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US Open of Surfing win is Slater's ultimate Victory Lap
Kelly Slater is six months away from his 40th birthday. He's the second-oldest surfer on the ASP World Tour. So 
when he arrived to surf the US Open of Surfing again this year we assumed it was to satisfy his obligatory public relations duties for Quiksilver and the ASP.
After all, the US Open is a Prime event that doesn't count toward this year's world title race, and while it's true ASP world tour surfers are required to surf in one Prime event in their region, Slater just skipped J-Bay, so a wrist slap from the ASP is the last of his concerns.
But once Slater survived a scary early-round heat on Tuesday in horrible conditions we should have seen this victory coming.
That's because on Thursday a nice hurricane swell dramatically improved conditions. The waves at Huntington Pier actually started looking good with 4-to-5 foot A-frames pouring through, and that's all it really takes for Slater to enter his most dangerous mode of all: the fun mode.
Throughout the event Kelly kept a close eye on the young guns (many half his age) who allegedly had an advantage in beachbreak conditions. While carrying on conversations with friends in the athlete lounge he was subliminally gauging all the acrobatic moves being thrown in the water (and the scores being given).
Early on in the event, Slater's above-the-lip behavior might have easily been perceived as tame compared to his younger rivals. Nevertheless, it was still solid, and when it came to everything else (read: linking his moves, crisp clean cutbacks, lightning-quick snaps, all around aesthetics) he was unmatched. 
Meanwhile Slater's would-be rivals wasted no time showing their hands. There was no strategic pacing or planning. They simply unveiled all they had from the get go.
Slater didn't.
He got progressively better, throwing bigger above the lip moves with each passing round.
Slater's backside aerial 360 against Dusty Payne in the semifinal was arguably the best move ever pulled in US Open history, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Slater and Payne were locking horns the entire heat, but Kelly's come-from-behind Hail Mary of a move gave the crowd exactly what they wanted: one more good reason to roar for Kelly Slater.
This year, that's what the Nike US Open of Surfing was really all about, because after clinching his remarkable 10th world title back in November, well, who really knows whether this is his farewell tour or not?
If that is so this was the perfect place for Slater to say "thank you" to his adoring U.S. fans who, let's face it, don't really get to see him in action up close and personal often. And after all Kelly's done for the sport of surfing he deserved this day. A day with a Goodyear blimp overhead, tens of thousands of fans on the beach cheering, live television cameras rolling.
Add some mainstream love from the likes of Sports Center, national newspapers and the Yahoo front page and all in all it's not a bad week for pro surfing... You might even say it was the best.
