Most of us are retiring the black wetsuits of mourning over the passing of Windsurfing magazine now that several months have passed. While the news was sudden, in retrospect, we should not have been surprised as the migration of media from print to digital has been years in the making.

Former Windsurfing Subscribers at Van Pugh, Lake Lanier.

The now ex-publisher, Voldemort Bonnier, decided to fill out the remainder of the subscription with TransWorld Smurf magazine. I'm not sure what the thinking was other than windsurfing and surfing have a common etymology. While the sports are similar, the magazines (Smurf and Windsurfing) are fundamentally different. Windsurfing seemed to focus on the notable people, equipment and locations of the sport. Smurf, especially the ad content, seems focused on fashion.

Actually, that's the genius of the industry of surfing. While the windsurfing industry focused on better boards, sails and techniques, the surfing industry focused on the surfing "lifestyle". On and off the water clothing, shoes and accessories. Smurf mag has surprisingly few adverts for stuff you actually use on or in the water (sunglasses?). The old advertising cliche holds true: You sell the sizzle, not the steak. While the passionate surfer is willing to paddle around in the cold water of a shark's buffet table, the bigger market for the surf industry are the groms who surf two foot waves at Panama City and lay out $70 for a pair of shorts with a logo. I'm not being cynical but congratulating the surfing industry for recognizing and understanding the difference between people who want to surf and people who want to be surfers.

But I digress from today's vitriol. I received my second monthly TW Smurf "Last Issue" the other day. Nice pic of a young up-and-comer in a sweet barrel. And then I notice the blurb in blood red on the cover: Destroying Your Favorite Things! Don't even be subtle about it, Smurf. You're telling me that TW Smurf has just driven a tank over my precious toys? Ahhh, I must turn to page 98 to find out.

In blood red, no less.

Turning to p. 98, do we see even an article about surfing? Are the editors telling me to quit wasting my time with a "dead sport?" Even worse, it's a spread straight out of an Urban Outfitters catalogue. If I were truly a foil hat conspiracy nut, I'd suspect that it was my daughter who was behind this. After all, with what she's spent at Urban, I could have bought a nice quiver of wave sails. No, I don't give Smurf that much credit. I think the symbolism is simple: my beloved magazine has now been replaced with a store in Lenox Mall. Or, as Joni Mitchell once said, "They paved paradise to put up a parking lot."