Read online Brad Melekian - Breaking : Surfing after Andy Irons TXT, PDF, FB2
9780374298722 English 0374298726 In November 2010, the surfing superstar Andy Irons died mysteriously in a Dallas hotel room four days before his rival Kelly Slater won his tenth world surfing title. Slater wore a white wet suit and served as a role model for a generation of surfers. Irons, who was brash and cocky, wore black, and was the hard-charging, hard-partying rock star who called himself "the people's champ." These two represented the modern face of surfing. Slater's efforts to legitimize surfing as a sport with mainstream appeal culminated when he won his tenth world title, a feat that put him in the pantheon of sporting greats alongside Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong. Still, the "story" was not Slater's win but Irons's death and the controversies that surrounded it: the release of his autopsy report, the position of the family, and the attitudes of the sport and its sponsors toward Irons's problems and the circumstances of his passing. Breaking is a deep dive into the psyche of surfing through the breach created when Irons died. Brad Melekian covers business, competition, ocean and brain sciences, sociology, and, most important, the psychology of surfing. He explores what happened when an oddball, esoteric pursuit pioneered by a cluster of outcasts morphed into a fully formed sport, replete with a million-dollar international contest circuit and followers who ride the waves in search of answers that are never quite there. That includes Melekian himself, who surfs in Southern California, who as a journalist wrote the most widely read and hardest-hitting coverage of Irons's death, and whose own personal travails become a countrapuntal narrative to Irons's story. Their shared obsession illuminates, in what is sure to become a classic of sports writing, surfing's unique passions, gifts, and limitations., The tragic death of a superstar athlete reveals a sport in the midst of world-class growing pains In November 2010, Andy Irons died mysteriously in a Dallas hotel room four days before his lifelong rival Kelly Slater won his unprecedented tenth world surfing title. Slater wore a white wet suit and served as role model for a generation of surfers. Irons was brash and cocky, wore black, and was the hard-charging, hard-partying rock star who called himself "the people's champ."These two represented the modern face of surfing. Slater's efforts to legitimize surfing as a sport with mainstream appeal were culminated when he won his tenth world title, a feat that put him in the pantheon of sporting greats alongside Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong. Still, a pall was cast over the entire affair: the "story" was Irons's death, not Slater's win. And the controversies surrounding Irons's death continue both in and out of the news."Breaking "reveals to us what surfing was, is, and wants to become. How did an oddball, esoteric pursuit pioneered by a cluster of outcasts become a fully formed sport, replete with a million-dollar contest circuit? Why has it gained a religious following of people who find it to be a salve for all of life's problems? What is the science of risk behavior? How did Slater and Irons, both millionaires from working-class backgrounds, represent the apotheosis of surf culture? And how do their stories affect ordinary surfers who ride waves in small beach towns and travel to far-off oceans in search of answers that are never quite there?
9780374298722 English 0374298726 In November 2010, the surfing superstar Andy Irons died mysteriously in a Dallas hotel room four days before his rival Kelly Slater won his tenth world surfing title. Slater wore a white wet suit and served as a role model for a generation of surfers. Irons, who was brash and cocky, wore black, and was the hard-charging, hard-partying rock star who called himself "the people's champ." These two represented the modern face of surfing. Slater's efforts to legitimize surfing as a sport with mainstream appeal culminated when he won his tenth world title, a feat that put him in the pantheon of sporting greats alongside Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong. Still, the "story" was not Slater's win but Irons's death and the controversies that surrounded it: the release of his autopsy report, the position of the family, and the attitudes of the sport and its sponsors toward Irons's problems and the circumstances of his passing. Breaking is a deep dive into the psyche of surfing through the breach created when Irons died. Brad Melekian covers business, competition, ocean and brain sciences, sociology, and, most important, the psychology of surfing. He explores what happened when an oddball, esoteric pursuit pioneered by a cluster of outcasts morphed into a fully formed sport, replete with a million-dollar international contest circuit and followers who ride the waves in search of answers that are never quite there. That includes Melekian himself, who surfs in Southern California, who as a journalist wrote the most widely read and hardest-hitting coverage of Irons's death, and whose own personal travails become a countrapuntal narrative to Irons's story. Their shared obsession illuminates, in what is sure to become a classic of sports writing, surfing's unique passions, gifts, and limitations., The tragic death of a superstar athlete reveals a sport in the midst of world-class growing pains In November 2010, Andy Irons died mysteriously in a Dallas hotel room four days before his lifelong rival Kelly Slater won his unprecedented tenth world surfing title. Slater wore a white wet suit and served as role model for a generation of surfers. Irons was brash and cocky, wore black, and was the hard-charging, hard-partying rock star who called himself "the people's champ."These two represented the modern face of surfing. Slater's efforts to legitimize surfing as a sport with mainstream appeal were culminated when he won his tenth world title, a feat that put him in the pantheon of sporting greats alongside Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong. Still, a pall was cast over the entire affair: the "story" was Irons's death, not Slater's win. And the controversies surrounding Irons's death continue both in and out of the news."Breaking "reveals to us what surfing was, is, and wants to become. How did an oddball, esoteric pursuit pioneered by a cluster of outcasts become a fully formed sport, replete with a million-dollar contest circuit? Why has it gained a religious following of people who find it to be a salve for all of life's problems? What is the science of risk behavior? How did Slater and Irons, both millionaires from working-class backgrounds, represent the apotheosis of surf culture? And how do their stories affect ordinary surfers who ride waves in small beach towns and travel to far-off oceans in search of answers that are never quite there?