Todd’s Surf Journal: Venice Pier

Thanksgiving morning. Woke up at around 6 a.m. Still kind of stoned. I don’t really remember how I ended up at Jade’s place – she’s that half-Vietnamese operating room technician I’ve been seeing, you know, the one who claims she used to be on the cheerleading team at Texas Tech but got kicked off for trying to buy coke from an undercover cop on their trip to Houston – but apparently this is where I eventually crashed. Not sure if we had hooked up last night but if so we made it a DOUBLE SHOT by 6:15. Went to grab a glass of water and discovered that she forgot to take her goddamned pill again.  I don’t mean to be a dick but why wouldn’t you just tie it to some other ritual, like brushing your teeth?  Anyhow, she’s only a day off so it’s no big deal but I don’t think the world is quite ready for Todd 2.0, if you know what I mean. 

Looks like I picked up a monster of a parking ticket – thank God for that signing bonus – and I’m glad I didn’t get towed, because then I’d have missed out on my best session of the year.  Nice light offshore breeze and a southwest swell that included more than a few overhead sets.  There as a pretty hefty crowd out there, but Terrence from Torrance and Carlsbad Carl were helped block for me so I got a good share of rides.  Including…MY VERY FIRST BARREL! Almost. I had it lined up and was ducking inside it but the curl caught me upside the head and I ended up having saltwater for breakfast. Oh well. I’ll get it next time. Still, not bad for a guy who’s been surfing for less than two years. 

The above isn’t from two weeks ago.  It’s from thirty-one years ago, during my first season in the NFL.

It sucks having the best days of my life behind me. I can live with that. That’s just life. But the biggest bummer about the best days of your life is not being aware that they’re the best while they’re actually happening. I wish I’d had known it at the time. Although…would knowing that things weren’t going to get better make things feel bittersweet? I don’t know. Sorry for getting all philosphical here. I’ll try to focus more on the pharmaceutical in the future.

Anyhow, I didn’t really have anything going on for Thanksgiving this year. I figured I’d drop by St. Mark’s later in the day and see what the scene was like, if there was anybody I knew around, but before that I thought I might take a trip down memory lane and visit one of my old haunts, the Venice Beach Pier.  It’s usually pretty quiet on holidays and today was no exception.  It didn’t help that the water was cold and the waves were weak.  I was actually the only person out there other than a guy on a stand-up paddleboard.  Normally ‘SUP riders are pretty unwelcome on any wave that can be ridden with a real surfboard, since they’re basically canoes and can pick up waves from so much further out.  But this guy was all right.  Pretty friendly and he wasn’t too greedy, so we were both able to get plenty of rides and everyone had a good time.

St. Mark’s was okay. Tomsula didn’t turn up – I heard he’s stuck in El Paso – but the Fingerling brothers were there. They got themselves banned for life for throwing food. They weren’t even having a food fight! They were just doing that little juggling routine they do. It was still good to see them, though. And you know who gave me a call later on during the day? Mark fucking Davis.  Of the Los Angeles I mean Oakland I mean Las Vegas Raiders.  Apologized for not having tracked me down until this year; said he tries to reach out to as many old Raiders as he can around the holidays. Says he might even have a little job for me in the future so he’s going to stay in touch. I just hope it’s not parking cars like that time Marcus Allen “invited” me to his Hall of Fame induction party.

Anyhow, in honor of Mark (I guess it’s Mr. Davis now, just like his dad) reaching out today’s post-session shot was something appropriately pirate-themed. Even had a bit of a Thanksgiving theme as well.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone, though I’ve been so late in getting this edition out that I might as well wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  Marinovich out.