"It's him! It's really him!"
With the landmark study revealing the average participation age, in surfing, to be 45-to-49 years young now officially part of the canon, wave sliders near and far are celebrating things they love publicly and without shame. Totems of this surfing life that were once hidden so the “youth” wouldn’t see and point mocking fingers. The musical stylings of Pennywise, for example, or the 1987 film North Shore.
Oh, any and every middle-to-upper-middle age cis white male has seen the classic multiple times. First on VHS, later on DVD, lastly streaming. It tells the story of Rick Kane, an Arizona surf standout who wins a contest in a pool, a drawing kit, a belt buckle and enough airfare for a trip to Oahu’s fabled North Shore. Once there he is treated to a heavy wake-up call via the powerful waves, sharp reef and serious local justice. He falls for Sam George’s ex-wife, is taken under the wing of a Pyzel-like surfboard shaper and eventually beats Laird Hamilton by discovering his soul.
Powerful.
And while surf fans have long been aware of Turtle, played by John Philbin, regularly popping up on the scene, Rick Kane’s Matt Adler has been harder to glimpse.
You can understand, then, the explosion of prepubescent glee when Adler was recently snapped on what was identified as the North Shore holding an expertly waxed mid-length and looking resolute.
Examining the photos further reveals he is nowhere near the North Shore, likely California, which lightly diminishes the joy.
In any case, the Daily Mail discusses Adler’s career in depth. How he rode from Michael J. Fox vehicle Teen Wolf into his North Shore role then alongside teen heartthrobs Corey Haim and Corey Feldman in Dream a Little Dream. His career later stalled but, apparently, he is friends with George Clooney and also much-loved by 45-to-49 year old male surfers the world over.
Beautiful nostalgia.
Speaking of, what do you image former World Surf League CEO Erik Logan is up to these days?
Home eating tubs of ice cream or is he preparing a crack legal team to challenge his ultra-harsh dismissal? He has stopped “liking” photos of Chief of Sport Jessi Miley-Dyer.
Smoke or fire?
More as the story develops.