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The buoys were 16 feet, 14 seconds when I woke up today, but unfortunately it was spring and the winds were proving it. Oh well, I thought, I'll just run across Lighthouse Field and surf the Lane. After calling Coogli, I realized they were having a contest at the Lane called "The Game." The Game is a team format competition where the best pro surfers from each city join together as a team and compete against other teams. (More on the Game specifics if you like: http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp?Id_news=16209 ).

So, to make a long story short, I ended up going down to take some pics and check out the contest. The surf was decent size and it came down to a tight final between Santa Cruz and San Diego. San Diego took the trophy in a tight finish with lots of great surfing.

Highlights were watching Rob Machado, Taylor Knox, and Benji Weatherly carving up a storm. On the local side Peter Mel, Adam Replogle and Kieran Horn surfed really well, too. Also entertaining, aside from the surfing, was watching a rebellious boogie boarder who paddled out in the final quarter of the contest area with no wetsuit on. He refused to go in until water patrol Anthony Tashnick bullied him to the inside, and then Peter Mel ran down the rocks screaming at the top of his lungs, charging into the water, eventually chasing the boogie down with the current along the cliff's edge… followed by a bunch of blood-thirsty groms.

Yes, today was The Lane at its essence. All those years of solid waves, localism, shallow pros who rip, locals and tourists hanging on the cliff, SoCal surfers getting snubbed, SoCal surf companies catering and getting catered to, and drama came together today. The Lane had its day in the sun, but it was just a game.