Crazy Spring weather so far in 2017. And the Shame of being a "Fair Weather Sports Fan" here in New England."

I know why people leave here when it starts to get too cold. Hell, we all know why. Nobody really likes the cold. Yeah, I know about you lunatics who actually love the sub zero air temps. And there are the skiers and snowboarders. I get it. I used to be one. But the tropics, rather than cold New England winters is hard to beat. And you really can't blame surfers for wanting to surf in tropical waters. Even kooks know that the warm water is better for surfing.



I remember when Dougie Fresh was first leaving for Hawaii. He was going to go to school out there. I can clearly remember me saying to him, "You are going to love it. " And I was right. He left for school years ago, and hasn't been back since. He only comes home to visit his friends and family. But Oahu is his new domain.

I'm happy for him. He's a surfer. I know his mom would rather have him here, but Dougie is his own man. Life is too short. And if you don't take those adventurous trips when you're young, you'll blow it. Dougie made the call to head to the Islands, and he's never looked back.



Becca Speak is another one who got bitten by the tropical bug. She bought a one way ticket to Puerto Rico this winter. I remember saying to her the day before she left. "Have you ever been to PR?" She said she hadn't. I then I told her "You'll love it there." And I guess she did. She stayed for 3.5 months!

Like I said, go on tropical surf trips when you're young. Not when you retire.

The truth is our Spring weather has been all over the place so far this year. It can't seem to make up it's mind. One day it's beautiful, and the next day it's winter again. Am I right people?

It's true that we only have two seasons now. Summer and winter.

The lovely Spring days are few and far between. And winter? Well, you know.
I'm writing this on Saturday after shooting the surf for two hours and I had to quit because my hands were freezing. I needed gloves. This is the 2nd time this Spring that I've made the wrong call. I should just leave a pair in my vehicle along with my winter hat.

Is this what they mean by learning things the hard way?



I mentioned to you all last week that I posted over 1,500 photos from the last 13 years. This photo above was one of Ed O'Connell's pics. He shot this in 2013. It's looking west over the marsh. Three years later I took a similar pic.
I remember thinking to myself, "I've seen this before."



I like Ed's better than mine. Ed would have gotten a kick over this

Speaking of Ed, it was so good seeing some of his work again. I know that I have every week archived here, but unless I'm looking for a particular pic, I wouldn't be going through them all. I forced myself to gather as many images as I could for last week's blog. I could have easily filled the blog to the rim with a million pics. And each one of them would have been blog worthy (again.)



I'm not gonna lie here. Ed took more pics of me surfing than anyone else on this planet. This was taken in 2008 at the Wall. And when I surfed every day for a year from 2010 to 2011, Ed was there every step of the way. I can't tell you how many pics he took of me personally, but suffice it to say, it was alot.



Same with my friends. Like Jacko here. Ed shot a lot of people.



I'm not sure who this is, but I am sure Ed O'Connell took the pic.

How many times have I said that Ed was the "unknown" surfer's best friend.
He was always more focused on the wave rather than the "stars" out in the line-up. So if you got a nice wave, chances are, Ed took a pic of you. Not that I'm trying to get you to go back to last week's blog, and go through the 13 year surf gallery (yes I am), but if you think you might have been out there, when we were on the beach shooting. Yes "we". I was of the same ilk. If a nice looking wave poured onto our shoreline, and we were out there with our NIKON'S, we were shooting everything and everyone.

Granted, Ed was more liberal in his selection than I was. Or rather am.



Another unknown on a rather large wave. I'm sure he'd want a copy of this.



Same with this guy. Anyone recognize him? From 2013.

But honestly, it couldn't hurt to go browsing through the years someday. You'd be surprised at how many surfers have contacted me, wanting a high res image, they found by browsing through the archives, and finding a pic of themselves. The next time you find yourself with a few hours to spare, take a trip down memory lane by hitting the archives tab.

"Surfing and Blogging Heals All Wounds"

I remember this day. I was down by the main beach trying to get some crazy winter pics from Winter Storm Nemo. The state had many of the roads closed that day. Max called and said he was going out at one of the breaks along the northern road. I knew I couldn't get to him in time, so I called Ed to see if he was available, to venture out into the snow.

He made it down to the coast, and had to walk quite a distance to get a pic of this day. Max was out there alone. You can just see him on the shoulder, facing out to sea. It was a significant day in his life. He did something that no one else did. He paddled out into the unknown (for him). He ending up catching a few waves. It was crazy windy, and beyond freezing cold.

Max spoke of this day at Ed's paddle. If you were there, you remember how emotional he got speaking about this day, and how Ed came down just to shoot him. Thank you Ed for this day.

To see more of Ed's pics just scroll through the archives. He has shot so many pics for the blog. Each week I will feature one of Ed's great pics from this blog. Photo by Ed O'Connell
*Click the photo above to see a larger version of Ed's Pic.

Now for Some More Of My Weekly Global Observances
I admit that I am a "Fair Weather" fan when it comes to the other Boston sports teams that are not the Patriots. I usually jump on board the bandwagon during the play-offs. So having said that, the C's and the B's both won their MUST WIN games on Friday night. And, it was exciting. The Bruins actually won three times that night. They went into double OT. And for the sake of time and space, the referees did a terrible job. Just terrible.

Long story short. The Bruins won 5-2 in double OT.



Sean Kuraly saved the day and the night by his Double OT goal!



There is life in both the Bruins and the Celtics with players like Isaiah Thomas on your team, there will always be a heartbeat. Go C's!

Speaking of heartbeats, (or lack of), Aaron Hernadez has left the building. The crazy world that he found himself in has stopped. Convicted of murder and alleged to have killed two others, along with shooting a fourth person in the face, he decided to hang himself in his cell, rather than do the time.

Now look, there are two kinds of suicides, the tragic kind and the coward kind. The tragic kind is when someone is depressed, or suffering from a mental illness, or a life threatening disease. And rather than suffer anymore, they take their own life. It's sad and tragic. And it leaves a deep hole, in the lives of their family and friends.

The kind of suicide that Aaron committed, was an act of cowardice.
He took the easy way out. He killed three men and destroyed three families. And rather than do the time for the crime he opted for the coward's way out. Don't feel sorry for him. He was a thug. If you want to feel bad for anyone, feel bad for the families of those who were killed by this criminal. Better dress for the tropics Aaron, I think it's gonna be hot where you're headed.

Meanwhile back home in Patriots nation. Here's the 2017 schedule.



I'm not gonna make any wild predictions. But, after what we all witnessed last year? We can never ever count them out. No matter what the score is. I can't wait for September.

KSM Photoshop of the Week
It looks like UNITED had yet another problem on pone of their flights to GITMO. They over booked again, and randomly picked seat numbers to move the customers on to another flight. Wouldn't you know it, KSM was on board that flight and he was picked to be removed.



No surprise here that he resisted. So my friends, please take advantage of this weekly photo shop of the mastermind who planned 9-11 and resulted in the deaths of 3,000 innocent civilians by KSM (Khalid Sheik Mohammed).

*Note to self -must pick up a case of Barf Bags at Home Depot
this week.



CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE A LARGER POSTER.

Prayers and positive thoughts to Erica Nardone's recovery.
Prayers and positive thoughts to surfer Jason Kooken who suffered
a spinal cord injury in New Jersey last month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RALPH'S PIC OF THE WEEK my 13th year of blogging. Started on April 15th, 2004. 5

Please Support ALL The photographers who contribute to
Ralph's Pic Of The Week every week for the last 11 years.
** BUY a HIGH RES Photo from any of the weeks on RPOTW.

Remember my friends... Surfing Heals All Wounds.
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.

Ralph

*Click on the photo above to see a larger version

(Above) This guy got his fair share of lefts that sneaked through.
April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Kyle Linseman riding the roof. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Pev humping both of his boards to join his posse. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Another smooth face on Saturday April 22nd, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Tom Hay below sea level. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Tom Hay above sea level. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Kyle Linseman bouncing off the section. April 22nd, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Kai Nichols setting up for something good. April 22nd, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Kyle Linseman with enough speed to pull this off. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery




(Above) Clearly chest high. Kyle Linseman proving my case.
April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Everyone loves Loki. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) From Hawaii to Hampton this guy has a powerful bottom turn.
Kai Nichols grinding one out. April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Sometimes I can't help myself. My mind wanders in between sets.
April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Speaking of bottom turns. Mackey V. April 22nd, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) A good bottom turn leads you to something like this. Mackey V's
backhand volley . April 22nd, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

Today- The Semi Glassy Morning of April 20th, 2017.
Photos by RALPH



(Above) I said it was glassy. April 20th, 2017 Photos by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Ryan Jackson slipping into a silky left. April 20th, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Richie Appel hitting the brakes on April 20th, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) I watched this photographer follow this guy down to the water's edge, getting every single angle possible. I thought the surfer might be someone of significance. Turns out, he wasn't. April 20th, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) Later in the day, the surf went to shit. Just ask Max. April 20th, 2017
Photos by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

Today- Kai Nichols on the North Shore March 2017.
Photos by Lenny Nichols


(Above) Kai has a killer bottom turn. Like the one I posted in the first gallery. Kai Nichols in Oahu. March, 2017 Photo by Lenny Nichols
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) And the lad can throw some wake. Kai Nichols in Oahu. March, 2017 Photo by Lenny Nichols *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery





(Above) And Kai has a keen nose for the barrel. Kai Nichols in Oahu.
March, 2017 Photo by Lenny Nichols
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery