Riding into history

Mike Sciacca

The crowd and competitors were psyched, the swells were sometimes

swell and through it all, one thing became certain Saturday: the

legacy of a rich surfing culture and heritage in Southern California

gained added luster.

At 11 a.m. that day, the first live telecast of a surf contest in

the history of the sport was broadcast from the world famous

Huntington Beach Pier, as ESPN and ABC-Sports carried coverage of,

“The Game,” the surfing competition that was part of the 2004 X Games

X action sports package.

A year after its inception, “The Game”, which pitted an all-star

team from the East Coast against one from the West Coast, came back

bigger and better than its predecessor.

The result, however, was the same, as the East Coast posted a

97.03-90.02 victory.

Fans and spectators jammed the grandstands, beachfront on the

south side of the pier and the top of the pier to watch the big

event, which came one week after the U.S. Open of Surfing.

Surfing for the West Coast was Laguna Beach High graduate Pat

O’Connell.

The East Coast team was made up of 2004 U.S. Open men’s winner Taj

Burrow, 2003 U.S. Open Men’s winner Cory Lopez, brothers Damien and

C.J. Hobgood, Dean Randazzo, six-time world champion Kelly Slater,

Asher Nolan, Aaron Cormican, Peter Mendia and Bryan Hewitson.

The West Coast squad was composed of O’Connell, Andy Irons, Shane

Beschen, Jason “Ratboy” Collins, Taylor Knox, Mike Losness, Dane

Reynolds, Tim Curran, Rob Machado and Nate Yeomans.

The competitors seemed to thrive on the team concept, but the

first quarter swells favored the East Coast, who surfed first.

West Coast surfers experienced a lull in its half of the first

quarter.

“This year it was a pure competition but it was a bit

frustrating,” O’Connell said. “It’s the age-old thing where it’s not

always an even playing field. They got the early swells, and we

didn’t.”

O’Connell participated in last year’s game and said the second

time around was even better -- despite another West Coast loss and

lack of support by Mother Nature in producing consistent swells.

“This was definitely twice as good,” he said. “Things went more

quickly and smoothly, which made it fast and exciting for not only

us, but for the crowd, as well. And, without a doubt, it’s great to

be part of making history with the first televised surf event.”

Jeff Cutler, vice president of National Surf League, which

created, “The Game,” was pleased with the outcome.

“We had a bigger crowd and more participants than last year, and

it turned out to be an incredible success, really,” Cutler said. “It

was just great and I think the team concept made The Game easier to

understand for spectators.”

“The Game” format features a team concept and is played over a

standard four quarters.

Each quarter allowed a team, composed of four surfers per quarter,

a 12-minute heat, the use of two-minute timeout periods and a

five-minute paddle out at the outset of each quarter.

Each surfer was scored on his best one wave, as opposed to last

year’s best two-wave score.

New this year was the implementation of four cameras -- one on

each surfer in the water.

Also new, Cutler said, was having two surfers per heat “miked” for

sound, which added another layer to the competition.

Back again was the “Fly Cam,” which was hoisted high overhead the

surfers and traveled by cable from the south lifeguard tower on

shore, to the main lifeguard tower on the pier.

It was used to catch the action from above.

“There are a few things that contribute to the success of the

surfing side to the X Games, and one of them is the athletes,

athletes like Pat, who give it their all for these games,” said Chris

Stiepock, general manager of the X Games. “The Game has turned out to

be a tremendous success for us, and I tip my hat to athletes such as

Pat for adding to the growth of the games.”

The X Games X concluded an exhausting three-week run for

O’Connell, who reached the quarterfinal round of the men’s U.S. Open

of Surfing.

“It gets pretty tiring out there,” O’Connell said. “After the U.S.

Open, I flew out to do promos for Hurley back on the east coast, then

came back home and hopped down to Huntington for the X Games.

“I plan on taking a few weeks off before heading out to compete

again.”

Next up for O’Connell is a trip to Japan later this month for a

World Championship Tour event.

“Having that time off will reinvigorate me,” he added. “I’ll be

ready to contend again.”