Say it ain't so!
DH Lawrence had Mornings in Mexico, surfers have
afternoons in Indonesia. Didn’t it look pretty? Enticing.
And so nice to have Barton back in the mic, a surprisingly
pleasant combination with Joey Turpel.
I won’t say anything about the theatrics or otherwise of John’s
injury other than to note a: he walked up the beach unaided so rule
out an ACL injury and b: how perfectly timed, how coincidental after D. Rielly
prophesied a transition away from the Tour and I
beseeched Ross to get his man out of the
game, at least for a short while to get his head
right.
And then it happened, right on cue. Spooky.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjoxB-zni86/?taken-by=parallelsea
At the least, John John now avoids the horrific prospect of
getting his clock cleaned by Mikey Wright again. Room to breathe
away from the glare of the spotlight and the slow burning meltdown
of his campaign this year.
God, the natural-foots going left looked strange for a heat or
two, been so long since we have seen their backhand. Owen snuck
past Asing, Kolohe Andino, former great white hope for America
achieved his first excellent score of the year to defeat Jesse
Mendes. Jordy completely overpowered a hapless Michael
February.
That was all guff and prologue to what I thought had to be the
closest thing to a sure thing in Pro Surfing right now: Italo
Ferreira at overhead Ulus. The free surfing snippets had been
tantalising. Did you see? Treating Ulus like a total
skatepark. His
opening wave was raggedy, hesitant.
It couldn’t be happening could it? Our Italo, our cocksure,
swaggering swarthy showman – the man who less than a week ago was
positively unbeatable – safety surfing. Say it ain’t so champ. But
it was. He crumbled like a block of mouldy cheese left in the
Indonesian sun. That pains me to write.
Many moons ago, I camped next to a Fijian village on the
premises of an establishment run by two Californian brothers of
dubious moral vintage. If I say their chief concerns were getting
toobed and seeing who could be first to impregnate the series of
Indian maids who came to work at the joint you’ll get the idea
these weren’t no utilitarians. Which would be correct.
If I was tucked up he would scoop me up like a baby and slow
dance me around the room, nestle my head into the crook of his arm
and murmur soft Fijian sayings into my ear. I learnt not to resist.
He meant no harm.
One young man in the village, typically Fijian in physique, took
a shine to me. Come nightfall, if the kava and weed had been
forthcoming, which it usually was, and the brothers had the music
playing he would come looking for me. If I was tucked up he would
scoop me up like a baby and slow dance me around the room, nestle
my head into the crook of his arm and murmur soft Fijian sayings
into my ear. I learnt not to resist. He meant no harm.
I thought Italo would treat Ulus like that Fijian man treated
me. Lovingly, but with overwhelming power and tenderness. But he
couldn’t seem to escape the prison his mind had created for him and
Rodriguez opened up the shoulders and let loose to take the win.
Shocking.
I was so bummed I needed to find another miserable soul to keep
me company so I gave WA Minister for Tourism Paul Papalia a call.
Gotta be hurting, right. Spare a thought for poor Pauly and his
apparatchiks: bankrolled the event for years and for his
beneficence the WSL left his Tourism strategy in tatters (come to
WA and get chomped by a white shark!) and finished the event in an
entirely different country.
Booyah!
There are no words available for that kind of marketing fail.
Paul wasn’t available, surprise surprise, and I spoke to a
succession of lovely flak catchers with none able to give me an
official quote on the WATourism position (hint: I think we can
assume, not stoked).
More heats were ran, all surprisingly downbeat in head-high
Ulus. Not great, but there to be picked up and slow danced with by
someone feeling an intoxication of power. It wasn’t Gabe Medina, my
other high hope for the afternoon. He surfed like an old alley cat,
scratching and screeching at anything that moved. It wasn’t pretty
and it wasn’t even effective, but it was entertaining. Poor Jack
Robinson sat and waited, tried to thread tubes that weren’t there
and in the end laid not a scratch on the 2014 World
Champ.
The sun set and not a single form surfer announced themselves as
ready to take the Ulus Pro by the scruff of the neck. A
continuation of a year in which we’ve gone down or sideways more
than we’ve gone up.
As we go to print I got a text message from one of the flak
catchers, lovely lady named Kellie from Tourism WA.
Can I share?
Hi Steve, FYI None of our funding is being used to stage the
final heats in Indonesia.*
Response from Tourism WA is, “As we know this year’s Margaret
River Pro was impacted by an unusual confluence of circumstances
and despite extensive mitigation measures the WSL made the call to
cancel the event.
“We are pleased with the confirmation that the event will return
in 2019 and will continue to work with Surfing WA and the WSL to
deliver a to deliver a world class event in Margaret River”.
A response, if I may?
The tone, a little passive-aggressive, I think. Are there any
vacancies? I can craft press releases, deal with journalists, leave
the toilet seat in the correct position, handle boozy lunches etc
etc. Please reply below.
*Good to know.
Uluwatu CT Men’s Round 3 Results:
Heat 1: Owen Wright (AUS) 13.43 def. Keanu Asing (HAW) 10.43
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) 14.47 def. Jesse Mendes (BRA) 14.33
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.33 def. Michael February (ZAF)
7.26
Heat 4: Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 14.77 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA)
12.93
Heat 5: Conner Coffin (USA) 14.77 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
9.16
Heat 6: Julian Wilson (AUS) 8.34 def. Kael Walsh (AUS) 7.27
Heat 7: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.50 def. Jack Robinson (AUS)
4.20
Heat 8: Connor O’Leary (AUS) 11.06 def. Michel Bourez (PYF)
9.04
Heat 9: Willian Cardoso (BRA) 13.00 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
12.37
Remaining Uluwatu CT Men’s Round 3
Matchups:
Heat 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Yago Dora (BRA)
Heat 11: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Joan Duru (FRA)
Heat 12: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Mikey Wright (AUS)
