Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach: Day 7
There's two ways to look at the #epicfail of the Easter Sunday Finals Day at Bells.
The kindler, gentler, version is that the Woz and JMD simply got caught by surprise on the wrong end of a dying swell and tricky devil wind. They went to bed last night thinking the surf conditions would be X – X being pumping surf and instead got Y - Y being a dribbled out day with winds coming up the face.
The harder, more cynical - and likely more accurate - take is that they got caught out trying to squeeze one more day out of the cash cow that is Bells over Easter. The God of Mammon, the one beloved by Tourism Vic suits and Woz management, ruled the decision-making roost and the result is a total fiasco of a spectacle. A kind of negative space where Ethan Ewing sat on the bowl for almost the entire waveless heat, as forlorn as a convict awaiting the noose.
I don't normally feel sorry for JMD. In my view, all's fair in Love, War, and Pro surfing. She does her thing, I do mine, and we are both accountable for what is said and done. I couldn't help feel a pang of pity for her, you could sense the panic as the Robbo/Robson Semi was hastily wound back in with the crowd on the beach and the broadcast machinery in full swing. It's not how a pro sport should operate.
And when we came back it was as if 2 foot Rincon was a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow shitting pure gold nuggets. Also bizarre, for the entire event no mention of the petition, despite it being a huge factor in the sport's future.
OK, let's soften the tone. Epic fail is too harsh. Let's walk it back to epic anti-climax. It was a day that felt like two days, to culminate an event that's felt like it's been going on for two weeks.
The girls Semi's got the last of the Bells Bowl conditions with heats that were marred by what looked like safety surfing due to increasing northerly bump. Conlogue and Wright traded off the lead before Tyler finished the stronger with a 7.33, a feat that pushed her beyond what she termed, “The edge: my heart rate goes up and and fight or flight kicks in...my ovaries cramp and it's just pain”.
Courtney (Sloane/WSL)
Tyler’s journey back to the top has obviously been an epic one. She constantly referred to it. Saying after the Semi, “It's not easy to rebuild after two years out of the water”.
The physical journey is one thing, the mental quite another. It was a shock to me to see in the petition pro surfers pulling out the mental health card. You'd assume getting paid to travel around the world to go surfing would be a life filled with joy, gratitude and #blessings, as we've been told so often in the pressers. Carissa Moore alluded to a deeper cognitive dissonance after squeaking past Brisa Hennessey. The Olympic Gold Medallist and five time World Champion told us she had created a little affirmation for herself because, “I battle with self-doubt and my own little inner voice”.
The second part of the day, which felt like a separate day started with the Men's Semi between Ewing and Toledo. The ocean suddenly looked weird. Dead energy with a devil wind. Ewing sat there, waiting for a wave that never came. In the strongest commentary of the day Bartholomew called it “cruel”. It was beyond that. Farcical, pathetic, nonsensical would be better terms.
Still, taking the moral high ground against Toledo was a pyrrhic victory. Toledo simply paddled up to Rincon and punctuated a small runner with two airs for a 6. That was the heat. Ewing will learn a lot about the pro surfing game from this loss. Sometimes it's not about performance in the best waves. Sometimes it's about soldiering on when you are sent over the top of the trenches in suicide missions by clueless higher-ups.
Ethan (Sloane/WSL)
It seemed extraordinary that an apprentice chippie who no-one had ever heard of twelve months ago was the man responsible for the resurrection of Australian pro surfing after six long years since a winner at Bells. Robson was solid as a rock against Robinson in their Semi. Mixing it up, and throwing down bigger turns. Jack went to the air, could not convert, and will go to Margarets cock-a-hoop with confidence and praying for days at the Box, where he is as unbeatable as Toledo in underhead surf.
The Final between Toledo and Robson was not quite a one-sided demolition: Robson was able to find one solid score midway through which led to a respectable scoreline. But Toledo never looked in doubt, after opening with a 6, then an 8.17, and a 6.57, which included three made airs. The contrast between the two could not have been more stark. Toledo with his sponsors and support team and hype since being a grommet. Robson with the bare white board and the backing of a small coastal town and zero hype.
Filipe (Sloane/WSL)
Tyler Wright was the superstar of the day. She opened strong against Moore, with judges (probably) overcooking a well surfed wave for an 8.93. She kept swinging, opening up repertoire in a way we haven't seen since 2017. Carissa looked lost away from the Bells Bowl and could not mount any sort of fightback. The complete wire to wire dominance was fair reflection of the Wright campaign throughout the event. The crowd lapped it up.
The disappointment felt by online fans who had been thrilled by days of action on the Bowl was not shared by the beach audience. Two gnarly years of COVID lockdowns seemed to melt away in the sunshine and collective joy as Tyler made her way up the steps on the back of her brothers' shoulders. For the third head-to-head match-up in a row, including the Pipe win and 2016 Honolua Bay Final, Wright was able to whittle away at the overwhelming dominance Moore had been able to display in their match-ups.
Tyler (Hughes/WSL)
Pro surfing at Bells as tourist drawcard and live event will go down as a huge, huge win for the Woz. As a spectacle and showcase for surfing fans an even bigger win, only soured by a very flat finish. A champagne event with a half-drunk flat beer to finish.
//STEVE SHEARER
Comments
I think the whole thing was fantastic, even shitty final day waves made for drama and great viewing. If the waves were perfect all the time it would get repetitive, then what would we argue, discuss, get angry, get pissed , get pumped, get deflated about. It is great stuff.
What drugs are you on?
That was a pile of shit from start to finish today. Tripping.
Looked pretty fun in the arvo today to me even if it was small
It gets boring if it’s always the same, that’s the joy of surfing,
I'd rather watch the local lawn bowls than that shit show. There was nothing in todays comp that showcased an elite sport. And there's nothing i'll remember about it ever....except how crap it was. There was nothing fair about it and there was nothing about it that did the mighty Bells justice. Considering there was no overlapping heats and an ABUNDANCE of swell on the days of waves...way to waste a surf break and ruin a surf comp. Why would die hard surfers continually tune in to see this dribble. I left. And i'm a frothing surf fan. To call themselves the dream tour and have it run in that shit...ya have to be kidding me! But hey, for sure, each to their own..
Yes each to their own
Why tell someone their on drugs just for voicing their opinion
Tosser
Haha. No worries mate. I always put my rubbish in the bin. As for Toaddill, well fark...
Whoops
Button didn’t work
Is that a put down? That’s better.
Good point overlapping heats when it was pumping not sure why they didn’t do it. Would have finished in great waves. Also why didn’t they wait for the low tide? It dropped like someone pulled the plug in the arvo.
Ease up champ
Well said, roadkill.totally agree.what do you want.5 SurfRanches every year
Looked fun for my 10'4
'A champagne event with a half drunk flat beer to finish it.'
Love ya work....
Missed most of comp as out of good signal area, but enjoyed you commentary.
Cheers ...
I would have said ended with your head in the toilet and spew dribbling down your chin but SS is way too much of a gentleman to write that.
That bad ey..... 乁( •_• )ㄏ
Hard to argue with that assessment, Zen. I imagine the Ethan semi was that point in the night when you started to wobble and realised that those last two shots hadn’t kicked in yet, and you were in a whole heap of trouble, and somehow found your bed, or anywhere safe to lie down, and the room started spinning.
If I was E E I’d need many of those half flat beers to swallow the bitter WSL pill of calling that heat on on
Really enjoyed your daily comp write up’s FR. Well covered. Cheers.
seconded
Yep, I'll second that too.
(or is that thirded?)
Same here
Especially appreciated the humility in your write up a coupla days ago admitting you were wrong
Same I was working abs surfing the whole time so this helped heaps
missed todays action due to playing easter bunny but sounds like Toledo just re-confirmed himself the best surfer in head high waves on tour but will always have an asterix next to his name if he wins a world title because he's a scared little pussy cat when it gets heavy.
Oh well hopefully the box is pumping next stop and JJF and Space Cadet Robbo put on a show.
Enjoyed the coverage fr76
Call me a nonce, but I just can’t get past that GF. Best surfer in head high or less waves. What an epitaph. (And he is!)
Batfink.
nonce
in British English
NOUN
derogatory, prison slang
a rapist or child molester; a sexual offender
Not good.
Thanks Andy, though I’d suggest we’re not in a prison now and the meaning of the word has moved on. English is a moving feast.
For anyone thinking that my intention was as per Andy’s definition, please accept my wholehearted apologies. Please insert ‘Ninny’.
Sorry, that’s always been my understanding of the word, it’s a really heavy perjorative.
Still very much in use on the street.
I’ve learned something today. Not many can school me on vocab. Gold star.
There was a character in Ricky Gervais’s series Afterlife nicknamed “The Nonce” as he once fucked a dwarf and likened it to doing so with a child.
The world would be a lesser place without Ricky Gervais.
And lots more dwarfs.
Not
On
Normal
Communal
Exercise
Chalked on the cell door of convicted nonce's back in the day
the place was absolutely packed today, and a great atmosphere all round - the waves weren’t as good as thurs/fri but it was still good ….i was kinda so so about tyler after pipe, but she was freakin good here - and toledo is just a joy to watch in all conditions
Did you miss Toledo’s heats at 8ft pipe?
He is great to watch in ‘nearly’ all conditions.
He is amazing and very talented, but I can't agree he is good to watch those little bottom pumps everywhere does not look "good to watch"
he just looked way faster and made the most of what was on offer….will watch the replays tomorrow cos the ‘little bottom pumps’ seemed to be at top speed and quite preemptive of something decent to come
….btw i didn’t have him in my fantasy team and aren’t trying to sugar coat him…just thought he turned it on
For mine too hyper his arms are like broken windmills. Love EE sooo easy to watch.
Well maybe he IS actually a joy to watch at 8 foot Pipe and similar waves to that too.
For self amusement purposes lol,because by this point of his career and after so many years now,you know what to expect and have grown used to it and expect nothing less of him in those waves.
It's the one reason he still doesn't have a world title next to his name,thanks to Pipe being a brick wall to him when it was the last event every season.
And i so hope they get the Box on at Marg's,i'm always interested to see if he'll ever redeem himself in solid heaving barrels.
The years are getting on though,and i'm gradually losing hope he ever will.
half drunk, warm, flat, with a cigarette butt in it. Today really sucked.
They need to decide which wave they're going to surf ahead of time, not let them paddle hundreds of metres up to Rincon mid heat when the bowl goes flat. Ewing got outsmarted for sure, but it should be a competition, not two completely different waves and a lucky dip to see which one has the better waves hit.
My brother is 52 and ruined by Parkinson’s. Every morning he wakes to an alarm at 3:30AM so he can take the tablet which grants him the bodily control of driving to work at 5AM when his medication kicks in. He doesn’t start till 7AM but goes that early so he can drive without the added stress of traffic. He works a full day as a horticulturist despite falling over violently dozens of times each day. People laugh at him because they think he’s either drunk or a retard and because they’re just cunts in general. His bosses try to be kind but he’s a grown man who gets treated like he’s lesser by all kinds of lazy, useless people just because of his disability. A humble guy, it still destroys his self esteem and dignity. He keeps going because he’s scared that he won’t survive on the pension and he feels that it’s stealing from society to bludge off their charity. He keeps going because he thinks that if he stops moving he won’t be able to start moving again. Which is probably true. He never complains and never uses his plight for attention or sympathy.
He’s also gay.
If I hear one more fucking word about Tyler Wright’s grim determination in getting back to riding two waves in thirty minutes for tens of thousands of dollars I’m going to scream. . You think you’re the only person in the world who’s had to struggle? You’ve got a sports production company worth billions behind you along with the good wishes and support of your billion dollar sponsors. Shut up and surf.
Best wishes to your bro. Do not worry about feeling if it is stealing - it is what it is, and the support is there. Govco and society are too big and too worried about spending bulk on bigger, crazier, more selfish things so his support is nothing to the money that is blown. Not worth creating a guilt complex over. Good idea to keep on a routine and keep moving though. Parkinson's is not an easy path, we know some of those on it.
That’s funny there’s a bloke called blowin on here whose brother is in the same situation… :-0
Ah Jaysus. Say it ain’t so, GF. :-0
yes shes milked that cow for all its worth.....
Here's one for the Tylers of the world:
Nice one, put a lump in my throat, what a champion. Something to keep in the back of one’s mind when I think something gets hard. That’s determination!
And good parenting, too.
Second that.
A lot of people live in pain mate - just some more than others. Mine wouldn't be 1% of your brother's but I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Great wrap up FR, and i must say, a damn sight more entertaining than todays action. The finals reminded me of something from the 80's or 90s that they used to run the comp in.
Here we are 30 years later, and the woz in all it's infinite wisdom, and knowledge of what does and doesn't work for a surf comp.....hold a final in 1-2 foot waves, at Rincon. Awesome.
Glad i didn't wait around to watch it.
i was perplexed that they didn’t run yesterday morning - it was glassy and well overhead until lunchtime …..
Ouch. A piece of me dies knowing that 3vickers!!! haha. If only hey.
I wouldn't of thought that JMD is responsible for making the call to run or not. She's just the mouthpiece. The collective opinion of some of the local heavy hitters as well as the surfers would be the decision maker I reckon. Would be the same at most locations.
If they had of just put Ewings semi on hold it would have been an OK call with the conditions getting better all arvo. Just got back from a surf nearby now and there's some great little waves breaking everywhere with perfect surface conditions.
You must have writers cramp or mouse cramp or whatever you people suffer from these days FR. That was nearly a week of solid reporting every day. Goodonya.
Yes conditions did get better later. Enjoying FR's astuteness in the comments and the writeups. So interesting what boards/materials worked as conditions varied greatly throughout the comp.
Yep I think there's one more offshore day in this event, after weeks of under par/total shite beforehand. How they scored. Must make body go for the one more day. Have had a rotisserie of drying wetsuits all this swell event - they don't dry as quick as they used to!
Just buy multiple NE suits! You can buy almost three for the price one brand name suit and the brand name suits are none the wiser :)
Callum Robson in the final makes me happy and gives me hope. Tyler personifies everything I don't like about the world.
And Steve, you somehow keep getting better.
“ Tyler personifies everything I don't like about the world.”
Hahahah yikes don’t hold back ib
Yeah, sorry gf. That was a little overcooked, I admit :-)
But you get my drift.
Absolutely get it, she is very hard to like.
Island Bay. Agree mate, Callum Robson, ray of sunshine for sure.
I simply don’t like professional surfing at all. I will admit a mate had it on yesterday when Jack Robinson defeated Italo and I saw the very worse of it all.
What’s happened to showing some humility and acknowledging that your opponent beat you on the day, why cant competitors walk up to each other and congratulate or commiserate, Jacks not the judge, not his fault he was scored they way he was. What I saw in the change rooms was the ugly side of competitive surfing and all that I dislike about it. Italo spitting the proverbial like a spoilt brat. They call themselves sportspersons, they definitely are not. Grow up.
Geez........don't tar em all with the one brush cause of one hyped up brazzo.
Pretty well every heat ends with both surfers shaking hands and comparing notes.
Ringmaster, you are right, more often than not there’s great respect for each other post heat. I just get infuriated when athletes who have got the lot just carry on like spoilt brats. Maybe Italo could direct credit some funds into DudeSweetDudeSweet brothers account and actually do some good not evil.
FreeRide76. Great work again, keep the bastards honest !!!
Odd choice of photo to be used by WSL to promote Tyler's win. There's gotta be a million action shots available. Why this one?
I understand the face/smile factor is a drawcard (for non-surf audiences), but if that was the deciding factor then I'm sure someone got a decent snap of Tyler being chaired up the beach (with the obligatory fist pump into the air).
i liked the BLM one better ...
Appealing to the beginners and newbies to the sport? That is the target audience right??
Pride flag is prominent, is my guess
Last pic of Tyler smiling?
Probably very hard to find a pic of Tyler smiling?
... Or even just a shot taken during the actual contest she just won, and not another event months ago.
The fact WSL don't think this stuff is important tells you almost everything you need to know about their regard for actual surf fans.
Callum is a breath of fresh air in australian surfing, humble, astute and has a class act.........
Was hoping carissa won. Seems so gracious.
Sick of Tyler’s shit after pipe.
Epic write ups! Thank you
That first men's semi shouldn't of run on an obviously dying swell and mid tide going high.
Pretty sure there's been countless examples of why not to run a heat at Bell's in those conditions over decades if there's plenty of time to wait.
Sure Toledo would of been heavily favoured in the conditions they would of surfed a few hours later anyway,but at least Ewing would have caught some waves to try and be competitive.
That also gave Toledo an edge in the final,having 5 or 6 hours rest before the final,while Callum Robson had only had about 45 minutes between his semi and final.
So there was definitely some kind of farcical situation that happened there,and someone screwed up with the contest directing.
Considering how bad the waves have been for six moths, the comp scored big time, if it had been any other week in the last six months odd's are it would have been howling SE and a foot of SE wind swell.
Anyway im stoked for Toledo he seems a real nice guy and rips, hopefully he can step up a little in more serious waves and grab a world tittle, definitely one of the best surfers of the era.
In the Men's, another farcical situation with a much longer break between semi and final for one competitor.
First at Pipe and now at Bells.
Both times the lower profile surfer getting the shorter break.
As for the Women's, one thing i'll give Tyler is she's not vanilla like 99% of the surfers on tour.
Was a great event especially considering I was in a hospital bed watching for the best of the waves, recovering from surgery. Today was a let down though. Especially the Toledo/ Ewing semi. Toledo was always winning in todays conditions with Ewing probably his biggest threat.
Callum Robson must be pinching himself!
Indo spot on there. Wsl Got real lucky.
could it be 4/5 ft and offshore the morning after. . IMO Always Seems like they put to much emphasis on the Easter wkend. Satisfying beach viewers rather than focusing on the best surf.
Karma train!
Fully with Ethan now.
Nice write up FR, think the 2 most in form surfers won.
Surfed pretty good MP beachies while the final was on : )
Day 7 recap says it all. Too many days surfed in a waiting period in my opinion. Too many days winding through empty rounds. Reconfigure the contest to optimize conditions. No reason why a combined mens and womens comp can’t be finished in 2-3 days.
“Sometimes it's about soldiering on when you are sent over the top of the trenches in suicide missions by clueless higher-ups. “ - some funny shit right there.
I’ve always found Tyler hard-to-relate to with an inflated sense of self and a penchant for theatrics. Every-time she does an interview I’m left scratching my head.
Nits?
Zen, nearly choked on my breakfast. You are always very brief but succinct when you reply. Sometimes the fewer the words the better. Hope you are well in the land of the Rising Sun.
Now, better check under my fingernails!!!
Haha, touché, well played
Enjoyed the event including swellnet online chat, and the ongoing commentary of each day here articles and comments. More than ever I am looking forward to the next WSL event and to be honest it’s by a combination of the championship format, swellnet “channel” for watching and following and the new aussies giving it a nudge.
And I’ll be honest I think the negative comments here about Tyler are unfair. She was very gracious in victory and classy in her acknowledgement of all of the stakeholders who make the event possible, especially her authentic appreciation for the local First Nations community.
I can't tell if your trolling or not
Yep really looking forward to West Oz, the swellnet commentary (I swear it gets read more widely than we think), the drama, and the nostalgia for the waves there.
We should probably agree on the drinking words: "Hawaiian power" is my suggestion.
Gentlemen's sips of course.
how about a dream heat ( for linguists) ‘R-Cal up against Cal-R’
“We should probably agree on the drinking words: "Hawaiian power" is my suggestion.
Gentlemen's sips of course.”
Classic VJ. Love it. Ofcourse, we are imagining Joe Turpel in full over the top commentary mode I assume…
“On the bricks!”
“HUGE playing field”
Great idea vj.
Yep, “rides it on to the bricks” will be up there.
Along with “jjf setting a new benchmark” the year he won it.
But yeah I’m looking forward to it. When JJF is healthy I’m a pro surfing fan
Great idea vj.
Yep, “rides it on to the bricks” will be up there.
Along with “jjf setting a new benchmark” the year he won it.
But yeah I’m looking forward to it. When JJF is healthy I’m a pro surfing fan
Great suggestions there gents, as is 'sunsets' below, or 'big skies'.
Now if you've drunk too much and need to stop, safety word (as always) is the name of that Welsh train station:
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
“Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch“
Brilliant :-)
Piece of cake! I can say that three times fast when I'm drunk (or words to that effect).
My safety word is 'cinnamon'.
Haha! Classic!
It's coming up to that time of the year again where JJF injures a knee and finishes his season,going by the pattern of recent years.
Swellnet commentary every bit as entertaining as the surfing.
Thank you.
Yeah, cheers to the comments section on the live vision. Love the banter.
I watched maybe the last 15 minutes of Carissa and Brisa and for the life of me I can’t believe they sent out a men’s semi final in that crap. My 15 minutes viewing was more than enough to put it on hold.
Yes, I very much doubt that JMD has the final call, more like a vote counter at an election, but that was just another of the worst decisions by the WSL ( a 3 hour documentary that covers just the last 18 months)
Ethan can be proud, as can Callum. Going out against Felipe in 2’ surf for the final at Bells, for gawd’s sake, ranks up there with any other lambs to the slaughter story. Callum made a spectacle of it.
Small punts, backside or reverse or whatever they’re called, need to be scored less. Progressive, yes, risky, sometimes, in 2’ surf, no.
And another black eye for the WSL on yet another finals day. Where have I heard that before?
Sunset sunset sunsets...over the beaches beaches beaches ;-)
I thought it was hilarious when Richie Lovett said Toledo might be getting fatigued when he fell on a wave in the final.
He gets 1 short wave,pretty much the only scoring wave in that waveless semi,gets a 5 or so hour break until the final,then is apparently fatigued after 3 or 4 two foot waves that are more suited to him than any other surfer on the planet.
Or maybe Rlove meant he was fatigued from having to wait a few hours to surf in his favourite kind of conditions,unlike CalRob who got only about 40 minutes break between his semi and the final.
I can actually relate to that photo of Tyler
Just saying
Lol
I was right behind Callum Robson until his runner up speech. Fancy hanging sh%# on every Tradie in Australia. A huge amount, if not a vast majority of viewers and fans would be tradies I would think. Fair enough you made a podium kid but don’t count your chooks too early.
Definitely showed some media inexperience, though it was probably unintentional/nerves etc.
Not sure what's worse: pro surfers who have nothing interesting to say, or pro surfers who have had so much media training that they're simply robotic quote-generating machines.
There'd be more than a few tradies that'd agree with him though.
There wouldn't be many that'd be snowflakes and be offended by that.
He probably just made a year's tradie apprentice salary in a few days,so he had a point lol.
What did he say?
Left school started an apprenticeship with his Dad ..realised that sucked and went full on into Surfing.....
----------------------------------------------------
Nothing bad in it...i took it as it just wasn't for him
Didn't hang shit on any Tradies at all !
Argh okay, as good as he surfs chances are pretty high he will be finishing that apprenticeship with his dad one day anyway and finish his life on the tools, unless he ends up being one of the very lucky few that can make pro surfing a successful long time thing.
How goods that
Mum n Dad, so stoked they've even colour-matched for the day. 10 points. Good on em.
Yeah the carpentry trade pays a fair bit better than being a surf shop salesman i believe lol.
Which is where quiet a few former pros have ended up working that didn't get set up out of pro surfing and didn't have a trade or higher qualifications to fall back on when it ended for them.
HPC Coaching was his last job i think
Which former Pros ended up as Surf Shop Salesman ?
Many went down the Surf Schools path which pays way better than a Chippy.
Willsy
But Set up $ wise and Store Manager for Quiksilver would pay well
Just thinking about Toby Martin and Dayan Neve in there New Professions...doing more than o.k.
There were quite a few of them in the late 80's and 90's i remember reading in surfing life and tracks mag back when i used to religiously buy the latest edition every month.
Don't remember their names,they were mostly lower ranked battler types that after a few years on the ASP tour (as it was called back then),retired as they were getting into debt to stay on tour and a constant lack of success disillusioned them.
This includes some guys that won an event over several years,but most of their events were bomb outs in the early rounds,so they never did make much money,and most of them never finished high school,some only did a year or 2 before quitting to chase a pro surfing career,and didn't have any work skills at all,but got a surf shop job through their major sponsor when they retired from the tour.
I'm sure there'd still be some in more recent times.
Some might have went onto bigger and better things within the surf retail industry,some mightn't have.
Dunno there's not usually follow up articles later on to inform us.
But a qualified chippy makes more than a surf shop salesman,that i'm sure of.
Especially if he's a sub contractor and works for himself.
If this ends up being CalRob's high point of his career,and he struggles to be consistent and get deeper into events,he'll probably miss the cut in whichever year it'll be,and then he'll likely find out there's more money in carpentry,if that's how things pan out,and if he doesn't have some other kind of opportunity,time will tell.
100% Agree on that one indo-dreaming. The state of the pro-surfing world is a tough one these days. We saw what happened to Morgan, one year full hyped up underdog to next year completely bottom ranking. I wish a win for all underdogs but if they don't have that "spark" they're gone straight back to the jobsite (nothing wrong with that either).
I find Callum’s surfing a lot more convincing than Morg’s last year.
Morgs got on a good roll though.
Still a tough gig either way without a secure sponsorship.
Surfing back to its roots always prevails.
Catch a wave, get stoked.
Fantastic comp overall but as usual everything has to be 'perfect'' or else the Woz cops a mouthful. Pissing and moaning about 'your' viewing experience? Get a life numbnuts, espec BD.
Cokee i assume you're taking a swipe at the article too as it approached the topic from the same angle....that it was a fuckup and the surf was rubbish.
If i put my Sunday morning aside on a guarantee from an entertainment company and they don't produce what they promised, then yep, i'll accept the numnuts tag, although theres no current tingle, unlike Tylers...you know whats!! I can go watch pros surf 1 foot slop any day of the week if need be. Imagine if they forced the F1 drivers into gogomobiles and sent them out to a shitty potholed track a quarter of the distance for their final. Reckon the fans of that wouldn't be a little disgruntled. I'm sure plenty would watch that too of course,,..but you know..?? Not all that professional.
Ironically, I live on the surfcoast but traveled up to Nth Straddie to catch up with the oldies. Ethan got screwed by the machinery. Don't give up mate you deserve to be there, hang tough take the medicine, pay the dues, your time will come and yeah that dodgy break along the rocks on a dying swell at high tide, that's Rincon.
Tyler will become one of Oz surfings biggest assets, she's got a set but it's a long way from frother to Statesman, right Mick?
Bells turned on and the pros responded with relentless downcarving skyhooks so good to watch but for mine Miggy Pupo actually rode Bells the best with sweetly timed lip climbs.
Long may it Ring and inspire us all.
Good job FR
Ethan didn’t get screwed by the machinery. He got screwed by his strategy. All he had to do was paddle 50 meters to get some waves. He took a risk and lost. And as far as conditions go if Huntington Beach or Japan broke like finals day at bells they’d be frothing.
Cockee. So, you are happy that WSL produced bullshit footage for the masses, claiming they’d been doing revegetation work on the Bells coastline for 50 years. What a can of worms that corporation has opened .
The crew from SANE and others like myself, have collected seed providence to the area, grown tens of thousands of tubestock plants, controlled exotic weed species and implemented well planned restorative work for some knob to step in and use it as a promotional front. What a joke.
Shit hit the fan a couple of days ago and you will hear more about it.
Competitive surfers are just like male and female models who walk the cat walk, they are just clothes pegs for promoting products. It’s TV without the screen.
" It was a shock to me to see in the petition pro surfers pulling out the mental health card"
Was wondering when this might happen.
I'll admit to having a raised eyebrow about this, too. Mental health is a serious issue, but I can't reconcile the mental health implications of battlers losing jobs/schoolkids isolated at home with the privilege associated with professional sport.
having been through it... i think mental health is individual to each individual. Being referential to others does not really happen when you are in the funk. none of us have anything to complain about when you look at the shit going down in the Ukraine right now. but, part of the mental health narrative finds that people are more internally focused and are unable to see around the funk. ultimately, don't discount joe blogs from down the road, or tyler wright living a life we would all consider wonderful. everyone struggles - it seems to be a human condition at some stage for alot of us regardless of current standing/status. sorry, that was a bit heavy for this forum...
Well said
+1
Fair enough, samerubi, fair enough. And not too heavy at all.
Not heavy at all. And I have no doubt that every one of us here wishes for Tyler to be happy and well.
As you alluded to, a big part of depression is the inability to see beyond the tip of one's own nose; your world shrinks to a tiny little me universe. The difference these days is that resilience is in short supply (indeed is frowned upon), and instead we are encouraged to see ourselves as victims, and share that with the rest of the world.
That's my theory re why she rubs so many up the wrong way.
Have to agree with you there IB.
In the old days it was called 'coping skills'. These days those skills seem to be in very short supply. And no, it's not healthy.
Island Bay. I would like to commend you on what you wrote about depression. Your description in my opinion is exactly how it is and you’ve summed it up superbly. Well done you, keep up the good work mate and hope you are getting wet in the land of the long white cloud. On our coast this morning, we enjoyed another beautiful session of early waves slightly bigger than the forecast. Paddling out in the dark with a few mates for a ‘board meeting’ can surely help with the aforementioned matter you discussed with us.
It’s been decades in the making, from every child gets a prize, to everyone can be president or Prime Minister, to if I’m asked to do something I don’t want to do or don’t like, you’re bullying me or causing me mental distress.
And the real winners will be those who didn’t grow up with this culture.
I wonder how many surfers went the mental health angle and what percentage were from what country.
I doubt many would be Brazilians.
Steve, curious what the insiders say about the whiney voiced American commentator who said quote:
'... running down and getting ready to paddle out into the most perfect right hand point break that Australia has to offer right now, here in Victoria at Bells Beach'?
And no one, including Rabbit who was commentating with her bothered to correct her?
The wozzle is a sand box for sycophants at this stage, not to mention as you stated in the article, the judging was amateur. And then there was the interference non-calls to boot.
Every chance Margs could be the same swell wise been a shocking Autumn so far by WA standards how much longer La Nina?
All this dribble about EE not getting a fair shot. BS, both surfed same conditions and EE got done by a better surfer who adjusted for the conditions.
They still shouldn't of run the heat and waited.
Toledo likely would of defeated EE in those conditions a few hours later anyway,but the real unfairness of the situation lies in Toledo getting 5 hours rest before the final while CalRob got only about 45 minutes between his semi and the final.
That was the bigger farce of the situation to me,and what someone should be answering to.
I am amazed that anyone would think it was a good day of surfing!
Maybe you blokes should go and play golf, coz you know fuck all about surfing!!
And wouldn’t you know it. It’s Better the next day..
At Bells greyhound? I had a quick one at Juc. Some nice little lines coming through.
Saw Carissa in the car park after yesterday. I reckon she was putting on a brave front for her speech. She looked really upset as she was leaving (and made a quick exit). Uncharacteristic of her to fall like she did. Tyler deserved the win. Surfed very well.
Managed 8 surfs between Friday and this morning plus a fair bit of time at the comp. Great to have some proper waves back and big turnouts at the comp.
Also good to see a few of the guys out last night at the pub on the beers.
At Centers. Paddled out around 9.30. Beautiful light winds , new swell 3/4 ft and not many people around. I recon Friday was best then this morning. I’m cooked , enjoying some footy on the couch time ..
Nice one. That sounds great. Yeah Friday was cooking.
‘Lured’ to the sofa hey Greyhound. Most greyhound’s I know are all couch potatoes so it’s pretty apt that you’ve ended up there. Can you lick your balls ?
In my dreams yes.. and in reality, who hasn’t tried.
Correct GH. Gnawing on the ‘sea urchins’ I once heard it described as.
Unfortunately Daw not every day can be fun 3-5ft offshore Bells. Everyone that’s a surfer no’s that sometimes it’s cranking the next day it can be shit or not as good.
well could be good/bad
https://tv.apple.com/show/make-or-break/umc.cmc.6oubrn858v7d76sut4mx52i…
I was so disappointed when Tyler Wright won.
The things that keep evo up at night.
The lucky pricks in Bali and he’s still complaining!
Hey goofyfoot yes I am lucky been going to Bali for about 15 years in April
and scored really well at least one giant swell each time with conditions
to match. This time didnt really get over 6ft maybe a little bigger with at
times some strange conditions but still loved it every moment.
The lucky prick.