Medina saves us from boredom

Gabe has a brain-melt and saves us from boredom! The Quik Pro won't be remembered for the waves, but it will be remembered for the frustrated reactions of the surfers to the lack of waves. Having been forced to sit around for nearly 2 weeks (and having passed up contestable conditions right at the start of the waiting period) the promise of cyclone swell didn't materialise as predicted. So out in the slop they went...

Despite leading his heat against Micro, Gabe obscurely decided to hustle him whilst he had priority. Paddled up the point a bit, and took off on a dribbler - hoping to force Micro into taking it. Medina pulled off as he got to Micro seeing that he was paddling for it, but then Micro  - who must have footballing genes somewhere in the family - decided to play-act a wipeout to imply he was interfered with. He got the desired reaction and Gabe was called for interference. Any other day of the week, Glen would never, ever have wiped out on that wave. But he played smart and Gabe played stupid. Glen wins the heat.

Gabe was not a happy puppy at the post heat interview. Not a happy puppy at all. And in the tightly-controlled teflon-slick cookie cutter world of the ASP, I mean WSL, he did what no man should do. He spoke his mind. Not the media-friendly drivel they're expected to trot on in the yawn-boring yankee-controlled production. No boring vanilla here, oh no. Pete Mel got more nervous than a 2 wave hold down at Mav's, and yanked the mike away from Gabe just as he was getting into his swing. Flashbacks of Bobby's outburst in NY anyone!?

Micro may have played the fake wipeout smart, but was not so smart when he told Medina to F off. Don't do that to a brazzo and not expect a reaction. Any bets on whether Glen will have to employ a bodyguard on the Brazilian leg of the tour - he ain't gonna be a popular man....

Be interesting to see how many events Gabe gets banned for as punishment for his outburst. Could have some serious world title implications.

Cos you see, Gabe was on a roll. Not only did he call out Glen, the judges for the crappy intereference call, but then he decided to have a dig at KP for making a kak call to extend the waiting period - and then they still had to surf slop. Don't diss the boss-man - that ain't ever clever. Strike three and you're out!?

In a day full of expressed frustrations, Freddy P kept us entertained with a rock hop instead of a chop-hop. Gat vol of the crap they had to surf, he pumped in with a foamy and headed straight for the rocks - hopping his board up onto one in what can only be described as the best middle-finger flick at the organisers ever.

Head over to 7 minutes into the clip for the fun...

Conditions haven't been great for this years comp - but in retrospect the WSL put all their eggs in one basket when they made the call to extend the events waiting period so as to hook into the new cyclone swell - which didn't end up arriving as forecast. Swell forecasting is anything but an exact science, but maybe they should run the comp in those first few days when the waves were certainly better than they are now? Hindsight is an exact science, but it's always made worse when you picked the wrong option.

As the dust settles on a interesting day, what normally would make big news has all but been forgotten - many of the big names are out the event. Of the favourites, only Mick and Taj find themselves in the quarters, so a good chance for them to rack up some points on the opposition.

Here's the results of Rd 5.

Up coming quarterfinal clashes:

Get those entries in for the ML Fantasy Surfer comp - just pick your winner and enter before 6.30pm tonight.
http://www.millerslocal.co.za/ml-fantasy-surfer.html