What Will Be Andy Irons' Legacy?

For me personally, the Andy Irons has brought to light what the retail surf industry's ethics are and they are ethics which I find greedy, shallow and hypocritical.

I'll buy wetsuits, wax, surfboards and leashes, enough stuff to keep me surfing, but that's it. I refuse to give a dime to them otherwise. In a rich culture like ours, moral people can afford to put truth over money. The big retail surf industry is not doing the right thing. It makes it even worse when there are so many articles about the spiritual side of surfing, the near-self worshiping bleating about "surf history" and the farcical moral airs about the industry's supposedly enlightened attitude towards the environment.

At the core, the big retail surf industry is no different than any other big, soulless corporate culture. Money comes first. Screw them, especially since they spend so much energy convincing us surfers that they are something else so that we feel good about them and buy their shit. Maybe I've had too much caffeine this morning, but I find it repulsive.

[off the soapbox]

the one thing that surprised me was that no one ever mentioned that AI was not a nice person. prior to his death he was generally considered an a-hole/egomaniac. as soon as he dies, he is a surfing saint that cured lepers in India.

That's the way of the world... fortunately or unfortunately... You'll never be a better person than when you're dead.

Its the corporations, maaaan...and the government and computers.

He's dead. He'll be remembered for both.

Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Andy, as a 3X world champion, was good for the sport. Andy's backhand at pipe and frontside at backdoor were legendary. Most surfers on tour were bummed about facing him in heats. In his prime, even Slater had trouble taking him down. Surfing sometimes gets confused with other sporting events covered by ESPN, like golf for instance. We know its deeper than that. It takes a certain type of 'ego' to generate the confidence required to push yourself in conditions that may kill you if you f*ck up. I think Andy's personality would have benefitted positively from the experiences fatherhood would bring. Too bad the young man never got the chance. RIP AI.

#thumbnail:

Danimal, "It takes a certain type of 'ego' to generate the confidence required to push yourself in conditions that may kill you if you f*ck up."
I think that's what killed him.

Kooktastic, while you may be right in a certain regard, I am going to have to disagree with you on this one in regards to AI. Of course, we don't have the full autopsy report yet so we don't "officially" know what happened but we can speculate, sure. In the end, though, people have to be responsible for themselves, and we can't blame the corporations for not constantly being his "handlers" when he needed them. Sure, there was probably more care that should have been taken with their star, money-making and image-generating athlete - no doubt about it. But that comes more out of profit motive than ethical responsibility. Lest we forget, we live in a capitalistic society, and like it or not, these are public corporations bound to the rules of profit incentives, shareholders, and other stakeholders. They are not feel-good non-profit entities with an ethical bent, though they often provide incredible support to those that are, and would likely be less able to provide so much support without having the financial resources to do so (and of course, the good PR doesn't hurt either). These companies push environmentally responsible products because they provide an image that works for them and makes more money. The environmental benefit, then, is a secondary benefit of a positive public trend - not an obligation. That's life in a capitalistic society, and as Winston Churchill said "capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all the others."

But more to dsx's point, AI was clearly an egotistical jerk who "had his demons" as they say. And as frisco pointed out, that in the end was his undoing. Not the corporations that branded him and made him famous and helped him travel the globe and reach near God-like status as a 3x world champ over Slater. In the end, his ego and his demons undoubtedly got the best of him. He is no saint in my eyes, and never will be. Tragic that he died do young, unquestionably, but let's not repaint the past. Sion, on the other hand...

@tgrom: I'm not blaming the industry for not "saving" him when he was alive. He's reponsible for his own behavior. I am blaming them for glossing over the likely causes of his death. Surfing Magazine claimed they "weren't journalists" and therefore had no obligation to dig into the story. The rest of the industry likewise stands idly by. For instance, check out surfline's bio of him.

And they paint the sport and the industry as so "spiritual". What a load of hooey. I'm not buying any more of their shit beyond the basic surf necessities.

I believe the main factor in AI's downfall was his background. I spent several months on the north shore of Kauai in the early 90's when the Irons Bros. were still groms (before the hurricane). Andy probably never had more than the educational equivalent of a 6th grader on the mainland. There's more to life than surfing, but not for the Kauai boys back then. Its different now because of the internet, but 20 years ago, access to world culture, ideas, philosophy, poetry, classic art, history, science, math, etc. were greatly limited.

Most of the neighborhood kids AI grew up with were already suffering from substance abuse, truancy and a general lack of discipline, even at the tender age of 12. Their whole universe revolved around the next swell. Whatever Billabong offered AI was clearly not enough to take an uneducated jungle prodigy away from his family for months at a time, and place him on the world stage to sell board shorts. AI clearly lacked the emotional and physiological tools to handle his own success. I'm not blaming his parents or sponsors for Andy's indiscretions. But at some point, the people around AI looked the other way and ignored the signs (his demons?) - because the kid ripped, and the world consumed his image.

danimal + 1.....a scenario that is probably closer to the truth. At this point the family doesn't have to release the autopsy report...by shrouding it in secrecy they have pretty much already admitted to an OD.