Surfing Soapbox: No excuse not to watch U.S. Open action

Modern technology today is nothing short of incredible.

Online, I just watched Kelly Slater come from behind in the dying seconds of his heat at the U.S. Open of Surfing — all from the fantastic comfort of my living room. Taking in the Open with a nice cup of coffee in hand is so much better than sitting on the sand in Huntington Beach.

Back to the action: It was San Clemente’s own Tanner Gudauskas who got the win against a stacked heat that included the king of all surfing kings — Slater — with both surfers advancing on. They’re both a step closer to the $100,000 first-place check for winning this year’s event.

In a shocking first-round elimination, two-time U.S. Open defending champion and Huntington Beach’s own Brett Simpson went down in flames.

Stay tuned into the U.S. Open either online live at USOpenofSurfing.com or brave the sands of Huntington Beach, which I am about to go do. With a little bump in the swell, the excitement is sure to get better and better. So get out there and cheer for your favorite surfers.

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In other beach-related news, Tuesday’s ECO-Warrior and One World One Ocean beach cleanup with the Laguna Beach Boys & Girls Club was a great success. The kids worked hard and brought in impressive totals — 236 pounds of recycling and 84 pounds of trash.

Special thanks go to Chip McDermott of ZeroTrash for his tireless hard work cleaning up Laguna Beach; Greg and Barbara MacGillivray for being the great role models that they are along with great sponsors; O’Neill; and XS Energy drinks. Without them, this great event would have never been able to empower the next generation of ECO-Warriors.

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com.