"It's a yucky place..."

North America, stretching from Panama all the way up to Kaffeklubben Island, is as diverse a continent as any of the seven. Snow-capped mountains, rolling deserts and tens of thousands of miles of coastline. The weight placed upon the shoulders of the World Travel Awards’ judges this year, sitting in front of postcards from Waikiki, Cape Cod and Myrtle Beach and needing to pick a winner, extremely great.

Surfers, generally migratory, have long appreciated the World Travel Rewards “stablished in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.”

Very helpful for surfers planning that next shred-cation, or at least very helpful until this year when Santa Monica was named North America’s Leading Beach Destination.

The Los Angeles-adjacent homeless camp, featuring sewage-y water, consistent 2-foot closeouts and the stink of progressive policy gone wrong, beat out Vancouver Island, Maui and last year’s winner Miami Beach to take home the hardware.

Clearwater Beach, in Florida, was also beaten out.

I once went to Clearwater Beach during a tour of Florida for Surfing Magazine. The town is basically owned by Scientology and I tried to go have lunch in the Flag Service building but was blocked by guards then chased by twenty-year-olds wearing khaki pants and light blue polo shirts back to my car. It was a weird scene but the khaki/light blue was the part I found the strangest, for some reason. It lacked… le style.

Back to Santa Monica, though. Are you a fan or disgusted and consternated by its selection?

More as the story develops.

"Weak."

Things are just not going the best, right now, for Vans. Eight-ish years ago, the iconic waffle-soled surf-infused classic was riding impossibly high. On the feet of every tween to twenty-something, sleek and cool, title sponsor of the Triple Crown, no cloud in sight. Then came “the big crash.” tween to twenty-somethings opting for a different silhouette, the World Surf League taking a hammer to North Shore competitive surfing, downturn, downturn, downturn.

As the United States economy rebounded, those sitting in the corner offices of Vans parent VF Corporation might have thought their luck was going to turn back good.

Then came the fateful decision to not invite Jamie O’Brien to the upcoming Pipe Masters.

Notables such as Josh Moniz lowered their aim and blasted “Vans has nearly ruined what it means to be a Pipeline Master. The way this event has been handled in recent years, since Vans bought the rights to it, feels disrespectful to one of the most iconic waves and events in the history of surfing—right here at OUR home in Hawaii.”

Less notables in the comments piled on, excoriating various “kooks” and “barneys” at Vans who had lost their way.

Worse than being called names by surfers both high and low, though, was being described as “garbage” by than Standard and Poor. Those who dabble in the financial markets are keenly aware of S&P and its rating system. Stocks are rated from AAA to D. VF Corp. was once sitting at a lofty BBB but just got downgraded to BB, officially a “junk stock.”

According to the economic geniuses, Vans was largely to blame.

“Vans declined 11% in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, after declining over 20% in each of the last five quarters, and in the teens for the past three quarters of fiscal 2023,” according to S&P. “The sharper declines in fiscal 2024 include an inventory realignment and strategic decision to take inventory out of the wholesale channel to make space for newer products, given excess inventory levels and products not resonating with consumers in a weaker demand environment. The weak demand and inventory misalignment led to significant deterioration of (VF’s) operating results and credit metrics.”

Not stated, but clearly implied, was the aforementioned JOB’s lack of Pipe Masters invite.

Dark days.