Does anyone actually like surfing?

Just wondering.

Whenever NBN news is on at our house I like to keep an eye out for their 10 seconds Jets/EPL news.

Now I understand why they show 15 mins of NRL in their sport section. However it gets me how every day has a major surf story, usually some comp somewhere up north with an internet clip. For variety they will show someone get smacked by a "monster wave". On top of that they then show the "weather" which is 50% surf, swell, water temp with accompanying surf shots.

Fun pastime but bugger me this is like the Sydney Hobart. Somebody on the network cares but not the public. Am I missing something?

Surfing was Captain Goodvibes....end of.

Don't forget back in the day we use to have Nat Jeffrey as the weatherman

Bloke used to live at the beach back in the day

You are right though

The hobby gets a ridiculous amount of coverage

Considering fishing be a much more popular activity and it gets scant coverage in both the weather or sport coverage

imagine how good the news would be if it had 15 minutes of fishing every night

Mick Fanning in retirement earns more than any footballer currently playing in any code in Australia.
The top surfers in the world are paid insane amounts of money, and are considered some of the most marketable faces on the planet.
Add to that female surfers (esp in Australia) are i think one of the highest paid professions we have.

Newcastle has a solid connection to surfing mainly through Mark Richards for a long time being the bloke with the 2nd most amount of world titles. In any other sport in any other country a bloke with 4 world titles would be unapproachable, yet you used to be able to go see him at his shop and get a board or a wettie or just say gday to the bloke.

heck, most people in newy know exactly where he lives and (true story) i was walking my dog past his house one day and hes out there on the balcony having a laugh with Eddie Vedder.

but

surfing is a terrible sport to watch. the coverage of the sport is terrible, as are the commentators and marketers. to show off the sport at its highest level you generally need to travel to far away places and pray to griff for good conditions in order to put on a show.
imagine having a champions league final with random fields, one day its a muddy swamp and youre playing with a deflated ball. well thats what televised surfing looks like with shitty waves.

add to that the rusted on position of the way the sport is scored, the common man has no interest in a bloke doing 5 good turns getting scored better than a bloke doing a cool aerial. there are way too many old people involved in the promotion of the sport, and they refuse to let it evolve. the fact its now gonna be an olympic sport is a joke.

surfing is a lot like golf in that its good to play, but awful to watch.

also, one thing surfers are really good at is making money on property.
the first people to 'discover' and live in some of the now richest real estate in the country were surfers.

Places like Byron Bay, Margaret River and Yamba were nothing until people started going there for the waves, and stayed for the lifestyle.

My old boss was a former pro surfer who bought land in Margret River when it was nothing.
he made a lot of money when he eventually sold it.

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Originally Posted by plague

also, one thing surfers are really good at is making money on property.
the first people to 'discover' and live in some of the now richest real estate in the country were surfers.

Places like Byron Bay, Margaret River and Yamba were nothing until people started going there for the waves, and stayed for the lifestyle.

My old boss was a former pro surfer who bought land in Margret River when it was nothing.
he made a lot of money when he eventually sold it.

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I did not know Pablo Escobar surfed. Jokes aside, all of these places have been ruined / changed to the point of having little to nothing left of what made them great in the first place.

Great for the types who know the price of everything and the value of nothing though.

Once Whaling became taboo Byron Bay was pretty much a no brainer for investors.

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Originally Posted by The Dunster

Great for the types who know the price of everything and the value of nothing though.

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Love it Dunster!! haha

Surfing is so fvcking boring to me.. I've never tried doing it, so I'm assuming it is one of those better to do than watch things..
My old roommate used to watch all the comps on tv and the commentary was astoundingly bad. Then when I did try to watch, all i saw was "bloke goes up, then down, then up and down, then up and down again, OH MY GOD, HE WENT UP AND THEN DOWN AGAIN!!"..

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Originally Posted by Bon

My old roommate used to watch all the comps on tv and the commentary was astoundingly bad. Then when I did try to watch, all i saw was "bloke goes up, then down, then up and down, then up and down again, OH MY GOD, HE WENT UP AND THEN DOWN AGAIN!!"..

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well thats the problem with most sports isnt it. unless you 'know' the challenges the athletes face, its really difficult to relate. Sometimes sports have commentators who can bridge that gap, but def surfing never has had that. Surfing commentators are probably the worst in the world at making their sport exciting or relatable. most people can relate to trying to kick a ball in a net, or throw a ball through a hoop or hit a ball into a hole.

unless you know how hard it is to surf, why would you care.

also, the best bits about surfing, like just getting to sit out in the ocean, the feeling of going really fast and the fear of surfing decent sized waves isnt what the competitive side is about. totally agree with your observation, if i caught waves and just went up and down and did a couple of turns id be bored shitless. yet thats what 'good' surfing is apparently.

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Originally Posted by The Dunster

Great for the types who know the price of everything and the value of nothing though.

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another good observation. in my travels ive met a few of the blokes who have made a lot of money out of the industry. and all bar about 2 were complete ****wits. dudes worth hundreds of millions of dollars acting like complete clowns which was the exact opposite of the lifestyle they helped create and profit off.

money huh. its brings out the best in people.

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Originally Posted by plague

another good observation. in my travels ive met a few of the blokes who have made a lot of money out of the industry. and all bar about 2 were complete ****wits. dudes worth hundreds of millions of dollars acting like complete clowns which was the exact opposite of the lifestyle they helped create and profit off.

money huh. its brings out the best in people.

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So you really saying it just like the NRL

Once you experience your first barrel ride you will be hooked for life and there will be no turning back.
Doesn't matter if you're on a board or bodysurfing it's one of the greatest experiences you can have.
I've watched a lot of youtube videos but none of them really convey the feeling or the sound of when you do it for real.

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Originally Posted by MFKS

So you really saying it just like the NRL

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not really. NRL is a violent sport played by violent people. To expect young violent people to flick a switch off after games and be all cool cool on the drink is asking a bit much.

but surfing is a very individual pastime and theres not an agro bit about it. surfing is supposed to be relaxing and a chance to get away from idiots.
yet the people who helped that lifestyle reach the mainstream have completely forgotten where they came from and are just the same rage filled tosspots you see from trust fund babies and politicians.

not to mention the way women were/are treated in that industry. whoo boy, if the #metoo crowd ever got a whiff of what goes on in there......

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Originally Posted by plague

not really. NRL is a violent sport played by violent people. To expect young violent people to flick a switch off after games and be all cool cool on the drink is asking a bit much.

but surfing is a very individual pastime and theres not an agro bit about it. surfing is supposed to be relaxing and a chance to get away from idiots.
yet the people who helped that lifestyle reach the mainstream have completely forgotten where they came from and are just the same rage filled tosspots you see from trust fund babies and politicians.

not to mention the way women were/are treated in that industry. whoo boy, if the #metoo crowd ever got a whiff of what goes on in there......

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There's a lot of agro in surfing - call it tribalism .. whatever - there's always been a violent side to the sport / pastime when it comes to people dropping in or non-local trying to claim a spot which the locals rightfully call their own.

I can remember around 35 years ago about ten car loads full of westies from Sydney getting the absolute snot punched out of them by kids at Caves Beach / Swansea over such things.

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Originally Posted by The Dunster

There's a lot of agro in surfing - call it tribalism .. whatever - there's always been a violent side to the sport / pastime when it comes to people dropping in or non-local trying to claim a spot which the locals rightfully call their own.

I can remember around 35 years ago about ten car loads full of westies from Sydney getting the absolute snot punched out of them by kids at Caves Beach / Swansea over such things.

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Nah, that's the bullshit 'around' surfing.
I'm talking about the act of surfing itself in the same way the act of playing NRL is to physically dominate your opponent.

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Originally Posted by plague

Nah, that's the bullshit 'around' surfing.
I'm talking about the act of surfing itself in the same way the act of playing NRL is to physically dominate your opponent.

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Agreed in that Rugby League is at another level entirely; however

I'll guarantee you every surfer pro surfer on the planet has a story about punching on with a competitor over a wave. [Although the sports cleaned up a lot in recent times due to the flood of money , cameras everywhere and so on".

How do you think Nat Young got the nickname "The Animal" ? Intimidation was and probably still is a big part of competitive surfing.

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Originally Posted by q-money

imagine how good the news would be if it had 15 minutes of fishing every night

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they used to have rob paxevanos do a fishing spot each week on the canberra win news. honestly, it was highly entertaining.

So I suppose the question is does it deserve daily coverage?

I ask this again as NBN spent more time on Kelly Slater catching a wave than on Spurs playing in their new stadium tonight.

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Originally Posted by Jetmaster

So I suppose the question is does it deserve daily coverage?

I ask this again as NBN spent more time on Kelly Slater catching a wave than on Spurs playing in their new stadium tonight.

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It's not half as annoying as all those pharmaceutical ads they run every night in the name of "medical research".

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Originally Posted by Jetmaster

So I suppose the question is does it deserve daily coverage?

I ask this again as NBN spent more time on Kelly Slater catching a wave than on Spurs playing in their new stadium tonight.

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yeah probably.
More people in Newcastle (esp in NBN news' demo) would know Kelly Slater than Harry Kane.
Also, the event on the Gold Coast is prob one of the top 2 events on the world tour to be held in Australia, and its the first one of the year.


Also, Foxtel and Optus sport have plenty of EPL coverage. Its all there for you.

Also, Kelly Slater is surfings equivalent of Messi. He is from another planet, and still competing on the world tour aged 47.
Hes a rock star, and NBN gonna focus on him in the same way they always give Craig Johnston the love whenever he pops his head up.

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Originally Posted by plague

Also, Kelly Slater is surfings equivalent of Iniesta.

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fixed.