9 Days on the Froth: Vans U.S. Open of Surfing

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Sunday, Day 9: Alejo Muniz Wins $100K and Is Brazil's First US Open Champion!!!
Congratulations to Alejo Muniz! Born in Argentina, bred in Brazil and today crowned a bonafide Vans US Open of Surfing CHAMPION! Plus he's $100,000 richer and the first Brazilian/Argentinian to ever win the US Open! Who woulda thunk? Certainly not Alejo! Sure he's the champ now, but just ask him, he'll tell you he did not expect to win this contest. For Alejo this was just another Prime event with some healthy points on the line. But as luck would have it… cha-ching!!

Truth is Kolohe Andino was the in form surfer of the week … until the last ten minutes of the event! Talk about bad timing! The tide was pulling, the surf got a little inconsistent, Alejo took an early lead and then Kolohe gives up priority for a stinker wave. Just like that he kissed the $100,000 check signed Van Doren goodbye. But he ain't trippin'. He's already qualified for next year's ASP World Tour and making the final was a childhood dream come true in itself. Plus he's still just a grom, and totally STOKED to be there! Beating surfers like Julian and Adriano De Gnarly can make ya feel that way. Yew!!

And then there were the girls! Perhaps a better final than the guy's even! Anyone with me? What I'm saying is that at least with Courtney and Carissa's final there was some nail biting action. Here's how it played out: It was in the dying minutes, see, and Courtney needed a good score and got a great wave and we all waited for the score … the US Open Championship hanging in the balance!! The score comes through but doesn't add up to anything more than a second place. Bummer! But not for Carissa!! Yep, the Slater of the Women on Tour took her second US Open Title and sits top cat on the ASP World Tour ratings. Wow.

The best event of the summer ended in good spirits over at the Hilton Waterfront Resort with the "After the Open" party and Art Show/Auction put on by Andrea the Great, hosted by Rockin Fig and Peter PT Townend and starring Larry Bertlemann and Ben Aipa, all to raise money for the HB Surfing Museum! Good stuff, Great food, beautiful people, and epic music by Tom Curren and The Originalites among others. T'was the perfect way to end 9 Days on the Froth.—Skip Snead, JLY 28

Pro Mens Results
1. Alejo Muniz $100,000
2. Kolohe Andino $20,000
3. Bede Durbidge, Matty Banting $11,000

Pro Womens Results
1. Carissa Moore $20,000
2. Courtney Conlogue $11,000
3. Tyler Wright, Pauline Ado $8,000

For all the latest photos, video recaps, and final results check out www.vansusopenofsurfing.com. Special thanks to Vans, IMG and the ASP for an epic week of pro surfing! We loved it!!

Saturday, Day 8: And Now We have Some Winners!!!
AMAZING … that it's almost over! Not that we want the ASP Prime Vans US Open to end but eight days is a long time on the sand, for anybody, on the beach or in Death Valley, and we're sure everybody feels the same way. It's been an amazing week, Vans has done an extraordinary job, and we couldn't be more impressed with how well they've done. We knew it would take some big shoes to fill what Nike and Hurley have done over the years, and they came through in that classic checkerprint fashion!! And so yeah, eight days is a long time and there's one day left, but we'll survive … because pro surfing is to die for. Ya with us!! Tally Ho, it's Saturday at the Open!

Today was all about the Pro Junior guys and girls, aka your most likely to become future ASP World Tour surfers. Santa Barbara's Conner Coffin went Tom Curren on us and won the Pro Junior dudes for the second time in the last 366 days! (Just as we predicted earlier in the week) And wouldn't ya know? That powerhouse girl we've been raving about all week from South Africa, Bianca Buitendag, took out the Pro Junior Girls (and nearly made it through in the Pro Women's.) Like we said, she's superbad.

And while Conner was ripping and all, even dubbed king of the groms this week, some of the best surfing today, no, some of the best surfing all week was by a charged up Carissa Moore. So if ya miss Slater being in the comp, just come check out Carissa tomorrow where it will be her and Courtney versus the World, Australian Tyler Wright and France's Pauline Ado. Ladies, start your engines!

On the other side of the coin, the big news buzzing around water coolers in the VIP and Media areas today (but not in the village because they were too busy twerking) was Kolohe taking out the reigning champ Julian Wilson and we could be looking at Kolohe taking out his first US Open. For reals, yo! It would be about time, too, but we'll have to see how it all pans out. Maybe he'll have a shocker in his quarterfinal heat against Adriano. Maybe he won't. Maybe Adriano will win? Or Bede Durbidge, or Michel Bourez … and ya can't forget that wascally ASP World Junior Champ Matty Banting or darkhorse Brazzo Alejo Muniz or whitehorse Nat Young. Either way, it's gonna be great. We'll see ya there!

Oh, did we mention Jordy?—Skip Snead, 27JLY

Pro Junior Mens Results
1. Conner Coffin $4,500
2. Carlos Munoz $2,500
3. Jake Halstead $1,600
4. Ramzi Boukhiam $1,400

Pro Junior Womens Results
1. Bianca Buitendag $1,800
2. Nikki Van Dijk $900
3. Tatiana Weston-Webb $750 // Hawai'ian//
4. Frankie Harrer $650

Friday, Day 7: The Good, the Bad, the Lucky
OMG, Slater was knocked out of the ASP Prime Vans US Open of Ripping!!!! OMG, Slater lost!! But don't worry about Kelly. He'll be fine, and while he has no chance at that big fat awesome checked signed Van Doren, he ain't trippin'. He'll make that much money in his sleep and will be surfing technicolor barrels in some other part of the world by Sunday while the rest of us are stuck trying to get out of the parking structure. So yeah, Kelly's out but … pro surfing's in! Furthermore, while it's bad news for surf fans that Slates is out, it's great news for the 16 surfers still competing. No Slater in the comp improves their chances by, oh, a million percent.

(Ed's note: Did anyone else notice above an entire paragraph on Kelly Slater getting knocked out of the contest? Most surfers don't get that much ink even if they win.)

Moving on … Sixteen surfers are still in contention for the check. Same batch as usual: A couple groms, a couple vets. A couple Euros, couple Brazzos. A South African. A Hawai'ian. (shakas to all the boys rooting for Granger Larsen!!). A few Americans, and as always a grip of the world's best Australians including Big Bede Durbidge who hasn't had a result to brag about since winning the Lowers Pro a few years back and a US Open win this weekend could do wonders for his career. Seriously. Did we mention Jordy? Crushing it! And Kolohe too! We've been hyping them up all week… could be a sweet final. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Half these cats will bomb out tomorrow. Gone. Headed home. Hasta la HB'by! … but the good news is that they're still laughing all the way to the bank with $4,300 for their time! Ah, the yings and yangs of pro surfing! You know you love it!

Didn't really catch the women today but am amping on tomorrow's quarterfinal matchups. Heat 1: Courtney Conlogue vs. Laura Enever, RAD! Tyler Wrong vs. Bianca Buitendag, EPIC!! Coco Ho vs. Carissa Moore, SO ONO!!! Sally Fitzgibbons vs. Pauline Ado, ETC, ETC!!!! You get the points! Will they? Find out tomorrow!

Hmmm … what else went on today? What didn't go on? It's the US Open! One rad thing in addition to the main event was seeing Al Knost do a little longboarding in the Joel Tudor Duct-Tape Invitational. But where was Joel? "I just work on the backend now," he said afterward. And I was like, damn! But I guess that could be weird hosting your own event and then smoking all your invitees! So yeah, good on Joel for giving back to the sport that "made" him, and shoes off to the crew at Vans for incorporating the world's coolest longboarding event into the US Open. Yew!!

Oh yeah, I knew we forgot something! The Pro Juniors! Truth is we've been holding off on the hype the last few days. Or at least trying to. Don't wanna blow these youngsters up too much, right? As if!! Sure they all have bright futures in pro surfing, but put yourself in their shoes: These kids are barely out of school, some of them still in the system, and you know THEY'RE TRIPPING OUT ON THE FACT THEY ARE SURFING ON THE WEEKEND OF THE US OPEN OF SURFING! Can they handle the pressure? Find out tomorrow.—Skip Snead, 26JLY

Thursday, Day 6: OK, Now Things are Getting Sewious…
Sweet, the no losers round is over and we can get back to do or die man on man death heats. This is the time during an event when things get serious fast. When the thought of surfing "on the weekend" during the US Open is very real … almost a given. But don't kid yourself! Another round tomorrow's going to wipe this field in half again, and boom, into the wildest weekend in pro surfing we'll have all summer.

At this point in the game we're starting to think Kolohe Andino might actually have a chance at winning this thing, but can't be sure since the last real "grommet" to win the US Open of Surfing was AI in 1998, and before that Occy with his Op Pro win in the late 80s. Now all a sudden this year the field's a perfect blend of surfing talent born in three different surfing eras: You've got your Slater representing the 1970s, your Julian and Jordy's holding it down for the 1980s, and then the hungriest groms on earth, those born in the 1990s… hungrier than fraaak!! Surfers like Kolohe and Miguel Pupo and Beyrick and Banting and America's Nat Young. And you know they all want this, question is, if they were to remove Slater, Jordy and Julian from the equation that is the winning the contest and the 100K checked signed Van Doren … would they even know what to do with the money? Like we'll ever know anyway, right?

So what else happened today … Oh yeah, does anyone remember Hodei Collazo? Yeah he's that dude from Spain who beat Taylor Knox like six years ago or something in the Billabong Pro Mundaka, which was the biggest event of his life! Boy has that changed now that he's made it to Friday in the US Open. So he's got that going for him, he's doing well and we're over the moon that he's visiting from the Motherland. (It would take a lot more than the US Open to get me to leave Southwest France/Spain in the summertime)

Oh, did we mention Jordy Smith? Bananas!! Freak!! He'd make a great Open Champion, but don't think the kids born in the 1990s will let him… gonna be interesting. Can't wait to see how the weekend unfolds, all the action happening on the beach and on Main Street, and oh yeah, Modest Mouse at the US Open tomorrow night! See ya's there! —Snead, 25JLY

Wednesday, Day 5: A Settling in of Sorts
Ah yes, Andy Irons day at the US Open. Today is Andy Irons' birthday. He woulda been 35 years old! Around this time in 1998 he won back to back the Op Pro and the US Open of Surfing. And so today we take a moment of silence for A.I. and his family and friends.

Back to the Open. For starters, if you've made it this far into the event, you're already STOKED!! If you've hung out around the contest mingling with surfing's past, present and future, you're STOKED! In fact we're so stoked right now on surfing and summertime and the 2013 ASP Prime Vans US Open of Ripping that we don't even know where to start!!?? But we'll give it a shot….

Everywhere you looked today there was someone famous in the world of surfing. Watching the surf is only half the fun. Sure Jordy's worth all 30 minutes of your time, but then again so are the people you run into during this sort of tradeshow on the sand. Our eyes were on the water for more top surfing from the 'CT Women, Girls Pro Junior and the remaining heats of Mens Round 5 ….

Did we mention Jordy Smith yet? Yew!! Killing it. And the others? Yup. Former ASP World Junior Champ Matty Banting came out firing like a natural-footed Occy and so he's moving on. And with the departure of hometown hero Timmy Reyes, Maui's Granger Larson might be the only dark horse left in the event. Other than that it's mostly CT guys and those who will be. Some others had SHOCKERS of their own!! Felipe Toledo, Josh Kerr, Cory Lopez … all GONE in a blaze of glory. The good news is they all left the beach with fresh checks for $1600 (for =37th place) or $1900 (for =25th place) each respectively signed by you know who.

Pro Women and Pro Junior Girls surfed as well. Speaking of which, in the Pro Juniors, there was this girl who absolutely killed it today, and she's from South Africa. The name's Bianca Buitendag. Gnarly. Maybe even … Superbad. (I wonder if she knows Jordy?) So yeah, she's that good, too. And it was sad to see a few of the younger girls bow out of the event, like NSSA National Open Womens Champ Dax McGill who had such big dreams for this year's event. Truth is we thought she'd win this year, too. Or at least have a good shot. But she's out! And so is Quincy Davis which sucks cause she's rad! As for the older girls, they ripped the kaboodle out of their Round 2 heats, and once again, South Affie upstart Bianca Buitendag went ballistic taking out tour upstart Paige Hareb in one massive swoop. And yeah, business as usual for the rest: Coco Ho wins. Steph Gilmore wins. Lakey wins. Tyler Wright, Laura Enever… they all win, and it's all good!! Can't really remember who took second… no one really ever does….

So that's it in a nutshell. Day 5 in the books and only four action-packed days of top shelf ASP surfing left. Remember we're just 24 surfers away from the biggest payday in surfing, aka, the $100,000 first place check signed Van Doren so you might wanna stay tuned, on the beach or online at www.vansusopenofsurfing.com. —Skip Snead, 24JLY

Tuesday, Day 4: Big Names Bombing Out; and Bigger Names Blowin' Up
Crazy just how good the WCT guys really are. Nearly all the surfers who made their heats today into the Round of 24 of the $250,000 ASP World Tour Prime Vans US Open of Surfing are full time WCT surfers. Julian, no worries. Kolohe, smoked 'em! Of course Slater, casually shooting the pier even after 20 years of competing at the same venue. All in a day's work, after all, it's still the Round of 48 … not like it's a final or anything. Crazier news about two-time US Open Champion Simpo, KNOCKED OUT of the event along with Superfreak Dane Reynolds… KNOCKED OUT!! Wardo, Pat Gudang … GONE!!! In the golf world they'd be calling this moving day, the shift into the real money rounds, the whittling away of surfers, half the field gone just like that… wiped from the leaderboard and no chance at the $100,000 first place check signed Van Doren.

And where's Parko or Fanning? Probably in Tahiti. World Titles on the line. The 100K can wait….

We also saw the world's hottest women surfers today in Round 1 for stop #6 of the 8-event Women’s ASP World Championship Tour. Courtney Conlogue, Lakey Peterson, Alana Blanchard, Carissa Moore, Steph Gilmore, Coco Ho, Tyler Wright … yes folks, these are the world's best surfers and they all made it a few waves closer to winning the US Open … imagine that!! Good on 'em!

Tomorrow will be more of the same, and although the water will be a little cooler after this nasty west wind that blew all day, the surfing's going to be hot once again with Women’s WCT, Men’s Prime and Pro Junior action all going down live on the southside and on www.usopenofsurfing.com

Even further down the line this week we've got the Joel Tudor Duct Tape Invitational, Surfers Hall of Fame, OC Register Surfer of the Year, Ghetto Juice Freesurfer of the Year, Autograph signings, BMX bitchiness, skateboarding radicalness and live musical craziness by Modest Mouse, The Faint, Matt Costa. Gonna be fun, make sure you come get some.—Skip Snead, 23JLY

Monday, Day 3: Sun-Kissed Day at the 2013 Vans US Open of Surfing
For hardcore pro surfing fans, today was the best day of the event to get your greet on. If you were there on the earl', you saw the arrival or 96 totally stoked surfers all keen on signing autographs for anyone who might ask. That's their job, and they love what they do, especially before they've hit the water at the US Open. Just be careful if seeking autographs toward the end of the day, and only approach those who are smiling. The smiling tells you they've advanced through to the Round of 48 heat and it's all good. The 'other' look meant they were walking away from their chance at winning the $100,000 first place check Vans was putting up for the winner … which in surfer money is like 10 billion dollars!

Nonetheless ninety-six surfers started the day, and 48 (mostly world tour surfers of Julian, Jordy and Slater's caliber) were left standing at the end, including four members of the San Clemente Mafia; Nate Yeomans, Pat Gudang, Kolohe Andino and the world's favorite super-grom and SC Mafia elder Chris Ward. Sure he's into his 30s now but nothing quite brings out the grom in him like the US Open! …. So yeah, four surfers from our own San Clemente made it through and are still going. Good on 'em, let's keep it going!

You can guess who the other surfer from the OC is still in there as well…. here's a hint. He's won the event back to back before. The answer is so Simpo…. got it now?

Surf wise it was about as California as it gets. Clean, almost tubing in the morning, with little glimpses of magic here and there, but just like every other day in the OC, things turn weird and by 11AM there was a nice ripple on the surface. By 3PM it was another victory at sea on the Southside. But the surfers stuck to it. Spoke to Rockin Fig this morning and he's really stoked about hanging out in the VIP and saving his voicebox. Contrary to popular belief, Fig has moved on and is embracing the change… So much else happening this week, with events, and premiers, and new issues coming out like ours, and Agenda, and the US Open, and Agenda, and the US Open, and the US Open…. wow, this week is already nuts and we're barely into the Round of 48.—Skip Snead, 22JLY

Sunday, Day 2. Pro Junior Girls Take Centerstage
More of the same, except this time the Pro Junior girls took to the water like the next Kelli Slate'her! Good stuff! A break would be nice…. Vans is killing it. Red Bull looking to get maximum exposure during the next several days as well. All anybody can talk about is Modest Mouse… and Slater coming up tomorrow, yew….!!—Skip Snead, 21JLY

Saturday, Day 1: Vans US Open Pro Jr. Quarters Decided
The sun might not have come out today but the surf stars were shining bright as day one of the $250,000 ASP-Prime 2013 Vans US Open of Surfing kicked off with the world's hottest pro juniors shralping the shiz out of the Southside.

Sixty-four of the world's top Pro Juniors hit the water for Round 1 and by the end of the day, only 16 were left surfing, including local groms Kanoa Igarashi and Derek Peters. Kanoa, runner up in last year's USOS Pro Junior, is looking to better last year's result, and Derek, well, he's just happy to be there. Both will meet in Heat 3 of the quarterfinals, and it would be nice to see them both advance to the semis.

Other shaka-worthy appearances into the Quarters include Kalani David, and this year's and last year's NSSA Open Mens Champs Zeke Lau (2012) and Taylor Clark (2013), and the lethal Brothers Moniz, Seth and Josh. Needless to say, any quarters heat could be the final, any surfer could win.

Speaking of winning the event, last year's US Open of Surfing Pro Junior Champion Conner Coffin advanced into the quarters today as well and he'll be tough to beat in HB if the surf continues to pump.—Skip Snead, 20JLY

For complete ASP / WQS Prime Vans US Open of Surfing results, live webcast feeds, and additional info about skateboarding, BMX, or the sick lineup of bands they've got planned this year, check out www.USOPENOFSURFING.COM and in the next issue of Ghetto Juice for our take on this year's event!


Posted by: Ghetto JuiceGhetto Juice at: 21 Jul 2013 01:18




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Sunday, Day 9: Alejo Muniz Wins $100K and Is Brazil's First US Open Champion!!!
Congratulations to Alejo Muniz! Born in Argentina, bred in Brazil and today crowned a bonafide Vans US Open of Surfing CHAMPION! Plus he's $100,000 richer and the first Brazilian/Argentinian to ever win the US Open! Who woulda thunk? Certainly not Alejo! Sure he's the champ now, but just ask him, he'll tell you he did not expect to win this contest. For Alejo this was just another Prime event with some healthy points on the line. But as luck would have it… cha-ching!!

Truth is Kolohe Andino was the in form surfer of the week … until the last ten minutes of the event! Talk about bad timing! The tide was pulling, the surf got a little inconsistent, Alejo took an early lead and then Kolohe gives up priority for a stinker wave. Just like that he kissed the $100,000 check signed Van Doren goodbye. But he ain't trippin'. He's already qualified for next year's ASP World Tour and making the final was a childhood dream come true in itself. Plus he's still just a grom, and totally STOKED to be there! Beating surfers like Julian and Adriano De Gnarly can make ya feel that way. Yew!!

And then there were the girls! Perhaps a better final than the guy's even! Anyone with me? What I'm saying is that at least with Courtney and Carissa's final there was some nail biting action. Here's how it played out: It was in the dying minutes, see, and Courtney needed a good score and got a great wave and we all waited for the score … the US Open Championship hanging in the balance!! The score comes through but doesn't add up to anything more than a second place. Bummer! But not for Carissa!! Yep, the Slater of the Women on Tour took her second US Open Title and sits top cat on the ASP World Tour ratings. Wow.

The best event of the summer ended in good spirits over at the Hilton Waterfront Resort with the "After the Open" party and Art Show/Auction put on by Andrea the Great, hosted by Rockin Fig and Peter PT Townend and starring Larry Bertlemann and Ben Aipa, all to raise money for the HB Surfing Museum! Good stuff, Great food, beautiful people, and epic music by Tom Curren and The Originalites among others. T'was the perfect way to end 9 Days on the Froth.—Skip Snead, JLY 28

Pro Mens Results
1. Alejo Muniz $100,000
2. Kolohe Andino $20,000
3. Bede Durbidge, Matty Banting $11,000

Pro Womens Results
1. Carissa Moore $20,000
2. Courtney Conlogue $11,000
3. Tyler Wright, Pauline Ado $8,000

For all the latest photos, video recaps, and final results check out www.vansusopenofsurfing.com. Special thanks to Vans, IMG and the ASP for an epic week of pro surfing! We loved it!!

Saturday, Day 8: And Now We have Some Winners!!!
AMAZING … that it's almost over! Not that we want the ASP Prime Vans US Open to end but eight days is a long time on the sand, for anybody, on the beach or in Death Valley, and we're sure everybody feels the same way. It's been an amazing week, Vans has done an extraordinary job, and we couldn't be more impressed with how well they've done. We knew it would take some big shoes to fill what Nike and Hurley have done over the years, and they came through in that classic checkerprint fashion!! And so yeah, eight days is a long time and there's one day left, but we'll survive … because pro surfing is to die for. Ya with us!! Tally Ho, it's Saturday at the Open!

Today was all about the Pro Junior guys and girls, aka your most likely to become future ASP World Tour surfers. Santa Barbara's Conner Coffin went Tom Curren on us and won the Pro Junior dudes for the second time in the last 366 days! (Just as we predicted earlier in the week) And wouldn't ya know? That powerhouse girl we've been raving about all week from South Africa, Bianca Buitendag, took out the Pro Junior Girls (and nearly made it through in the Pro Women's.) Like we said, she's superbad.

And while Conner was ripping and all, even dubbed king of the groms this week, some of the best surfing today, no, some of the best surfing all week was by a charged up Carissa Moore. So if ya miss Slater being in the comp, just come check out Carissa tomorrow where it will be her and Courtney versus the World, Australian Tyler Wright and France's Pauline Ado. Ladies, start your engines!

On the other side of the coin, the big news buzzing around water coolers in the VIP and Media areas today (but not in the village because they were too busy twerking) was Kolohe taking out the reigning champ Julian Wilson and we could be looking at Kolohe taking out his first US Open. For reals, yo! It would be about time, too, but we'll have to see how it all pans out. Maybe he'll have a shocker in his quarterfinal heat against Adriano. Maybe he won't. Maybe Adriano will win? Or Bede Durbidge, or Michel Bourez … and ya can't forget that wascally ASP World Junior Champ Matty Banting or darkhorse Brazzo Alejo Muniz or whitehorse Nat Young. Either way, it's gonna be great. We'll see ya there!

Oh, did we mention Jordy?—Skip Snead, 27JLY

Pro Junior Mens Results
1. Conner Coffin $4,500
2. Carlos Munoz $2,500
3. Jake Halstead $1,600
4. Ramzi Boukhiam $1,400

Pro Junior Womens Results
1. Bianca Buitendag $1,800
2. Nikki Van Dijk $900
3. Tatiana Weston-Webb $750 // Hawai'ian//
4. Frankie Harrer $650

Friday, Day 7: The Good, the Bad, the Lucky
OMG, Slater was knocked out of the ASP Prime Vans US Open of Ripping!!!! OMG, Slater lost!! But don't worry about Kelly. He'll be fine, and while he has no chance at that big fat awesome checked signed Van Doren, he ain't trippin'. He'll make that much money in his sleep and will be surfing technicolor barrels in some other part of the world by Sunday while the rest of us are stuck trying to get out of the parking structure. So yeah, Kelly's out but … pro surfing's in! Furthermore, while it's bad news for surf fans that Slates is out, it's great news for the 16 surfers still competing. No Slater in the comp improves their chances by, oh, a million percent.

(Ed's note: Did anyone else notice above an entire paragraph on Kelly Slater getting knocked out of the contest? Most surfers don't get that much ink even if they win.)

Moving on … Sixteen surfers are still in contention for the check. Same batch as usual: A couple groms, a couple vets. A couple Euros, couple Brazzos. A South African. A Hawai'ian. (shakas to all the boys rooting for Granger Larsen!!). A few Americans, and as always a grip of the world's best Australians including Big Bede Durbidge who hasn't had a result to brag about since winning the Lowers Pro a few years back and a US Open win this weekend could do wonders for his career. Seriously. Did we mention Jordy? Crushing it! And Kolohe too! We've been hyping them up all week… could be a sweet final. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Half these cats will bomb out tomorrow. Gone. Headed home. Hasta la HB'by! … but the good news is that they're still laughing all the way to the bank with $4,300 for their time! Ah, the yings and yangs of pro surfing! You know you love it!

Didn't really catch the women today but am amping on tomorrow's quarterfinal matchups. Heat 1: Courtney Conlogue vs. Laura Enever, RAD! Tyler Wrong vs. Bianca Buitendag, EPIC!! Coco Ho vs. Carissa Moore, SO ONO!!! Sally Fitzgibbons vs. Pauline Ado, ETC, ETC!!!! You get the points! Will they? Find out tomorrow!

Hmmm … what else went on today? What didn't go on? It's the US Open! One rad thing in addition to the main event was seeing Al Knost do a little longboarding in the Joel Tudor Duct-Tape Invitational. But where was Joel? "I just work on the backend now," he said afterward. And I was like, damn! But I guess that could be weird hosting your own event and then smoking all your invitees! So yeah, good on Joel for giving back to the sport that "made" him, and shoes off to the crew at Vans for incorporating the world's coolest longboarding event into the US Open. Yew!!

Oh yeah, I knew we forgot something! The Pro Juniors! Truth is we've been holding off on the hype the last few days. Or at least trying to. Don't wanna blow these youngsters up too much, right? As if!! Sure they all have bright futures in pro surfing, but put yourself in their shoes: These kids are barely out of school, some of them still in the system, and you know THEY'RE TRIPPING OUT ON THE FACT THEY ARE SURFING ON THE WEEKEND OF THE US OPEN OF SURFING! Can they handle the pressure? Find out tomorrow.—Skip Snead, 26JLY

Thursday, Day 6: OK, Now Things are Getting Sewious…
Sweet, the no losers round is over and we can get back to do or die man on man death heats. This is the time during an event when things get serious fast. When the thought of surfing "on the weekend" during the US Open is very real … almost a given. But don't kid yourself! Another round tomorrow's going to wipe this field in half again, and boom, into the wildest weekend in pro surfing we'll have all summer.

At this point in the game we're starting to think Kolohe Andino might actually have a chance at winning this thing, but can't be sure since the last real "grommet" to win the US Open of Surfing was AI in 1998, and before that Occy with his Op Pro win in the late 80s. Now all a sudden this year the field's a perfect blend of surfing talent born in three different surfing eras: You've got your Slater representing the 1970s, your Julian and Jordy's holding it down for the 1980s, and then the hungriest groms on earth, those born in the 1990s… hungrier than fraaak!! Surfers like Kolohe and Miguel Pupo and Beyrick and Banting and America's Nat Young. And you know they all want this, question is, if they were to remove Slater, Jordy and Julian from the equation that is the winning the contest and the 100K checked signed Van Doren … would they even know what to do with the money? Like we'll ever know anyway, right?

So what else happened today … Oh yeah, does anyone remember Hodei Collazo? Yeah he's that dude from Spain who beat Taylor Knox like six years ago or something in the Billabong Pro Mundaka, which was the biggest event of his life! Boy has that changed now that he's made it to Friday in the US Open. So he's got that going for him, he's doing well and we're over the moon that he's visiting from the Motherland. (It would take a lot more than the US Open to get me to leave Southwest France/Spain in the summertime)

Oh, did we mention Jordy Smith? Bananas!! Freak!! He'd make a great Open Champion, but don't think the kids born in the 1990s will let him… gonna be interesting. Can't wait to see how the weekend unfolds, all the action happening on the beach and on Main Street, and oh yeah, Modest Mouse at the US Open tomorrow night! See ya's there! —Snead, 25JLY

Wednesday, Day 5: A Settling in of Sorts
Ah yes, Andy Irons day at the US Open. Today is Andy Irons' birthday. He woulda been 35 years old! Around this time in 1998 he won back to back the Op Pro and the US Open of Surfing. And so today we take a moment of silence for A.I. and his family and friends.

Back to the Open. For starters, if you've made it this far into the event, you're already STOKED!! If you've hung out around the contest mingling with surfing's past, present and future, you're STOKED! In fact we're so stoked right now on surfing and summertime and the 2013 ASP Prime Vans US Open of Ripping that we don't even know where to start!!?? But we'll give it a shot….

Everywhere you looked today there was someone famous in the world of surfing. Watching the surf is only half the fun. Sure Jordy's worth all 30 minutes of your time, but then again so are the people you run into during this sort of tradeshow on the sand. Our eyes were on the water for more top surfing from the 'CT Women, Girls Pro Junior and the remaining heats of Mens Round 5 ….

Did we mention Jordy Smith yet? Yew!! Killing it. And the others? Yup. Former ASP World Junior Champ Matty Banting came out firing like a natural-footed Occy and so he's moving on. And with the departure of hometown hero Timmy Reyes, Maui's Granger Larson might be the only dark horse left in the event. Other than that it's mostly CT guys and those who will be. Some others had SHOCKERS of their own!! Felipe Toledo, Josh Kerr, Cory Lopez … all GONE in a blaze of glory. The good news is they all left the beach with fresh checks for $1600 (for =37th place) or $1900 (for =25th place) each respectively signed by you know who.

Pro Women and Pro Junior Girls surfed as well. Speaking of which, in the Pro Juniors, there was this girl who absolutely killed it today, and she's from South Africa. The name's Bianca Buitendag. Gnarly. Maybe even … Superbad. (I wonder if she knows Jordy?) So yeah, she's that good, too. And it was sad to see a few of the younger girls bow out of the event, like NSSA National Open Womens Champ Dax McGill who had such big dreams for this year's event. Truth is we thought she'd win this year, too. Or at least have a good shot. But she's out! And so is Quincy Davis which sucks cause she's rad! As for the older girls, they ripped the kaboodle out of their Round 2 heats, and once again, South Affie upstart Bianca Buitendag went ballistic taking out tour upstart Paige Hareb in one massive swoop. And yeah, business as usual for the rest: Coco Ho wins. Steph Gilmore wins. Lakey wins. Tyler Wright, Laura Enever… they all win, and it's all good!! Can't really remember who took second… no one really ever does….

So that's it in a nutshell. Day 5 in the books and only four action-packed days of top shelf ASP surfing left. Remember we're just 24 surfers away from the biggest payday in surfing, aka, the $100,000 first place check signed Van Doren so you might wanna stay tuned, on the beach or online at www.vansusopenofsurfing.com. —Skip Snead, 24JLY

Tuesday, Day 4: Big Names Bombing Out; and Bigger Names Blowin' Up
Crazy just how good the WCT guys really are. Nearly all the surfers who made their heats today into the Round of 24 of the $250,000 ASP World Tour Prime Vans US Open of Surfing are full time WCT surfers. Julian, no worries. Kolohe, smoked 'em! Of course Slater, casually shooting the pier even after 20 years of competing at the same venue. All in a day's work, after all, it's still the Round of 48 … not like it's a final or anything. Crazier news about two-time US Open Champion Simpo, KNOCKED OUT of the event along with Superfreak Dane Reynolds… KNOCKED OUT!! Wardo, Pat Gudang … GONE!!! In the golf world they'd be calling this moving day, the shift into the real money rounds, the whittling away of surfers, half the field gone just like that… wiped from the leaderboard and no chance at the $100,000 first place check signed Van Doren.

And where's Parko or Fanning? Probably in Tahiti. World Titles on the line. The 100K can wait….

We also saw the world's hottest women surfers today in Round 1 for stop #6 of the 8-event Women’s ASP World Championship Tour. Courtney Conlogue, Lakey Peterson, Alana Blanchard, Carissa Moore, Steph Gilmore, Coco Ho, Tyler Wright … yes folks, these are the world's best surfers and they all made it a few waves closer to winning the US Open … imagine that!! Good on 'em!

Tomorrow will be more of the same, and although the water will be a little cooler after this nasty west wind that blew all day, the surfing's going to be hot once again with Women’s WCT, Men’s Prime and Pro Junior action all going down live on the southside and on www.usopenofsurfing.com

Even further down the line this week we've got the Joel Tudor Duct Tape Invitational, Surfers Hall of Fame, OC Register Surfer of the Year, Ghetto Juice Freesurfer of the Year, Autograph signings, BMX bitchiness, skateboarding radicalness and live musical craziness by Modest Mouse, The Faint, Matt Costa. Gonna be fun, make sure you come get some.—Skip Snead, 23JLY

Monday, Day 3: Sun-Kissed Day at the 2013 Vans US Open of Surfing
For hardcore pro surfing fans, today was the best day of the event to get your greet on. If you were there on the earl', you saw the arrival or 96 totally stoked surfers all keen on signing autographs for anyone who might ask. That's their job, and they love what they do, especially before they've hit the water at the US Open. Just be careful if seeking autographs toward the end of the day, and only approach those who are smiling. The smiling tells you they've advanced through to the Round of 48 heat and it's all good. The 'other' look meant they were walking away from their chance at winning the $100,000 first place check Vans was putting up for the winner … which in surfer money is like 10 billion dollars!

Nonetheless ninety-six surfers started the day, and 48 (mostly world tour surfers of Julian, Jordy and Slater's caliber) were left standing at the end, including four members of the San Clemente Mafia; Nate Yeomans, Pat Gudang, Kolohe Andino and the world's favorite super-grom and SC Mafia elder Chris Ward. Sure he's into his 30s now but nothing quite brings out the grom in him like the US Open! …. So yeah, four surfers from our own San Clemente made it through and are still going. Good on 'em, let's keep it going!

You can guess who the other surfer from the OC is still in there as well…. here's a hint. He's won the event back to back before. The answer is so Simpo…. got it now?

Surf wise it was about as California as it gets. Clean, almost tubing in the morning, with little glimpses of magic here and there, but just like every other day in the OC, things turn weird and by 11AM there was a nice ripple on the surface. By 3PM it was another victory at sea on the Southside. But the surfers stuck to it. Spoke to Rockin Fig this morning and he's really stoked about hanging out in the VIP and saving his voicebox. Contrary to popular belief, Fig has moved on and is embracing the change… So much else happening this week, with events, and premiers, and new issues coming out like ours, and Agenda, and the US Open, and Agenda, and the US Open, and the US Open…. wow, this week is already nuts and we're barely into the Round of 48.—Skip Snead, 22JLY

Sunday, Day 2. Pro Junior Girls Take Centerstage
More of the same, except this time the Pro Junior girls took to the water like the next Kelli Slate'her! Good stuff! A break would be nice…. Vans is killing it. Red Bull looking to get maximum exposure during the next several days as well. All anybody can talk about is Modest Mouse… and Slater coming up tomorrow, yew….!!—Skip Snead, 21JLY

Saturday, Day 1: Vans US Open Pro Jr. Quarters Decided
The sun might not have come out today but the surf stars were shining bright as day one of the $250,000 ASP-Prime 2013 Vans US Open of Surfing kicked off with the world's hottest pro juniors shralping the shiz out of the Southside.

Sixty-four of the world's top Pro Juniors hit the water for Round 1 and by the end of the day, only 16 were left surfing, including local groms Kanoa Igarashi and Derek Peters. Kanoa, runner up in last year's USOS Pro Junior, is looking to better last year's result, and Derek, well, he's just happy to be there. Both will meet in Heat 3 of the quarterfinals, and it would be nice to see them both advance to the semis.

Other shaka-worthy appearances into the Quarters include Kalani David, and this year's and last year's NSSA Open Mens Champs Zeke Lau (2012) and Taylor Clark (2013), and the lethal Brothers Moniz, Seth and Josh. Needless to say, any quarters heat could be the final, any surfer could win.

Speaking of winning the event, last year's US Open of Surfing Pro Junior Champion Conner Coffin advanced into the quarters today as well and he'll be tough to beat in HB if the surf continues to pump.—Skip Snead, 20JLY

For complete ASP / WQS Prime Vans US Open of Surfing results, live webcast feeds, and additional info about skateboarding, BMX, or the sick lineup of bands they've got planned this year, check out www.USOPENOFSURFING.COM and in the next issue of Ghetto Juice for our take on this year's event!

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