Surfing officially number one.

We did it! We really did it! Surfing, once a backwater or derelicts and crooks, now glittering, golden and beloved by the important voters of the World Sports Photography Awards. Huzzah, huzzah and one more huzzah, for you, but the biggest huzzah to Jerome Brouillet who captured the now-iconic moment and made us all respectable and grand.

Oh but of course you know the winning image, the viral sensation, Brazil’s Gabriel Medina kicking out of a Teahupo’o wave during this past summer’s Olympic Games, pointing one finger to the sky and declaring supremacy over all sports for all of 2024.

Beating Duke vs. North Carolina State, equestrians riding during sunset (or sunrise… I can’t tell), Green Bay’s Jordan Love stretching the football toward end zone pylon, golfer Bryson DeChambeau celebrating a winning putt, a race car, diver, ping pong player, ski jumper, rugby bros, boxer about to get punched in the eye…

…Beating all-comers.

You can examine all entries, here, and arrive at the same conclusion as the judges. Namely, that the surfing kick-out is unparalleled in both grace and beauty. That it is what separates us from the rest. That we should all be working on polishing our kick-out skills in order to impress babes at the beach.

But do you think that Medina’s countryman, and notable coward, Filipe Toledo is sad that he didn’t go viral for kicking out at Teahupo’o and, thus, never having to surf the scary place again? Mark already made?

I would be if I was he.

Huzzah, huzzah.

Back to the other World Sports Photography Awards nominees, though, which one is your actual favorite?

Me?

I’ve gotta go with the cycle fella being cheered on by French bakers even though I hate cycle fellas with a passion when I am driving on the streets at home.

Idiots.

A towering, glowering wave of consequence.

It’s the moment surfers have been waiting for ever since Kelly Slater unveiled his manmade wave up in Lemoore, California one decade ago. But doesn’t it seem like yesterday that the world’s most decorated professional surfer stood in the tule fog, laughing like a maniac as a perfect barrel stood up and reeled with the push of a button?

Like satanic sorcery.

We’ve come a long way since then. Pools with different technologies, creating different sorts of waves in Palm Springs, Melbourne, Waco, Sydney, Bristol, Tenerife and Abu Dhabi. The last very close to the petro-kingdom of Bahrain which just revealed the moment surfers have been waiting for ever since Kelly Slater unveiled his manmade wave up in Lemoore, California one decade ago.

A towering, glowering wave of consequence called the “Club Hawaii Experience.”

Per the press release:

Bahrain is set to debut the Bahrain Surf Park – Club Hawaii Experience, marking the first surf park in the MENA region to utilize Spain’s advanced ‘Wavegarden Cove’ technology. Slated for an early 2026 opening, the park will be situated on Bahrain’s scenic sunset coast in the island’s southwest.

Paying homage to Hawaii as the birthplace of surfing, Bahrain Surf Park aims to infuse Hawaiian culture and vibes into its attractions and facilities. Leveraging the innovative ‘Wavegarden Cove’ technology, known for its minimal energy consumption, the park will host up to 90 surfers simultaneously and generate 1,000 waves per hour.

The surf park will offer over 140,000 surf sessions annually through the Club Hawaii Surf Academy. This academy will provide comprehensive training programs for all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned professionals, with expert instructors guiding and mentoring surfers.

etc.

Very exciting, but it was the accompanying photograph that sent surfers into paroxysms of glee/fear. A well overhead right mimicking the iconic waves found on Oahu’s North Shore.

Now, finally, surfers will be able to experience club Hawaii without fear of slaps, accidentally dropping in on a local legend or hitting the reef. Might the notable cowardly world champion Filipe Toledo be able to book time in Bahrain and overcome his fear of plus-sized waves?

Might there be a whole new generation of Khaleeji surfers ready to wrangle Shipsterns, Cape Solander, The Right, etc.?

I’ve spent much time in the Middle East and, to be honest, have a hard time imagining the gulf borne and bred wanting to experience the terror of Club Hawaii.

Same with Pip Toledo, I suppose.

But for you?

Gulf Air tickets booked?

Com Turren?

"Mr. Cravens has been incarcerated since 2007 for the tragic consequences of his impulsive violence..."

Seventeen years ago, the tony San Diego enclave of La Jolla was rocked to its core after 24-year-old up-and-coming surfer Emery Kauanui was killed after being punched in the head then crashing to the pavement. Seth Cravens, 21, delivered the deadly blow. He was part of the “Bird Rock Bandits,” described by the local CBS affiliate as “a group of longtime friends from the wealthy enclave of La Jolla’s Bird Rock neighborhood who were known as a group of bullies who picked fights and taunted those in and around La Jolla.”

On May 23, 2007, Cravens and his crew got into a drunken altercation with Kauanui at local watering hole La Jolla’s Brew House after he accidentally spilled a beer on one of them. The initial fight was broken up by staff and Kauanui’s girlfriend drove him to his mother’s home in his car. When she returned to the bar to get her car, she saw the Bird Rock Bandits getting ready for scrap and testified that she heard Cravens say, “Don’t call him. I know where he lives. Let’s go fuck him up.”

By the time she returned to Kauanui’s mother’s house, the group was already fighting. She said it paused briefly, her boyfriend yelled at Cravens who, in turn, threw the punch that knocked Kauanui to the ground where he started bleeding from his head.

Five days later, he died from what was determined “blunt-force head trauma.”

Cravens was charged and went to trial where a history of unprovoked violence was uncovered. Multiple unprovoked attacks leading to serious injury. In February of 2009, a jury convicted him of second-degree murder and he was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

On January 8, 2025, he will receive a second parole hearing. His attorney, Laura Sheppard, declared, “Mr. Cravens has been incarcerated since 2007 for the tragic consequences of his impulsive violence, and he has taken the opportunity to mature and reflect on his actions and change his ways. He has expressed to me his deep remorse for his actions that night, the unintended consequences of a single punch was that Mr. Kauanui was knocked unconscious and unfortunately died because of the impact of his head on the pavement.”

She added that her client has been sober for years and has had no prison rule violations for at least five years.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan disagrees, feeling that the now mid-30-year-old is still a menace and stating, “It’s not just about that brutal murder. It started two years earlier with Mr. Cravens assaulting, threatening, brutally knocking out women and men for no reason whatsoever. He caused fractured noses, fractured cheek bones, caused a lot of pain and fear. He and the Bird Rock Bandits acted like a criminal group that was terrorizing the neighborhoods.”

Tomorrow, a parole board will decide his fate at Corcoran State Prison which just so happens to be very close to Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch.

But what are your thoughts on the matter? Is prison for rehabilitation or pure punishment?

More as the story develops.