Recapping the Week that Was with a Profound Jerry Seinfeld x Surfing Anecdote

Ever noticed how often waves are used as metaphors? 

People love to sub them in for something that rises, peaks, maybe passes. My favorite is when they really think they’ve struck gold by coming up with it and proceed to take it a step further by bringing surfing into the mix.  

Just ride it like a wave. 

It is typically the source of much cringe. The other day, while listening to a podcast, I encountered a metaphorical use of surfing that caught me off guard — from Jerry Seinfeld*, no less. He compared it to stand-up comedy. Here’s the quote in full: 

So a TV series is like a pretty big boat that you can run with a couple of people. A movie is a yacht. There’s so many people, it’s a beautiful thing, there’s a lot of money involved. Everybody wants it. Everybody thinks it’s the ultimate way to go across the water. Stand-up for me is a surfboard. It’s just you, you paddle out and you try and catch the energy and you’re all on your own. You can do it and go home and nobody but you really even knows what happened.

Ohh, I like that. I’ve said this before but, to me, surfing consists of whatever explosions occur in your brain whenever you’re lucky enough to be sliding across a wave — that’s why it’s funny to get upset with surf brands, the WSL, torched surf camps or anybody trying to “sell surfing.” They can’t. It’s impossible.  

And, let’s be honest with ourselves: Anybody who has ever seen a clip of themselves surfing knows that visual data from a removed angle says very little about how fun that shit was. 

Thank you Mister Jerry. 

Anyway, as promised, the format of the Fwd has been updated for the new year. I’m keeping it to five stories with a little bit of context on each. Click if you dig, and go surf. 

Something You Should Pay For: We Figured Out Who’s Going To Win This Year’s World Title

You like data? Yeah, you like data, don’t you? Here’s a data-driven piece that predicts 2021’s CJ Hobgood. It’s behind the paywall, but that’s OK because you can make money betting on it and then your subscription will be free. Dat’s economics, baby.

Something You Should Know: Breaking: The Sunset CT Is Cancelled, Santa Cruz Might Be 

You know what was pretty cool? When competitive surfing was back for like five minutes. At least we still have the digi Triple Crown.

Something You Should Know: Mommy, Where Do Surfboards Come From?

Boards ain’t just either imported from Asia or hand-shaped — there are many different ways for pretty branded boards to end up under our feet. I had a lot of questions about the way things work, so I asked a few people to catch us all up to speed.

Something You Should Watch: The Pick Up: The Biggest Air Ever Done?

The Pick Up is Stab’s open invitation for everybody to enjoy this season on the North Shore without contracting COVID like some CEOs of the World Surf League that you might know. This episode is great — not only due to Nathan Fletcher’s air attempt, but kind of due to Nathan Fletcher’s air attempt.

Something You Can’t Not Click On: “Because of Her Dropping in, I fell in a Really Bad Spot. That’s Where People Hit Their Heads.”

North Shore blow-ups are one of the best traditions we have in surfing. Whether it’s a surfer getting slapped, a team manager getting punched in the face or a simple acai bowl scrum, every year seems to produce the goods. Women x Pipeline has been a hot topic of late and now, Tatiana Weston-Webb and Moana Jones deliver us this doozy. 

One last thing: 

Boards that need to get finished last minute for a surf trip or any other deadline tend to be more magic — but only if you don’t harass anybody at the factory. 

*Slight flex: Jerry Seinfeld follows @stab on Instagram