Andy Irons Sounds Off

The surfing world has been buzzing about Andy Irons since he pulled out of the Quiksilver Pro France last month during the second round.  Immediately after, he and his brother Bruce skipped the Billabong Pro in Spain (and AI’s skipping Brazil, too).

Irons, 30, is a three-time ASP World Champion and is definitely one of the top surfers of all time, but something’s been off recently and Irons opens up about that, his brother’s retirement from competitive surfing and just about everything else in a new Surfline interview.

Here are a few highlights, but do yourself a favor and read the whole thing.

SURFLINE: Why did you no-show for your heat in France?
ANDY IRONS: It was a decision I made after the first heat I paddled out in, the day before, and made a complete fool out of myself. I just wasn’t into it, and I felt like I was going to have a crazy meltdown if I stayed and tried to fake it any longer. It’s hard to explain, but it goes all the way back to J-Bay, where I was freezing cold, miserable, and I truly wanted to lose that heat to Granger [Larsen], and just get the hell out of there. I even gave him a wave hoping he would get the score. Ever since then, it’s like every time I put a jersey on I am slamming my head into a brick wall, and causing myself even more problems with my sponsors, fans, judges, and all these internet bloggers or whatever you call ’em. What people don’t understand is that I am just as confused as they are.

Are you going to the next ASP event, in Brazil?
No Brazil for me! I am in California right now just trying to get my mind right, and taking a break from surfing all together. Been going out to dinner, movies, and I even started working with a trainer. I had a meeting with Billabong the other day, and they are being super cool about this whole deal. They have seen me struggle, and knew from J-Bay that I have been close to jumping off a building at every event since then. They actually gave me the option to skip Europe all together, but I couldn’t wrap my head around skipping an event I have had so much success at [The Quiksilver Pro France]. So, I went, and was right back at LAX within like 4 or 5 days I think. Pretty heavy few days. Sorry Lyndie!

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Dew Tour FMX Contest to Air Live on Spike TV

For the first time ever, FMX fans will be able to catch an AST Dew Tour event live on Spike TV.  This weekend’s PlayStation Pro FMX finals will be airing on Sunday, Oct. 19 from 12:30-2 p.m. ET.  It’s all thanks to the corporate synergy that comes from MTV buying the AST earlier this year (MTV Networks owns Spike).

Normally NBC Sports airs five of the six contests that make up each AST Dew Tour stop, with FMX being one of the more popular.  Last season, one of the FMX contests was also webcast live.

This year, everything changed with FMX — the tour announced that the event would be cut from two of the five stops (with Demos filling the gaps).  Blake Williams won the first stop in Baltimore in June, while Adam Jones won in Salt Lake City last month.

Jones leads the overall AST Dew Cup race with Williams a close second.  However, Williams was injured at the X Games Mexico contest last month and is expected to miss the final stop in Orlando — but these moto riders are pretty resilient, so anything’s possible.

For more about the AST Dew Tour, you can check out the official site.  Or keep an eye on us for the latest results.

Adam Jones in SLC ’08.  cr. AST

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Dusty Payne Wins Oakley Global Challenge in Bali

Dusty Payne in Bali.  cr. Jake White.

Hawaiian Dusty Payne scored a big win Tuesday in Bali, edging France’s Marc Lacomare in a head-to-head final and walking away with the largest payday ever for a pro junior event.  The 19-year old won $20,000 for the first-place finish, with Lacomare taking home $7,500.

Payne received a wildcard entry to the contest after finishing third at the Oakley Pro Junior at Lower Trestles.

“It’s the best contest I’ve ever surfed in,” Payne said after the win (his first in eight years).

The contest at Keramas saw terrific conditions, with 6-8 foot barrels.

For more about the contest, visit the Oakley Pro Jr. website.

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Come Kick Off The Season At Mammoth Mountain

It’s been a long hot summer.  You wake up at noon everyday with your alarm clock blasting Fall Out Boy or something sweet like that.  Then you eat the breakfast your mom prepared for you before she left for work: a Pop Tart, Sunny D, and some string cheese.  Then you go back to bed to watch old reruns of “Saved By The Bell”.  At around 4, your friend Timmy T calls you up to go outside to watch two dog humping.  After your day is over, you come home to eat mom’s Stove Top Stuffing and you go to bed just to wake up and do the exact same thing again.  Not sure about your but that’s how crappy and perpetual my summer was. 

Finally it’s about to get cold again and that means its time to strap on those SKI BLADES!!  Or if you want to avoid getting ice thrown at you, maybe try something else.  Like a snowboard. 

Mammoth Mountain will be kicking off the winter season by celebrating on their Opening day at the Main Lodge.  Read the press release below for more info. 

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Rally America X DC Shoes Photo Contest

Although I’m not really a big rally fan, I might join this photo contest.  I don’t even own a good photo camera but I just might just use my old Polaroid just to win the prize. And I definitely don’t own a rally car so I think ill just take my dad’s beat up Volvo and go drive it through some dirt.  I may possibly win.

The winner of the contest gets some of the dopest looking pair of DC’s ever.  The reason why they’re so cool is because Adidas put out a pair very reminiscent to these a few decades ago and they used be worn by Crips.  As in Bloods and Crips.  When I used to skate around LA as a youngster in these, gangstas used to give me props.  Those were good times.  Good thing I never ran into any Bloods.  Read the press release below on how you can compete with me for these Crip Boots.  Imagine having a year’s supply of them!

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Epickly Later’d: Ethan Fowler Teaser

I love skaters that look like Jesus Christ.  I saw an interview on an Austrian Television show called “Bruno” and while interviewing a famous hair stylist named Jonathan Antin, an interesting discussion came up in regards to famous people who look like Jesus.  They said that anyone with long hair tend to be very pleasant and peaceful.  The discussion was quite in depth and insightful.  I suggest you check it and I think you’ll agree. 

You look at skateboarding and think about those who have long hair and reflect on how spiritual they are.  Mike Vallely, Erik Ellington, Elisa Steamer, Nyjah Huston, The Nuge just to name a few.  Coincidence?  Don’t think so. 

Anyway, Patrick O’dell and Epicly Later’d have a tough task at hand after their strong season opener of featuring Gino Iannucci.  Probably the best series yet, they continue in full force with another skater from the same era, Ethan Fowler.  And it looks like they are continuing with another skater with amazing style.  Just like Gino, Ethan skates fast, smooth, and he’s just fun to watch.  Check out the trailer for Epicly Later’d: Ethan Fowler, out soon. 

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Toy Machine Signing At Black Wax

Toy Machine will be doing a team signing at Black Wax in Escondido California on October 17th at 4:30 PM. Get out there and meet Nick Trapasso, Austin Stephens, Billy Marks, Josh Harmony, Johnny Layton, and Matt Bennett for an afternoon of skateboarding, hessian fun!

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Update: Luke Smith Doesn’t Die

We told you last week about Crusty Demon rider Luke Smith jumping an America’s Cup yacht in New Zealand to promote the latest Crusty Demons tour.  Well, the stunt went as planned on Monday with Smith flipping over the bow (oops, stern) of the $1 million NZL 41 before falling about four stories into the freezing water below.

“This is the first time anyone has back flipped on a motorbike over a vessel before and it’s awesome to have done it in my home city,” Smith said on Stuff.co.uk.  “The yacht is amazing – I am so glad I got over it safe and sound.”

While we are happy Smith made the jump successfully, we were a bit disappointed to see that he didn’t jump over the mast of the ship, vs. the very naked stern (see the photo).  While falling nearly fifty feet into freezing water is nothing to sneeze at, it isn’t much more than you would catch on the latest [ITALICS]Thrillbillies[/ITALICS] from Travis Pastrana.

The Crusty Demons 2009 Unleash Hell New Zealand Tour kicks off on January 24 in Napier, New Zealand.  For more check out Crusty.com (best domain ever).

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Teen Tyler Wright Surprise Winner of Beachley Classic

A few days ago seven-time world champ Layne Beachley anointed 20-year old Stephanie Gilmore the future of women’s surfing.  Gilmore promptly was defeated in the third round of the Beachley Classic by 14-year old Tyler Wright.  Wright then continued her march through the contest, ending in the finals Monday where she defeated 23-year old Silvana Lima of Brazil.  Quite a feat for someone who only made the contest as a wildcard.

Gilmore’s defeat, coupled with Sofia Mulanovich’s Quarterfinals appearance, knocked the Aussie into second-place in the World Tour rankings behind the former world champ Mulanovich.  Mulanovich was injured during her semi-final heat and had to finish early.  Beachley remains in third-place overall but is on the outside looking in.

“It’s been an amazing two weeks,” Wright said of her win. “I think I am just going to go home and chill out and let it all sink in next.”

Conditions were mixed for the contest, with peaks reaching about two-three feet.  But because the contest had only one more day in its holding period it almost had to be run Monday.

The ASP Women’s World Tour continues on Nov. 3 with the Movistar Classic in Peru.

For more about the contest, check out the official site and read the full release below.

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Big Sky Sells For $74 Million

Who says you can’t make money in snow resorts?  Montana’s Big Sky Resort has just been set up for a sale totaling $74 million between Boyne Resorts and CNL Lifestyle Properties.

The agreement is the result of a loan from CNL to Brighton for $68 million.  When the loan matures in Sept. 2010, CNL will take ownership for Big Sky for $74 million.  As part of the agreement, Boyne will need to make improvements to Big Sky to the tune of around $5 million.

Don’t worry — if you are a fan of how Boyne does business, the company is expected to continue running Big Sky under a long-term lease.  You see, CNL is not in the business of running resorts (be they snow/ski/golf/etc.), they simply buy them and usually let the original owner run them (but CNL still gets the overall profits).

In fact, the company already has similar arrangements with six of Boyne’s other resorts, including Crystal Mountain in Washington, Sugarloaf in Main and Brighton in Utah.  It also owns Mountain High in Calif. and Northstar and Sierra in Lake Tahoe.

Must be nice to be a billion-dollar company with money to spare.

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