Kelly Slater Invented (Modern) Surfing

Photo: ASP/Robertson

The man should have his own holiday. And a postage stamp. A beach named after him. Maybe a KS clothing line. A reality TV show that follows him through his day. Better yet, his own station, a 24-hour program, a la The Truman Show. A podcast. A shrine at every break the ASP World Tour frequents over the course of a season. He should be carried to the water line and fanned with palm fronds every time he surfs. Surfers should part the line-up and he should be allowed to catch any and every wave he paddles for. The days of the surfing calendar (if one existed) should be adjusted for B.K. (Before Kelly) and A.K. (After Kelly). The sport itself should be renamed: Slatering.

Kelly Slater has had that sort of impact. No, he didn't literally invent the sport. And everyone knows Duke Kahanamoku is the "father of modern surfing." But "modern" is a relative term. Duke's surfing was nothing like it is today. Surfing today isn't what it was when KS appeared on the scene as a blue-eyed, squeaky-voiced prodigy in Florida. If Duke is the father, perhaps that makes KS surfing's Jesus or Muhammad or some other divine spirit essential for the betterment of surfing, someone better than anyone before him, year after year after year after year, and so on. In surfing so well, making the once counter-culture sport so appealing to a wider marketplace, he single-handedly transformed surfing into the financial enterprise that it is today. It didn't hurt that he made some well-publicized mistakes (Baywatch, dating Pamela Anderson) along the way. Or that he's a good looking guy. Or that he can string together a couple sentences in post-heat interviews that doesn't contain the typical substance-free surfer-speak. He's exactly what surfing wanted, but never knew it needed.

The media and the critics like to try to hurl barbs. It's what the media does. It feasts on controversy and nay-saying. And yet, every time the critics, the magazines or the announcers think they've identified a weakness, a kink in the armor, something that will allow the next generation or the next big name to finally unseat the king from his throne, he responds. He improves. He gets stronger or more flexible or faster. The man is on the wrong end of his 30s from where most athletes hit their performance peak and, yet, it may be safe to say that Kelly Slater is a better, more dynamic surfer at 39 than he was at 29. That's not natural.

He's got 10 world titles. Mark Richards, the next closest, has four. He's Michael Jordan, without the guidance of Phil Jackson or help of Scottie Pippen. He's Lance Armstrong, minus the performance enhancing drugs (come on, the truth will come out soon enough). He's Tiger Woods (sans bushel of mistresses), without the helicopter parents and in a sport that is far more physically demanding. Kelly Slater should be considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. But he won't, because surfing is still on the outside of mainstream sports, looking in. One day sports fans will realize.

As for the New York Times article by Matt Warshaw calling for KS to walk away, along with the various bloggers and media folk echoing the same belief: back off and let the once-in-a-lifetime athlete do his thing. Maybe he has another title or two in him. Maybe he'll step away slowly, competing in (and occasionally winning) a handful of contests a year. He's earned the right to dictate the remainder of his competitive career. Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Owen Wright, Julian Wilson—all the young guns can wait. Or they can try to usher KS into retirement. But it doesn't seem to be working so far.

Quite a bit of the reason why anyone really gives a damn about surfing is because of the contributions of this one man. He's helped the sport to advance. He made being a professional surfer a viable career choice (sure, the Australians busted down the door, but KS made it so that drug-running wasn't a part of the gig). He's inspired legions of groms. He gave surfing a face. He invented surfing as we know it.

ASP World Tour Back in a Minute

It seems just days ago that Kelly Slater was crowned world champ for the tenth time in his career and the Triple Crown wrapped up the compeittive season in Hawaii.

And yet, here it goes again. The 2011 season is just days away, kicking off with the Quiksilver Pro on Australia's Gold Coast. The slate is wiped clean, and once again, everyone is a contender.

Okay, enough with the blowing of the smoke. As it goes with the men, there are only a handful of realistic contenders: Jordy, Mick, Parko, Taj and, until he officially announces he's done, Kelly. With as well as he was surfing last year, it doesn't make sense that Kelly Slater will gracefully fade into the retirement abyss. He'll come out firing at Snapper Rocks, and depending on his result, the remainder of the season will be dictated.

Dane Reynolds would be the other realistic contender, but he's withdrawn from the first event, supposedly due to a knee injury. That's not good for the World Tour. No other surfer not named Kelly draws a crowd and webcast viewers quite like Dane. Kelly can't carry the Tour forever. Jordy is said to be the heir apparent, but even Jordy doesn't excite quite like Dane does. My concern is that the deficit from the gate will discourage Dane from seeing the season through. The Tour needs his flair and excitement from contest to contest. They need his weird post-heat interviews and his unorthodox heat strategy (Read: No strategy). Competitive surfing needs its mad scientist.

That said, I'm hoping Joel Parkinson, aka Parko, wins this one. I'm not much of a Mick fan and Taj just doesn't seem as committed as some of his fellow uber-fit Aussies. Parko is one of the smoothest surfers and one of the classiest chaps on Tour. He's had a few bad breaks the past couple seasons, but that time off last season should hopefully have him amped to keep his mind focused for all 10 events.

Here we go.

Photo: ASP/Cestari

KS10: Surfing's Poster Boy, Kelly Slater, Gets 10

Days after the passing of Andy Irons, Kelly Slater did what everyone expected he would do when the world title race came down to he and Jordy Smith – he went superhuman and locked down No. 10.

Upon emerging from the surf, he was boosted onto the shoulders of the awaiting entourage and shuttled through the packed-beach crowd to the podium. I'm not certain when the first tears came, but the early interviews showed Slater puffy-eyed and glazed. An emotional week, to say the least.

As I mentioned in the previous post, when AI was in his competitive prime, he and Slater were the closest thing to enemies that existed on Tour in the last two decades. They engaged in arguments and fights on various occasions, mostly stemming from the heated rivalry. But they'd made amends in recent years, even becoming friends. Which is why, in his first interviews post-victory, Slater dedicated the win to Andy Irons.

Beyond the touching condolences and vulnerable moment, Kelly Slater managed to package 20 years of competition and personal growth into the last months of the pursuit for 10. Slater has had a bit of a checkered past – being a bit over-confident early on, the Baywatch era, dating Pamela Anderson, being the loner on Tour – but nothing like a Tiger Woods (ultra-adultery), Barry Bonds (cheating/PEDs), Lance Armstrong (it's only a matter of time before the truth comes out) or even Michael Jordan (gambling, womanizing). Slater has long been the toughest and smartest competitor, articulate and sometimes puzzling in interviews, respectable toward his fans, innovative with his surfing, proof that age doesn't much matter – and an inspiration to two decades of surfers, both young and old.

In the following interview, from ESPN, you get a glimpse of the psyche of Kelly Slater. It's been one hell of a run from surfing's greatest athlete. And it may not yet be over.

Photo: Ellis/SURFER

The Big Saffa Finally Gets His

When Jordy Smith came onto the World Tour last year, he was being hailed as the second-coming of Kelly Slater. Sort of. That title was partly shared with Dane Reynolds. From what we learned, it would seem Dane has the innovation of Sl8r, but Jordy has the competitive drive. Maybe combined they're Kelly 2.0.

In 10 contests last year, neither Dane nor Jordy finished first; Dane finished second (Trestles) and equal-third (Jeffreys Bay), and Jordy once finished equal-third (Bells). Nonetheless, both held their share of the spotlight, though with no wins.

Well, Jordy finally broke through. And he did so in impressive fashion, in his home country, at one of his favorite spots in the world – Jeffreys Bay. Aside from a controversial last-minute come-from-behind semifinal win over Bede Durbidge, Jordy was easily the surfer of the contest. He's so composed, yet creative. His turns are crisp and his snaps powerful. And he boosts good-sized airs, despite that 6'2", 190 pound frame.

As he took the shoulder ride from the water to the podium, he broke down. His mom greeted him and he broke down again. He did a live interviews, and the tears were streaming. It's not easy to be annointed; it's a hell of a lot of pressure.

It's going to be interesting to see if people look back and point to the 2010 J-Bay contest as the moment the old guard passed the torch onto the new generation. Kelly and Mick Fanning went out early, and along with Jordy, a couple young guns advanced late into the contest. That said, Kelly and Mick (and Joel Parkinson, who was out due to injury) could easily bounce back and win at Tahiti. But it's looking like the new class is mounting an offensive to say "Enjoy retirement," to the older guys.

On to Tahiti and Teahupoo we go.

Photo: SURFER/Ellis