John Florence Lobs Warning Shot In General Direction Of Vans Triple Crown Aspirants

Yesterday, we announced the opening of the sign-up window for the 2021/22 digital Vans Triple Crown of Surfing with a short teaser episode of The Pick-Up (watch below).

A few hours later, on his eponymously named Youtube channel, John John Florence, the winner of last year’s VTCS, dropped a video detailing his best rides from the 2020 event, in what could only be described as a virtual shot across the bow for this year’s Triple Crown aspirants.

Oh, you think you can beat me? That’s cute.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Florence used a similar tactic when we announced our Stab Edit of the Year project, wherein surfers from around the world can submit a 5-15 minute surf flick in 2022 to potentially win the grand prize of a Bitcoin.

John’s response on Instagram the next day was as follows.

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A post shared by John john Florence (@john_john_florence)

The caption reads: Watch and have fun. If you have time for an 11 minute edit @300 fps we’re getting warmed up for @stab‘s edit of the year contest haha link in Bio.

If you’re the best surfer in the world, which an uninjured John John almost certainly is, this is an ingenious tactic. It’s like the schoolyard bully telling everyone he’s giving free headlocks in the cafeteria. Ain’t nobody going to lunch, the macaroni’s all his.

That said, we have a feeling that some valiant souls will ignore John’s warning and put up a true fight in this year’s Triple Crown. If you’re feeling brave, sign up here.