Mount up.

As the sun rose, this morning, I was expecting it to be accompanied by the guttural wail of surf fans suffering deeply from yesterday’s announcement that the most watchable surfer on earth was stepping away from the World Surf League’s 2025 season. John John Florence will not be taking his talents to Pipeline nor Abu Dhabi. No Cloudbreak, no Margaret, no Cobbled Stone and no Pipeline.

Surf fans forced to watch days upon days, hours upon hours, of Liam O’Brien and Marco Mignot instead.

World Surf League viewing is a chore during the best of times though generally punctuated with moments of respite which almost always include the three-time champion and his preternatural abilities to barrel, to air, to carve.

Now the only bit of light will be watching Filipe Toledo bobbing well out the back in plus-sized surf.

Sad in more ways than one.

You can imagine my shock, then, when surf fans appeared jubilant, not depressed, by Florence’s decision to leave off. Multiple applause hands and fire emojis under his post reading:

I want to create the time to explore, find new waves, and draw different lines. I intend to compete full on for another world title in 2026, but right now this idea of adventure and creatively pushing my surfing as far as possible is really exciting! The ocean is so big and there are so many different types of waves to explore. I’m stoked to be filming into some new projects and planning to share the amazing places we get to go along the way.

The World Surf League, itself, likely in tatters after Gabriel Medina commented “I will come join a surf trip with you.”

The other three-time champion is also sitting out the first half of the 2025 season due torn pectoral muscle but it certainly seems that the adventuring life is calling him, too. The constrictive singlet ripped away.

Which raises the question: would you rather watch edits of the world’s best surfers or heats with the world’s best surfers?

If the latter, what does that mean for the future of competitive professional surfing?

Hmmmm.

Three and free.

Rumors have been percolating ever since the former prodigy, and current world’s favorite surfer, hoisted his third World Surf League Championship Tour cup above his head on Lower Trestles’ cobbled stone at the end of the 2024 season. While certain Brazilians wished to put an asterisk behind the feat due little wave wizard Filipe Toledo’s mental break, most applauded broadly.

A major accomplishment.

Though whispers, again, began directly that it would be Florence’s last go around. Those hushed voices grew louder, during the offseason, as the scraggly blonde refused to fully commit to a fourth title try and louder still after his longtime coach, Ross Williams, announced he was through.

Now, all fears confirmed as the North Shore legend, himself, has taken to his Florence brand to declare:

“I am excited to share my plans for 2025 – I’m going to spend the year exploring full-time, and looking to push my surfing as far as it will go.” – John John Florence

Do you have thoughts?

Sadness?

Happiness for the aforementioned brave coward?

Share with friends.

"We're surfing the rogue wave—backward, in sunglasses. Because we can."

We live in polarized days, broadly, though the surf world has been much insulated from the pitched partisanship haunting politics or sick-and-ball sport. Surfers, by and large, agree on basic fundamental principles. There are too many other surfers out there, for example, and the majority of them are kooks.

Well, the detente took a hard turn, yesterday, with surfers across the spectrum splitting into camps and digging right in. The explosion of sectarianism not at all related to a changing of the guard in the United States but rather IDW Comics’ controversial logo change.

The publisher, founded in 1999 and holder of the GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers and Star Trek titles amongst others, unveiled the artwork and received massive criticism from the general comic book reading public. VP of marketing, Aub Driver, became frustrated with the haters and released a scathing statement in defense, reading:

Hold on to your hot takes, because its official—we’re shaking things up! This isn’t your run-of-the-mill slapdash logo; we’re ushering in a whole new era with a logo so bold it practically leaps off the page and into your imagination.

We’re not just sprucing up a color scheme: we’re revamping, reinvigorating. and hitting the refresh button so hard it might just break. This isn’t a change of clothes—it’s our battle armor as we gear up for the next 25 years. Why? Because at IDW—short for “Idea and Design Works.” remember?—we’re all about big swings and even bigger ideas.

Our new logo isn’t just a fancy set of letters in a font type; it’s a unique symbol calling out to every reader to try something different. It declares that IDW isn’t only present in the comics industry; we’re leading the charge. We’re surfing the rogue wave—backward, in sunglasses. Because we can.

Surfers, worldwide, breaking hard.

One group insisting that “surfing the rogue wave — backward” a clear reference to backdooring a section.

The other demanding that it means surfing switch.

Which side do you find yourself upon?

Please make your case.