Tuesday Afterschool Special: Surf’s Up!

​Soul Surfer Hangs Ten

While most of us were focused on Warriors/Thunder Game 7 and the start of the Stanley Cup Finals, soul surfer Bethany Hamilton was shredding in Fiji at a World Surf League (WSL) competition yesterday.

You might know Hamilton best from her story of surviving a shark attack. In 2005, Hamilton was an up-and-coming 13-year-old surfer when she was bit by a tiger shark. She lost her arm, but a month later was back on a board. She still surfs, and is an advocate for healthy eating — something she talked with SI Kids about in 2014.

Hamilton competes pretty regularly — the WSL tour event in Fiji was her fifth this year — but she’s not considered one of the world’s top surfers. Still, she was invited to Fiji as a wild card and made the most of the opportunity.

She got off to a rocky start, finishing third the first round. But in the second round she defeated Tyler Wright, the top-ranked surfer in the world, won the third round, then won again in the quarterfinals. Hamilton lost in the semis to eventual champion Johanne Defay, but came out of the event in third place.

“I knew once I beat Tyler I could beat anyone,” Hamilton, 26, said after the third round. “At the end of the day, it’s just putting it together and catching the right waves and surfing my best. I know I can compete well against these girls.”

Check out this video of Hamilton tearing it up in her second round run:



Spicy Kicks

Not sure what Bethany Hamilton would think of these pepperoni pizza shoes, designed by Nike SB and Skate Mental, but they’re definitely rad:

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​Kooky Kits

Keeping with the sartorial theme, the Shreveport Rafters FC will be wearing seersucker-inspired unis in its June 7 game against the New Orleans Jesters. Cool…?

White Sox outfielder Ralph Garr models the shorts worn by the team for three games during the 1976 season.

The Pirates advertised these duds as a "uniform of the future" when they wore these during a 1999 game against the Mets.

Baylor's basketball team sported these blindingly-fluorescent uniforms in March 2012.

It's been a rough couple of decades for Islanders fans, and this fisherman-themed third jersey didn't help matters

Notre Dame broke out its new basketball uniforms at the 2013 Big East tournament, creating a wave of criticism. The neon lime-green uniforms may have tried to associate with the Irish, but it proved the Fighting Irish should stick to their traditional colors of blue and gold.

Whatever the Mexican goalkeeper had in soccer ability, he lacked in fashion sense.

In 2013, the Warriors went where no NBA team had gone before: over their own players' shoulders. The form-fitting yellow alternate jersey design included sleeves that went down to the mid bicep.

Alexi Lalas and the U.S. made it to the Round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup, but any pride the team may have felt was quickly erased with this uniform.

The Canucks made uniform history with these duds, which featured no logo and a "V" starting at the collar.

The Nuggets wore "rainbow" road jerseys for nearly a decade.

Joe Morgan wishes he was back in the Reds' "Big Red Machine" uniform rather than where this orange-tinted Astros dud.

The Trenton Thunder were so excited to have Derek Jeter join the team as part of a rehab assignment in 2011, they designed these duds so he'd never forget his time there (as well as pay tribute to America).

A pre-mustached Dennis Eckersley shows off the bright red Indians uniforms of the late '70s.

Marcus Camby and Damon Stoudamire probably weren't celebrating the Raptors' imposing dinosaur in March 1997.

The Disney-owned Ducks never shied away from promoting a particular movie franchise. In 1995-96, the uniform designers must've thought the studio was releasing a a mash-up between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Slap Shot . Thankfully, these were shelved after just one season.

Even Wayne Gretzky couldn't look good in the Kings' short lived "Burger King" third jersey from the 1995-96 season.

The Coyotes wore these Picasso-inspired third jerseys for five seasons.

Larry Walker shows off this "futuristic" Rockies uniform, which the team wore for one game during the 1999 season.

The Bucs' creamsicle jerseys and logo nicknamed Bucco Bruce may have been anything but intimidating, but at least that didn't stop Lee Roy Selmon (63).

Dave Winfield probably couldn't wait to don Yankee pinstripes over these duds.

These Mardi Gras-inspired uniforms might have been too flashy for the NBA in 2012.

In 2009, Montreal wore "barber pole" retro third jerseys featuring the distinctive look of narrow red, white and blue horizontal bands used by the team in 1912-13.

In honor of the franchise's 80th season, the Steelers brought back these throwback uniforms in 2012.

In 2009, the Broncos rolled out their original, yellow-and-brown uniforms as part of the NFL's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the AFL.

The Seahawks opened eyes in 2009 when they debuted a lime-green jersey. They lasted one game and were dropped by then-coach Jim Mora because "we didn't win in them."

The Wizards, who many fans consider to have at one time had the best uniforms in NBA history, were at the opposite side of the spectrum with this gold and black alternate jersey worn from 2006 to 2009.

Maryland defeated Miami 32-24, but the game was secondary to the debut of Maryland's new uniforms in 2011. The Terrapins wore white uniforms patterned after the state flag and helmets splashed with red and white on one side and black and yellow on the other.

There was definitely a reason the Eagles switched to green in the 1940s and have stuck with it since.

Canseco isn't the worst memory of the Rays' early days. It was their uniforms.

The Browns returned to their "working-class origins" with these uniforms, which also come in brown and white.

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A Man of His Word

So the Golden State Warriors are in the NBA Finals and will meet the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second-straight year. Which is bad news for one Cavs fan who pledged to eat his shirt if Dub City made it to the Finals after falling behind 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Time to pay up, bro:


PS: Don’t try that at home.
PPS: Next time, shoot your video horizontally!

Gator Golf

Speaking eating, best to be as far away from this HOLYCRAPTHATISAGIANTALLIGATOR!!



Today’s Peanuts

Photo: Ed Sloane/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images (Hamilton), Nike (shoes)