Growing up near the ocean it is easy to sometimes take for granted the many beautiful things the ocean has to offer. We make a concerted effort each September to get into the ocean every single day. These September Sessions are always hard and this one has proven more difficult than others past. Despite the difficulty, two weeks ago we threw our tent in the car and made the quick drive to the San Mateo campgroud which became our home base for the Hurley pro at Trestles.
Professional surfing is deeply connected to Southern California. It is common to paddle out to the local break and find a pro out there catching all the waves. It is also something that many locals are proud of. It has been a long time since a surfer from Dana Point has been on the pro tour(Pat Oconnell was the last one). Whether your guy is from San Clemente or Florida or Hawaii, we all have our favorites. These guys are superior athletes performing a very difficult sport at an incredibly high level. Perhaps as Southern Californians, we care about this tour and these surfers so much because it represents someone living a dream life.
Lately I have come to appreciate the ASP world Tour even more because Becca, an Oregon girl, has really taken to loving the sport. She knows all the guys and definitely has her favorites (Parko because apparently he is hot, and John John Florence because he surfs different than everyone else). She laughs a little bit at the terminology (frothing, pumping,stoked, foam ball), but she appreciates it for the athleticism. She also loves it because of the community it creates; around here you don't have to look far to find someone to talk about how John John keeps getting robbed, or how crazy Teahopu is, or how Trestles can expose the weaknesses of the Worlds best.
