Surfing “The Game” at the X Games X attracts 30,000 people

labelnetworks.com|Story Archive|2004

Surfing “The Game” at the X Games X attracts 30,000 people

In the inaugural surf event in the X Games in 02003, a crowd of 25,500 came by to witness the introduction of a new surf competition format called “The Game,” which was televised to more than 140 million homes. Brainchild of world-renown surfer, Brad Gerlach, “The Game” format was comprised of two teams made up of professional surfers representing the East Coast and the West Coast. Each team competed with four surfers in the water in each quarter broken into two, 20-minute heats complete with time-outs--often used if waves aren’t peaking. Surf teams in the Game format have to work together, sometimes even sharing and riding the same wave called “splitting the peak,” to capture top scores from judges in the categories of speed, power, commitment to the wave including big moves, use of rail (riding the edge of the boards carving a wave), and overall style.

This year at Huntington Beach, the hype was even higher for surfing’s The Game second round, and attracted even more top pros—East vs. West—and 30,000 spectators. For the 2nd year, East Coast took home the gold in chest-high surf from a series of tight moves, including backside airs and floaters that kept them just ahead of the West coast team, even though the West coast team had more aerials in the end. East coast team members and gold medalists included, Taj Burrow, Cory Lopez, Dean Randazzo, Damien Hobgood, C.J. Hobgood, Asher Nolan, Kelly Slater, Aaron Cormican, Bryan Hewitson, and Peter Mendia.

West coast team members included, Rob Machado, Shane Beschen, Taylor Knox, Mike Losness, Andy Irons, Pat O’Connell, Tim Curran, Dane Reynolds, Jason Collins, and Nate Yeomans.

To put things into perspective of how The Game changes surfing, West Coast surfer, Rob Machado explains: “It’s different than what we’re used to because it’s not about individuals. In the U.S. Open the weekend before, I surfed my heat and didn’t really even know who was in it. I went home and then came back for my next heat. But with the Game format, we have to work together—we’re on a team and I want to know what the guys are doing, so of course I stick around and we think of strategies.”

According to West Coast surfer, Taylor Knox, “There needs to be some changes in surfing. The Game format in the X Games promotes the guys to go for it and working together in a heat. The sport used to be so individual and this concept has so much potential. We have coaches for each team; we could create a world tour. I don’t think it will replace the way surf competitions generally work, but it will work along side it and bring surfing to more people because like the NBA, they can get behind their area of the country.” This is the goal of surfing’s The Game.

In the end, the East Coast beat the West Coast team 97.03 to 90.02. The impact from the change in surfing competition formats remains to be seen as more people are introduced to competitive surfing on TV.