kelly slater

http://youtu.be/-aBJxYxo1HU

beyond a shadow of a doubt, this man has worked intensely hard to put himself into a position in our sport that really has no parallel in others.  after 10 world titles, and pushing 40 years old, he is still at the pinnacle of his game (as evidenced by his decisive win this afternoon at the nike 6.0 us open of surfing).  despite the fact that he won another $100,000 for this day's effort, this pales in comparision to the monetary wealth that he has amassed through sponsorships, media contracts, publicity incentives, etc, to the point where it is fairly safe to say that it isn't 'about the money' for him.  although i'll be the first one in line to agree with anyone who labels him the most influential surfer in the history of the sport, i do also wonder what detriment he has cast on the development of his peers, who despite having tried for 10 years, haven't managed to get the best of him since andy irons.  i suppose that opens another discussion about the true beauty and intellect of andy's surfing as it related to the rise and further rise of slater's career.  surfing is 95% mental and the duration of its psychology component extends long before and after the physical portion.  although we've witnessed an accelerated evolution in progressive surfing in the last 10 years that had never been imagined before, i still wonder whether kelly slater's involvement in this had pushed the drive of others to elevate their own abilities to match his or whether the spectre of his character has cast a heavy shadow under which others haven't yet been able to escape.  one thing is certain, no one has witnessed a movement with as much precision and consistency as that of kelly slater.