Date of Birth: April 4, 1988

Best Known For: Being a jock

Local Spot: Wrightsville Beach

My Crew: Ben, Shaun, James, Eric, Big City, CC, Chronic, Butler

Board of Choice: Sharp Eye by Zouvi

Dream Wave: Macaronis

My Top Five Athletes:

1.) Ladainian Tomlinson 2.) Calvin Johnson 3.) Kobe Bryant 4.) Allen Iverson 5.) Antonio Cromartie

Mathematically speaking, my contest result looks like this: Michael Powell-1(or a few)=Ben Powell.

That is, whatever position my brother finishes in any contest, I will be conveniently placed a few positions below him. Although, there are a few exceptions to this contemporary equation. Empirical evidence has shown that I can exceed my brothers competitive drive in certain circumstances. These certain circumstances only happen when: A. he looses his temper like Perez Hilton does after he gets bludgeoned in the side of the head with a George Foreman Grill by one of the Black Eyed Peas lead singers—or— B. he absolutely does not catch any waves in the heat. I think those are the only two outliers in Mikes zealous heat strategy that cause him to lose while surfing against his younger brother.

The equation above was exercised two weekends ago at the Reef/Sweetwater Pro-am where little Mike actually won the whole event. Needless to say, my ingenious formula was correct once again. This time I placed equal 25th, 24 positions behind my brother. I am not vengeful of this because I collected a few dollars for my performance and also because he has been surfing like a crazed vandal from the south for the past year and deserves some recognition. With that being said, I am actually quite thrilled he won.

Aside from all the credit Mike is getting, I am also reaping benefits of his win; living vicariously through the champ. One would get a better understanding after the following explanation: Michael and I are brothers and have been brothers since day one(whatever that means). Michael Powell won one of the biggest surfing contests on the east coast. Therefore, by the transitive property of "brothers", Ben Powell won the Reef/Sweetwater Pro-am as well.

That last portion is actually bull-s#&t, BUT, a generous majority of Wrightsville Beach has come up to me, mistaking me for my brother, and has expressed their feelings on how excited they were for me. Obviously, I need to write in permanent marker on my forehead "I didn't win, call my brother and give him your regards: 910-233-5543".

In any case, all gayness aside, I am really excited for him and my mind was blown when he won the tournament. I will make a valiant effort to vanquish him in the next event so that I don't have to write anything stupid on my forehead again.

Surf Contest plus tubes ='s a whole lot of fun!

The Volcom Tour came to town , and once again they were rewarded with killer surf ! Daniel Terry (contest director) has got a thing with the Outer Banks. Overall the contest was insane, and so was the level of surfing. Hurley riders Kim Diggs got 6th in the Women's final, and in the Mens final, Michael Powell took 1st, along with myself taking 2nd. Also I was able to squeak out "Electric's Maneuver of the Event" with one of those crazy tubes the Bank's was offering up. Congrats must go out to Michael Powell for his victory -- great surfing !!! For complete contest coverage check link below for story, photo's , and video.

http://www.volcom.com/crusty/EventArticle.asp?EventiD=689&SeasonID=25

Noah Snyder

2009 Winner Ben Bourgeios keeps the WRV/HURLEY PRO title in North Carolina

This year's WRV / HURLEY PRO Contest went down in Nags Head, North Carolina on September 18th -- 20th. Contest winner Benny B. was pretty much on fire for the whole event, but Ben had lot of guys nipping at his heels all the way to the finals. Hurley stand outs included finalist Asher Nolan (3rd) and Michael Powell (2nd). This was Michael's biggest contest result yet. Oliver Kurtz (5th) and Michael Dunphy(9th) made a strong showing, and turned many heads during the event. The three day event saw tons of waves, giveaways, spectators, and just a whole lot of fun. Speaking of fun, the Hurley product launching was a hit (check photos). Special thanks goes out to the whole crew at the Comfort Inn Hotel for letting us take over and do our thing. Also I must thank all the sponsors that made the weekend a hit. Contest MC's were Ian Parnell, John Klientop, Matt Pruett, and myself. Needless to say we had plenty of fun on the microphones. All in all, the Contest was a blast !!! — Noah Snyder

From August 11-20 I went on an excursion with my grandfather, uncle and four cousins.

This was supposed to be a hunting trip on the Leaf River in northern Quebec. However without one sighting of Caribou we were unable to let loose on any animals (other than that lone poor seagull.) We ended up fishing the entire time and after the first day of fishing it seemed to get quite boring. This being the first time hunting/fishing it was a great experience to say the least. The most interesting was the location we were so far away from any other humans it was a really distant feeling.

Learning culinary creativeness in my own home.

Since I am home this summer with nothing to do my mother has forced me to cook dinner 2-4 times a week. With no previous skills under my belt it has been a real challenge. Cooking is not my forte to say the least. However after this summer I will be able to eat more than just a mustard spruced sandwich or cereal.

UNCW received runner up in the collegiate national championships.

And I did a massive air.!?