Photo: Jeremiah Klein

50) "It's the morning of the finals," 18-year-old Slater famously spoke as he exited Basilone Road and pulled out his star trunks. Seems like yesterday; 49) A wild and wooly week in Fiji was amazingly highlighted not by Kelly's win but the day the event was called off after two heats for surfer safety. That afternoon is considered by many to be the best day of surfing...ever...period. Photos: Jeremiah Klein and Kirstin/ASP

48) His third straight final versus Owen Wright through the gut of the tour put him so far ahead going into Europe that people were already replacing the l's in his name with 1's; 47) After skipping J-Bay in favor of epic Fiji, Slater fell to sixth before righting the ship at his old standby; 46) His eleventh win in Oz set the stage for world title #11 in 2011. Creepy, huh? Photos: Kirstin/ASP

45) Bitterweet victory as Andy Irons tragically passed away during the event. Coupled with sealing his tenth crown, it was his teariest win ever; 44) Slater spanked young Jordy Smith and headed to Puerto Rico looking to clinch the big one. Photos: Kirstin and Cestari/ASP

43) Shooting atop the rankings for the first time all season, Kelly locked his focus on title #10; 42) Coming off a sixth-place finish for '09 while Fanning knocked down a second crown, the pair met in the Bells final, and...well, you can imagine. Photos: Rowland and Kirstin/ASP

41) Triple 17th-place finishes found Kelly at 25th in the world going into Brazil, languishing behind Aritz Aranburu and Jihad Khodr. It was a short-lived highlight that those guys will one day tell their grandkids. Photo: Cestari/ASP

40) Funky brown Backdoor barrels can't stop him, and neither could Wardo's last hurrah rampage in search of a maiden victory; 39) You gotta feel for Taj Burrow, the Cheyne Horan (perennial runner-up) of his generation. Kelly pipped him here by a mere 0.34; 38) Fore! Make that FOUR out of five to begin 2008. Photos: Kirstin, Rowland and Kirstin/Covered Images

37) A minor slip-up against wildcard Manoa Drollet at Teahupoo was remedied a week later with a win in Fiji; 36) Two up, two down. You ever get the feeling that you've been here before? 35) As if he needed extra motivation, Kelly met newly crowned champ Fanning in the final and issued him an old-fashioned beat-down at fun-sized Snapper. Photos: Rowland, Robertson and Kirstin/Covered Images

34) Toppling Curren's longstanding tour victory mark at the site of his first win as a pro, Slater slogged thru what was (for him) an off year, finishing in third behind Fanning and Taj. Photo: Pierre Tostee/Covered Images

33) There was one record he still didn't own, Curren's 33 tour victories. At bombing Bells, Kelly finally tied the master; 32) For the first time since '98, he came out with an opening win. When that happens, the field packs it in and pines for the elusive retirement #2. Photos: Pierre Tostee/Covered Images

31) Needing a high eight to upend Aussie powerhouse Phil MacDonald, Kelly attacked an average inside wave. Insiders didn't think it was enough, but the judges granted it a nine; 30) Locked in another title race with Andy, the two titans met in their first man-on-man final together. With just seconds on the clock, Kelly went vertical three times and pearled on the last one. The judges deemed the ride worthy. Photos: Pierre Tostee/Covered Images

29) Cloudbreak and Restaurants did their thing for six straight days. Kelly did the dreamy waves one better, averaging a ludicrous nearly 9.5 per scoring ride through the event; 28) With fellow finalist Damien Hobgood sidelined with a separated shoulder, Slater grabbed a coldie on his paddle back out. He pulled in and emerged guzzling to secure a perfect 20-point heat score. At an ancient 33, he's the oldest to ever win an elite tour event. Photos: Karen and Tostee/Covered Images

27) From among a field filled with 17 Brazilians, Kelly blasted ahead of AI in the rankings heading into the final two events in Hawaii. Unfortunately, it'd be all downhill from there; 26) While a jilted Mark Zuckerberg sat in his Harvard dorm dreaming up what would become Facebook, Slater tore into fun little runners for his first win on the Basque coast. Photos: Pierre Tostee/Covered Images

25) Kelly celebrated the release of his autobiography Pipe Dreams by signing his name all over the endless Jeffreys walls. The book peaked at #29 on the New York Times Bestseller List for Hardcover Nonfiction; 24) Three years removed from the winner's circle, he came back averaging 8.8 per scoring ride through six rounds and announcing himself as THE contender to AI. Photos: Pierre Tostee and Aaron Chang/Covered Images

Most of the tour involuntarily convulses at the thought of Teahupoo. Kelly made the final along with good mate Shane Dorian, and they both went switchfoot on their first waves. Photo: Tom Servais/A-Frame

22) A year removed from the game, the Freak returned to earth for the season's final event. "Miss me?" he wondered. "Yeah right, about as much as I miss that spare tire I used to carry around me waist," newly crowned champ Occhilupo might've responded. Photo: Joli/A-Frame

21) In his last season before "retirement", Slater got to frolic through a fun-filled final at Snapper Rocks with old chum Pat O'Connell. You call this work? Photo: Joli/A-Frame

20) He skipped Brazil the year before and caught flack, so Kelly made the trip to Rio and made it worthwhile. In taking down Curren in Round One and Occy in the final, he turned his knife in the hearts of 1980s surfers everywhere; 19) In the best Japanese contest surf to date, Kelly outdid Beschen in a tube jihad. It's his fourth win in five starts, effectively ending the title race before summer; 18) Perhaps the answer would be Japanese wildcard entrant Kotaro Kitaoka, who edged Kelly for second place in Round One. Nope, not Kotara, not a returned-to-form Occy, not even Godzilla could end this run. Photos: Fabio Minduim/Fluir Magazine and Junji Uchida

17) The world searched for an answer to Kelly. At Burleigh Heads, the best they could muster was Peterson "Animal" Rosa. Surprisingly, it's not enough; 16) The rap world lost Notorious B.I.G. in a drive-by while surfing's own "biggie" started the new season where he finished the last, in front. Photos: Joli/A-Frame

15) Seventh (!) victory on the season. Opponent Garcia dropped in on Slater and practically ran him over in a fruitless effort to stop the roll; 14) World Title #5 is in the bag after out-hopping Brazilo Jojo Olivenca in Biarritz ankle biters; 13) At Pumpkin Ridge in Oregon on the same day as this French final, Tiger Woods earned his third straight U.S. Amateur title on his way to becoming the Kelly Slater of golf. Photos: Joli/A-Frame

12) The infamous "go behind" started the final versus Beschen in front of the entire world at Huntington Pier, drawing an interference on his nemesis and ending the matchup before it began; 11) Although he wished he had some booties in the nippy J-Bay water, Kelly trounced buddy Taylor Knox to match Beschen with two-in-a-row of his own. Photos: Mike Moir and John Callahan

10) Shane Beschen went back-to-back to get Slater's attention, and the Reunion response was emphatic, highlighted by an insane Round Four comeback against Barton Lynch; 9) By '96, the Old Guard was on its way out, and his New School cohorts were hapless against him. His first era of dominance would go right thru '97. Photos: Joli/A-Frame

8) Everyone remembers the Machado high-five, but the final day defined Slater's M.O. as come-from-behind dream crusher; 7) Epic surf, epic performance. In the event that showed that a dream tour was possible, Kelly demolished the notion that riding backside in tubes was a liability. Photos: Joli/A-Frame

6) Pipe was a pancake, so the Masters went down in Ehukai dribblers. While the other finalists looked out and saw the worst surf in the event's history, Kelly saw Cocoa Beach; 5) Aussie Stuart Bedford-Brown brought three last names and a much sweeter coif than Kelly into the final but still couldn't derail the mojo; 4) In good conditions, Kelly squeaked past Pottz for his first victory Down Under at a spot that would give him fits for the next 15 years. Photos: Joli/A-Frame

A lone bright spot for KS in a year plagued by injuries, a failed engagement, and serious Baywatch backlash. Meanwhile in Brazil, Gabriel Medina is still looking out his mom's belly button window. Photo: Joli