May 16th, 2010
The Surf Count of Waist High or Better is 11 out 13 weeks...

For the last 20 years or so, I've told a joke, that I would tell my fellow surf brethren that was always guaranteed to get a chuckle. It was about Surf Contests. The joke was..."You know I have the perfect Contest Record." At which time, most surfers would reply "Really, how's that?" And I would say answer.." I have a perfect contest record, because I never entered one." And they will typically smile. Not exactly a fall down laughing joke, but you know, a respectable chuckle. Last week during the event where I was named "Citizen of the Year", one of my oldest, and dearest friends messed that line up when he was giving a testimonial of sorts about my life.

He told that large audience that night "You know, Ralph has the perfect Contest record...he Never lost one!"

No one laughed. Because it was not funny. I just shook my head.

I don't think he got it. But more importantly, his line made it seem that I had been surfing in contests all my life. And as anyone who knows me, will tell you. That is simply not the case. I have in fact, never entered one. The reason being, I just didn't believe in contests when I was a young "Soul Surfer" growing up and surfing all over the world. My take was, you can't judge someone who's riding a wave, because it was to me, a form of their personal expression.

A dance. An artful, soulful, personal expressive dance.

Or an art medium, where we would actually paint across the wave face. Is that too heavy? Nah...it's what surfing was, and is to me. I refused to be judged by someone who knew less about surfing than myself, and more times than not, they were less talented than myself.

I was in a nutshell. Dead against contests.

Besides, I saw the negativity it brought to the surf culture. I saw the crybabies bitching about scores. I witnessed in horror, the groveling in sloppy surf. I saw the complaining of non contestants. I saw what I thought was the beginning of what organized sports brings. To me it was all BS. In those early days, I was more in line with Miki Dora, than I was with Corky Carroll. I was the anti of Antis.

That all changed in the mid 70's, when Shaun Tomson and the rest of the Bronzed Aussies went to Hawaii and tried to make Surfing contests a legitimate pastime. I had a change of heart. I saw the surfing of contests in a different light. And I found myself agreeing with these new professionals. There was no reason why Surfers shouldn't make the kind of money that other professional athletes were making. Golfers, Tennis players, Basketball, Football, Soccer and Baseball.

Why the hell shouldn't they be able to make a living at something they are good at? Look we all know how hard it is to surf big waves and surf them good. It's certainly harder than hitting a freaking golf ball. Or dribbling a basketball.

I had to admit. They had a legitimate beef. Surfing was a sport and a business.

As most of us now know. The Pro surfers of that time, paved the way for surfers like Slater and company today. They also paved the way for amateur surfing. Like the ESA. And while I personally stayed true to my own personal beliefs about surfing contests, I supported the local and national contest scene. By the time I got married and had kids, I found myself supporting the local ESA, and before I knew it, I was there at most of the contests supporting the kids.

And yes, my own kids did compete. And it was fun to watch and document.

I'm bringing all of this contest stuff up because, this week the local ESA chapter NNE is hosting the Northeast Regionals here in Hampton. And I want so badly for there to be waves on so many different levels. But mostly because I hate to think that these traveling surfers from New Jersey and New York will come up here and not get to see and surf our waves when it's really good.

And look, I know it's a double edged sword. I get it.

We don't want them to see our surf, because we don't want them getting any ideas about possibly moving here and adding to the already too crowded line-ups. But look, They already know we have surf. Is there anyone out there who does not know, that the rest of the surfing world knows about Northern New England? Anyone? Hello?

New England is NOT a secret. The mags know. The pros know. The hottest surfers on the planet all know. So can we just get beyond the fact that we might be exposing our waves to the unknown surf population. The only ones who don't know about our waves, are those who don't surf. And believe it or not, most of them live here. It never ceases to amaze me, to hear someone who has spent their entire lives here in Northern New England say they didn't know we had good surf. And when you show them documented proof, they look like damn Chimpanzees. It's ridiculous.

But my point about supporting the ESA, and hoping for good surf is in my opinion,
good for all of us. For starters it's good for the NNE ESA directors Lenny and Arlene Nichols. It's good for all the local surf shops. The Local shapers. The Local surfers. The Local photographers. The Local Restaurants. The Local Hotels. And it's good for the community itself. The only ones who will not like it. Will be those like I used to be. You know who you are. Most of you are already miserable. So there may be nothing that ESA-NNE Regionals will do for you except make you more miserable. But for the rest of us...let's pray for some decent surf.

By now, most of you heard, that last week I was named Citizen Of The Year here in Hampton. And honestly, I was completely surprised by it. They tricked me into thinking it was for someone else, and I went to the Ashworth Hotel on Hampton Beach thinking that I was going to speak about another community leader. They turned the tables on me, and well...I was truly humbled and thankful. But, it was also a dilemma for me. I asked my wife. "How can I possibly mention this in my column/blog and not come off sounding like a pompous ass?" I couldn't. But I also could not acknowledge it. It was dammed if I do and dammed if I don't. But I knew I owed the people who put it together some credit.

And looking back on it, I had some really close friends there, along with my loving family. And it was truly a memorable evening, made more memorable, by having two of my favorite Photographers and close friends there documenting it all. John Carden and Ed O'Connell. I love those guys.

However, I will say this. I now know what it feels like to have camera in my face.
And I'll remember that, the next time I chase one of you down and stick my camera in your face. But if I forget, kindly remind me.

And if that night was not enough to make me never want to step out in public again for fear of having my photo taken. Brian Nevins was in the planning on doing a piece on me for his Get In The Van website. I knew about this project a year or two ago. And it just so happened, that he had some tricked out flash strobe lights that he had rented for another project, and he wanted to take advantage of it. So I went from Citizen of the Year, to GITV with Nevins. It was sort of an overload for me. But I have to say, Brian did a great job. Not just shooting those amazing photos, but his words. He wrote an honest and poignant piece. I was for the 2nd time, in the same week...completely humbled. What a week that was.

*Check out the NEW Blatant Drop In of The Week Banner with one of Brian's pics.

But honestly. Thank you all for the wonderful, thoughtful emails, and phone calls. I hope I can live up to all of these amazing accolades...you know, it kind of felt like I was at my own wake. My son Max also commented, that he felt like he too was at my wake. I guess I was having an outer body experience. It was weird.

Walk away from the light...walk away from the light.

Now for some of my weekly Global observances:
So the congressional hearings on BP this week discussing the Massive Oil spill didn't go over very well. Do you all realize that over 5,000 gallons of oil is still leaking every day? It's getting close to 30 days...5,000 gallons a day?? They are saying that this will go down as our worst environmental disaster in our history. Some are complaining about President Obama for still wanting to drill offshore. I don't know what to think about that. Especially now. But I think drilling off our coast is a good idea, if they implement solid safety features. I'd rather us be dependant on our own oil, as to being at the mercy of Middle Eastern oil. That should be a no brainer. Right?

OK, I owe you Boston sports fans a big apology. Last week I stupidly said that I was not worried about the BRUINS, but I was worried about the Celtics. Boy was I wrong. I'm sorry. It's apparent that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about when it comes to both teams. You'll notice that's why I rarely speak about the Red Sox. I don't know enough about baseball. I do however have some Hockey background. And I did honestly think that the B's would take the Flyers. I was wrong. Dead wrong. Again.

But being up 3 games to none? That should of been in the bag. OK so game four was the beginning of their slide. But to come back to Boston for Game 7 and be up 3-0 and then lose it 4-3? I don't know. I just don't know. I do know that a lot of you Bruins fans are in a daze today. As you should be. Some of you are comparing this loss to the Pat's Superbowl loss in 2007. I think that's a bit extreme. But I guess if I was a rabid Hockey fan I'd be pretty upset. But I'm not. I am a fan just not a fanatic.

Look on the bright side. The Celtics beat the Cavs. They beat King James and Company. They beat Shaq. And if I didn't see it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. The Cavs gave up in the waning minutes of that game. They gave up. Let me just say this. There is NO sport. Zero. Where any team should give up no matter what the score is. That was embarrassing. So as bad as you Bruins fans feel, imagine how bad the Cavs fans feel. They gave up. The Bruins at least tried.

And you have to feel good about that.

Don't forget The Nor'easters will be performing at the Winnacunnet High School Auditorium on Saturday May 29th, 2010 for a fundraiser concert to raise money for the Hampton American Legion's GWOT Memorial Monument .(*See flyer in this week's column.) I know there are a lot of old "Easter's" fans out there. And let me say...the band has not missed a beat. We are looking forward to playing in front of our old and new fans in May. Look who's blowing into town...The Nor'easters!

CHECK OUT THE NEW/Old YESTERDAY PAGE! ALL OLD New England and beyond Surf Pics!*NEW PICS added each week!

There's a Clean and Sweep at the Beach Wall in the area starting at High street across from Cinnamon Rainbows on Saturday Morning May 16, 2010 from 9am – 12.  Bring your brooms to help clean up the walking area along the wall going south from High Street.

GOOD Luck to local ESA-NNE team during the Northeast Regionals this week at the Wall in Hampton. Kick some butt. KEEP Getting Stronger SUPER SURF MOM Kim Grondin! We ALL Love you!
A Quick RECOVERY to local Big Man Ripper Eric Palmer...see you in the Summer
brother Semper Fi.

Here's JAMIE WADE's pics of the MOLLY Hockey Game for you to check out: http://jamiewade.zenfolio.com/

Please give to the RED CROSS or some other trusted organization to help the people in Haiti and Chile. Like the RED CROSS. www.redcross.org Help these people. Please.

The Children of Nicaragua via Brian Nevin's recent work. lovelightandmelody.org This organization deals directly with the plight of the children of La Chureca.
Please help.

*Check out the NEW updated DROPPING IN ON RALPH blog Section. ALL Of April is up. *This is the blog section of this website where you can write in and comment. The only downside of this blog is, you actually have to use your REAL Name. No hiding behind some fake handle and name. If you want to comment, you have to man up, and be yourself. I will post all comments, both good and bad. You just have to be yourself.

*Molly Paddle Video by Joe Carter has been moved to the Community Page.

Please Support ALL The photographers who contribute to Ralph's Pic Of The Week
every week for the last 6 years. **Think about BUYING a Photo from any of the weeks on RPOTW as a GREAT Gift Idea. A nice framed photo of your favorite Surfer!

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

Ralph