Bogger. Jordy blew it. He was looking so sharp in the freesurfs leading up to the start of the event that it looked like maybe this could be his year. Well, it hasn't started to well. First he gets knocked into Rd 2, and then somehow manages to blow that against Tiargo Pires...and loses by 0.03 of a point...and is outta the comp. Cheers. Thanks for playing. Just really wasn't the big Saffa's day. He's so the moering he lost his heat (which he should be), he then chucks a punch at his board and doesn't really connect it in the most satisfying way. Breathe Jordy, breathe. Least it shows he's got some passion and wants to win. Would rather see a guy lose it over losing than walk out with a grin on his face like nothings happened. Like sometimes when the Stormers get klapped, and they all walk off the field smiling. What's with that!? Maybe they happy their hair is still perfectly sculpted and they didn't get too many grass stains on their shorts? Luckily Trav saved the day for the Saffa's, and took out John John. Pretty inconsistent heat for waves, and Travis got the best of it thanks to JJ not sticking any of the big 'un's he threw out. Gonna be a tough one for Travis to keep advancing though. Only one goofy has ever won Snapper, and that was Mick Lowe way back when. Mick whipped lightie Matt Banting, who'd won the trials to get a shout into the main draw. Hurley stablemates Julian and Simpo duked it out but Julian emerged victorious. Dino smashed Kai, Owen Wright squeaked in against Raoni Monteiro, and Brazzo mate Adriano blitzed Spaniard Aritz Aranburu. Rd 2 was called a day after the 7th heat, and the last 4 heats of the round will resume tomorrow maybe if conditions play ball. Whilst the surfers are trying to keep the attention on themselves in the water, the beach side circus continues to take centre stage. Have the ASP lost touch with their core fan base? Anyone who's had the misfortune of trying to watch the webcast will tell you yes. It sucks. Coconuts. More ad's than surfing. And lots of ad's with nothing to do with surfing. Really hope the ASP listens to the bucketloads of hate mail they'll no doubt be receiving and make some serious improvements to the webcast - otherwise they're going to be losing many a dedicated fan. Someone best remind them that despite all the mega-dollars that corporate sponsors can bring...if you lose your fans, you lose the tour.
Sad to see that there's little appreciation of heritage too. More bling than core. Nicholas Cage gets ushered in to the VIP surfers area no problems. Yet Greville Mitchell, the aging English philanthropist who kept pro surfing alive for nearly a decade using his personal funds, was refused entry to the Surfer's area. There's some thanks for you. Not. Greville's a retired multi-millionaire businessman from Guernsey, started championing the surfing cause after his son, Andrew, a keen surfer, was killed. He poured in millions of his own bucks into ASP coffers to keep the organisation afloat during it's darkest hours. Seems they forget quickly. Wonder if he'll help out again if this latest corporate gig ASP set-up blows a fuse....
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Finally the dust settles (sort of) and the surfing starts. The week leading up to the kick off of the 2014 WCT was full of drama and debate about media rights issues. Who could take photo's, who couldn't. Would some beefy security dude run up to you on the beach if you were shooting and demand your camera card etc etc. Despite everyone still being pretty uncertain about how it'll all pan out, the ou's hit the surf and everyone's attention was back to the water. Taj looks like one of the guys to beat. Sharp yet stylish, flair with flow. Kelly had a bit of a wobble, but being Kelly still managed to win his heat. Dane beat Mick - someone should just give him an injury wild-card back onto tour - he can claim temporary insanity or something for turning his back on the CT circus, and they can forgive and put him back on. He is suuuuch a good surfer to watch. Jordy had a bit of a 'mare, but no doubt will come back firing in his Rd2 heat and get back into the groove against Tiago. Travis Logie got pipped into 2nd spot in his heat and will also hopefully make up for it in Rd2 - altho going up against John John isn't a gimme. Action on the beach was nearly as interesting as what was happening in the water. Kelly got accosted by a nutso chick, who had to be escorted away by security. The price of fame. Dane seemed amused by Paul Fischer's suggestion to add a new stick (the "Dick") to his quiver. What's impressive is that thing actually rides amazing - check out a vid of Paul ripping on it here. A sh*t-storm of a different kind is about to hit the fan though - the webcast is pretty bloody awful, unless of course you really dig watching ad's every 3 minutes. The desk on the beach was a dead give-away that we were going to get subjected to an Americanized NFL approach. The sponno's who've dropped big bucks on the new-look tour are wanting their money's worth - which is ad-space, which means making a mess of what used to be exciting viewing. Even when the waves weren't up to much the commentators would usually keep you entertained. Yet here we are at an Aussie event...and we have to listen to some vanilla yankee's yacking away. Hell no, would rather have the less-than-PC locals behind the mike any day. American sports TV sucks, so why the hang try mimic it for the CT? Here's hoping the ASP takes enough abuse about the webcast to get it back to basics. More surfing, less ad's. Of course we're stoked that the ASP has found a way of putting money in the pot, and that they're throwing their weight behind a big-wave world tour, and bringing the Jbay event back.....but let's hope in return we don't pay a high price for that in terms of un-watchable webcasts, and an Orwellian "Big Brother is watching you" approach to event sites. Day 1 resultsRd 2 match-ups |
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