The fans of surfing have spoken. For better or for worse. What they have said is that no amount of absolute Tom-Foolery from that clown of a CEO of the WSL will stop them from watching competitive, ‘professional’ surfing. This rubs me the wrong way just a bit. There has been lots of complaining, lots of talk about the Tour nowadays, and most of it has no target. Just endless bitching about their favorite surfer losing early, or the Surf Ranch being back on tour, or the timing of events – missing seemingly every swell by just one week. All problems, no solutions.
Judging is always going to be subjective, therefore, tough to debate. We just talked about this. Fans shouldn’t be arguing about the scoring. Waves come and go; it’s hard to time a swell. Ask anyone who has ever been on more than one surf trip. Lastly, wave pools actually have a future in, and for, professional surfing. I should not be the first to tell you that. Fans have misguided anger. What they should truly be fired up about is the nonstop bullshit mockery that Erik Logan is making of surfing. Let me remind you of a few recent antics.
- Joel Tudor, World Longboard Champion at the time, Suspended for speaking against the WSL on Social Media.
- Bethany Hamilton canceled by the Woz for speaking (her own views) against the new transgender policy. Athletes were not allowed to represent her name on their jersey at their annual International Women’s Day Celebration.
- Surfers (Gabby, Filipe, & Italo – the past 3 World Champions) are warned that it is “not acceptable, and it is a breach of league policy, for surfers to choose not to engage with the proper process and instead air grievances on social media.” None of the lot received a suspension of any kind, nor a fine (that we know of yet).
I think BeachGrit’s JP Currie put it best when he described ELO’s tone as lying somewhere “between a dictator and a domestic abuser”. I’ll use American ‘major sports’ as an example since that is, of course, where I’m from – imagine Adam Silver telling Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry that they are not allowed to question the referees. It is a breach of contract. Well, maybe you could assume that these athletes are well paid enough to afford a fine, or a breach of contract – a point of difference that surfers are unable to reach. Either way, an employer telling their employees that their questions are not only unvalued, but unaccepted – that is dictatorship. Or slave work.
Speaking of working conditions, how about the CEO not asking, not suggesting, rather, telling – last year’s World Champion to take his shirt off in a seemingly mocking manner? Have you seen this yet? I mean honestly, imagine this in any other sport. Would Rob Dyrdek get a shirt made of Nyjah Huston tattoos and forcibly instruct him to take his shirt off for a candid photo/video? We all know the answer to this.
Erik Logan is a fucking kook. I have stuck my flag in the sand, and this post can be my proof. Something needs to change either with him, or more likely, within the Wozzle for me to start watching these contests live again. It fucking sucks. I am probably the biggest fan of competitive surfing that you might know. But I can’t bring myself to support this Oklahoman idiot take over and make a fucking circus of this “sport”. I watched the night session at the Surf Ranch – something new and innovative that I wanted to check out, and that may be the last event I tune into live. I haven’t watched one heat, or even a heat recap of El Salvador yet. I am basically boycotting the WSL.
I didn’t even touch on ELO’s highly valued Mid Year Cut, nor his Finals Day product, the latter of which is actually starting to be understood and accepted within the real “surf community”. The Mid Year Cut is a bullshit publicity stunt created to drive drama and narratives, and we have all but welcomed it to the Tour this year. It’s already been said multiple times, but Joao Chianca and Molly Picklum are perfect examples of why the cut is fucked. I truly believe that a majority of surfers on tour have what it takes to win most stops on tour. It’s just the timing, the mojo, the swell, etc. A lot goes into it. Nonetheless, both of those surfers were cut last year, and now both are looking at a Final 5 appearance and a shot at a World Title this year. How does that happen? I’m sick of it. The surfers seem sick of it. Some – keyword, some – surf media is sick of it. It now appears the only group left watching this carnival show are the core surf fans who would watch almost any kind of live surf content you could put in their face. It actually sucks for the fans.
In my small little pea brain, I’ve come to two conclusions. One, a rebel tour is fired up. I thought this could be coming with Kelly Slater’s relegation from tour. And, maybe it will come at the end of this year. Especially now with the Brazilians as heated as they are, maybe Kelly is whispering in some ears. Maybe he’ll even show up to Saquarema this year! There is not much we, the fans, can do to push this idea forward other than wait and hope. Unless you have some serious financial backing and a real solid game plan, it’s out of our hands. Contact me otherwise.
The second route relies more on you. More on me. More on this culture, this society that Erik Logan took upon himself to dub the “WSL Community”. Fuck the WSL. We are not a community with you, you kook. As I said, we would watch almost any live (or non-live) surfing event with any name as the organization holding it; ISA, STAB High, ASP, The Eddie, STAB100, Boardriders Club Events, you name it. What we have to do is stop watching the WSL events. That’s it. Our views = our support. Since the Woz has no actual business plan, the only way they are making money is from selling ad space during their live broadcasts, along with any kind of TV or streaming deals they can work out. Either that, or they could possibly turn a dollar with the surfers entry fees, specifically those of the Challenger Series events – that’s another discussion. Without eyes or views on the content, brands will not be interested in throwing marketing dollars over to the Santa Monica based Dark Empire.
We must boycott the Wizzle. Cut ’em off. Don’t watch any more content coming out of that machine. Reject and refuse this mess of an organization, and demand that the circus ring leader be led to the gallows. Harsh? Depends on who you are. Ask Ramzi Boukhiam, Liam O’Brien, Filipe Toledo, or last year’s Surfer’s Rep Conner Coffin. Shit, ask all of the surfers on tour. Someone, get me the real opinions of the surfers since the dictator won’t let them raise their voices. This is my opinion. And, maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t believe I am alone in this feeling. Leave a comment below. Share with your friends. Let’s see if we, the fans, can make a difference.
Cheers,
hwilsin
One reply on “CIRCUS RINGLEADER”
[…] here, but I would like to point out the timing of this situation – a short 15 days after I announced my plan to stop watching the Wizzle, and encouraged you to do the same. While the rest of the surf media world jumped on the breaking news to announce this departure, I […]