Olde School localism flashes snarling lip
as Oxnard heavies inform outsiders “If you don’t live here, don’t
surf here”
By Chas Smith
Uh oh.
Surf localism has been in steady decline over
this past decade. Perpetual surveillance, ubiquitous smart phones,
lawsuit-happy nerds, hate crimes being codified etc. have all
conspired to keep the once fearsome beach enforcer proverbially
handcuffed. Certain behavioralists have even suggested that
paddling toughs will be fully extinct by 2029.
But not if Oxnard has something to say about it.
The burgh of just over 200,000, a handful of clicks north of
Malibu, has long enjoyed a reputation for water violence. There was
a time, not long ago, when Silver Strand was surfed exclusively by
heavies. Teeth of interlopers punched out on the silver sand.
Windshields well waxed.
“Laws” n crud have emboldened a new crop of adult learners,
though, and there they drag their Wavestorms and changing mats from
Irwindale and Victorville to places they shouldn’t.
Until now.
For now, after they surf, before they step on their changing
mats, these aliens are being punched right in the mouth with a bold
new sticker reminding “If you don’t live here, don’t surf
here.”
Back to Sprinter vans they shuffle, quickly checking Zillow for Oxnard home
values.
Regret for not pouncing on property back in 2018
overwhelming.
On that subject, what is your biggest regret of the last six
years?
Get it off your chest amongst friends.
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Erik Logan (pictured) gone but not
forgotten.
Former World Surf League CEO Erik Logan
posts cryptic video of himself trapped in closet after announcement
of replacement
By Chas Smith
"Seemed easy enough."
While the announcement of video game executive
Ryan Crosby taking the reins of the World Surf League as new chief
has barely begun to process, surf fans immediately became concerned
for Erik Logan, wondering how the former big boss is faring.
Logan’s Instagram account, a source of joy and accidental sexual
harassment when he was in charge, was the first stop.
Though he had darkened it for months directly after his brutal
dismissal, the lights were turned back on not long ago as the
Oklahoman pivoted to the inspirational speaking circuit.
Helping others turn their passion into their profession.
Logan’s response to the Crosby news, anyhow, a cryptic video of himself trapped
in a closet, seemingly not pleased though also pleased enough to
throw crying laughing emojis.
What could it possibly mean?
Logan, of course, went entirely unmentioned in the World Surf
League’s official rolling out of its latest charge, owner-in-chief
Dirk Ziff merely dropping, “We are thrilled to welcome Ryan Crosby
as the new CEO of the World Surf League. Ryan’s exceptional track
record across some of the most important media platforms, his
authentic, approachable manner, and his genuine passion for surfing
make him a great fit to lead the WSL into its next chapter of
growth and innovation.”
But we won’t forget Erik Logan, will we.
On that note, do you imagine Ryan Crosby will ring our ELo up
and pick his brain? Get a little inside info? Borrow sitting
champion Filipe Toledo’s chest?
He’d be remiss not to.
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Crosby (pictured) ready for anything.
“Weird and unnecessary” wait over as World
Surf League taps video game exec as new CEO!
By Chas Smith
"What I love about surfing is that it’s an
incredible competitive sport, but it’s also much more than
that."
It seems like an eternity since Erik Logan
became “no longer with the company.” Last year, at this time, the
Oklahoman with a magical wetsuit of armor was as much a part of
professional surfing as, say, Joe Turpel’s velvety pipes. He was
here, there, everywhere. Sucking the wind straight out of Jack
Robinson. Wearing Filipe Toledo’s torso skin.
The all singing, all dancing crap of the World Surf League.
And then, like that, he was gone.
His employer giving no reason, just an icy silence that dragged on
and on and on in weird and unnecessary ways.
Until today.
For today, professional surfing has its captain. But let us
extend a warm BeachGrit welcome to Ryan Crosby who comes to us via
Riot Games. According to
Sportico, which broke the exciting news:
Crosby joined Riot, the developer of League of Legends and
Valorant, in 2021, after previous stops at Activision, Netflix and
Hulu. Atop the WSL, Crosby will be responsible for continuing to
grow its digital footprint, marketing surfing stars and taking
advantage of the spotlight the sport will receive this summer as
Olympians compete in Tahiti.
Crosby, for his part, declared, “What I love about surfing is
that it’s an incredible competitive sport, but it’s also much more
than that. It’s a way of life, a passion and a deeply committed
global community. I am excited to leverage my experience to elevate
the WSL brand, deepen our connection with fans and continue
building something that surfers can be proud of.”
The World Surf League, for its part, emphasized that Crosby “has
a personal passion for surf” and is involved with Surfrider.
Should the “personal passion” lesson have been learned after
Erik Logan brought it with him to Brazil never to be seen
again?
More as the story develops.
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Surf town in fury after car thief who
nearly killed baby in pram escapes Gold Coast mob!
By Derek Rielly
"There’s heaps of petty crime here but it’s
psychotic what he did."
Last Sunday, a furore erupted after a car thief, fleeing
an enraged mob, nearly drove a surfer’s car into a daddy pushing a
pram at D- bah, just over the hill from Snapper there.
Car thefts, and stabbings and homicides, hits, ain’t anything
new on the Gold Coast, the joint is crawling with junkies and
gangsters and whomever else is locked into the system, as they
say.
But what made this car theft different was how many people he
nearly flattened on his way out of the carpark, and how widely
disseminated the footage was.
As it turned out, the surfer whose 2104 Toyota Prado, forty k or
so if you wanted to buy, these things hold their value, is an old
pal of DR’s, a surf industry vet called Liam Geale.
Geale is forty-three, six-two, a lean TRT-buffed two-twenty
pounds, a jiujitsu purple belt and fight fan. Not the sorta cat you
want confronting you while you’re sitting in the front seat trying
to take the family whip away.
Geale was enjoying a post-surf debrief with his pal and
shaper Alex Crews when he heard the
familiar gurgle and roar of his customised exhaust system.
“I went, ‘That’s my fucking car,’” says Geale. “I turned around
and saw it pulling out slowly. I was trying to register what was
happening.”
Geale says he walked over, “hurriedly paced” is how he describes
it, opens the door and tells the unofficial driver,
“Get of my fucking car, mate.”
The car thief is little compared to monster Geale and has
already moved the seat close to the steering wheel and, safety
conscious, is strapped in with his seat belt.
He roars off, door swinging open, and heads to the cul-de-sac at
the northern end of the beach where you turn around and head back
towards either up the hill to Rainbow Bay or around the headland to
Tweed Heads and Coolangatta.
A carpenter moves his car into the middle of the road, blocking
access.
Someone calls the cops.
The car thief drives around the edge of the embankment, Geale
thinks he’;s going to flip the Prado and roll onto the beach.
Thief is lucky. Someone moves their car as he’s flying past,
opening the road. The man with the pram with a two-year-old inside
flies down the rock embankment to escape being crushed.
(Geale will later get a message from a pal telling him his car
flew around a blind corner on the way out doing eighty clicks,
nearly taking him out.)
Cops come.
Geale’s phone is still in the car so they use Find iPhone to
track it down at a nearby mall. The thief is later filmed on CCTV
running through the Tweed Heads hospital and being collected by
accomplices in another car.
The event solidified two things in Geale’s mind, one, never to
use those surf lock box things. The u-bolt was in tact, the bandit
has simply prised it open. Two, it reinforced how tight the surf
community is on the Gold Coast and Tweed.
Geale says it’s an interesting town ‘cause you’re valued on your
etiquette and ability in the water, not on how much you earn or how
much you spent on your Palm Springs lookalike joint with the palm
trees and cactus arranged just so in the paved front yard.
Liam Geale and fight lord Izaak Michell, post
wrestle.
Geale runs The Board Lab, about as
core a surf shop as you’ll get in this VAL-dominated epoch,
attached to the front of the Sharp Eye factory in South Tweed
Heads. No clothes, boards, fins, wax and leashes. Like surf shops
of yore it even sponsors surfers.
“It smells like surfboards and there’s actual surfers. Jack
Robinson will come through picking up boards, Rio Wada will be
here.”
About the theft, Geale says he’s been getting DMs from all over
the world saying things like, “I hope you get him, I hope he gets
what he deserves.”
The cops are taking it real seriously, given the kid in the pram
bit.
“There’s heaps of petty crime here but it’s fucking psychotic
what he did,” says Geale. It was almost like a car jacking.”
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Open Thread: Comment Live on Day one of
Margaret River Pro!
By Chas Smith
Fat and messy. Like popcorn smeared with
carcinogens.