Cool. So when is part II with the follow up questions happening?

Blasphemy Rottmouth presents: The atrophy of an argument. When the passion goes but the persistence remains you're left with a dull and tiresome hack banging on about the same old topic with ever decreasing levels of wit.

Yep - Without realizing it, Rotty presents his true "groupie" self - he loves pro surfing, ASP, Andy Irons, past greats - the whole kit and caboodle! But he loves to hate it as well! He portrays traits of many a surf journo and i thing he is probably a surf journo in reality -- don't worry Rotty, your love/hate pro surfing mind demons exist also in most of your colleagues.

And not wishing to feed the monkey above I'll diverge-

I agree that the title should already be Joels.

Ace smoked Kelly in France and later in Santa Cruz, he was lucky to beat Ratboy but was definitely beaten by Dusty.

Should have been a pair of nines. Kellys getting pushed all the way.

And Kong, one of the most amazing surfers to watch at meaty Sunset.

.......and on the money here with his remarks about both the lack of drug testing and the expansion of formal competition into the sub-junior ranks.

I'll overlook the irony of that last comment, coming as it does from the author of a recent article on, erm, organised surf clubs, the raison d'etre of which is, ah, formal competition, and just say that I agree. Let kids be kids - life get serious quickly enough in its own sweet time without speeding things up.

As for drugs - just how is paddling out ripped to the eyeballs gonna help you in 8' Sunset? Dunno if Davo would agree that his performance was ever enhanced by 'em. Or if any Mexican would agree that his or her life has been improved by prohibition (viz. the so-called war on drugs).

I have read the book and its an interesting read But he has pretty much created guilt by association with alot of names in there. If he wanted to really make a stand then fully declare what he knows about the current state of play in pro-surfing drugs and all. Radical throwing AI's name out in the open then no-one else's. Wonder what he'd think if a person accused 'his' charger Beau of drug taking? In the end most surfers know what goes on. Any PR is good PR isn't it?

the new puritans. attempting to prevent other professional entertainers from adding themselevs to this very looooooog list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug-related_deaths

whaaaat I don't see anything contradictory in supporting clubs and opposing competition for the under 12s. These days some clubs may be holding events for those age groups and I don't think that is a great idea but it is less likely to cause problems than large scale sponsored events in which 8 year olds end up being acclaimed as the next Kelly Slater ....and I have written about that also.
I don't think puritanism is the issue here the-roller. It is about the responsibility of organisations to care for their workers because that, in the ultimate analysis, is what professional surfers are. The data over a long period reveals how vulnerable young athletes are to the trappings of their success. Surfing has never faced up to its responsibilities in this area. Drug use is one thing, the descending cycle of abuse into addiction is entirely another. Drug testing just makes sure no-one is entering that cycle undetected. It also needs to have support mechanisms for those who fail.
My observations of surfing suggest that companies consider their sponsored surfers as short term, replaceable investments, not long term commitments, well not unless they leverage themselves into a significant shareholding!

Go Elko , the biggest shredder ever . Get out there and buy his book its a good read . I love the way he tells the truth and dosent make out like he's too cool . The movie the preformers was when i first relised how good he surfs . Like i said go buy the book you will love it .

Very profound blindboy- I MY Me,who are you even? I thought it was about Elko? Drugs, rock n roll, charging big sunset and pipe sounds like what surfing pro surfing was like before the tennis mind set took over and coincidently about the same time Australian surfers dissapeared from view when it comes to standing out in Hawaii , how can you be a world champ and not charge and or even get waves at pipe (unless its small rights- sorry parko, sorry fanny, sorry Taj). The Elkos era 80,s into the 90,s when Aussie pros stood out, Elko was/is one of the best surfers ever at sunset, TC at pipe, the Pattos, RCJ and Tony, all made their mark, all stood out enough to get wave of the day consistantly at the best spots in the world, these days not quite the same is it? Go Elko! I cant wait to read your book.

Interesting article and comments. Haven't read the book but it seems as Gary is saying as it is; good on him for having the balls to stick his head up above the crowd (not many do or have over the years). His comments about drug use, reverse airs and junior surfing competitions are all very refreshing and have so much truth about them, and all coming from someone that was formerly in that system. Its the start of a discussion that is years overdue but my money is on these issues being ignored while there is a chance some money can be made.

Whaaat, you were way more humorous when you were an owl. You are right kids should be kids but tell that to their parents because for kids it a about having fun and that line is often blurred by parents when it comes to competition.

It is no secret that back in those times Hawaii was awash with relatively cheap Coke (and I don't mean cola). The Ho's and co's (anybody wonder how he won the Pipeline Masters with a broken wrist?) were not immune and I am sure it was fun to a point however there were a few quality Hawaiian surfers who took it too far and fell by the wayside. Good that someone has put it out beyond the confines of cosy inner sanctum.

@ Stunet...It just makes me wonder if he is using the drug use as a sort of 'selling point' for the book. Most of his stories are about the "bull" and gunning for the world title. We all wanted to hear some crazy stuff about the drugs I guess we got it. BUT is he going to back it up and follow through now he's opened up the can of worms.

What can? Which worms?

Haven't read the book but I gather he doesn't name names.

Even if he had or has, so what? A pretty poorly kept secret, and ancient history anyway. Like he says, that's how everyone rolled.

Smack and acid in the 70s were just as big a deal, without the money of the 80s, 90s or 00s.

Kinda smells like a lot of heat without much light.

Is taking cocaine before surfing a heat considered performance enhancing? Thats what i'd like to know. I cant say personally as $300 a gram is beyond my budget but from what I have heard the answer would be yes.
Heats around 20 minutes, the intense high from cocaine about 20 minutes. Surfing is a confidence sport, cocaine gives you that as well as a burst of energy.
Word was the Waimea Bay chargers would blast a few lines before taking it on. Not to mention the rumours surrounding "that" snap.
Which i dont have a problem with for free surfing but if its before a heat well thats just plain cheating.

Shane Beschen would say yes too! 3 perfect 10's at Kirra

kong will be arriving on the north shore shortly, wonder what sort of reception he will get ?

Imagine going down a 30' face stoned. It'd take, like, 3 or 4 days, man.

The point that Kong makes in the interview is the lack of responsibility by the entire surfing community for the drug use. If it was ever supposed to be a secret, it was the worst kept secret in history. From the time MP won Bells on a 3 day acid binge to the present, I doubt anything much has changed except the price and quality of the drugs.
The reason nothing is done is that drugs are part of the bad boy image that the clothing sponsors try to cultivate. If they address the issue, use drug testing at their events and send people off to rehab, it softens their marketing image.
It is all rather sad and pathetic really, a kind of a remnant of 70s rock culture with the surfers casting themselves as versions of Jagger and Richards, updated with tattoos and some extra muscle while just below the surface, they are driven by the same shallow, unexamined notions of celebrity. Plus ça change.

hey blindboy..MP was not on an LSD binge.....just very stoned on green valium.....

we were at an ASP meeting many years ago,when the issue of drug testing was brought up by Jacques Hele.....we all realised that there were only 2 surfers on tour at the time who would pass the test and the industry would also have never passed a test...

it was not just the surfers...it was a whole generation of...surfers and industry......Kong has scratched the surface, maybe one day it will all come out,but as there are a lot of people who have a lot of money to sue ya ass off......or get injunctions etc......

we might have to wait another generation as there are also legal implications for some of the surf Co's

The only surfer I've ever known to be done (read stitched-up) by the ASP was Neco for steroid use. I think he admitted that he was trying to recover from an injury and they done him for that.

Meanwhile probably 80% of the rest of the tour were all running around hepped up on goofballs and nary a word spoken about that.

ok last comp of the year i say test them all tmoro.

What would have happened if all those guys were tested? TC's snap at pipe, Besch's kirra heat would've these great surfing moments ever happened? Would the level of surfing risen without the use of drugs? Maybe its hard to get that confident in our normal state. You definately FEEL in a zone(or think you are). What about current day surfing?what if half the 44 are wiped off? Where would surfing go?
I must say the ASP need a 'CT at Sunset.

So, G. Kong, as well as most people commenting on this post believe that when it comes to everyone except two unnamed guys participating in either isurfing or ¡surfing over the last 30+ years should have a big fat asterisk permanently affixed to their name?

Well done Elko! Now it is up to the ASP to grow some balls and step up and take action. Your actions will help protect a large section of the worlds youth involved in surfing from making the mistakes we all made with drugs and alcohol during our youth in the surfing culture (except for the 2 that didn't).
If the ASP announced now that the from the start of the 2013 season (Quicky Pro)all competitors will be randomly drug tested all involved should have enough time to clean their act up.

I would think the ASP will be dragged kicking and screaming if asked to do anything about drug use now and into the future. Seriously, the relationship between the ASP and major sponsors of pro surfing is way too close. It would be in no-ones (commercial) interest for it to happen so count on it not happening while their is ca$h to be made flogging overpriced surf gear.

Thank Dog MP didn't have access to coke - single fins wouldn't have coped.

PS. I understand he was partial to lemonade, though

...which brings us to his other point about competitions for kids. Given the drug culture that, from all reports, still pervades much of pro surfing, why would you be pushing your 12 year old in that direction?

Cause he's too old to sell. Gotta make some money outta the little bastard somehow.

That is one hell of a good question blindboy.

Hey, at the elite end of sport for every brash face kid that makes it there are 1,000s that don't. So the damaged caused by over zealous parents pushing their kids too much in all manner of sports is far more wide spread than the few at the top.

Kids should be allowed to do things because its fun not because there is a chance they might get to the top of the dung heap.

Surfing should keep us all playing like big kids.

so you have to fail 3 times before your penalized ? ? is that in line with other sports drug rules ?

Thank you stu for clarifying there is ASP sponsored drug testing. A step in the right direction.

However, local Victorian press in recent weeks have run a series of articles about drug testing of AFL players. It seems clubs are very unhappy about being kept in the dark when a positive test occurs and are now wanting a scheme where they are informed when one of their players tests positive. The players, of course, are resisting this. Did Ben Cousins ever test positive to a drug test?

"Thing is, for the most part I really enjoyed my drug taking. Sure it can turn nasty for some people, usually caused by immoderate consumption, but it can also be very fun."

It's the one thing that parents/teachers/authority figures never say - drugs can be fun. By and large people take them for fun or to relax. It's a bit off the drugs in surfing topic but I reckon its the main reason the war on drugs will never be won. The message is flawed from the start.

@Stunet,

Making alcohol legal while prohibiting certain drugs amounts to social hypocrisy. Some observers might breezily dismiss it as a fact of life but it is a double standard that makes many people reluctant criminals. Professional surfing is aligning itself with the mainstream and perpetuating the hypocrisy. Makes me nostalgic for a time when surfers would give each other a conspiratorial wink knowing they were operating outside the rules of society.

Good on ya Stu for spelling out the alcoholic hypocrisy.The hypocrisy usually comes from an alcoholic and not from those who only have a beer at new years.Same here been there and done that.Surfing is an adrenaline rush.Why do we take off and take the drop?Because it puts us on a high.I have never been surprised that drugs and surfing professional or not have come together in some way.The only way I'll be a hypocrite is to try and shield my kids away from it.

Stunet has confessed, so will I. Yes, I - did one too many off planet inhalations and been seing Kong and Quiksilver stars ever since. Which reminds me of the latest BraBoy add, something like, ''... the 80's had Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'roll... and we got Crack, Aids and Teckno.'' As that what young earthling pro-surfers get up too these days?

I'm shocked and dismayed by the whole degenerative tone that this thread - nay, this website - is taking on.

Who would've thought that such a bunch of nice, clean living lads and ladies would stoop so low as to imbibe/inhale/ingest illegal recreational substances.

Dog help us. Next thing y'all be wantin' sexual relations before you're married. Fer shame.

Is it possible SSurfer that the Bra Boys ad was both for clothing, and actual crack? Maybe product a is purchased inside the store, while product b from the fellow sporting a hooded jumper milling around behind it. Cash only though.

I've done most things under the sun besides the big bad wolf. Some I liked, some scared the bejeebus out of me, some I still dabble in when I constitute their appropriate target audience. Some high quality mandy and a dark, dingy, laser filled club with some underground house music. Giddy up.

Im yet to find a drug that made me surf better though. Besides necking a warm tinny of XXXX Gold in the dunes in '02 before I paddled out to 3ft a-frame perfection. Haven't surfed like it since....

!KONG. The Best Surfer in the World. EVER.

I thought it strange that Elko plastered a Kelly quote on his book cover.

Although so did MP.

Kelly's the Bono of the surfing world, puts his name and face everywhere. It's great for his 'brand'.

Here's a good interview with G. Kong Elkerton. The whole poll vid is well over three hours long, so either take in the full affair, or wait a bit for it to fully load and then drag it forward to about the 49 minute mark.

stunet said,
Recreational drugs in sport are a vexing issue for mine, especially when used 'recreationally'. Although I haven't touched anything in years I'll admit to being a pretty big consumer up to the age of about 30. Mainly mull (when I was very young), speed, ecstasy and I had a very soft spot for hallucinogens - doors of perception and all that stuff. I delighted in the ritual of taking mushrooms. For some reason coke and I didn't get on and my bank balance says thanks for that.

Thing is, for the most part I really enjoyed my drug taking. Sure it can turn nasty for some people, usually caused by immoderate consumption, but it can also be very fun. In the same way that drinking beers with friends and loosening your inhibitions can be fun.

I can understand the need for a support mechanism to those who go off the rails, but I have trouble with cracking down on surfers who use recreational drugs recreationally. I don't have a clear cut answer, just like drugs in society I hold a few contradictory viewpoints.

I've got kids now but they're all real young, I'm really not sure what I'm going to tell them when it comes time for 'that talk'.

Mate you have lost all credibility in some eyes and gained mountains of it in some others eyes. Controversial stuff mate, you sure you still don't schroom out from time to time with the flashbacks from your mushie shakes.

Good luck with your kids in the future when they want to know why dad is a scribbled zombie, talking to walls and licking windows.

non-local by any measure the "just say no" approach has been a total failure, not only for drug users but for the societies such as Mexico, that get caught up in the supply chain. My question for you is what do you intend to say to your children? "Drugs are bad kiddies!" Whatever you think of Stu's opinion he has got to stage one by being prepared to talk to them truthfully.

Non-local,

Its not a matter of credibility as I see it but a matter of honesty. The John Howard/George Bush head-in-the-sand school of drug awareness doesn't work. Drugs are everywhere in society (did you even read the interview with Kong above?), your ignorance wont make them go away.

yes spleen i did read the interview.
Funny how some guy with the name of a gorilla is ranting on about world titles and being robbed of them by the system, whle being off his head with guys like Gerr and the whole scene. Then this kid comes along and totally smokes his opposition and not some scoobe. Fast forward 22 years and this kid is now the oldest surfer on tour and looking a 12th world title straight in the eyes without ever being involved in recreational drugs. Tell me who is the smarter one?

A fair amount of truth in there non-local but not quite to the point. In some perfect world it might be possible that none of us would ever have felt the need to use recreational drugs. If you are like that consider yourself lucky it is easy to take some abstract moral position over situations you have never confronted. We are all different from birth, we all have different experiences. This is not a justification it is reality. I probably have as much reason to despise drug abuse as any msn alive but it doesn't help. One dimensional judgements such as your comparison between Kong and Slater just do not deal with the whole person. I don't know either of them but if I had to choose I think a chat with Kong would be much more interesting. Something to do with a broader life experience perhaps.

Are you saying Kongs life experience is more broader than Slaters cos hes smashed bongs blindboy?

If so, how does that work?

Who's to say Slater has never tried drugs? Cause he said so? C'mon five years ago Lance Armstrong was beyond reproach too! Kelly would have realised early on that the system runs on bullshit and surfing needed clean role models. He just played the part. The reality could be far different. Who really knows?

Yep, all good points, Yorkster.

Rumour: BKS has been doing rude things to Kalani Miller's body for years now. Allegedly.
Fairly certain: BKS has NO kinder.
Fact: BKS has NO hair.

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/hair-loss-news/article199.php

Join the dots.

Oral contraceptives. Known performance enhancers.

Just puttin' it out there...

That's right yorkeSurfer,
You could be a boogie boarder with a picture of a surfboard
on your profile!
and half the CT guys might Not take drugs
Who knows!
but I doubt that!

Well smashing bongs is a life experience but that wasn't my point. I was replying to non-locals comment. My real point is that being a great surfer does not necessarily make you a great human being and a period of drug use does not disqualify you from that status. And I stand by my call that based on second hand data Kong seems a much more interesting character than Slater - better a mammal than an insect?

OK. If we're gonna get serious, I wouldn't dismiss the life story of a Floridian kid from the wrong side of the tracks who grew up without a father or even a father-figure, but notwithstanding made it to the pinnacle of one of if not the most difficult professions ELEVEN fuckin' times so quickly.

Respect.

BKS, for all his faults, has fuckin' earned it.

whaaaatever

A brilliant reposte. I am without words.

Good, clear point made whaaaat.

Blindboy however..

Excellent entry, Whaaaatt.

this building Kong vs Slater meme could be a huge selling point when the time comes for those two to compete against each other in the ASP oldie events.

But then, there's only four shopping days left before the end of shopping days.

its not so much a Kong V Slater thing so much as it is a druggie Vs straight edge.
I have had no need to test out drugs as my parents did a fair amount of them in the 70's and 80's, enough in fact to kill both of them. I bet if mum and dad didn't take a toke on their first doobie they wouldn't have ended up on heroin and my sisters and i wouldn't have had to live in fostor homes.
Drug taking is the most selfish of pastimes, they rob, cheat and lie to get through their days.
I think that if you want to get the most out of life it is better to be able to function through it, see it all with a clear head and then the decisions you make shold lead to happiness, not a box in the ground!
P.S. Blindboy, get off the persian rugs mate, they are not that good for you.

@N-L: Good words from someone who's borne the brunt. I wish you all the best, brother. Stay strong and well.

Stu, in my profession, the phrase "with all due respect" (usually acccompanied by the equally euphemistic "to my friend") is one of worst insults possible.

I strongly suspect that you didn't mean it that way but it's worth pointing out that N-L does not state or even imply that ALL drug takers "rob, cheat and lie to get through their days." That's your take on his comments: my take is that hard-core drug users such as heroin addicts are this way.

I agree, though, that education and honesty is the most rational response and that hard-line criminalisation is something that all thinking persons should be very wary of, the evidence showing unequivocally that it is the easiest but least effective response to a hugely complex and very nuanced issue.

Fair enough.

I'm off to take a Bex and have a good lie down.

Abuse of drugs and or alcohol is nothing but pure nutfustery.

And Jim Goad is one of the better documenter/writer on this load of fuckery out there.

Young. and old. best heed the warnings.

http://www.jimgoad.net/index.shtml?tweakermadness