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The O’Neill Cold Water Classic, Santa Cruz

On November 1, it all fires up. Previously a stop in O’Neill’s six-star series of events, which also included places like Canada, New Zealand and Scotland, the Santa Cruz Cold Water Classic has now been upgraded to a World Tour event, to celebrate 60 Years of O’Neill in 2012. In nine days, Steamer Lane will light up. It’s been a long time since World Tour events have been served with as much pepper as they are right now, and honestly, who doesn’t love a little extra fire? Here’s hoping for more passion, fury, tears and sizzle.

129 comments so far...
1.

Wilco to pay homage to the locals by wearing a wetsuit covered in Crystal Meth. Parko again to be gifted heats for his “long service world title”.

2.

Will Gabby cry before or after the comp? Will his pop, the Abraham Lincoln look a like, throw some chairs at the barking sea lions?

3.

All you guys saying Nat Young will win this are TRIPPING! The guy’s sixty fucking five years old! I mean seriously…

4.

Or what? your going to send ‘em to “flea-hab”?

5.

Why did Stab close the comments on Chas Smiths article “How to Love a Woman”? I’m betting some of the comments would have been hysterical.

1.

Jack O’neill started his business in San Francisco. My dad bought one of his first “wetsuits.” It was a vest made out of airplane carpet which at that time was designed to keep the plane warm.

2.

I’m guessing Jadson Andre for the win. Such a great backhand style hahaha.
Someone outside the top 10 will win this one. Wilko will do we’ll, suits his backhand which is the best on tour, and he won a prime here a few years ago.

    3.

    Wilko will be goners in the early rounds like always…too much hippie pussy float’n around not to be a distraction.

    4.

    I have never seen Jadson Andre do an air reverse.

    5.

    Jadson’s wave: pooh stance….spaz, spaz, off the top hit, spaz, spaz…

6.

Wilko may get sidetracked by some of the legendary goings on after dark up that way. Would love him to win but will probably never happen. Will suit Parko’s flowing (sometimes boring) style. Is Nat Young the wildcard?

7.

Nat Young is going to win the trials and SMOKE the top 44 in the comp. West side fo life

    8.

    no, Nat Young is going to smoke something else.

    9.

    top 44..ugh you mean top 32 right Alp..u may wanna lay off the smoking seeing as there hasn’t been a top 44 for a while

      10.

      Top 34 you morons

11.

Nat young rides for Nike so doubt he will be a wildcard, unless they give one to a local. Is Shaun cansdell still riding for O’Neill? Would be good to see him get one

    12.

    Wrong, Nat Young rides for MCD clothing and Piping Hot boardshorts.
    piss off

13.

The Lane is not a straightforward wave. I think local knowledge is going to go a long way or early preparation time for those on the CT that go up early. Kelly hasn’t surfed there since he got smoked by Ratboy in like ’86. If there are waves, it will be a awesome.

    14.

    Yeah, its not straightforward, its a wave. Terrible choice of words.

      15.

      then a barrel can´t be vicious or a spot can´t be moody. You know there´s life after grammar wright?

        16.

        hey jack wagon, not funny.. its a comment section mr. sensitive. i wonder if i wear to bite your nutsack off. … how loud you would scream…. and then spit the bloody ping pong chew toys into your face.

17.

Wilco to pay homage to the locals by wearing a wetsuit covered in Crystal Meth. Parko again to be gifted heats for his “long service world title”.

18.

Will Gabby cry before or after the comp? Will his pop, the Abraham Lincoln look a like, throw some chairs at the barking sea lions?

    19.

    who knows, but julia will probably claim a cover up or two

20.

Santa Cruz is a drug-laden wasteland of hippie culture. Its reputation is for substance abuse is well-known. I wouldn’t let my children 65 miles near the place. All the burn-outs and crack heads are troubling. Pro surfers up their have fought their own battles. They were never heroes, but took drugs for courage to surf big waves. I am not going to list names, but we all know who they are. The lane…well hopefully we’ll get some waves.

    21.

    Very narrow minded, bro. Drugs are everywhere. SC is pretty mellow

      22.

      And you’re very close minded, bro . Drugs aren’t everywhere.

      Why don’t you sit and listen? or will you go into a zilla butt stance and cry?

    23.

    you are a kook

    24.

    Hey Kook, do you want to get head slapped? We wouldnt want you here anyways ,or youre offspring. You would get eaten up alive if you showed youre face here!!! Where are you from kook?

      25.

      …. come at me… I will put your body into a pretzel.

    26.

    Get real.Santa Cruz will prevail on local coditions, afar as drugs I don;t think it is an issue any more.

27.

Slater never got smoked by ratboy. He lost an expression session to ratboy because ratboy threw down a backside air 360

    28.

    My bad, you are right.

    29.

    are u on glue? His 360 air smoked kelly, no disrespect to the champ

30.

I live in San Diego and and follow the ASP like most people follow football or baseball. I’m coming up with my wife and two boys to enjoy the beauty of Santa Cruz and all the hype going down to the wire for the world tile. Tightest world title race ever.

    31.

    I’m jealous. You’re stoked. Hopefully good weather and waves….

    32.

    I’m heading up to SC, but am getting an escort for a few nights. Otherwise, I would be down to chill.

33.

If anyone could steer me in the right direction for a few Jimbo Phillips CWS contest posters would be greatly appreciated. Will pay in $$ or dinner, whatever.

34.

Skater said if Santa Cruz sucks they will g0 up to SF. Makes sense vs Wadell.

35.

Why did Stab close the comments on Chas Smiths article “How to Love a Woman”? I’m betting some of the comments would have been hysterical.

    36.

    author charlie smith … charlie…charlie…..charlie smith. … i like him charlie smith… i like him charlie smith… i have a picture of him charlie smith.. i look at picture of charlie smith … i look at this charlie smith … i look at him. ..

37.

all you out of towners enjoy but remember tread lightly on the westside!!

    38.

    Or what? your going to send ‘em to “flea-hab”?

      39.

      Nice one – ‘flea-hab’ – made me laugh

40.

Santa Cruz is a backwater and remains so because of the attitudes of the local surfers. I would never buy an Oneill anything knowing some of that $ goes to support those methy locs.

41.

Listen up kooks, this is no place from groms comprende?
Theres no jet skis to tow you in-
Just paddling out is a commitment!

    42.

    chirp! lurky lurky

43.

Hey Brasil.

Suck a fart out of my arse and blow it in Medina’s general direction.

Why so many of your women here trying to pick up Australians?

Daddys doctor surgery pays for your girlfriend to get pumped up the A-Hole.

Go do some crap-poo-eira!

44.

prediction: Perrow wins over Jordy, Jordy cries because it’s his sponsors event and should have won. Medina’s Dad still throws a chair

    45.

    Kieren “safety turn” Perrow will only win if it’s straight-handers. If he has to do anything other than bottom turn and pull in he’ll perish in early rounds.

      46.

      you are wright anti kook. travis “buttsnap” logie will smoke everyone

    47.

    Jordy looks up at the Cliff, sees his chicks box, and misses a set wave while distracted and daydreaming of getting laid for the 1,375,000th time. He loses and drops off the Tour. Wilko contracts herpes from a hippie orgy, and cannot lay on his board, and misses his heat causing Rat to be automatically seeded against Taj, who is picking crabs out of his scruff. Rat wins and makes it to the finals against Kolohe, who bitch slapped Medina while punching his own board int he semi’s. Kolohe wins, and is crowned King of Californis, while Industry office workers spray silly string all over their laps.

    48.

    prediction: Perrow does a turn.

49.

prediction: half the top 32 are no shows because they get close to santa cruz and are instantly high. Medina’s Dad still throws a chair.

    50.

    prediction: unemployed burn-outs on the cliff get engraged because their investment of time in the water doesn’t pay off

51.

yet 1more boring wave on tour,really most of this years title has been decided by mother nature, as in only a couple of good waves in one heat which one guy gets and wins this is not winning by surfing this is winning by luck
Take the tour to waves that have long period swells with a least 3waves per set.
A setups that allows the pros to draw out some real turns with combo options.
Bells should move to winki and indo needs to be used how good would maccas be to watch.

52.

Can’t wait for the Top 32 homos to come kook it up in my backyard. I’ll be drinking 40s on the cliff and burning fools in the water. Westside 4 life.

    53.

    Can’t wait to see the druggie local kooks at SC. These guys act tough, but are 5 foot midgets.

      54.

      “hey guys, we’re the real suf city…. ” … snorting 3 lines of coke “yeah, stay the f2ck out of here”…… taking a bong hit… .”locals rule”

55.

Medina, what a spoiled brat faggot arse brazzo fuckbag shit sack.. drizzing after he lost, writing off the judges and then running off without acknowledging his opponent.. true champs know how to win and lose with grace. As for his dad.. he should be banned from the comp area for 2 events like they do to the premiership football managers when they lose their shit.

    56.

    He didn`t “lose” asshole, he got robbed. Clear difference, that`s why he was pissed.
    He`s lost many times before and never had this kind of reaction, he has always had grace and respect in his losses, but this time was different. Use your limited brain before writing anything

      57.

      Hey, clearly Gabriel lost… and GOATDAD, you must be a fucking proud Brazzo! what about gabriels wave where he never even got a full cover up and they gave him a seven something. Julian was the victor..obviously and the judges did a great job, as always! As for his poor sportsmanship thats because he’s a brazzo and they aren’t real men…they are bitches.

    58.

    …as if you have the balls to say it to his face, another sackless cunt in the audience.

    you like to criticize, lets see you surf.
    You probably are a burn-out or a can-do-nothing kook.

59.

At The Sandman… if it’s consistancy you want, long period swells are not the answer. Long range swells tend to have longer waits between sets, which equals less waves per heat. Also these long locations often also have completely flat days (compared to, for Example the East Coast of Aus where we mainly get short period swell and as a result have surfable waves most days of the year)

I’m not saying the current tour’s locations/waiting periods/schedule is perfect, just that there are a lot of things to consider.

    60.

    Hmmm I grew up in victoria and now live on the south coast nsw and there are way more surfable days in vic with much longer periods.
    But I hear you on the longer wait but often areas that are open to a bigger fetch will have multiple waves in a set.

61.

west side crew can suck a cock!

    62.

    Any male over the age of 20 that calls himself “ratboy” has some issues.

63.

Julian Wilson is gonna take out this one, 29 claims to the rocks, yeewww!

64.

Wave pools! Where are our wave pools?

65.

All you guys saying Nat Young will win this are TRIPPING! The guy’s sixty fucking five years old! I mean seriously…

    66.

    …haaahhahha!!

    67.

    you are an absolute air head…the Nat Young that they speak of is local talent (21 yr old) shredder. You must be fucking with us Nathan!

      68.

      ..and you must be a yanky wank stain

69.

My girl and I are flying in from Reno to Sacramento to watch the event. Are there any nude beaches near Santa Cruz?

70.

Dont know about surf city..but it is a special place

71.

hope its too big and they have to hold it at mavs hahaaa.. imagine THAT

    72.

    hope its not funny and they have to report the comment hahaa… imagine THAT

73.

prediction: flea shows up breaking his sobriety by openly smoking shards and yelling at pigeons to go back to the east side. wilko wears shard suit gets flared and has the energy to take the event. ruffo skindog ratboy an barney have a nude wrestling match on the point

74.

santa cruz is the only surf town with drugs, how it happened we don’t know. it just baffles the world surf community that surf and do drugs.
maybe the ASP could spice up the event by doing interventions on the local pros on the lay days, webcast, live commentary.
meddinas dad gets up from the intervention, throws a chair

75.

Medina’s dad start’s throwing chair’s off the point at Julie,while Julie is is out claiming his son in the final,then get’s collected by a stray chair thrown bya methed out Flea after his nude wrestling match with skindog,barney and the boy’s then fall’s off the cliff and get’s run over by ratboy get’s concussed then finally come’s to after being brought back to life on the beach after copping multiple bitch slap’s by the judging panel lead by Richy and Pritamo then get’s handed a life time ban for carrying on………….can’t wait.

76.

I just got got done watching youporn. I have a large stain on my white t-shirt. Any ideas besides water of getting this out of my shirt?

    77.

    Yes, Gabriel Medina’s teardrops, the delicacy of a child will lift the stains of nations.

    78.

    lick it fool

79.

Steamer Lane literally sounds like someone dropped a steaming dook on this nook of shitty drugladened coast. Fuck Steamer Lane and fuck you, and Gabriel Medina’s dad throws a chair.

80.

Medina loses 2nd round, and then pops drops a steamer outside the judges tower.

81.

How about Julian Wilson rides a wave into the rock wall, smashes his face and them claims it afterwards and the judges give him a 11.00

82.

Gabriel will never live down his mental meltdown. Every post on stab turns into a Gabby smash sesh and I think its the funniest thing ever. One question….Did his dad actually throw a chair?

    83.

    stepdad. allegedlly

84.

Surfing is turning into a new type of dancing contest called ‘Claiming’. After all thats where all the scores are coming from. ASP should fuck the surfing and get contestants to stand on the beach to try out claim their opponent

85.

is there any video or photos of this chair throwing? I keep hearing all about it and I’d love to see

86.

the bigger the pooh stance…. the bigger the steamer.

87.

Yaa just do you know katz, i aint letting these valley kooks shred my local, SC4lyfe

88.

Personally I m stoked the circus is coming to town. It s good for the stores and restaurants . It give s local kids that want to surf for a living , professionals to aspire to be like ( in the water, solely ) and shit , HOPEFULLY there will be waves this year ( over the two week period ) so they won t have to move it to Waddell again -

89.

wow,a lot of knuckle heads spewing a lot of knuckle head shit, go figure. Steamers should be fun and looking forward to seeing some world class talent in town. I cant argue with the fact that their are a lot of outspoken shitheads in the line up out here. i moved up from so cal 3 years ago and love the waves, tolerate the locals.

    90.

    fuck you

    91.

    you like throwing chairs too ay?

92.

asp is turning into professional football, full of drama queens and claims of various sorts. jon jon is the man in my opinion, charges, any air ya want and wouldnt claim a penny for his thoughts.

93.

AIRS were in before and arnt going anywhere just like power. Gabriel won that heat. Thats coming from anyone who surfs her in the noth shore. Even julian knows he Could of loss. Thats cool everyone says julian hasnt won a event before. Real competion were talking about here. hahah Its all good. The judges have been trying to help julian wilson ever since he won the Us open which was beyond deserved. He ripped! End of story though is, gabes got robbed and bobby was a kinda spot on. Huh everyone……..

    94.

    Take your head out of gabriels lap NSB, all you’ve been doing is flooding these blogs with your single minded cock sucking poor views of the portugal comp. gabriel-vagina LOST. No one cares what you think cause ur some proud kook brazo who wanks off to poo-man brazo’s doing crab air reverses all day while whispering your own name. Go do another chop hop. Huh everyone….

95.

I could see it, and im only 11. Are nssa judges probly would do a better job. Everyone thinks it such a professional tour. hahaha I dont see it. I think everyond should just go back to surfing. All these stupid clothes everyone want to sell and buy is lame. Just surf for fun and work real jobs for your money. surfers are kooks

96.

It is “steamer lane” not “steamers”

    97.

    its inhabited by some of the ugliest humans one could find … steamer lane… a bunch of rotten apples … on the shoreline you won’t find an Alana .. you will find an Adele: some 399 lb woman sits farting in the corner eating Cheetos and playing with herself, not knowing whats going in the water… but getting her cheese laden hands all over her little Kitty and giggling with glee as her 120lb husband cackles like a hyena lighting up and passing it to his son.

98.

flea you bent unit westside fags tread lightly

99.

You cant really blame the SC crew for turning to meth and being so aggro.In Santa Cruz even the hottest of hotties let all their hair grow out and wear pants under their skirts and dresses. They bitch for a few years about how shallow surfers are while they’re studying some bs or other at UCSC and then they give in and munch really shaggy crunchy carpet. Poor SC crew has no options…give them a break!

    100.

    Ha Ha haaa! ” Shaggy, crunchy carpet” Awesome!!!

101.

you’re welcome

http://www.myspace.com/mcbuellandthenickels

cold water classic histo rap

102.

What’s up faggots, Chuck is down to roast, shoot, snort, boof anything.
You see the Longboard at the Point brah? It means Locals and that’s what’s Chucks about.

103.

You know why I hate the cold water classic? To many fucking kooks. Steamer Lane jam packed, kook central. Fucking kooks R us. Just bashing fucking kook skull!

104.

Look, Gabs is no. 2 in everyone’s books after John John. He was robbed. But should be fined for unsportsmanlike conduct just to motivate him more.

Kelly said they will move the comp to SF if the Lane isn’t happening. Makes sense, more juice.

    105.

    Oh sure, makes a ton of sense to move to a spot over an hour away, with really fickle winds as a back up site, just because Rip Curl caught lightning in a bottle last year. I think the back up site should be Lowers.

106.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn3UsGXX22I

107.

might be the funniest shit I have read in years. Fuck off ya scabby cunts.

108.

Much like Wilko has a suit covered in tits, I plan on covering my body with the seed of every back 16 pro and hanger on. You can find me on the Cliffs by day, and gobbling like a turkey at night. Condoms optional.

109.

Even for STAB, this shit is epic!. This is why you don’t have moderated message boards, where everyone hugs and licks each others butts (SURFER). Also why STAB is getting so many hits on its site.

110.

Prediction: Pink Umbrella man emerges from retirement, wins local wild-card spot, goes on to win the comp.

    111.

    What ever happened to that creeepy dude?! The best was when his pink outfit became a faded, nasty flesh color, all dirty and soiled.

112.

I will be there on the cliff. I might decide to throw rocks and cause a ruckus or publicly masturbate. I’m still deciding which course to take…

113.

Stab, you should be ashamed at yourself for not moderating these comments sections better. What a bunch of toxic comments and anonymous wanna be comedians. If you write a comment you should have the balls to write your real name. I love Santa Cruz and I love pro surfing and I’m glad to share our beautiful town for 10 days. I am also glad most of these losers who comment here wouldn’t ever have the guts to actually surf our breaks or say what they write out loud at the Lane. Peace out, Nealdude

    114.

    Neal, Sorry for having the freedom to speak our minds. I will tone it down a bit. Let me first wipe the semen off my mushroom tip and hand you the tissue. Thanks Neal.

115.

Ummm, yeah Neal, you go tell em!? Who are you?

116.

Neal = bogging kook fun board fucker

117.

Sometimes when I’m surfing, I’ll wear Jack O’Neill’s eye patch,…over my asshole or just below my hairy ballsack because that’s how good those wetsuits are today. XCEL bitches!!!

118.

prediction:
wilkos meth suit brushes against medinas dad resulting in and enraged methed out brazzo abe lincon look alike…then the methed out psycho dad mistakes the scafflolding as a chair..picks it up throws it .. while doing so flexes his bowels resulting in a huge dump which happens to fly over julian wilsons head causing him to claim what in his mind is a barrel….as his arm thrusts foreward for the claim it just so happens to go up a precariously perched gabriels butt…shocking the young brazzo and causing a crying fit……his dad throws yet another chair

119.

Hilarious posts. The Medina act is certainly bringing a reality tv element to the tour. Maybe they should run with it? Trippy Dane is part time. Bobby’s meltdown/rants were epic. Once Slater bails, it’ll be so boring. Oh, and this claiming has got to stop. They should deduct points for claims–dble for brazzos!

120.

Agreed, the claims devalue the wave and the rider. It’s like the guy who tells a lame joke and then is the first to laugh at it. If the rider has to “claim it” to get a response from the crowd the ride usually wasn’t that great to begin with= deduct points, that will stop that shit immediately..

121.

richie collins’ staccato slashing should see him bag this one

122.

Slaters a no show

123.

Not that surfing has a lot in common with soccer but balotelli has the right attitude:

“When I score, I don’t celebrate.
It’s my job, does a postman
celebrate when he delivers post?”
~Mario Balotelli~
(Super Mario)

124.

Santa Cruz is a good place. The locals are mainly up surfing North County, you hardly catch them at the Lane or Pleasure Point. they are so bummed that their breaks are full of so many outsiders and the quality of people who surf these “World Class” breaks are not that good at surfing. So that’s the real bummer. The only window for these guys who grew up here are when it’s 6-10+, then it’s game on. But most of the SC locals are bumming on the simple fact their breaks are just way too crowded and full of kook quality. There are no real regulators, no up and coming pros who turn heads, just a bunch of guys that are getting to a certain level, turning 18, and then throwing their lives away on Drugs. the town consists mostly of transplants, maybe 10,000 of the 55,000 residents are true locals. And the hippy wanna bes are from every where else but SC. Most of the people hanging out down town on the corners in their 3 man bands, or with their dogs begging for money, again, are a bunch of transplants playing the hippy card.
So if you grow u surfing in SC, youre not likely to go PRO, the odds are stacked against you, especially since all the major industries are in SoCal and there are wayyyy more rippers in SoCal per capita. Population is bigger, the competition is bigger, hence, the quality of surfers produced equals BETTER. SC has a handful of guys that are good, but then the shit gets to their heads, they end up going no where fast, usually end up partying their lives away. Without Surfing, they are bartending, waiting tables, no skill set in the real world.
So there you have it. Real SC locals are not hippy scum, they are not what pacific Ave fakes everyone with. Santa Cruz is full of blue collar white people, a good amount of redneck hill billy types, but most of the people who are acting weird are doing it for attention. It’s the biggest front ever. Last time i checked, people on X are weird acting, people on Meth are strange and wird, so are we proud to be on drugs while your gray haired mothers run the local politics? Fuck the hippy front and i feel bad for no one able to really put SC on the map, what a waste of good waves, no talent produced…I’m done

125.

You should always depend on yourself rather than someone else.No littering on the campus.Show your tickets

126.

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127.

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128.

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129.

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