"All action, no lulls."
The wait is finally over. Surf fans have, since the invention of the World Surf League in 2015 circa 1976, have circled these rough dates on the calendar and wait with bated breath each and every year. For it is generally around this time, here, that the “global home of surfing” releases its tagline which will be used for the season.
The World Surf League, dedicated to changing the world through the inspirational power of surfing by creating authentic events, experiences, and storytelling to inspire a growing, global community to live with purpose, originality, and stoke, has produced some memorable ones in the past.
But who, here, could forget the classic “You can’t script this” which directly highlighted the fact that professional surfing can, in fact, be easily scripted.
Or the gem “It takes a tour to make a title” that was rolled out right as the brain trust was sorting out how to make a title happen in one finals day.
All very good but 2024’s has to be the best.
“All action, no lulls.”
Now, the aforementioned surf fans know, well, that professional surf watching is around 80% lull, even when the waves are firing. We also know that this past 2023 Championship Tour season reached a whopping 97% lull. It is an accepted part of the game, moments when Joe Turpel dribbles words, Strider Wasilewski ups amp, Pete Mel considers orthopedic shoes. “Lulls” are essential but I’m certain the conversation around flat seas reached all the way to the offices of the twin CEOs, whom took over after Erik Logan’s belittling, and started the wheels turning.
How to fix?
Like anyone who has ever been taught “how to master a job interview” in high school, the WSL brass decided to turn weakness into strength, though.
Seriously.
The new slogan is “All action, no lulls.”
David Lee Scales and I discussed, anyhow, during our weekly chat along with a dive into professional baseball being way, way edgier than surfing.
In the parlance of our time, it was “all action, no lulls.”
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In the podcast, David Lee and Chas make the point that most pro surfers today are boring.
They long for “interesting characters.”
What makes a surfer an interesting character?
They struggled to put their finger on it. What is the archetype that once existed but has since disappeared?
They kept coming back to “volatile.” It was close but didn’t quite capture it. Chas said anti-hero, which seemed closer. A “bad boy,” someone with an edge, whose behavior was unpredictable, who had a penchant for getting in trouble, wasn’t afraid to drop an f-bomb on live TV, had an anti-authoritarian streak, was punk rock.
They brainstormed a few names: Jeremy Flores. Noa Deane before he changed, Chris Ward. But failed to come up with anyone who matched the bill.
So Ibgot all compulsive and brainstormed my own list, off the top of my head and by no means exhaustive, then assigned them to categories. Some crossed categories – an imperfect exercise.
Cultural factors: Australia seems to produce a preponderance of men who are either shy-reserved-polite or cocky/brash. South Africa is the same but with less cockiness:
Shy-Reserved-Polite
John Florence – McGillivray – Jack Robinson – Mark Richards – Cheyne Horan – Ethan Ewing
Cocky-Brash
Young Tom Carroll – Brad Gerlach – Andy Irons – Occy – Dane Reynolds – Mick Fanning (when drunk) – Gabriel Medina – Chris Ward – Chris Davidson – Zeke Lau – Mikey Wright – Jeremy Flores – Young Noah Deane – Kalani Robb – Dino Andino – Kolohe Andino – Jacob Szekely – Rabbitt
Nice-Nerdy-Smart
Nate Florence – Kai Lenny – Ben Gravy – Tom Curren – Mason Ho – Gerry Lopez – Rob Machado – Sterling Spencer – Jamie O’Brien – Ben Gravy – Dave Parmenter – Griffin Colapinto
Note: Curren and Parmenter could have gone in the shy category
Boring: Mike Parsons – Damien Hardman
Passionate: Brazilians – threw them all in there
Gentlemen : Shaun Tomson – Kelly Slater
Gregarious: Barton Lynch – Jackson Baker – Italo
Macho : Ian Cairns – Laird (pre-Gabrielle) – Dane Kealoha
Conclusion
I think Chas and David Lee have nostalgia for a time – and an archetype – the bad boy anti-hero who also manages to be a serious pro surfer – that for all intents and purposes never really existed, a mythology based perhaps on Miki Dora but which was never replicated.
Most pro surfers are not very interesting, at least not in a volatile, punk rock sort of way. Occy and Andy Irons perhaps. Plenty of them are interesting if you remove the anti-hero criterion: Sterling Spencer, Nate Florence, Jackson Baker, TC, Gabriel, Tom Curren, Gerlach, even Lsird. But being smart or a good writer doesn’t necessarily make you interesting – e.g., Dave Parmenter.
Who have I missed?
100% action…0% lull
https://packaged-media.redd…
All show, no go.
All business, no core
97% lull? Come on Chas, you’re being too harsh on our beloved wsl. And sincerely, I think you’re taking these numbers out of your arse. According with the data I’ve collected this year, we had 76% lull, 23% waves caught during ad breaks and 2% live action.
My God I pray this does not mean more commentator dribble from the likes of flick and turpple.
It’s right up there in the pantheon of strap lines
Apple’s ‘Think different’
Nike’s ‘Just do it’
Shaggys’s ‘It wasn’t me!’
Rip curl: made by surfers for surfers.
If any of you have ever had a proper pint of Guinness you will know that it is initially poured 4/5ths of the way, left for about a minute to settle and then finished off ensuring a delicious creamy pint. To pour it straight is a recipe for a flat rancid pint. Guinness have built all there advertising campaigns around anticipation, forgoing instant gratification for something worthwhile. “Worth waiting for” should have been the WSL’s tagline (which would also have been a lie – but a better lie)!
https://youtu.be/w9ogzVyTtc…
“Oh yeah, we’re waiting…with baited breath…delayed gratification.” Drink up all youPeople.
really simple to rectify, just surf all events in a wave pool
Lame as Logan’s surf skills.
All action no lulls. What nonsense. Just never ending lay days which are certainly lulls with no action. And occasional microscopic surf with no watchable action thus a defacto lull.
We aren’t radical enough for Dicken’s Sake. Drink with us!
https://ia601501.us.archive…
bait me…I’m Leaving Las Vegas for Mav’s…Surfer, The Mom…Mother Elisabeth’s Shue and Olson are on the ceiling. they all say I should just quit drinking.
“Nope, I can’t have no stalls in my x-action. BTW, am still counting distance between swell. (Live like Jay Moriarty) there’s a big one comeing!”
Just commercial breaks when there’s a set coming…
jukebox. got a quarter? i’ll play it! covered al dimeola earlier (full album). Ok, next up is Neil’s After The Gold Rush’s
SouthernBrazilian Man (“better keep your head, don’t forget what your new lead judge says: “Don’t complain, makes us all look bad…Luliman.”Did they take Bells off the tour? I know J-Bay gone, but….
Has any professional sports league in the history of organized professional sports had a slogan? I’m not talking the teams. The league?
Nope. That’s the sponsor’s job. Pro sports are all ‘non-profits.’ Think NFL and WSL…
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0…
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
All action no lulls but the new head judge is called Luli.
Sounds about right.
What happened to surfing? Beastly big neck looking chunkers running a sport that once had taste. Here’s a little walk down memory lust.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
It’s hilarious how much closer ‘no action, all lulls’ is to the truth.
low action, mo’ lulls
This surely means we won’t be seeing the “we’ll be right back” screen anymore right?
To be fair, the “We’ll be right back” hold screens are usually when most of the waves are ridden.