yes,and thank you,watching it with my grandson,and that happens, we’re like what! Then,they do it again! Go to the taped commercial and keep running it,we’re stoked and wanting to see Yago coming out of the water and his chair up,but no! then the post show does not show up either! Seriously, why?

it was unbelievable. They strive for viewers and they f@ckd us right in the best part to show the crowd???

Meanwhile, dumped CEO Erik Logan, a man who once, and very publicly, took the world’s biggest pop star Taylor Swift to task, has quietly removed his WSL CEO role from his Instagram account.

“Living life one wave at a time. Make your passion your life,” writes Elo. “Onward.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by World Surf League (@wsl)