Screw you, Surfline and probably Stab.
The U.S Open of Surfing, biggest surf contest in the entire world, has wrapped but you wouldn’t even know it, would you. No. And why? Why didn’t you read of the tens upon tens of thousands of fans packing Huntington’s beach? About tour-clinching wins by Maui’s Eli Hangmen and San Clemente’s Lawyer Sinbad?
Exactly.
The surf media is no longer valuable.
It’s true, and sad, but also true as highlighted, properly, by master shaper Matt Biolos.
Lost surfboards, currently crushing the Vissla CT shaper rankings, absolutely lit in to Surfline and Stab in a scintillating missive, declaring:
Still stoked from Sunday @usopenofsurf. @elihanneman @sawyerlindblad and @crosbycola with career making performances. But I’m a bit sad for them. The complete and total lack of surf media covering the event.
In the past, the events would be crawling with surf journalists, reporting on the comp, in detail.
Now?
Nothing.
Crickets.
Lemme try:
There was easily 20,000+ people on the beach. Thousands more up/down Main St. In the surf shops , restaurants, bars. Scantily clad girls, surf stoked groms and tuned-in surf fans clashed together with inland OC masses, looking for fun on a summer weekend. Big VIP tents, filled with event sponsors mingling with what’s left of surf industry stalwarts. Brand leaders, Mktg directors, Team managers, Sales Reps, Announcers, Coaches, Athlete Managers and gruff surfboard shapers. All passionate as always.
Waves and weather were great. Peaky, punchy, fun Ca warm water beach break. Not typical one turn, close-out/Huntington hopping, hoping for quick close out on the sand. Most days stayed glassy past noon. Waves were surfed top to bottom, with multiple maneuvers. Everyone there was saying the same thing, every day: “Damn, waves look so fun out there”.
But somehow, someway, we’ve managed to lose any semblance of surf media. No magazines…at all. Not one person from a Surfing website. To thier credit, @stab tossed up a 2 min story, written by someone who wasn’t even there, saying the waves were shit and then running through #ChallengerSeries qualification scenarios. Yet overlooking the events winner (Eli, ranked 4rth on CS) out of possible qualifying (Sorry Ethan).
The @wsl site has heat replays and a few click through, video highlights, but that’s like @mlb or @nfl having to do their own news!
Where’s the @espn of surfing?
The elephant in the room? @surfline, who’s global HQ has been anchored 100 yards from HB pier, for decades. Not a peep on the website, or even the IG feed. Can’t be bothered. Those parasites content to take everyones money, to check waves on “cams”. Nothing goes on Surfline without paying Surfline.
Where’s that leave us?
Can someone step-up?
I’d sure support it.
Thankfully, at the end, I suppose, there is BeachGrit.
The People’s Surf Blog.
I visited Inherent Bummer’s epic Factory by the Sea, this year and it was in Huntington while the U.S. Open was in town and reported upon it, I think.
Brett Simpson and I had a lovely conversation.
The end.
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Not only could you sell your enthralling blow-by-blow competitive pro surfing text in English to the magazine paying your retainer and expenses for the event – you could then sell it in Spanish, Portuguese Brasileiro, German, Italian, Japanese and French, all without lifting a finger as they do the translation work themselves!
Like I’m going to show up to methed out South Side HB, one of the weirdest places in the world, with my $2500 camera to spend a full 8 hours getting skin cancer to shoot spoiled, entitled influencers in waist high bullshit, and then edit and process it for 4-8 hours on my $3500 laptop with adobe that costs $350 a year so I can hopefully get $100 dollars and a shout out from an entitled surf brand, while being constantly told my work is worthless and then inevitably get it stolen on social media and have to argue with rich kid prima donnas and exploiting team managers over why I deserve to eat food and pay rent.
I learned my fucking lesson. “I would support it” yeah right Matt! That’s why no self respecting media people showed up!! Surf brands have been shitting all over media people for years. I’m glad no one covered the event, they fucking deserve it.
Do yourself a favor, put your camera down and go surf. You’ll end up broke either way.
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People either care or they don’t no amount of stomping your feet in the ground will get them to care
What’s with all the anti-Semitic shit that gets said by people associated directly or indirectly to pro surfing?
Why call out the Jewish race because no one is interested in pro surfing and blame them?
Matt , I used to think you could run a business, now , unless you got a new model mal coming out called the Nazi with a swastika on deck and bottom your just a old man yelling at clouds how important you think you are.
Dude Matt Biolos is either Jewish or married to a jew. There was this really awkward podcast where Derek and Chas called up Matt and they started banging on about Judaism because of Matt’s background and Biolos goes “uh, can we just talk about surfing?”
So are all Jews evil or just mick fanning, I’m so confused
This might help.
https://www.swellnet.com/ne…
So Stab is Jewish?
The trophies look like pride banners – best troll ever
Because the contest is shit
I think maybe BG is ‘The Voice of The Clouds’.
Geez Biolos lives in a bubble doesnt he.
Its a fucking QS comp not CT and there hasnt been legit surf media for about 15 years since smart phones destroyed publishing.
Surely a right wing trickle down economics guy knows how economics works, right?
You should try bells when they hold it at winki.
Angry young free spirit gets old and starts worrying about his capitalist investments. Shouts at clouds because social / media changes and stuff.
Perhaps the reason there were no media representatives at the US Open is the fact that no one will PAY anyone to go there and produce contest material, either text or images.
Back in the day, there would be photographers on monthly retainers, journalists making interviews and contest coverage they could sell, now or later and plenty of freelancers, all competing to get the shot as you would be PAID by magazine publishers if the photo editor chose and published your material for the magazine coverage.
Now, no one gets paid, so there are no media representatives – only people following the Instagram feeds of “influencers” –
If Mr Biolos would like to step up and PAY a day rate to several photographers and text journalists, then he can publish their materials on the Mayhem feed –
Who calls their kid Lawyer?
Fuckwit parents , poor cunt
The sister is called ‘Client’.
And a cousin called “flaps”.
Hey Matt , has the thought crossed your mind that possibly the so called golden days of competition surfing and the general giants of the surfing industry have faded into the sunset , thankfully so many younger surfers have lost interest in that shit.
I’d go so far as to say the Olympics are going to be the Walmart option for professional surfing ie last ditch to screw every last ounce of culture from surfing.
Apart from the medals Olympic Teams also get to compete for The Fernando Aguerre Best Team Trophy ! [GASP]
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Surf contests seem fun
When Biolis describes them
Then you go to one….
Magazine? What’s that?
Americans put them in their rifles. Xox
Pack of cunts lol
this was a good article
Wow. “Eli Hangmen and San Clemente’s Lawyer Sinbad?”
Welcome to the post-truth GPT future. Not even a spellcheck comes between BeachGrit and The People.
Im hoping that it was deliberate!
Who even reads or buys magazines? MB is a goose to think people even care about contests results.
Chat bots doing the hard yards ?
Hopefully a sign of surfing’s downtrend.
Douchy McDouche Face