Who knew surf could so pay!
Winner: Owen Wright skins Julian Wilson, Fiji Pro.
Owen Wright wins Fiji Pro! With two 10-point rides!
History? Yeah, it is.
Yesterday, Owen Wright, the 25-year-old Australian, rode a perfect heat. Today, he became the first surfer to score two perfect heat totals in the one event.
This time in a one-sided final against Julian Wilson, 20.00 to 7.84.
“I had a little quiet time to myself watching it,” said Owen afterward, tongue at last loosed. “I knew it was going to turn on. I knew they were coming and I was takin’ ’em.”
When O exited a long barrel earlier in the heat, completely unalarmed, he scored ten. Joe Turpel described it as a “thing of beauty.”
Later, a longer barrel, and Owen lifted his head up and yelled, “Give it to me! Give it to me! I want another twenty!”
And he got it. Watch the final!
“Holy smokes! We meet again!” Striker said to Owen.
And here’s Owen’s perfect heat yesterday.
En route, Kai Otton got smoked real good on the reef.
He’s alive!
Fiji Pro Final Results:
1: Owen Wright (AUS) 20.00
2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 7.84
Fiji Pro Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 11.50 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 8.66
SF 2: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.93 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.57
Fiji Pro Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.36 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 17.00
QF 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.37 def. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 7.40
QF 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.60 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.84
QF 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.83 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 12.90
2015 WSL Jeep Leaderboard Top 5 (after Fiji Pro):
Adriano de Souza (BRA) 28,000 pts
Filipe Toledo (BRA) 27,450 pts
Owen Wright (AUS) 26,250 pts
Mick Fanning (AUS) 24,950 pts
Julian Wilson (AUS) 23,450 pts
Candid: I have Eighteen Months to Live!
The surfer turned marine Michael Kocher is dying of spine cancer. But he ain't crying about it. Here's what he plans to do…
“To die will be such a grand adventure”
– Peter Pan
As I’ve written on Beach Grit before, I have a cancer that attacks the spinal cord. Two weeks ago, I was told treatment included an 80 per cent chance of at least partial-paralysis below the waist, sexual function included.
No surfing, no snowboarding, no swimming, no wakeboarding, no running, no walking, no fucking, no living and thus, for me, no thank you.
They’re giving me eighteen to thirty months, give or take six months on either end. Every six months that I survive the chance I’ll die in the following six months increases exponentially.
One to three years to do everything I ever wanted to do in life. It’s a brutal fucking clock, but a clock of my own making and one hat is alienating me from my friends and family. Most people don’t understand the idea of living three years to the fullest being better than living another thirty in a chair.
The choice was made, no treatment. The choice is, and was, the right choice. The choice was made with all feelings, scenarios and people taken into consideration.
Yet I find myself, day after day, defending my choice, defending my existence as a free-thinking human being. So you ask what it’s like to live with a clock on your existence? It’s the most annoying and frustrating experience of my life.
Not from the dying, I’m content with that. But how needy everyone around you gets all of a sudden. They need reassurance, they need comfort, they need explanations and everyone wants to tell you how angry they are that you would rather die on your feet, or on a surfboard, as in my case it will be, than live in a chair. How angry they are that you won’t be there to watch children grow, etc. I’m not cruel. I love them all and know that this neediness also comes from a place of love, but I’m the one who’s dying. Why is it easiest for me to accept?
Right now, it’s completely surreal since I’m still stage one and thus don’t feel sick at all, except for the flare-ups of pain in my spine now and again. But that’s why baby Jesus invented Jack and Coke and Aleve.
I have big plans for the time I have left. I’ve done more in 31 years than most people will do their entire lives. I’ve been to 37 countries, 44 states, most of the Canadian provinces and Mexican States. I’ve had dolphins play with my feet while the sun sets huge over beautiful Pacific lines. I’ve watched the sun rise over 14,000 foot peaks with people I wouldn’t replace with anyone in the world and I’ve done it all by refusing to give in.
There’s more left to be done though, more to change, more to live, more to love, more to fuck, and more to ride.
So I’ll fuck, I’ll ride, and I’ll change and I’ll do all these things while caring for the needs of everyone around me because I’m a big fucking puppy and you gotta take care of your pack.
But while I’m doing that I’ll be looking forward to that last day that we’ll call the end of pain.
The end of pain is a good thing and will be a great day.
The tall man cometh! The tall man cometh!
Owen Wright is making a run for the Fiji Pro title! Come watch a tall man play amongst the midgets!
I am a tall man, maybe 6’3, and trim. I love it. I feel genetically superior to almost everyone. I thank the Lord each morning when I wake.
Owen Wright is a taller man too, and trim. Such a specimen! And if he doesn’t thank the Lord, he should.
“Ahhh, yeah, you know, it’s not bad being tall and thin…” he says. “The best part? I like being able to walk into a club and scope all the girls, scope everyone around.”
Being taller you can. Do I think tall men are evolutionarily more advanced?
“Mmmmmmm. No, but it does seem there are so many more tall guys around now, eh? I know that being tall for me is better. I’ve always been pretty tall. I kinda grew consistently all through my life. I just grew the other week, in fact. I wasn’t 6’3, I was just under. But I measured the other day and now I am 6’3. It is funny to walk around the contest sites. A lot of the veterans are shorter guys but more of the new kids coming up are taller. And now I am officially the tallest guy on tour. When I was rehabbing my knee, Steds came into the gym and we stood back to back. I won.”
Michael J. Fox once said, “There is not a hell of a lot I can do about being short. You just gotta run with it.” Michael J. Fox starred in Teen Wolf.
Julia Child once said, “Being tall is an advantage, especially in business. People will always remember you. And if you’re in a crowd, you’ll always have some clean air to breathe.” Julia Child just makes the best boeuf bourguignon ever!
Jay Davies: “My nappy was full of beach sand!”
An incredible hunk.
Jay Davies, exceptional talent out of Western Australia, put on a show during the Marg River Pro. He cut down WSL favorites. He raged through barrels. He made people believe that a very strong man can surf very well. Watch, enjoy and then get thyself to a gym because only the strong survive. And only the good die young.