"Ralph's Pic of the Week" read the intro and discuss....

[NEplay]

http://www.ralphspic.com/newsletter.html

I have never met Ralph. I do read his blog weekly. I enjoy it. He is a dogged surf photographer. Ralph has been blogging Seacoast NH surf for 10 years and he tells good stories;  surf and none surf related stories. He really puts his heart  and his beliefs out there for all to read and I have max respect for that.

He is not a lover of the SUP.  We most certainly disagree on the what riding a wave means. As a skier I could not imagine anyone  telling Jeramy Jones that his snowboarding is not legitimate glisse?  Ralph seems to think that proner's  have a monopoly on the essence of riding  waves.

This effects me because we have a small but terrific area to surf between southern Maine and the NH/mass boarder. I am generally trying to evolve as a sup'er with etiquette who still gets enough waves to evolve. 

A note about myself, I am overly sensitive and any bad vibes in the line up annihilate my stoke and send me home confused, angry and sad, sad like reading Ralph's blog just made me. ( I understand I need a thicker skin)

[mdsurf]

To me he seems as clueless as the people he. Is writing about in his rambling blog.  Paddling into a wave. Under your own power.  That is not exclusive to hand power only.  As if having gloves or a paddle negates your own power.

[OUTSIDEWAVE]

just another old moron too stupid and narrow minded to entertain any other thoughts  about wave riding.  So what does he think of the guys who wear  webbed gloves  because they are not as strong as they used to be.   exactly what is it about paddling that is not under your own power?  he is jut a moron.

[nj_sup]

Okay how do I leave a comment on this a..holes blog. I've got plenty of rebuttal for this a..hole. He's unbelievably ignorant and has a lot to learn


Fanatic 9'5" Allwave
KeNalu Ho'oloa paddle
Surftech 11'6" Balboa

[SUPcheat]

Yep, curmudgeon comes to mind.

I love watching the mix of groms and gomers, shortboards and longboards at 41st Street overlook.  They typically take off two to six at a time, with maybe one survivor getting the wave.  I have to admit schadenfreude at watching the collisions and near misses.

Judging from the percentages, batting .300 for catching waves must be a good record for the proners down there. Makes me feel a little better about my wave catching ability or inability.

How somebody could look at those crash carts and criticise even a  beginning SUP I don't know.

[SeaMe]

This effects me

No it doesn't. He's not god of the waves nor the head of NH Parks & Recreation. He is an older surfer entitled to his opinion, and that is all. His opinion is disappointingly narrow-minded and minus logic in some places, but unless he's trying to get SUP banned (like the lawyer in Hawaii), his opinion doesn't really matter, other than it's always a little sad to find out someone you like or admire is on the other side of the spectrum on an issue. If you ever see him out in the wave, keep doing what you're doing. Meeting a "sup'er with etiquette" might make him rethink his stance.

[nj_sup]

There are plenty of proners without etiquette too. It cracks me up how the newbie sup is always singled out as being a kook, stupid or ignorant. They're are plenty of proners if not more in the same boat. We've all been there, we all were new at some point. We weren't Laird or Slater the first time we were in the water. A gentle lesson on etiquette goes a long way to a new proner or sup in the lineup, which would be a lot better than just be a negative a$$


Fanatic 9'5" Allwave
KeNalu Ho'oloa paddle
Surftech 11'6" Balboa

[goodfornothin]

darn i thought we were going to get another Ralphie sticker, wrong coast, wrong guy.  i suggest get some thicker skin. no amount of good etiquette is going to change this guys opinion.  Reading his insights of current geopolitics leads me to believe he's sitting way out on the shoulder, not to deep if you know what i mean.   

your skiing analogy is perfect, there are still a bunch of old guys grumbling at knuckle draggers, even Jeremy couldnt change their minds, shoots, snowboarding saved skiing,, period.  could you imagine Regulating Cornice bowel? its retarded to even think.

Ill go out on a limb and say sup has saved surfing.  I was in the Blank business and i can tell you the numbers have been dropping. Fox clothing just dropped their surfing team, all the big boys are cutting back.  People getting into SUP have money and they are pouring it into suping.  There is no way anybody is going to give up that market share, its here and its going to stay.  I have a feeling that weighs heavy on these small minds. 

i look at it as pure bigotry fueled by small minds.  their talking points are smashed with a small cursory search or just common sense.  you will get no where with their strawman arguments, so i dont bother. 

We have serious issues in this world right now. the fact a guy puts so much effort into spreading such juvenile hate really makes one wonder.  Maybe ask him why the wti is currently crashing? or maybe ask him why we just declared war on war (how do you even do that?) maybe ask him why we have a prison system  full of non violent criminals, unlike his thought on more violence to regulate the kooks.  you could ask him what he thinks about the oceans eco system, he makes a living off it, i didnt see anything about that on his site,,,ask him why we are having a species collapse in the ocean never witnessed in such a small period of time,,maybe ask him what his thoughts are about the huge methane releases in his area,,or maybe why did the sardine industry just crash in his area,,,if you really want to throw him for a loop,,,,ask him how building 7 collapsed? 

plenty of stuff to worry about and figure out, these haters are not on my list.

[Weasels wake]

Stupid is, as stupid does.

I see a floating feather, but it's not around him.

[yugi]

http://www.ralphspic.com/newsletter.html
...
 As a skier I could not imagine anyone  telling Jeramy Jones that his snowboarding is not legitimate glisse? 
...

We don't tell him it's illegitimate, just gay.

[goodfornothin]

how many points does that score? it would be double points if you said it to Laird, i dont think he knows the game,,,hahahah

I could see it now,,Hey Laird im so much better than you,,,that sup is so gayyyy

we should start the game of Gnar here, get points for the best come backs,,,like the middle finger,,,i just ask if its his age or IQ level,,,thats gotta be a 100 points



Just a side not, Shane was the best fucking human i have ever witnessed move down anything,,,Jeremy is the best fucking human currently i have witnessed move down anything (well up too)

[surfinJ]

Keep your chin up and ignore him.  It ain't easy, very few of us can completely
tune out a negative vibe in the water.  It still can leave me feeling the same as
it does you, we just have to tough it out.

Hate stems from either fear or anxiety.  So just go out with your game face on
and enjoy the surf.  I tend to feel sorry for these losers as their session is getting
twisted by their inner problems.  Do your best to protect your own stoke.
Gets easier with time.

[OilheadCJ_SUP]

A small-minded bully.  Easier said than done, but don't let these guys dampen your mood.  They're bullies who think they own the right to the sport, and will rally like-minded folks to their cause to try to push out the new folks.  Thing is, your enjoyment of SUP surfing is the best weapon against their negativity, which does nothing but eat them up.

I haven't experienced much stink eye, but I liken it to the telemark skiing community.  A few years ago, alpine got a bit dull at my little hill, so I took up tele.  Being an alpine convert, and mostly resort skiing tele, I went with the NTN bindings, which are a departure from the 75mm duckbill tele setup most telemark skiers use.  It is new, a little different, it is a heavier, more "alpine-ish" binding.  When I ski past certain old school tele guys or gals?  Well, I am not a tele skier, not at all.  Even PSIA, the ski instructor group to which I belong, looks down on the NTN system.  So, I get it.  And you know what?  It makes me more determined to do 2 things:  improve, and have more fun each time out, each turn.

There is no right way or wrong way, just different ways.  And anyone who tells you different is wrong?  Well, they're not worth your time or breath.

[lucabrasi]

how many points does that score? it would be double points if you said it to Laird, i dont think he knows the game,,,hahahah

I could see it now,,Hey Laird im so much better than you,,,that sup is so gayyyy

we should start the game of Gnar here, get points for the best come backs,,,like the middle finger,,,i just ask if its his age or IQ level,,,thats gotta be a 100 points

Just a side not, Shane was the best fucking human i have ever witnessed move down anything,,,Jeremy is the best fucking human currently i have witnessed move down anything (well up too)

and just as all of the truly real great ones always have and always will...he truly spread the word and shared the stoke.....

[NEplay]

I wish I could agree that is doesn't effect me, it does. For one I am done reading Ralph's blog and I did enjoy it, all his perspectives even though many were different then mine. I found out about some pretty fun local surf related events through Ralph's online presence.

Ralph should know better then to make some of his comments. The two SUP'rs, while beginners perhaps, where at the break for the same reason everyone else was. The waves were breaking most consistently there. "Just paddle" somewhere else is childish but alas I am being childish, will move on from that crew and surf York more.

As an aside, yesterday my buddy Chris on an 8'4 Rawson and me on 8'10 Focus Torpedo were inside a huge pack of long boarders catching gobs of waves while they waited for the occasional set wave to get on.