Dark Pandemonium: Parko@Pipe.

[aaronn]

How was the surf Nick?
Is Tough Mudder considered a sport or is the shirt more a momento like a concert?
So Kolohe is considered an up and comer but whats the fluffer crew? Does Parko or Mick or Taj or Kelly have one did older generations of surfers have one? As for Eddie I guess he accidently or purposely ran over a young pro sponsored by Nike or soon Hurley and Eddie sent him in due to an accident in the water? Or was he asking who it was for an apology? (Amongst the Crew)

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION TO FOLLOW ?

[rmb]

How was the surf Nick?
Is Tough Mudder considered a sport or is the shirt more a momento like a concert?
So Kolohe is considered an up and comer but whats the fluffer crew? Does Parko or Mick or Taj or Kelly have one did older generations of surfers have one? As for Eddie I guess he accidentally or purposely ran over a young pro sponsored by Nike or soon Hurley and Eddie sent him in due to an accident in the water? Or was he asking who it was for an apology? (Amongst the Crew)

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION TO FOLLOW ?

After a few more beers maybe? Didn't realise its a spelling bee. Or do you have nothing to say????

[Nick Carroll]

Jeez eh all judgemental!

I guess you had to be there.

Re Eddie, I'm not a fan, just an acquaintance.

[Hollowed out]

Thanks for the insight Nick, parko may have just saved an austalian icon and a bunch of peoples jobs if this plays out right

[buzzy]

Yeah maybe. I suspect the Billabong market to 'people who don't surf' is far bigger than the market of 'groms likely to shift their wettie or boardy choice to Bong because Parko won'. It can't hurt though.

I'm still super stoked for Parko. Wouldn't it be great to see him win another world title or two? Bring on Snapper and Bells.

[steve shearer]

Been surfing myself into a catatonic stupor in barrelling left wedges and the vibe in the water has been super stoked for Parko.

lot of good feeling.

[rmb]

Jeez eh all judgemental!

I guess you had to be there.

Re Eddie, I'm not a fan, just an acquaintance.

Nick wasn't trying to be judgemental so apologise if you took it that way.
Eddie Rothman seems like an interesting character thats reputation has grown due somewhat to the surf media mentioning him whenever the violence or intimidation on the north shore subject raises it head. No doubt he's more than a hothead and contributes to the society positively somehow otherwise he wouldnt be respected as it seems like he is. The situation you described regarding Kalohe and his "fluffers" made me think that Nike send a few guys with Kalohe to look after him and Rothman was using his stature and reputation to intimidate them? All sounds like good fun anyhow did TC or Mick or Parko have fluffers in there early days or was it just a bunch of mates?

[rmb]

The vibe in the water has been super stoked for Parko.

lot of good feeling.

Sounds like most fans of surfing are happy for Parko to finally win one.

[Hollowed out]

well parko seems to have had an impact, at least on nuade's offer. So BA seems that many do care, excuse me while I get on with my life.
From SMH
Billabong shares soar on talk of $1.10 offer
Date
December 17, 2012 - 12:07PM
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Shares in Australian surfwear company Billabong International have jumped to a two-month high following a media report that an independent director had made a takeover offer for the company.

Billabong did not return a call seeking comment.

The shares rose as much as 8.6 per cent to $1.015 after the Fairfax Media report that director Paul Naude had offered $1.10 per share for the company.

Mr Naude stood aside from his role as Billabong's president of the Americas last month for six weeks, to look at putting together a buyout proposal.

[BA]

So BA seems that many do care

you are a certified whack job. Hey, but whatever gets you through the day. You posting your self-serving tripe on here is better than killing small animals and stealing undies from your neighbours clothesline I guess.

[Hollowed out]

[collnarra]

"how sorta kooky the Nike logo suddenly looks in the water."

was it ever not kooky? I mean, really.

[Nick Carroll]

The situation you described regarding Kalohe and his "fluffers" made me think that Nike send a few guys with Kalohe to look after him and Rothman was using his stature and reputation to intimidate them? All sounds like good fun anyhow did TC or Mick or Parko have fluffers in there early days or was it just a bunch of mates?

ha ha you are reading way too much into it. Look, these days, all the companies who pay a lot of money to maintain a surf team have quite a few employees dedicated to that task. The employee roster on this score started out around 20 years ago with one person, a team manager, and has expanded since to include team managers and marketing staff based in a range of locations around the world. In TC's day, the late 1970s to early 1990s, it was mainly about friends and family; this was still true in Mick's and Joel's early days, but has changed a lot in their tenure. This was the period when webcasts grew to prominence, and you saw the dawn of days when marketing assistants would be despatched to fit appropriate hats, sunglasses etc to pros as they left the water to be interviewed. These are the people whom I would term as "fluffers", people without much impact on the athlete's performance, unable to provide any meaningful feedback or advice at the competitive level, but whose task is to look after the brand's interests. Nike came into the picture over the past three years and came armed with all the apparatus associated with their involvement in other sports, thus they have always had fluffers of various kinds. I am sure Eddie had no idea about some overall Nike gig and was simply tracking the guy he'd run over via the logo he must have seen. This is the sort of slightly chaotic thing that happens at surf spots around the world; it only gained symbolic weight for me as an informed and involved witness. I hope this rather exhaustive explanation helps with understanding the broader context of the situation, though fcuk knows, it drains the life out of it for me.

[Beanpole]

Thats one of the funny things about the "surf with the pros" vacation idea. Surfings one of the only sports where you can often end up sharing the venue with the pros whether either of you want to or not.

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[rmb]

The situation you described regarding Kalohe and his "fluffers" made me think that Nike send a few guys with Kalohe to look after him and Rothman was using his stature and reputation to intimidate them? All sounds like good fun anyhow did TC or Mick or Parko have fluffers in there early days or was it just a bunch of mates?

ha ha you are reading way too much into it. Look, these days, all the companies who pay a lot of money to maintain a surf team have quite a few employees dedicated to that task. The employee roster on this score started out around 20 years ago with one person, a team manager, and has expanded since to include team managers and marketing staff based in a range of locations around the world. In TC's day, the late 1970s to early 1990s, it was mainly about friends and family; this was still true in Mick's and Joel's early days, but has changed a lot in their tenure. This was the period when webcasts grew to prominence, and you saw the dawn of days when marketing assistants would be despatched to fit appropriate hats, sunglasses etc to pros as they left the water to be interviewed. These are the people whom I would term as "fluffers", people without much impact on the athlete's performance, unable to provide any meaningful feedback or advice at the competitive level, but whose task is to look after the brand's interests. Nike came into the picture over the past three years and came armed with all the apparatus associated with their involvement in other sports, thus they have always had fluffers of various kinds. I am sure Eddie had no idea about some overall Nike gig and was simply tracking the guy he'd run over via the logo he must have seen. This is the sort of slightly chaotic thing that happens at surf spots around the world; it only gained symbolic weight for me as an informed and involved witness. I hope this rather exhaustive explanation helps with understanding the broader context of the situation, though fcuk knows, it drains the life out of it for me.

Cheers Nick sorry if I sucked the life out of the story for you I just was interested in the whole fluffer thing and the local heavy from someone who has been involved in the sport for so long and its evolution. Didn't mean to come across like I was grilling you. Enjoyed your write ups on the surfing life site BTW

[saucy gibbon]

Yeah I dunno about solemn. Hungover yes, lighthearted and happy also yes.

Think it's fair to say that unless you were part of Kelly's closest circle, you were stoked with yesterday's result and experienced -- closely or at a bit of a remove -- some of the massive relief that cascaded through Parko's front yard late yesterday.

Surfing Sunset Pt this morning and this arvo, I talked to quite a few normal surfers who were feeling that way about it. The better ones were in awe of how the top guns turned yesterday's somewhat shit conditions into spun gold drama.

I tell ya on days like that, pro surfing is up there. I saw a guy on the beach at Pipe yesterday with a "Tough Mudder" T-shirt on. It just reminded me of the epically lame shit that passes for "sport" these days, I mean honestly, running through fcuken mud.

I was out the Pt this arv with a bunch of guys and TC, RCJ, Maurice, and Eddie Rothman. Eddie was on a stand-up. About 10 minutes after he came out, out came Kolohe Andino and his posse. Not Dad and not Parsons, just a fluffer crew. They were the guys I mentioned on another thread, re how sorta kooky the Nike logo suddenly looks in the water.

Anyway a really nice west wedge came, Eddie got it and ran clean over Kolohe. I don't think he knew it was Kolohe; K immediately went in. Eddie knew there was a Nike logo involved and fronted a couple of the fluffers about it: "Did I run you over?" The fluffers denied all knowledge.

I didn't know it was Kolohe either but I loved it anyway, Nike, out at Sunset, sent in by possibly the gnarliest old school guy of them all. Felt symbolic.

hollowed, I dunno what Bong's fate is either but I feel like they earned just a little bit back with the core yesterday. It was super cool, Derek being there, he had a place to stay etc. Not done out of PR but out of good form. Tell me one of those straight edge fcukwit ASX corpos who'd do that for an ex-CEO. That's right, none. Billabong is not Macquarie Bank. Like the rest of 'em, eventually I suspect their surfing roots may triumph after all.

aint this what surfing is really all about ?

[kreepykrawly]

My mate went to a party on the weekend and got so drunk he fell over ...vomited and shat his pants. Dark pandemonium personified...
Dark dark dark.....