Teams and jingoism!
I neither watch nor play golf well. A problematic attention span plagues both pursuits. I love to drive off the tee but can’t be bothered with the self-discipline necessary for a successful short game. I love to tune in but only if Tiger Woods is screwing up so I can say, “Hey guys… remember this?”
Very uncool, I know, but the other day I caught a tiny bit of the Ryder Cup and lights flashed behind my dull eyes.
The Ryder Cup, for those who have better things to do, is a golf tournament that takes place between The United States and Europe every two years. There are captains who run their teams, made up of American golfers and European golfers, of course. Now, this is where my understanding gets fuzzy but I think the golfers pair up with one of their countrymen and take on a pair from the opposing bloc. The pair alternate shots and try to win and then the most pair victories helps the team win but there is also individual play. Or something.
The knowledgable can fill us in better but I was thinking the format, or an approximation of, could make for brilliant professional surfing. What if, every two years the surf world was broken into The United States, Europe, Australia and Brazil. Teams are formed, with captains, and then the professional surfers are put into pairs and then they surf against another pair for a heat.
Let’s say, for example, it’s Kolohe Andino and Brett Simpson for the USA and… Julian Wilson and Mikey “he-puts-the-wild-in-wildcard” Wright.
So they all paddle out together and each surfer has to bag a score and the highest combo wins but the teammate surfers can also play defense, block, annoy, tug leashes etc. How much fun would that be with nifty strategy and lots of laughs?
The jingoism would be fun, the internecine struggles, the botched captaining and the stunning upsets would be fun too.
It would all be fun, in fact. A new bankable format.
You’re welcome WSL.
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But then you risk guys like JOB being on the tour.
Funny how even the most talented surfers forget that the ocean is unpredictable ?
1000 to 3000 points for scraping world class reefs and 10000 points for scraping your knuckles along the ground at HPier ?
Kelly could team up with Ziggy and they could hold hands in the barrel…..Oh wait they already do that.
Sick of watching entrenched professional journey men & women drag out the top 48(?) format Billabong Australia CEO Dougal Walker proposed this very idea to the ASP & the surfers circa 2002. After initially supporting the idea the surfers backed down. Walker stood firm so as a consequence Billabong refused to sponsor the Gold Coast Pro, Snapper Rocks.
Quiksilver pounced like a seagull over a chip packet. The rest is….you know.
Interesting to note that as of 2019 Quiksilver has retracted its support of that event.
Those contests unfortunately offer minimal QS points.
The real tribes of surfing that the wsl has been searching for.
And think of the commentating possibilities with a representative of each in the booth going for each other’s throats?
Probably because they get paid more to smoke ciggies and the format sucks. 3 lay days because the swell ended and there is 100 surfers in the comp. Then the comp finishes in onshore slop vs Thiago
Barata
Founders Cup?
In a perfect world, the WSL becomes 100% full of brazil competitors (seems inevitable in current wqs format). After this, a new ‘rebel’ tour is finally initiated, where the qualifying is held in actual quality waves that are worth watching. Noa Deane and other surfers have said they would be happy to surf contests as long as they are held in good waves. I know which tour I’d watch.
Kind of like that first Lemore event?
This is sheer genius.
Thank you. My pleasure. I only speed read the comments section.
So Kelly’s out for France huh? Darn foot.
There’s a great foot doctor in lemoore apparently
Oh you have it wrong – he is/was in for France. That is (was) where the Ryder Cup was played!
On a giant scrap heap turned into a golf course. Interestingly, that course is also where golf will be played in the Olympics when they are in France in 2024. I truly think Kelly was out for some fun golf and was scouting a spot for a KS Piscine à Vagues (blame Google translate if this is not “Wave Pool” in French).
Flat Earthers will join my in my vacuous theories.
That’s just a reason to be there if the forecast looked promising for him enough to surf. As it turns out it is not. No Kelly. Bad forecast = Sore foot.
good point !!
I believe you are correct but Walter PK is our resident expert on everything French , both ocean and pool . Just a little reminder along the lines of “ We don’t swim in your toilet , so please don’t piss in our Piscine ? “
Eldrick’s mugshot will steal your soul if you look into his eyes
I think anything that pits country against country and increases nationalistic fervor should be supported.
whats wrong with the current tennis format. in fact, I think tennis would benefit from introducing a 3 man/women matchup in the opening rounds.
Why be sexist? Why can’t you have two women vs. one man? Two men vs. one woman?
There’s very strong evidence that lots of people already watch that.
With equal pay now, anything is possible