THE SLATER PROPHECY Jason Borte ruminates on Kelly's Pipeline showdown By Jason Borte

Published: December 13, 2013

December 13, 2013 Views: 5,461







THE SLATER PROPHECY Jason Borte ruminates Kelly Slater's Pipeline showdown.

My journey to the center of Kelly's head was almost over



As we chilled on rickety lawn chairs behind the Johnson house overlooking Ehukai, the beach was silent save for the whistling tradewinds. The Pipe Masters had wrapped a few days earlier, and no shred of the hubbub remained. While he pondered the question, a lone, miniature figure came into view. Even from a distance, there was no mistaking the blond mop on this spindly grom. It was only the most famous pre-pubescent surfer in history, even more so than Slater himself. John John. Kelly's answer was trudging up the sand after a grovel session in windy beachpark dribble. "Well, in ten years I'll be forty, and hopefully I'll be right here surfing in the Pipe Masters final against John John." The champ was smiling. Involuntarily, a chuckle shot from my mouth the way it does when you're in the company of a person of Kelly's stature, as if he's said the funniest thing imaginable. Only this time, he sort of had. Sure, Slater had already proven he was a different beast with utter domination and tons of freakish, last-second comebacks. Sure, he was on the verge of returning to the tour after three-years of semi-retirement and would be the favorite to earn another crown or perhaps more. Still, making finals into his forties? Three decades of domination? This was straight-up ludicrous. He was right about the John John part; that the 10-year-old Hawaiian prince was the heir to Pipe was a foregone conclusion. But Kelly? He couldn't really mean what he was saying, could he? I wish I could say I studied his face at that point for a clue, but I had no reason to do so. To me, it was a joke, plain and simple, a cute way to wrap up our book on a hopeful note but nothing more. Now more than a decade later, will anyone be surprised if the Pipe finale this weekend comes down to Kelly and John John? They are the prohibitive favorites. Or further, that Kelly wins and claims his 12th title? That result is looking more and more likely. My prediction is that we won't then see Kelly being chaired triumphantly up the beach. The only possible scenario has some sort of flying saucer hovering over the Pipe lineup and beaming him aboard. Then, he'll take his seat in the cockpit, survey the stunned scene on the beach one last time, smile at our cluelessness, and zoom off to his home galaxy leaving the entire surfing world saying, "I knew it." Hey, it's not the weirdest prediction ever. Kelly's got that one, too.

Having exhausted my ten-page list of questions, I asked him about the future. Where did he see himself in, say, a decade? "Hmm," he balked, like he did every time, gathering his thoughts before launching into another 20-minute discourse.He'd spilled his guts into the microphone for two solid weeks, elaborating on virtually every moment of his life. The only topic he refused to get juicy with was the Pamela affair since his girlfriend at the time was unfortunately, yet understandably, jealous. Through the first half of 2003, these recordings morphed into Pipe Dreams, an autobiography that cracked the Top 30 on the N.Y. Times List.