ROBERT GARDNER -- The Verdict

Ego will kill you if you don’t watch out.

I know. My ego darned near got me killed.

In 1972, I wrote a book called “The Art of Body Surfing.” Apparently,

it caught the eye of an editor of Sports Illustrated. Anyway, just about

the time my book came out, I received a call from a man who identified

himself as a photographer from Sports Illustrated. He wanted to take some

pictures of me at The Wedge because The Wedge had been featured in my

book.

I could hardly wait to drive over to The Wedge.

Once upon a time, I was a pretty good body surfer. However, when I got

this call, the passage of time plus a misspent life had weakened muscles,

cut down on the wind, slowed the reflexes and, most important, instilled

in me a genuine fear of big surf.

I was 61 years old and spent most of my time on the beach boring young

body surfers with endless stories of the really big surf of the past. I’d

been pretty much of a Wedge regular before World War II, when it was

simply called The Point. However, I hadn’t surfed The Wedge for years.

But ego is so powerful, I couldn’t resist.

So I went to The Wedge, found the photographer, identified myself,

took one look at the waves and almost fainted. The surf was really up, 10

to 12 feet. Still, this was my chance to be immortalized in Sports

Illustrated.

I forced myself into the water, took three waves -- each of them

seemingly 20 to 25 feet to me -- somehow survived them and dragged myself

to shore.

My good friend and Wedge regular, Kevin Egan, was sitting on the sand.

I sat down beside him and tried to get enough air into my tortured lungs

to extend my existence for the next few minutes. While we sat there, I

noted the Sports Illustrated photographer hopping around, taking

pictures.

“What are you doing?” I gasped.

“Taking your picture,” he said.

“I can see that, but how about those pictures out there?” I asked,

gesturing toward the ocean.

“Oh, I didn’t take any pictures of you out there. I just wanted

pictures of you sitting on the beach talking to a young body surfer of

the current generation.”

If I hadn’t been so exhausted I would have tried to kill him.

So I did get my picture in Sports Illustrated, but the story behind

that picture is that ego can nearly kill you.

* ROBERT GARDNER is a Corona del Mar resident and a former judge. His

column runs Tuesdays.