Team USA Wins Fools Gold at ISA World Games

Hobgood. At least he showed up.

I wasn’t there and I’m glad.

I heard it was a good event…if you were Australian.

Team USA failed to win the ISA world games title in its own back yard this weekend at Huntington Beach. A national team with talented WCT pros like Chris Ward and CJ Hobgood couldn’t put it together to keep the Gold at home. Following the likes of Team USA basketball and Team USA baseball, Team USA surfing failed. Tons of talent, no gold.

Wait a minute. Tons of talent? Kelly Slater, Bobby Martinez, Timmy Reyes. None of these Americans surfed for Team USA. Where was Joel Tudor? Hasn’t everybody anointed him the world’s best longboarder? What about our boogie…oh never mind.

No wonder we lost. Our highest placing surfer, Pat O’Connell took third place. According to one of the hundreds of press releases I received, O’Connell won a copper medal. Copper? Fools gold.

Pat O’Connell is semi-retired. Now, don’t get me wrong, O’Connell still rips, but his backswing is better than his backside. Like me, he’s probably wearing elastic waist band shorts and remodeling his kitchen. Kudos to O’Connell for making though to the finals, it’s not his fault we didn’t do better. He gave it his all. Hell, he got Copper for God’s sakes.

Team USA will never win this thing until the best surfers from the USA show up for the event. So how do you get these guys to care about the ISA world games? How do you make these guys hungry? Money? Bronze instead of copper? This problem lies squarely at the feet of coach Peter Townend. I know PT. He’s committed and he is not happy. Unfortunately the guys wearing elastic waist band clothes shouldn’t be the only ones who are pissed. And right now it appears that they are.

FULL Press Release