Hot Board Games

The Los Angeles Arc Angels earned respect after extending the defending champion Orange County Octopus into overtime. But the expansion franchise remained winless after enduring a fretful lull late in the extra period as Pat O’Connell and the Octopus surged to a 124.5-114.25 triumph in three-foot waves under sunny skies at Leo Carrillo State Beach ...

It wasn’t on TV, or in major newspapers, but this “game” of surfing did take place on a recent afternoon. And Brad Gerlach, president of the National Surfing League and co-creator -- with his father, Joe -- of a format loosely patterned after basketball, baseball and team golf, looks forward to the day that such a story will warrant prominent placement in sports sections, along with box scores, standings and pregame analysis.

“I’m envisioning a triple-layer chocolate cake with ice cream,” said Gerlach, 39, a charismatic former surfing star from Carlsbad. “This year it’s a single-layer cake with no frosting. It’s coming. I know what that triple-layer cake tastes like, and I’m trying to bring as much as possible” to make it happen.

The second-year series, called the Quiksilver California Cup, consists of 20 regular-season games featuring teams representing Santa Cruz, Ventura, Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties.

Team surfing is popular in Australia but lacks the many twists incorporated by Gerlach, who wanted a format that would draw mainstream sports fans. He’s hoping it will raise the profile of U.S. surfers and showcase international stars at local beaches.

“We’re giving surfers the platform to show what amazing athletes they are and what an incredible athletic endeavor it is to surf really well, and to show how few people in the world can really surf well,” Gerlach said.

Each team gets a four-game homestand, when it plays host to the other teams.

Four surfers from each team alternate in 16-minute quarters (a top and bottom quarter, like baseball innings) and players are judged on style, aggressiveness and difficulty of execution on a scale of 0 to 10.

Their best single waves per quarter count toward the final score.

“Ultimately, the team that rips the hardest will win,” Chris Mauro explained over the loudspeakers at a game between Los Angeles and Orange County this month.

Coaches on the beach consult via radio with coaches on surfboards regarding strategy, substitution and timeouts. Players in bleachers, on opposite sides of the judging tower, cheer teammates, heckle opponents and insult the judges. A referee in a striped jersey stands between the teams.

The Arc Angels looked inspired against an Octopus team loaded with stars from pro surfing’s elite world tour. The Los Angeles squad, behind the powerful and fluid surfing of Anthony Petruso and Jordan Tappas, opened a 26-24.5 first-quarter lead and, with high scores from Shaun Burrell (7.25) and Alex Gray (8.25), maintained a slim advantage going into halftime ...

The Octopus roster includes Chris Ward, Tim Reyes and Shane Beschen, who are surfing on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ elite World Championship Tour, plus O’Connell, 32, a WCT veteran from San Clemente who recently retired so he could spend more time close to home.

“You have to give your whole life to the tour,” O’Connell said of a nine-month annual commitment that takes surfers all around the world.

“You’re isolated and don’t have time for people. The greatest thing about the game is that you get a lot of different people together that you haven’t seen for a while.”

The ASP does not view the surfing league as an issue of concern and has sanctioned the California Cup as a specialty tour, which is appealing to the athletes despite offering little in terms of prize money and exposure.

“There’s a lot of pride at stake,” Arc Angel assistant Strider Wasilewski said at halftime of his team’s game against the Octopus.

“These guys want to come away with a win so badly. They’re stoked to be ahead going into the next half.”

Although the atmosphere was loose and without animosity, preparations were serious and the passion genuine. The Octopus crew wore bright orange T-shirts and sweatshirts. The Arc Angels wore black with white lettering.

Justin Swartz, 20, had dyed large blond letters, L.A., into the short, dark hair on the back of his head, the Venice surfer explaining: “It’s all about team spirit and trying to psyche out the other team.”

Fans were few aside from family and friends, which included a boisterous bikini-clad contingent that jumped and hooted with every Arc Angel ride, especially those of Pascal Stansfield, a low-level competitor from Malibu trying to make a splash in the league.

“I’ve been following my brother around to different contests, and I was never able to sit through one,” Olivia Stansfield said. “This is kind of cool. You’re into it.”

Leading by less than a point after three quarters, the Arc Angels watched intently as the Octopus opened the top of the fourth with an eight-point performance from Reyes, who curried the judges’ favor with a long, flowing ride accentuated with a series of power cutbacks and snaps off the lip. Mike Todd added a late score of 7.25 as Orange County closed regulation with 102 points.

Los Angeles mounted a charge behind Bron Huesenstamm’s 6.25, followed by Gray’s 7.5 and Shaun Burrell’s 6.25. With the score tied at 102 and two minutes left, Gray caught another wave and tore it apart but the judges gave him only a 7.0, which was not enough to replace his 7.5. His teammates shrugged.

In overtime, the Octopus’ 22.5-point performance was buoyed by 6.25-point rides by O’Connell, the leading scorer with 21.5 points, and Reyes. The Arc Angels, taking the water, seemed in control of their destiny, but the ocean turned flat and time ran out on the home team, leading to a period of dejection followed by the collective recital of a popular refrain:

“Oh well, it’s only one game. We’ll get ‘em next time.”