Surfer Mag did not start out covering everything about surfing. It started out covering the best surfers on the best waves. So keep it on that. Surfers are not much interested in spongers, and so on. The best surfers are on shortboards. End of debate. There are good longboarders, but they are on a different path, and different performance level: lower, but with its own significance. I personally dig the pro tour, because the level of surfing is so gnarly now. But Surfer needs to not get stuck on the top 10. The other 34 guys are all phenomenal surfers, and even if they aren't all smoozers (like CJ?), if you look into what they are about you will find a good story. You are an image making machine. It is your responsibility to use that power. Many surfers are looked at as boring until an article comes out saying, hey: this guy is worth paying attention to. If the entire top 44 of the WTC was looked at more completely, the bottom guys might get better calls in contests. As it is, we know little about them.

I love where Ricky says: "We don't cover the world tour surfers cause they're not interesting people." He might not be wrong, but he might be wrong to say it. I don't know...I cringed when I heard it, cause I heard all of them hearing it. Ouch. You. My Friend. Are a boring person. And you shan't be discussed within my magazine. (Insert evil "non-corporate" laughter here.)