Scoring Huntington Beach and WLA Tournament - 042212

Surf report: 3-4 feet solid

Winds: on shore

Atmosphere: gloomy

Water: Warmer

Saturday was a lackluster day for surf.  It was not a day to write home about.  I had fun, but when I heard Matt and Fransauce scored in HB, I started thinking maybe I can make the trek down to Huntington too.

Nicky calls me, saying that he got off work Saturday night, and wanted to surf Sunday morning.  Christina called me too, saying that she wanted to go down, so Nicky and I would meet her down there. 

I get up at 530 AM and snooze for about ten minutes.  I do my stretches, and call Nicky.  I wasn’t really surprised that he was up.  I felt that he wanted to surf, and so he would be up no matter what.  I swing by his house and drop off his belated birthday gift I’ve had since the end of January and we give each other deep, loving hugs.  I missed this kid! 

We make our way down to the 405, and catch up on life.  We get off Goldenwest, our old stomping grounds where we “camped” out in my van and slept over to wake up to empty surf.  We park our car in the residential area, as we always do, and get changed.  I had to pee so badly I pee’d in my wetsuit while standing on the blacktop. 

Christina was already in the water, and we were able to spot her blue OCD board.  Her board’s wax job is a direct reflection of her:  the wax job is just so calculated and precise, not a grain of wax is out of place. 

For the first hour or so, I didn’t really catch anything.  The rising tide was really making things difficult for anyone to catch a wave.  I told myself not to drift, but I saw Nicky drifting, so I said fuck it and let the current take me.  It was a Sunday morning.  Just chill and relax! 

I took a small wave for a short ride.  I look back, and these sets started to roll in.  I could see Nicky getting pummeled on the first one that rolled over me.  Then I see a second one, and a third one, and a fourth one in the horizon.   A smile runs across my face.  This is what I’ve been missing!  A good pounding on the inside.  I start to gun for the horizon, but every time I duck dive, the white water steamrolls me.  I see Nicky get further and further back.  His arms are not in surfer shape.  Christina is getting pounded like a piece of veal way on the inside.  I make it out after a few sets, but Nicky comes back a bit later, saying he took at least ten on the head.  Christina comes back waaaaaaay later, and I’m guessing she took at least ten on the head too. 

We drifted into this pack of surfers who were highly competitive and were packed into this small peak.  I tried to go for a wave, but this guy was literally right next to me, where his rail would touch my rail.  Yes, he had the inside, so I backed out, but man, I couldn’t really understand why he had to be so close the whole time!  I had enough of this drifting, so I paddled away from the pack and sat on my own peak.

And then the waves just started coming.  I lost track of Nicky and Christina.  I caught about four consecutive sets on this one peak with no one around.  It was just exhilarating to work on my cut backs and pumping.  My board felt really good under my feet.  The high tide definitely made the wave a little weaker, but it’s Huntington!  The water moves a lot faster here than it does in LA. 

Enter longboarder #3. 

This longboarder and I share a wave.  We pop up at the same time, so I decided to follow him.  He dropped in on me, but at this point, I didn’t really care.  I pumped, did a semi cutback, carved and pumped all the way to where he was.  I laughed and smiled, clapping my hands, and pointing at him.  The look of fear overtook this guy’s face.  “Dude, it’s my last wave!  I’m going in!  I’m going in!”  I was like… what?  I’m not chasing you out… I’m actually stoked that you caught a wave!! Then I realized, he probably got chased out a few times for doing what he just did, and didn’t want any “problems.”  That was definitely weird. 

Nicky paddles over, saying that Christina took off because her meter was running out.  He and I stayed out for a few more waves, and I could tell his arms were just burning from fatigue, so I said, “Last wave?”

“Yea, last wave,” he replied.

Pho Ga

Right on queue, a small wave came.  It wasn’t anything spectacular, but I rode it in, and called it a day. 

Yea, the waves were nice, but I think surfing and spending time with Nicky made it all the more better.  Not taking anything away from Christina, but Nicky is my little brother from another mother, and I haven’t spent time with him in a long time.  It’s all love. 

We decide to drive down a little further to Brookhurst and get some Pho.  From there, we ate Chicken Pho (Pho Ga) and a spring roll each, and took him six sandwiches each.  Huzzah!!  What a perfect way to start a Sunday. 

6 sammiches each

This whole weekend has been an activity-filled weekend, since our annual basketball tournament was on.  My boys’ team, the WLA Lightning, is the host of this tournament.  I have participated in this when since I was in 2^nd grade, and all the way through high school.  I coached a team from 3^rd grade to high school, and once they graduated, I took on this new team. 

I’ve had some kids quit already, but there are a few core kids that always come to practice, and always come to the games.  However, Friday night, I was informed that we may have to forfeit since there were only 3 kids showing up to the game at 10 AM.  I was very frustrated, and severely angry.  I sent out an angry email, which I re-wrote three or four times to tone it down (my friend Lisa told me, “That’s toned down??” haha) and hammered the parents for not committing to a tournament we were hosting.  One of the parents finally answered back, saying that they were quitting.  I couldn’t believe that they would notify us the day before a tournament that they were quitting!!  This kid, whom I love, hasn’t shown up to practice, and we were trying to get in contact with him for months.  And then, he just ups and leaves without any reason, or any heads up.  I’ve had kids quit like this before, and it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

In the end, we got 5 kids to show up to the 10 AM game, and steam rolled the other team.  We had another game at 7 PM, and we had two more kids show up.  I grilled one of the parents about his commitment to the team, and how much of a burden he created by not communicating with us.  He was very apologetic, and I told him that all I have now is his word that he will commit to the team, and that was that. 

Sunday morning, this parent that I grilled shows up and volunteers as scorekeeper from early in the morning, making his actions speak louder than his words.  That definitely pleased me.  I’m always a believer in actions speaking louder than words. 

Sunday’s game was our “championship” game.  I took one of my big bags that I put my groceries in and told them:

“This bag right here, this is my trophy bag.  You guys won both games yesterday, so this is our championship game.  You guys are getting trophies after this game.  If you guys win, you can keep these trophies.  If you guys lose, I take your trophies into my trophy bag.”

They all looked scared to lose.  They looked fired up for the game.

Now, the game was a good game.  The parents were into it, we were into it.  The first half was all us.  We came out of the gates really strong.  But the second half belonged to the other team.  In the end, we ended up in a tie.  We don’t keep score since these are 2^nd graders, but the parents kept score, and we were tied at the end of the game.  So…

The balls spin on these trophies!! how cool is that???

“I get to keep all your trophies!”  These are really nice trophies too.  Way better than the ones I used to get, or my previous team used to get too!  The look of devastation and sadness on my kids faces… PRICELESS!! 

I told the parents to please not tell them that I’m giving them back the trophies at Friday’s practice.  I am a mean coach, but not that mean.  I am giving them back.  A lot of the parents had a sinister smile on their face and agreed not to.  I think they want their kids to be winners.  I just fear that one of the parents will let the cat out of the bag.  I want the kids to get a taste of bitterness when they lose an important game.  They should learn from their loss, not be rewarded for their loss. 

Mahalos Mother Ocean!!  You made my day.