Take a good, long look at the image above.

On the face of the wave, veined as it is with tiny lines of white, there’s one thin line that stands out from the rest. There, streaking diagonally in the center of the frame, is the wake left by a man so small compared with the giant he is riding that he is all but unfindable with the naked eye.

That’s Rodrigo Koxa, riding a wave last November in Nazaré, Portugal.

On Saturday, at the World Surf League’s 2018 Big Wave Awards, the Brazilian surfer’s wave was declared the biggest ever surfed — at a whopping 80 feet tall. That beat the previous record — 78 feet by Garrett McNamara, also at Nazaré back in 2011 — and it naturally won Koxa the night’s prize for biggest wave of the year.

Watch the full ride for yourself below or at this link. Or if you’d like, skip below to watch the other Big Wave Award winners.

Koxa said that as unprecedented as the wave may have been, he did appear to have some inkling about what was in store, even before a Jet Ski towed him straight into the maw of this heaving goliath.

“I had an amazing dream the night before, where I was talking to myself: ‘You gotta go straight down. You gotta go straight down.’ I didn’t really know what it meant. But I figured somebody was talking to me,” he said, according to Surfline.

“When I got my wave, I let go of the rope, I started to use my rail to angle towards the shoulder, but then realized, if I used my rail, I’d never get deep. And then I remembered: ‘Go straight down.’ When I said it, I remembered my dream. I turned and I almost fell, but then I got my feet again and went super fast. I’ve never had a big wave like that where I didn’t use the rail at all. Just went straight down. It was amazing.”

Now, you might have some questions — besides the obvious ones about where, exactly, this world-class surfer’s self-preservation instincts ran off to.

The first of these being: How do these waves get measured, anyway? After all, it’s not as if Koxa had a mountain-size yardstick and a team of scientists standing out in the lineup with him on that fateful Nov. 8.

Here we’ll defer to Surfer Magazine, whose photo editor, Grant Ellis, has numbered among the Big Wave Award judges. Paraphrasing Ellis, the magazine describes “a crude science, but a science nonetheless”:

“It starts with a handful of big-wave statesmen and experts gathering in a room in Huntington Beach, [Calif.], discussing each of the nominated rides at length, and then busting out the trusty ol’ ruler and calipers. Using oversized images of the waves, and the known heights of each surfer, they estimate the [surfer’s] crouching height in the moment the photo was taken, creating a scale that they can then use to determine the overall height of the wave, from trough to lip. And then, bingo — you’ve got a reasonably accurate measurement on a monster wave.”

And if you’re wondering why the gentle rollers at your home break — should you be so lucky to live by the beach — look nothing like Nazaré or its fellow famed big-wave brethren, such as Northern California’s Mavericks or Hawaii’s Pe’ahi, perhaps better known as Jaws, NPR’s Scott Neuman was helpful enough to explain back in 2013.

The key at Nazaré, as with several other spots, rests with what’s going on well beneath the wave you see stalking the surface — a deep underwater canyon that concentrates the strength of the waves, then slams them into suddenly shallow waters.

“So, first you’ve got really deep water,” Micah Sklut, forecaster and founder of Swellinfo.com, told Scott at the time, “and then as it approaches the shore it gets very shallow, and that enables the waves to climb really, really big all of a sudden.”

Of course, Koxa wasn’t the only surfer to win a Big Wave Award on Saturday. Breathtaking rides by several other surfers earned honors as well. That includes prizes for best overall performance, best paddle (for paddling into the wave, rather than using a Jet Ski) and naturally, best wipeout.

Happily, you can watch all of them below and check out all of the nominees here.

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Wembley, London’s iconic national stadium, could soon be owned by an American.

The Football Association of England, which owns the stadium, said it had received an offer from Shahid Khan, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Wembley is home to England’s national football team.

In what The Guardiancalled “an extraordinary deal,” Khan reportedly offered the FA a lump sum of nearly $835 million, and offered to allow the association to retain some of the revenue generated, valued at an additional $417 million.

Khan, who was born in Pakistan, also owns Fulham in the English Premier League. In a statement posted to Fulham’s website, Khan explained that his bid was an effort to “protect the Jaguars’ position in London at a time when other NFL teams are understandably becoming more interested in this great city.”

The businessman, who made his money in auto parts, seemed to recognize that his bid might be unpopular with both Fulham fans and English soccer supporters generally:

“I trust many if not most of you are also supporters of the England national teams, so I hope you welcome the potential of this becoming a reality. Always know Wembley would be home to the England national teams, and that we would strive every day of the year to be the best possible steward for a venue that is iconic and beloved here and throughout the world.

“No matter what the outcome of our offer may be, I want to emphatically state to you that none of this will have any effect on my commitment to your Club.”

“If the takeover gets the go ahead more American football games are likely to be played at Wembley and it could even pave the way for an NFL franchise to be permanently based in London,” the Evening Standardreported. The newspaper said that the deal would likely mean fewer of England’s international soccer matches would be hosted at the stadium, but “would not threaten Wembley’s status as the England team’s home for all major fixtures.”

The NFL said having stadium options in London has been “critical” and Khan’s purchase of Wembley would allow greater flexibility in scheduling NFL games there. The Jaguars already play one game per season at the stadium.

“We are very happy for Shad Khan and the Jacksonville Jaguars,” the league said in a statement, according to ESPN. “The potential purchase of Wembley Stadium is a further powerful sign of their commitment to the UK and their vision to help us grow the sport.”

As the largest stadium in the U.K., Wembley plays host to many of the country’s biggest sporting events. This season it has also been the home of Tottenham Hotspur as the team’s stadium is under construction.

The original Wembley opened in 1923 as the centerpiece of the British Empire Exhibition. The old stadium was demolished in the early 2000s, and the new stadium opened on the same site in 2007.

“Wembley is a historic place in English football, it holds a very special place in the heart of fans up and down the country and I’m sure the FA will want to strongly consider the views of these supporters before deciding what to do next,” the prime minister’s spokesman said, according to the Guardian.

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An NCAA commission is calling on the NBA to reopen its draft to athletes who are 18 and have not attended college, citing problems with the “one-and-done” system that sees elite players jump to the pros after their freshman year.

Created last fall after a federal investigation put an exclamation point on a growing list of crises and conflicting priorities in the sport, the Commission on College Basketball issued its recommendations on Wednesday.

Elite high school players who have a shot at the NBA and don’t have plans to get a college degree shouldn’t be forced to attend universities, the commission said in the 53-page report.

Removing “one-and-done” players from the NCAA would also remove a temptation for sports apparel companies, agents, coaches and others who want to profit from their talents, the panel said.

The list of people who benefit from the athletes’ work also includes the NCAA itself. The organization recently reported more than $1 billion in total revenue — much of it from lucrative TV contracts for the annual men’s basketball tournament. The commission did not take up the idea of paying athletes for the marketing of their names, images and likeness, citing ongoing legal disputes over that issue.

In response to the NCAA commission’s suggestion to change draft eligibility rules, the NBA and National Basketball Players Association issued a joint statement saying they “will continue to assess them in order to promote the best interests of players and the game.”

Another change would stop players from being penalized just for testing their value in the professional market. The NCAA’s rules state that a player’s college career is over if they hire an agent. But the commission advised that if a player declares for the draft but doesn’t sign a contract, they should remain eligible at the college level.

“The current sad state of college basketball did not appear overnight and it will not be repaired quickly,” wrote Condoleezza Rice, the former Secretary of State who led the commission and summarized its recommendations.

In addition to changing how elite athletes are treated, the commission also wants the NCAA to do far more to help athletes who leave college and later want to return and finish their degrees. Only 1.2 percent of all college basketball players go on to play in the NBA — a league where the average career is shorter than five years.

“We recommend that the NCAA immediately establish a substantial fund,” Rice wrote, “and commit to paying for the degree completion of student-athletes with athletic scholarships who leave member institutions after progress of at least two years towards a degree.”

Rice depicted a college basketball system in which the “vast majority” of people play by the rules. But she also said that the commission repeatedly heard that when it comes to rules being broken, “Everyone knew what was going on.”

It was “like watching a circular firing squad,” Rice said of how blame and responsibility for the sport’s problems constantly shifted during conversations with coaches, athletic directors, school presidents, the NCAA’s staff, apparel companies, agents, parents and athletes.

The Independent Commission on College Basketball was established last October, weeks after federal agents arrested four college basketball coaches and six other people in connection with a bribery and fraud case that involved sports management agents and a top executive at Adidas.

Those arrests also implicated the University of Louisville’s men’s basketball program. The school put its star head coach Rick Pitino on leave before firing him, the athletic director and two assistant coaches. Pitino has denied knowing about payments to any recruits.

Federal documents in the Louisville fraud case referred to efforts to lure a coveted recruit, Brian Bowen — a player whose complicated story is emblematic of college basketball’s current state.

One of the most highly touted players of his recruiting class, Bowen had committed to play for Pitino at Louisville — but then came the federal case, just before the start of last year’s college basketball season. The federal complaint alleged that Bowen’s family — not the athlete himself — agreed to take money from Adidas in exchange for him committing to Louisville.

Bowen has said he wasn’t aware of the alleged bribery plot, and that he only found out about it when the federal case emerged.

The University of Louisville initially suspended Bowen. The school later said it would honor his scholarship — but that he would never play for the basketball team, as member station WFPL reported.

With a pro career as his clear priority, Bowen transferred to the University of South Carolina in January and started a mandatory waiting period before is able to play in his first college game, perhaps sometime next season. Last week, Bowen declared for the NBA draft — but he did so without hiring an agent, leaving him a chance to play in college. In the meantime, as The State newspaper reports, Bowen will participate in the NBA Combine for potential draftees and await an NCAA decision on reinstating his eligibility.

Earlier this year, the NCAA affirmed its decision to strip the University of Louisville of its 2013 national championship in men’s basketball over the string of ethical and eligibility problems.

It is time, Rice said in her summary of the commission’s findings, for everyone involved in college basketball “to accept their culpability in getting us to where we are today.”

The NBA and NBPA said in response to the report, “We also share the Commission’s concern with the current state of youth basketball.”

While there may be plenty of blame to go around, Rice said that several of the commission’s recommendations target “the actual root cause of the problem — governance and leadership lapses among many who were charged with protecting the best interests of collegiate athletes.”

Instead of focusing on the goal of helping athletes get a college education and degree, she said, they have “given in to the incentives to ‘win at all cost.’ “

Saying that “many” people at NCAA colleges see the rewards of breaking the rules as worth the risk of being penalized, the commission suggested five changes to toughen the NCAA’s penalty system:

1. Increase the competition penalties for Level I violations to allow a five-year postseason ban, including the NCAA tournament.

2. Increase the financial penalties for Level I violations to allow loss of all revenue sharing in post-season play, including revenue from the NCAA tournament.

3. Increase the penalties for a show-cause order to allow bans of more than one season.

4. Increase the restrictions on head coaches to allow bans of more than one season

5. Increase the penalties for recruiting visit violations to allow full-year visit bans.

Another change would target coaches who are repeat offenders — and the schools who hire them. Saying that colleges currently “pay no significant price” for hiring past offenders, the commission said that in some cases, a school that hires a coach whose program breaks the rules again could face up to a five-year ban on postseason play.

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Amnesty International has given Colin Kaepernick its top human rights award for his public opposition to racial injustice. The former San Franciso 49ers quarterback is Amnesty’s 2018 Ambassador of Conscience

Teri Schultz reports for our Newscast unit that the “take a knee” campaign that won Kaepernick honor likely cost him his job:

Accepting the award in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, Kaepernick said he shares it “with all of the countless people throughout the world combating the human rights violations of police officers.”

“Kaepernick launched a massive controversy in 2016 for kneeling while the national anthem was played to protest police brutality. When other players joined him, President Trump called on team owners to fire them.

“San Francisco released Kaepernick and he hasn’t been signed by any other team.

“Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty says the “vitriol” Kaepernick’s peaceful protest evoked from people in power makes his “commitment all the more remarkable.”

The Associated Press reports:

“In Kaepernick’s acceptance speech, the award-winner described police killings of African-Americans and Latinos in the United States as lawful lynchings.

“Racialized oppression and dehumanization is woven into the very fabric of our nation — the effects of which can be seen in the lawful lynching of black and brown people by the police, and the mass incarceration of black and brown lives in the prison industrial complex,” Kaepernick said.

“How can you stand for the national anthem of a nation that preaches and propagates, ‘freedom and justice for all,’ that is so unjust to so many of the people living there?” he said at Saturday’s award ceremony.”

Previous award recipients include anti-Apartheid campaigner and South African President Nelson Mandela and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who campaigned for girls’ right to education even after surviving being shot by Taliban militants.

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