Bobby Martinez dropped the mic in an interview with Todd Kline back in 2011, and never looked back. In his now infamous post-heat interview at the Quiksilver Pro New York, Martinez didn’t mince words, saying, “I don’t want to be part of this fuckin’ dumb wannabe tennis tour.” That was his last ASP-now-WSL event. In the last six years Bobby has receded to a quieter life at home in Santa Barbara, telling Men’s Journal in a recent interview that he realized then there was more to life than surfing. In the interview, Bobby addresses some of what’s gone on since that interview and his attitude on the Olympics. As you might expect, he didn’t hold back. Here are some of the high points of the interview:
On the Olympics…
Well, the Olympic thing didn’t surprise me because I know surfing wants to be known as a giant sport. So, when I heard that, I was like, ‘They got what they wanted.’ At the same time, I thought it was the dumbest thing in the world. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s in Japan, the waves are probably going to be small, Brazilians are the only ones who surf good in small waves, so it’s going to favor a few specific people. One thing about the Olympics is that every event offers the same opportunity to every athlete. But when I’m surfing, I’m never surfing on the same wave as my competitor. It’s going to be pretty boring watching guys surf two-foot waves. And I love surfing; I want what’s best for surfing. But I already know what’s going to happen.
On host cities…
It’s not an Olympic sport. You can’t do it everywhere the Olympics will be held. What are they going to do when they have it in, say, Athens again? There are no waves in Greece. Maybe they need to only have surfing when it’s in a place that works, like L.A., and they could make the gold medal more prestigious, like have it in the Olympics every 16 years when it’s held somewhere that makes sense.
On surfers who will compete…
I think they’re just going wherever their sponsors tell them to go. I don’t think they have a voice, or else they would have been speaking out when I spoke out. So, if their sponsors want them to chase that gold medal, they either gotta shut up and do it, or that’s it. At the same time, there are a lot of surfers who would love that gold medal. It’s the Olympics. For some of these guys this is going to be bigger than the World Title. Unfortunately, the best surfer probably won’t be the one who wins. And if the best guy does win, it’s probably going to be pushed, because they want him to win. That’s just the way surfing works.
On wave pools…
[Building] wave pools is just being desperate, hoping to make surfing something it’s not. Surfing isn’t done in a pool. Surfing’s done in the ocean. I mean, are you fucking really going to travel to Kansas to surf the world’s best wave pool? You could be going to Namibia to surf some of the world’s best waves. That’s what makes surfing, surfing. A lot of wave pools aren’t even salt water. I’m telling you, if you surf a wave pool your whole life, you’re going to eventually go to the ocean and surf some real waves. Wave pools will never be the answer. The ocean is the answer, and that’s it.
