The Brazilian wins the event and the crown!
I can say, without fear of being overly dramatic, that professional surfing was on its death bed after the Founders Cup event held in Lemoore, California. There it lay, cold and clammy. Its pulse could only be found by distressed asset management experts who merely shook their heads as they walked away, mumbling, “It won’t be long now.” The pool was a dud. It didn’t showcase the progression that the people craved. It didn’t provide any adrenalized thrill. The only benefit was that professional surfing could air live for one hour on CBS, a television channel preferred by geriatrics on their own death beds.
What a miserable end. And with the tour headed to Rio de Janeiro afterward it felt as if the damage sustained in Lemoore would metastasize in the muck and it would all be over. Distressed asset management experts sighed deeply, knowing the cadaver would be a difficult one to sell. Maybe Old Navy needs a fun backdrop to their Scorchin’ Summer Capris campaign? Maybe Bud Light Orange?
But then a miracle happened. Waves, for one, streamed into Brazil like the country hasn’t seen in decades. Fun waves, dancing waves, waves that you and I love surfing ourselves and love watching surfed by professionals too. Little sneaky barrel sections. Unexpected ramps that launched the Best Surfers in the World airborne.
And Filipe Toledo, for two. He won the event, beating Australia’s brave Wade Carmichael in a final that would not have been the same without him. There he put on yet another show of what professional surfing can actually be, how much fun it can actually look. He swished, he soared, he won the event and in so doing saved professional surfing.
The distressed asset management experts shrugged and moved on over to see what Rip Curl is up to these days. “I heard they’re not excited about the possible summit between the United States and North Korea…” one said as he walked away. “…I heard there’s worries that, if things go well, a lack of slave labor will hurt the bottom line.”
Analysis on the event and videos to come.
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That description sounds like professional surfing.
The WSL needed to leverage the large Brazillan crowd more in the broadcast.
Pottz’ on airs “I think the difference between making these and not…is the landing”
We all remember what happened the last time a Potsie said those words. Yep! That’s right….a shark got jumped!
Translate please, into Australian, “14er” ?
14 mile hike
Ta
Oops….bad guess. Turns out something to do with 14,000 feet elevation.
you had me at OLD NAVY.
Wade getting a heat win over Gabe. Fantabuloso!
Wade sponsored by Piping Hot. Not so much
At least get him a proper wetty sponsor. Hope the pay packet is good
Maybe Oz Sports Skins ala ’88 world champ?
None of the majors wanted him so shame on them.
Good on them. Fuck the “fantastic four”. I love seeing a small company getting some publicity and sick to death of the same boring big 4s logos on every fkn board n hat.
Please make Strike Force 2 Piping Hot.
Betting on zeke against yago was money for jam, kid was a mess out there. So was medina
You need to get over rip curl blacklisting you mate. You do realise you started it, right?
Was rooting for Auto-Mike but that barrel @ 9.93 by Toll-eedou was well earned and deserving of his numero uno today.
Moving on to next…(Bali)
Wado’s Soul arch barrel in the semi was move of the year
First and last place dollars (with an odd middle ground)
After the Oi Rio Pro, Julian Wilson (currently 1st overall) is the highest rated surfer on the Men’s Championship tour, and Joan Duru (currently 34th overall) is the lowest rated surfer who has surfed in all events. Here’s the breakdown of their total earnings as well as their earnings per minute surfed, per wave, and per heat.
Julian Wilson: $153,000 > $478/minute > $10,928/heat > $1,545/wave
Joan Duru: $41,500 > $172/minute > $5,188/heat > $965/wave
It’s interesting to note that a middle-of-the-pack guy like Kanoa Igarashi (currently 16th overall) has earned less than Duru:
Kanoa Igarashi: $34,700 > $96/minute >$2,892/heat > $551/wave
fascinating.
Ronnie Burns RIP, at pipe not rockies
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Is that you Mr Wolfe? Thought you were dead mate.
Brilliant, Wiggs. Never thought I’d say that.
Not taking any time to read below so..How much did the fans have to pay to watch Filipe’s brilliance. Beach Culture or Pool Culture?
Looks like about 600K tuned in to CBS’ broadcast of Founders Cup. Not sure how that is in the grand scheme of things… https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
They narrowly beat bowling!! Success!
200k behind Bull Riding Sunday !
Beat US Major League Soccer and a fair bit of baseball. That’s not losing.
Well, to be fair, it should be noted that many of the lower performing sports broadcasts on this list were not on the large network channels but on subscription based cable channels with much smaller audiences. Founders Cup was on CBS and wasn’t competing with much at the time. Also, the MLB games on ESPN are often regionally broadcast to specific markets. Dodgers vs. Padres are both So Cal teams, I’m guessing only those markets saw that game.
A well earned win, that’s world champ material right there. Fuck Julian.
Yes, I want to hate Julian. Please help me hate him.
I used to hate on jordy, but since Medina has been around its been hard to hate on anyone else. i wish I could share it but just not enough hate to go around I guess.
Gabs does take up the majority of my hate.
Gabs takes up the majority of my love but his pathetic performance yesterday caused serious doubts & the “why bother”?
Felipe`s demolition derby made everyone feel the “why bother”
Alright. Step 1: Close your eyes
Step 2: Repeat the phrase “Julian is the Silver Surfer” like ten times
Step 3: Open your eyes and press “play” on the video below
Step 4: Close your eyes again
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
It’s working, thanks Otto!
All glory to God and Jesus. And fuck Julian.
What the fuck do those made-up cartoon characters have to do with anything?
How about “all glory to Santa Claus and Ronald McDonald” while we’re at it eh?
One of your best short articles. Brilliant.
Kelly Slater’s past 10 days, post CBS broadcast…. Everyone wants to surf Waco Texas wave pool, and Oi Rio Pro dominates the Founders Cup in entertainment value. Ain’t that a kick in the head! And double header in Bali next? I’d imagine it’s pretty tense times in The War Room at the ol’ Ranch.
Nah they’ll know the attention span involved. Next week Cloudbreak will make Rio look like the Pool before the machine starts up. Then it’ll be off to Bali and the double-double. Besides: if ntohing else, they have an unstructured data lake!
Nick no cloudbreak event mate but is it going to pumping??
Yeah I know no event but epic surf is kind of an event in itself these days. And yeah PUMPING.
This is a huge day for San Clemente surfing
Brazil coming to save ‘murica
You can have it.
It’ll be a HUUUGE DAY for S~C surfing if Kolohe ever wins his 1st World Tour event!
Hopefully Griff’ doesn’t beat him to it, it’d probably break lil’ Andino’s heart, no?
Daddy Dino better get on Jr’s sheee~it, ya know, crack that whip:
https://www.youtube.com/wat… make him get better, stronger, harder…
Let the best man win. So far Felipe has 6, so the other two San Clemente boys are a bit behind… Griff winning an event before Kolohe would have a similar sting as to when Gabs won the title before our little plumber Adriano
Congrats to Felipe…a well deserved victory.
It was also good to see him get emotional during his interview.
Anyone know the deal on the surfers getting sick? It was mentioned briefly but is this another case of polluted Brazilian water?
Rumor has it that John’s chin began to sprout a few years ago after the Rio event.
Not in Saquerema J H
It is totally preserved and also has, always, a maritime current called “Ressurgência” (Resurgence), cold and clear waters
Good to know….thanks!
Felipe’s son was born while he was in Brazil. The kid is fully comitted and inspired for the title. I hope he doesnt get injured or sabotaged by Hurley. Speaking of Hurley, those guys know how to pick a team.
I would love to see him stay healthy and win a world title.
The deal is drinking and drugs. that can fuck your stomach too.
Cocaine and Surfing???
That would make an amazing title for a book!
(I kid, Chas…I kid)