Top Rants of 2009


2009 was a good year for rants. StokeReport readers submitted over 800. I've picked a selection of my favorites.

1466
#21 The Nicest Leopard Seal In The Whole Entire Ocean [video]
Although I'm not a huge fan of rants entirely unrelated to surfing, I loved this one. It does involve crazy seals and the ocean, so that's close enough for me.
841
#20 Swimming with a Great White Shark [video]
The bravest / stupidest thing that I saw anyone do in 2009
1
#19 Super Slo Mo Video of a Perfect Barrel Ride [video]
One of my favorite slo-mo sequences of 2009. It's not nearly as good as the JOB backdoor switchfoot sequence that snagged the #2 spot overall.
2881
#18 Really Trippy Surf Art
The best trippy surf art of 2009! ... there wasn't a lot of competition for that award, but this is still pretty great.
1466
#17 Worst Wipeout Ever [video]
Yep, I've got to agree. That *was* the worst wipeout ever.
2881
#16 Bodyboarding Lesson #1 - How NOT to Enter the Water (video)
I know a lot of you don't appreciate the FAIL video genre. But it's hard not to laugh at this. We're laughing *with* him. Honest.
1
#15 Awesome Historical Photographs of Ocean Beach
I loved this great collection of pictures from the Ocean Beach of yesteryear.
395
#14 Ripping the Pit -- Earworm Hell [video]
"Ripping the pit" surfaced as a StokeReport meme this year. A certain member at the head of the kook royal family should be blamed for this.
1933
#13 One of our reporters this morning
This gets my award for the best 2009 photograph of a StokeReport regular in action.
2571
#12 Faux Woody
I loved this. It gets my award for "The 2009 Best Photograph of an San Francisco Surf Vehicle"
1206
#11 Small waves on the Great Lakes
I love the updates from StokeReporters surfing away from home, in this case tracey surfing a Great Lake.
2881
#10 Rake Video [video]
This is one of my favorite short movies of the year.
0
#9 Further analysis of Bethany's photo
This gets my award for the best commentary on a surfing event. The event in question being the vicious nibbling of Bethany Edmund, a part time swimwear model.
1933
#8 In the Green Room: The Quest for Perfect Bush Barrels [video]
Hilarious terrestrial search for the green room. One of the funniest videos of 2009.
26
#7 A Seal Farted On My Friend
I really don't know what to say about this one. The title says it all.
2571
#6 Vermonter Invents Surf Skiing
The goofiest surf craze of 2009.
2881
#5 Surfing on Heroin [video]
We saw a few wipe-out compilations this year, but this has to be the best. Extra points for the pure insanity of it.
2881
#4 Amazing Wave [pic]
The most beautiful thing that I saw in 2009 (family and friends excluded)
2881
#2 Backdoor Switchfoot -- An Amazing HD Video
This one is pure awesome. A great sound track. Unbelievable surfing and amazing cinematography. I challenge you not to watch it several times.
-10
#1 Thanksgiving OB pics from vonstanger
Vonstanger submitted some amazing photographs of the best Bay Area surf in 2009. Picking a favorite set was hard, but his Thanksgiving shots were pretty spectacular. Overall I have to give him the #1 spot for the best photographic contributions to StokeReport this year. Congratulations Vonstanger!

I'd like to include a special shout out for citystoke. He posted a ton of great surfer's perspective shots from Ocean Beach this year, for example these recent shots. They would have ranked highly on the list above, had they not all been filed as reports. Considering this, I've reserved position #3 for citystoke.

That's it for the 2009 rants, let's hope that 2010 is as much fun.