X Games Will Mark the Spot for East-West Duel

Surfing will make its inaugural X Games appearance next month at Huntington Beach as an East versus West affair that’s sure to make a splash -- now that an end to the battle behind the scenes is imminent and that some of the world’s best surfers will be allowed to participate.

ESPN, which is in charge of the X Games, and the Assn. of Surfing Professionals, which has rules regarding specialty events involving its athletes, have been at odds for weeks over several issues but “are very close” to reaching an agreement, Melissa Gullotti, a spokeswoman for ESPN, said Thursday.

The primary issue is that of licensing fees the ASP charges for specialty events. The fee is $15,000 for an event in the U.S. involving athletes from the U.S. It increases exponentially if surfers from Hawaii (the ASP considers Hawaii a separate entity) or other countries are involved. Organizers hope to use these athletes as wild cards in a team format developed by Brad Gerlach, a former pro.

ESPN initially wanted all fees waived, citing the positive exposure the ASP and its athletes would receive during the airing of the event. The ASP, however, has been reluctant to budge.

ASP President Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew said the $15,000 “stays in the U.S. for developmental purposes through Surfing America, with not one penny coming to ASP International.” The money, he added, “will go a long way to ensuring there are developmental opportunities for the next American generation of Kelly Slaters and C.J. Hobgoods, which in turn is in the best interest of the sport.”

Details of the agreement were still being worked out Thursday afternoon, but ESPN was comfortable enough with negotiations to allow official athlete invitations to be sent Thursday night.

On that list, for the East team, are Slater, C.J. Hobgood and his twin brother Damien, Shea and Cory Lopez, Ben Bourgeois and two international wild cards. The coach is Matt Kechele.

On the West team are Rob Machado, Taylor Knox, Shane Beschen, Pat O’Connell, Tim Curran, Chris Ward and two wild cards. The coach is Mike Parsons.

Prospective wild-card participants -- it has yet to be decided for which team they’ll compete -- are Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow of Australia, and Shane Dorian of Hawaii.

Under “The Game” format Gerlach and his father devised, two eight-surfer teams play four quarters. Each quarter is broken into two 20-minute heats, subject to change depending on conditions. Each heat is surfed as a team and only four surfers from one team paddle out for each heat. This eliminates competition between teams for waves during the heats and enables each team to work within its ranks to make the most of each heat.

Surfers keep their two top wave scores and all of the surfers’ best two scores are added together for a team score.

The competition will take place Aug. 9 at the Huntington Beach Pier, and will be shown on ESPN and ESPN2 on Aug. 19-21.