‘The Game’ goes on

Mike Sciacca

The ESPN X Games took surfing competition to a whole new level on

Saturday when the sport debuted in the ninth annual extreme sports

competition.

With a large, enthusiastic crowd on the south side of the

Huntington Beach Pier, the Goodyear blimp flying overhead and ESPN

cameras -- including a FlyCam that traveled over the ocean --

providing coverage of the event, Saturday’s spectacle had all the

makings of a big-game atmosphere. It was dubbed, simply, “the Game.”

“I thought the whole thing was awesome,” said Surf City resident

Jay Larson, who served as a referee. His duties had him working as a

liaison between judges and coaches.

“I would have rather surfed it, but refereeing was a pretty good

job. The crowd really got into it, and ESPN, with their awesome

camera work, was great to work with. I think surfing definitely will

be included in future X Games.”

The East versus West All-Star showdown pitted several of the

world’s top surfers against each other as professional surfing made

its debut. This team format was a first for the traditionally

individual competition.

The East, led by six-time world champion Kelly Slater, reigning

U.S. Open men’s champion Cory Lopez and his brother, Shea, a former

U.S. Open winner, Damian Hobgood, Aaron Cormican, Ben Bourgeois and

wildcard members Shane Dorian and Taj Burrow of Australia, took

advantage of some big rides to handle the West, 209.06-188.20.

The East team was coached by Matt Kechele and assistants Todd

Kline and Todd Morcom.

The West squad, coached by Mike Parsons and assistants Dino Andino

and Chris Drummy, included Laguna Beach’s Pat O’Connell, former U.S.

Open champions Rob Machado and Shane Beschen, Taylor Knox, Bobby

Martinez, Tim Curran, Dane Reynolds and wild-card entry and 2002 U.S.

Open champion, Kalani Robb.

The FlyCam, which traveled at an angle from mid-pier to a few

hundred yards south of the pier, was introduced for the first time in

the history of televised surfing. The robotic camera traveled across

a 1,000-foot span of cable over the surfing competition at 65 mph.

Images filled the big-screen television on the south-facing side

of the pier lifeguard tower.

Also put into use was a FrogmanCam, an underwater camera system

operated by a diver, and ESPN employed the head lifeguard from

Huntington Beach to pilot a personal watercraft that carried a camera

operator as he captured shots from the competition.

The Goodyear Blimp also provided aerial views of the crowd that

jammed the pier and beach to watch the second major surf competition

held in Surf City in less than a week.

On Aug. 3, an estimated 85,000 were on hand to watch the U.S. Open

of Surfing finale.

Chris Stiepock, general manager of the X Games, said Saturday’s

surf competition exceeded his expectations.

“I thought the competition on Saturday was truly fantastic,” he

said. “It pretty much met our criteria from every standpoint. The

spectators were really psyched and media coverage was great.

“I also thought the format itself was fantastic in terms of a

spectator format. Everybody knew what was going on at all times and

it gave people a reason to watch above and beyond just who was in the

water surfing. There was a little intrigue, a little curiosity and a

little suspense as the Game wore on.”

There also was plenty of suspense leading up to the Game.

The Game is not an Assn. of Surfing Professionals-sanctioned

event, and the ASP had informed competing surfers that if they surfed

the event, they could be dropped from the ASP.

But an 11th-hour decision by the ASP allowed the participants to

surf the event without penalty.

“We actually didn’t find out until the morning of the X games,”

ASP surfer Pat O’Connell said of the decision. “It was really heavy,

but in the end, it all worked out and we had a great time.”

O’Connell said the surfers found out early last week that they

might be barred from the X Games surf competition.

He said the ASP had originally struck a deal with ESPN to allow

the surfers to compete, but organizers of the Boost Mobile, an

ASP-sanctioned event taking place at the same time at Trestles in San

Clemente, Calif., felt that letting the surfers compete at the ESPN X

Games infringed on their competition.

O’Connell said that ASP rules stipulate that if a surfer surfs an

unsanctioned event, the surfer can be kicked off the tour for two

years.

“It would be like starting over,” he said. “Basically, it was a

difference of opinion. Boost was trying to protect their investment,

and we were doing the X Games to help the ASP. I owe my allegiance to

the ASP. We just felt that being in the X Games was in the best

interest of our sport.

“We as a group said that, after that meeting with ESPN, that if

one of us didn’t want to surf, then we all wouldn’t surf the X

Games,” O’Connell said. “It was an ‘all for one’ type of decision,

and it was an emotional day. We came to the conclusion that we would

surf the X Games. We knew the consequences.

“But we were really happy with the way things turned out,” he

said. “It wouldn’t have been fun to surf the event under that

pressure. It would have been a burden.”

Everything seemed in place for the Game, which was set up like a

football game with 18-minute quarters.

Everything seemed in place, that is, except for one thing: wave

production.

The few good sets that rolled in during the 3 1/2-hour game seemed

to come when the East team was in the water, especially in the third

period.

These flat conditions came just six days after 6- to 8-foot waves

benefited the U.S. Open.

“The best way to describe the entire day was that given how

terrible the waves were, it ended up being as entertaining an event

you can have with those types of conditions,” O’Connell said. “Mother

Nature didn’t cooperate, but that didn’t stop us from going out there

and being competitive and having a good time.

“I think the X Games will be a great place to showcase our sport,”

O’Connell said. “In fact, I think future X Games will have a more

international flavor when it comes to surfing. I think you might see

teams from Australia and Brazil compete. The exposure is great.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at [email protected].