Editor’s Note: I once saw Dustin Brown, who is the captain of the hockey team in Los Angeles called the King’s say: “That’s why we fucking play!” on live national TV (NBC!) after winning the Stanley Cup. It was a raw, real, great moment in sport. I even Instagrammed it I was so thrilled.  He couldn’t help himself and I love that. Now did NBC throw him out of the NHL? FUCK NO! But then there’s this:  

Chas Smith is a What Youth contributor and co-founder of Beach Grit. He’s taken you to France and taught you to live in French and taught you how to stay in a hotel and how to go to war and how to lead a more interesting life in a variety of ways and he has always done it with greatest enthusiasm and zest for life. Today he wrote a rebuttal to a strange, self-important, million word + “essay” of sorts that was prompted because Gabriel said a bad word, and this is all from some self-described poet or scholar or something on some physics/surf website and he’s trying to get Gabriel fined. It’s fucking ridiculous, and I don’t have time or need to go any further because Chas already did it (perfectly!), via the sandy funk-journal called Beach Grit. And be sure to fill out his petition at the end and put an end to the hate. —Travis 

Chas Smith via Beach Grit: One of the greatest parts of The Inertia, surf website for middle-aged men with extremely small sexual organs and/or paychecks, is that contributors get to choose their own titles. Like Poet/Surf Scholar/Ocean Activist.

Trey Highton, whose title is Poet/Surf Scholar/Ocean Activist (and whose name might actually be Henry), posted a 15,000 word piece today titled Gabriel Medina, Samsung and the Axis of Evil. In it he argues that Gabby should be fined $101,000 for using swears and criticizing commissioner Kieren Perrow (hereafter “Pierrow”) and suspended from Bells.

He writes, “As a professional World Tour surfer and the defending world champion, Gabriel Medina has a contractual obligation to represent the sport of surfing with dignity at all times, especially during contests. Medina’s post-heat interview, live-broadcast globally, at the 2015 Snapper Rocks event, in which he criticized Commissioner Kieren Pierrow and used profanity clearly violates Articles 170, 171, & 174 of the 2015 WSL Rule Book.”

My favorite part would be that he writes of the “Articles” as real, totally serious things or maybe that he writes of the WSL as an honest and powerful sanctioning body or maybe that he assumes the surf fan wants to see very clean, very professional action in the water. Except my favorite part is that he has started an online petition to “Suspend & Fine Gabriel Medina (here).” At this writing 10 people have signed.

Read the rest from Chas here at Beach Grit, and be sure to sign his petition to rid the Inertia of hate here.