Politicians Wave Their Right to Defend Their City’s Title

Fig and I were sitting down the other day thinking of new ways of gettin’ the edge on life, when WHAM! it hit us. There in the letters column of the January issue of Surfing, was a note by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach).

Rohrabacher’s missive wasn’t on Orange County development. And it wasn’t on the November election. Nope, the man wanted to issue a surf challenge with former Huntington Beach Mayor Tom Mays, now a state assemblyman, against elected officials in Santa Cruz.

Dig it, Fig. Here we send a guy to Washington, and he wants to wax up his long board. The nut of Rohrabacher’s letter was that old argument: Does Huntington Beach deserve the title of “Surf City USA,” or does that mantel belong to Santa Cruz, Northern California’s surfing mecca?

Fig: It’s pretty wild. Sounds like we deserve that name. They oughta just give it to us. What did he say?

Essentially that he and Tom weren’t pro caliber. But they DO surf and have a “terrific time” doing it.

As the congressman’s letter said, “Tom and I are willing to face off in a surf contest with elected officials from Santa Cruz. Furthermore, Huntington Beach will put up our best long boarder (world champ Joey Hawkins) against anybody from Santa Cruz.”

Santa Cruz IS a beautiful place, and it’s a big surfing community up there. But it’s kinda like a big flashback from the ‘60s.

What if we had the contest, Fig, and for spice, we add some righteous surfers?

Well, they got hot guys up there like Condor (Say whaaaaat?)-- I mean Peter Mel, Chris Gallagher and Anthony Ruffo. They also got the Enforcer, Vince Collier--a former pro known for controlling the waters up there.

We got Joey Hawkins, Bobby Lockhart and Bud Llamas, a former Top 16 pro. AND the Deffenbaugh brothers--Jeff, who just turned pro, and Barry. We have the Terminator 1985 U.S. champ John Parmenter, too.

What a matchup! Terminator vs. Enforcer!

Are any of these guys Democrats, Fig? Maybe Rohrabacher won’t get in the water with them.

Did any people in Santa Cruz take him up on this contest?

Naw. I called the mayor’s office in Santa Cruz, but Hizzoner Don Lane was, according to his secretary, “tied up in a meeting.” I did get a hold of Rohrabacher, though (Gee, I hate spelling that guy’s name. Too many h’s).

According to the congressman, there’s much at stake in terms of tourism and merchandising dollars with the name of Surf City. But his heart’s in the right place, Fig.

Rohrabacher said: “Here we have a sport that some people really feel represents the soul of California--and a sport requiring some hot maneuvers. I call them skateboarders of the ocean.”

Skateboarders of the ocean? That’s not bad, Dana.

“Yeah, I thought of that for my book.” Hmmmmm, your book?

“Yes, I’ve been writing a book, and of course I’m mixing in politics with surfing. I’m calling my book ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Surfing.’ I already have two chapters done.”

And the contest?

“I haven’t heard back from them. But I’m taking that as an opportunity that they have forfeited their claim to the title.”

So here it is, unofficially: Huntington Beach, Surf City, USA. Let’s surf.

Contest notes: Fig, who just returned from announcing the Bud Pro championships in Ventura, said Shane Beschen of San Clemente won $4,000 for first place and a new Nissan pickup. Beschen deserved the U.S. title, Fig says, because he ripped it really hard the entire year.

Second place went to Chris Brown of Santa Barbara, who did an assortment of round-O’s (kinda cutbacks but all the way around and off the white water), and third was Terrence (T-Bone) McNulty of San Clemente.

In fourth place was San Clemente veteran Jim Hogan, who surfed hard despite knocking a tooth out when his board hit him in the face. Uncrowned world champ Kelly Slater was hanging out at Ventura too. Body-boarder Tim Ross of Cypress made the finals. Mike Stewart captured his sixth U.S. championship in a row.

Most eyes now shift to the North Shore of Hawaii for the triple crown events--the Wyland Gallery pro at Haliewa, Marui Masters at Pipeline and the season’s final contest, the Hard Rock World Cup at Sunset Beach.