THE HURLEY TIMES Wednesday, February 24, 2010 The Hurley Times is having a case of the Wednesdays. Kind of gloomy outside. His back is killing him. And the best story the staff could dig up this week is about a cat named Hurley Boy. The Hurley Times does not like cats. Still, with a deep sigh, it offers the following: THIS WEEK'S HEADLINES 1. CORONA DEL MAR TAKES ROUND ONE The 2000 Presidential election. American Idol Season 7. And now this: the first round of 2010's Walk the Walk video challenge series - one of the tightest voting battles in recent memory. Corona Del Mar and Huntington Beach High School squared off in an historic extreme networking contest, telling everyone they know (and don't know) to go to hurley.com and vote for their video. When the digits settled, CDM edged out HBHS, 6498 to 6201, proving once again that WTW is a beautiful thing. 2. BRETT WENT Nothing is more feel-good than a hometown hero story, and Brett Simpson continues to add chapters to his Huntington Beach epic. We're not sure the last time a mayor, 200 well-wishers and an entire high school cheerleading squad showed up to rally for their favorite surfer, but it happened last Friday in Surf City. After a turbulent plane ride, Simpson is now on the Gold Coast, ready for Heat One at the Quik Pro. Make sure to put him in your stable at www.fantasysurfer.com. 3. HEAVY MEDAL The big news from Canada has nothing to do with quad jumps (or lack thereof), Scotty Lago's promiscuous bronze medal or Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue. Instead, it's coming from West 49, where Alkaline Trio promoted their new Hurley collaboration and played an acoustic set for their most          devoted fans north of the border. What did the crowd think of their favorite band's performance? They gave it an "Ay." 4. LIVING SINGLE The Hurley Times was shocked and saddened to learn that Jake from ABC's "The Bachelor" may not be the noble romantic we think he is. According to a new article in In Touch Weekly, Jake is not only an "aspiring actor" who once played a bit part on "Walker: Texas Ranger," but he's apparently not even looking for love at all! And we thought that finding a soul mate by making out with 40 women on prime time TV was so genuine. Well, at least there's one thing real about Jake: his choice in boardshorts. 5. ACE REPORTER The 2010 ASP World Tour is upon us. To get the download, check out our very own Ace Buchan's blog on Surfline. It's so insightful and well-written, he has a few Hurley Times staff members worried about their job security. They should be. 6. BURNQUIST GETS BRONZED We mentioned last week that Bob Burnquist and Curren Caples were Down Under for the Bowlarama          at Bondi. The trip went swimmingly, with Burnquist finishing third in the event and both Curren and Bob drawing huge crowds at some SDS store demos. You heard it here first: skateboarding will be an Olympic sport. OK, you've probably heard that before. 7. PHANTOM CONVENTION Next week at the Disneyland Hotel, Hurley will be conducting another "Microphone For Youth" experiment. The event: The Student Televison Network National Convention, where 1700 high school students from around the country will gather and partake in a series of video/film/broadcast journalism          challenges. We're sponsoring one of those challenges and are calling it the "Hurley Phantom Commercial Contest." Eighty teams of high school students will be putting their spin on our product, trying to sell the world (and judges) on their Phantom Boardshort commercial. Should be a fun kickoff to the Season of the Phantom. Best one gets aired at the US Open of Surfing. 8. HELLO, HURLEY  And finally, a cat from the Big Island named Hurley Boy for obvious reasons. According to the owner, "the marks are real even though everyone thinks I painted them on." Isn't he cute? You know what? After writing this, The Hurley Times staff actually feels a lot better now. Which means we've just discovered another use for our weekly publication. It's not only fun, informative and occasionally corny, it's therapeutic. No Bad Days, The Hurley Times Staff