Watch: John John vs a Backdoor Closeout
For those who missed it, here's JJF's second wave in his Round of 16 clash against Mig Pupo.
'Twas an escape that caught everyone, the camera operator, the commentators, off guard. Worth watching, not just for the sublime tube riding, but also for the exasperated commentary that followed.
No explanation for the sub-10 point score. Could've been bigger..? No way it could've been longer or deeper.
The video also shows John's second wave, when Mig dropped out of the heat and it was John John vs himself; seeing how far he could elevate his own performance at Pipeline.
Final heat score: 19.33
Comments
hahaahh wtf
The best
Sublime performance by John. That exit caught 95% out, I'd guess. 10 in my book.
(Fwiw, it didn't make me all envious; personally I'd rather be able to do a roll-in into a big open barrel, a'la HT's or 2nd reef Pipe.)
The judging appears to become increasingly unexplainable every heat. The 2 judges that gave 9.5's are complete fucking morons.
One Hawaiian, one Basque.
2 judges need replacing.
10 every day of the week. his back-up was also a 10 IMO
Def a 10, but I reckon back up was over-scored if anything. Pinched barrel, not that long and a fairly cruisy reverse. Maybe he just makes it look too easy haha.
Same from me, 2 X 10.
They were just keeping the scale low ;) ..............oh hang on that was the last heat of the day
That was an 11. Unreal, love his (non) claim style too.
The only time i wishh JJ had a GoPro in his Gob...
should've been a 10
What a combo!
What was he supposed to do in that barrel to get the ten? Make a coffee? Finish reading Proust? Morons
This is the comment of the year for me so far haha. Well played moose.
Proust...love it!!
interesting explanation how he got through the pinch at the end, leaned back?
Check out his vid Space from a few years ago.
Super slow mo close up of the ollie over the foam ball escape routine at 2.10
The whole vid is off it's head btw
Pump it up to 11 for sure and 9 for the other wave..Spinal tap semi..Anyone know where i can watch day 4 replays? i missed all but last few waves.Robbo vs jjjf final?
Same side of the draw so next up is Robbo vs JJF in quarterfinal 4
Cheers LD. Pity though, they are both in top 3 form of all the surfers so eliminating robbo or jjf imo is kind of silly in qf 4.
What does a 10 look like ?? If that’s not ..
10 every day of the week!
He's the best.
Houdini
Id love to hear the WSL or judges explain why this wasn't a 10 what were those two judges thinking?
2 judges and 1 cameraman failed a big moment
JJF ripped off once again by the WSL - Should have been a 10
Anywhere I can find the video?
They didn't score a 10 'cause they couldn't see what he was doing in the barrel for so long, maybe he cheated his way out. ; )
not many deeper barrels ever ridden, 10 every day of the week. reminds me of 10 at North point, cant remember who it was.
I thought the same. Sebastian Zietz got that one, it was pretty much the only good wave ridden that day too.
This and Medinas backdoor wave were clearly tens. Every day of the week.
But..... for an organisation that holds it's finals in 2foot onshore Trestles and replaces epic left hand tropical reef breaks with a mundane pool that has clearly been rejected by the audience watching it, it's no surprise they can't read the room.
How has someone like Erik Logan, a stand up paddleboarder who's resume reads Oprah, and Zirk Diff, a celebrated waterman of the year, who i'm yet to see a photo of him surfing, been allowed to be the custodians of surfing, more specifically, professional surfing. Something that has real roots in the surfing community/tribe.
It's a travesty at the least and a tragedy at the most.
Funny story about Elo, a chick i was seeing for a little bit who was into spirtual healing etc, was randomly followed by Elo on insta while i was with her.
I'd never heard of him before, but he started leaving comments on every single one of her posts, getting all dreamy and spiritual.
I remembered his name because i thought it was a bit wierd for someone to leave so many comments. We checked out his profile and all his Oprah stuff was there which gave us a laugh. Never thought too much more about it.
Anyway, lo and behold, all of a sudden, a year or so later, this same name pops up as the head of the WSL.
Could have knocked me down with a feather!!!!
I think it was after 2022 season judges were told to limit giving 10s. The whole criteria changed to limit the max score. That said, JJF should have got a 10…impossible to do anymore in that wave.
Would have been good to have judges front up and clearly explain the rationale behind the score not being a 10.