He Looks to Take Extreme Measures

Surfing’s most prestigious competition--its version of the Super Bowl--finished with style this week, but you had to be on the North Shore of Oahu to witness it.

In this era of instant communication and live televised dog shows, you might be surprised to discover that you will have to wait until January or February to watch the world’s best surfers challenging Pipeline’s pounding surf.

Fans must be patient if they want to see Sunday’s dangerous day, when big-wave expert Taylor Knox was injured and knocked out of the competition after one ride in the 10- 12-foot conditions, or to view Kelly Slater winning his unprecedented fifth Pipe Masters title Monday.

Alan Gibby wants to change that and he believes he has the means. Gibby envisions the Web site he founded, ExtremeSports.com, becoming an Internet network for such sports as surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and bike motocross.

When broadband technology advances to the point that typical computer users can quickly receive video feeds, ExtremeSports.com (https://extremesports.com) hopes to be providing live coverage that looks and feels like television.

Gibby has the experience to make this happen. His San Clemente-based company, DynoComm Sports, has been producing television sports shows since 1982, and it’s DynoComm that filmed and is producing the 1999 Pipe Masters television show, which will eventually air on ESPN.

“Our Webcasts will be produced as a TV producer would produce it,” Gibby said, “as opposed to how a technical person would produce it.”

Gibby, who lives in Dana Point and grew up in Laguna Beach, applied for the ExtremeSports.com domain name about four years ago on a whim.

“I just for the heck of it punched in extremesports.com,” Gibby said, “and I got an e-mail back that said, ‘You got it,’ and I almost went through the ceiling in our building I was so excited.”

At first, DynoComm put up limited content on the site and basically didn’t do much with it. Then last spring, a large media company approached Gibby and asked to buy the domain name. Gibby declines to say how much he was offered but says it prompted him to action.

In August, Gibby formed a separate company to run the Web site and prepare it for its official launch, which is expected this spring.

The site is already quite active. In September it produced a live Webcast from the Action Sports Retailer trade expo in San Diego, and it regularly posts results and stories from surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding and freestyle bike motocross events.

But it aims to do much more and become a Internet portal for extreme sports enthusiasts. The target market is young--the 8- to 24-year-old “Generation Y.”

“We want to be these kids’ home on the Internet,” said Christian Darby, ExtremeSports.com’s chief creative officer, “where they can get 80-90% of what they need on the Web.”

So the site will offer music as well as sports and plenty of pictures and personal perspectives, such as the currently available “Twin Sessions,” a surf journal written by professional surfers C.J. and Damien Hobgood.

Gibby sees the day when Web viewers will be able to channel surf at ExtremeSports.com.

“They are going to be visually watching the event,” he said. “Sure, they may want some text information and they might want some results. But they also may want to go and check a surf-cam or a snowboard-cam at another resort instantly or they may want to go to another channel and see another event that’s going on at the same time.”

LOCAL UPDATE

Dana Point’s Pat O’Connell lost to C.J. Hobgood of Satellite Beach, Fla., in Round 2 of the Pipe Masters Sunday. Hobgood led the entire match and won, 25.15-21.85.

Shea Lopez of San Clemente defeated Greg Emslie of South Africa, 9.75-8.25, in Round 2, but lost to Australian Shane Wehner, 17.75-14.6, in Round 3 Monday. Wehner eventually reached the final and lost to Slater, 28.9-18.25.

NO RECORD

Matt Weaver from Aptos, Calif., planned to go after the human-powered vehicle record for distance traveled in an hour, but scuttled the attempt Sunday at California Speedway in Fontana because of high winds.

Weaver plans to make another attempt at riding 90 kilometers in an hour (55.924 mph) on his self-designed and self-built recumbent bicycle. He’s trying to win a $25,000 prize offered by Santa Ana-based World Record Associates.