Lopez understands that every viewer—whether a procrastinating office jockey, first time viewer, or fellow ripper—doesn’t have to watch pro surfing. I was impressed to learn that he actually feels personally obligated to deliver the best product he can: “When I put on the headset, I feel it’s my job to enrich the viewing experience for all those giving professional surfing their time.” Admirably, he hopes to exceed viewer expectations by focusing on some strong basic journalism, namely through thorough exploration of one simple question: ‘why?’. He explains that it’s uncommon “to answer the question ‘why’ during a heat. ‘Who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, and ‘where’ are all…very easy to present quickly through graphics and a cheat sheet…. It’s been my experience that throughout life it’s the answer to ‘why’ that captures our full attention” and provides the most insight. Certainly, asking such questions will only benefit surfing’s media legitimacy.
Being on the broadcast team isn’t without its sacrifices: “For one, I hardly ever surf when I’m calling events. As much as that pains me, it’s to keep myself fresh, without a head full of saltwater, for the potential of being at the beach for twelve hours a day, four days in a row.” Apparently the challenge of staying out of the water isn’t unique to being on the broadcast crew. “In my prior role as a competitor, keeping myself fresh for heats when there were fun waves to be had nearby was very challenging,” quips Lopez, who finds it even harder to stay out of the water when he’s not guaranteed a heat.
While he may not get many waves while calling heats, Lopez hopes to keep viewers laughing between sets: “A surf competition, at the root, is produced for entertainment…. In saying such, an ASP broadcast should be dripping with humor and positivity.”
Surfing’s broadcasting history is young enough that we’re yet to crown our own Terry Bradshaw or John McEnroe (or Charles Barkley). But as Shea Lopez hopes to prove by translating his professionalism in the water into the booth, maybe we’re on our way.
