Hossegor wraps in fine, six-foot velvet…
Justified criticism from Tired of Winning and Nick Carroll that yesterday’s wrap was unjustly harsh to Keanu Asing, or that I wasn’t qualified to deliver the message. Maybe it was but nothing personal.
The harder the WSL wraps its athletes in fairy floss and spins magical thinking into them the more disposed I feel to tell the brutal truth. They spent the majority of Keanu’s stint in the booth quizzing him on how to win heats.
That was cruel. This is a man who clearly does not know how to win heats. His rookie year was so bad that even with an event win he was kicked to the QS curb. His return year, 2018, is even worse. The better, if much harder and more awkward questions would be: why do you keep losing and what do you need to do, to improve, to win heats?
Convict logic? Jumped the shark?
Instead of pumping the guy up with false hope and a bland denial of reality wouldn’t it more humane, as well as more sporting to simply state the obvious: the guy ain’t cutting it on the CT. At least give him a chance at some honest self-reflection and chance to improve. Pete Mel could simply observe his skill set isn’t up to scratch, his surfing is well below the criteria rather than the incessant droning that “He belongs here, he’s got a huge heart etc etc”
I say the numbers don’t lie and Asing’s are woeful. Nowhere near CT standard. Instead of pumping the guy up with false hope and a bland denial of reality wouldn’t it more humane, as well as more sporting to simply state the obvious: the guy ain’t cutting it on the CT. At least give him a chance at some honest self-reflection and chance to improve. Pete Mel could simply observe his skill set isn’t up to scratch, his surfing is well below the criteria rather than the incessant droning that “He belongs here, he’s got a huge heart etc etc”
In so many cases: Ethan Ewing, Matt Banting, Mike February, just to name three off the top of my head, there are many others, pro surfers seem helplessly caught in this spider web of deceit – an innocent fraud, to be sure – being wrapped around them in the guise of …. what? Kindness? Positivity? A memo written from middle management?
Positivity and kindness are great for children and the elderly but to sports people we owe the truth. It just works out better for everyone that way. My personal qualifications to deliver that message? In a BG surfwriter man-on-man or man on woman surf off at Surf Ranch I would beat Chas, only because he has a busted wing. Otherwise, just a guy who can read and understand numbers.
Snake is doing it right. Colapinto straight away fingered the reason for his heat loss: caught between two mindsets, even with Rosie coming in too hot. And he surfed an amazing heat. Zeke, even if the chest thumping is not to your taste ( I dig), has quickly figured how to win pretty and win ugly.
Dream day today in France. Six-foot glistening beachbreak. A day when pro surfing stands and delivers. You can never really foretell these moments, they just seem to pop up randomly like a magic mushroom in a cow paddock after rain. Ready to blow your mind.
Three-man Round 4 heats seem to deliver the magic. The first one with Connor Coffin, Jordy and Wilko was tight. Connor seemed a bit highballed for point-and-shoot tube rides. Jordy had mid-rangers. The crucial wave around which the heat turned was ridden by Matt Wilkinson with 9.42 remaining in a 30 minute heat. It was a wave which defined his whole year. He went upside down tight in the pocket on a medium-sized right. Once, twice, four times. A low six all day every day. He needed a 5.9. Judges gave it a 5.57, just .3 better than a two turn wave he opened on. It was perplexing.
Wilko was close to tears in the presser. Cooked on the inside and out.
“It felt like a point better,” he said “but it wasn’t.”
What now? Back to the QS? Or a devastatingly truncated career ending? There are no good options left for Wilko unless he wins Portugal and Pipe. I may be jumping the shark again here but the chances of that are nil.
The next heat will likely be the heat of the contest. Maybe the year. De Souza, Callinan and Cardoso. It opened right up, became Rimbaud’s famous banquet from Une saison En Enfer at which all “hearts opened and all wines flowed”. Callinan blitzed the place with an improved Occy approach. Actually more like another Australian goofy-foot who came and went too quickly, Shaun Cansdell.
The great Adriano De Souza answered back. If there is anyone qualified to speak about winning heats, both through strategy, mental warfare and adapting skill set it is ADS. The first to get under Slater’s skin after AI and rattle his cage. One of the very few to totally update and perfect a skill set when most ossify and stagnate. For the first time all event a crowd on the beach felt the vibe. Callinan finished with a pair of nines. Check the analyser but it won’t have the sudden impact of the live viewing.
The next two heats mellowed out. Medina looked insane but still lost to Mikey Wright in round four. Rosie bought that to his attention and he gave a little smirk.
“We’ve had some weird heats,” he said “but I can’t say nothing.”
The Quarters were sick. Connor smacked a wave starved De Souza, who got lost paddling in the rip. I haven’t got the stats in front of me but I know R-Cal enjoys a solid winning record against Jordy and despite a patchy middle section of his heat he beat him comprehensively.
Julian and Mikey had the best Quarter of the four. Whatever Julian has done since Surf Ranch his surfing has never looked so free and so radical. He opened with a greased straight air to the flats first wave. Intention noted. A tad past the half way mark he pumped three times and launched a straight slob air, very high,that made a mockery of the red bull Air show. Judges lowballed it and in the end the heat looked closer than it was. Mikey was outclassed.
Final quarter was Medina hunting a line-up in the throes of deterioration from a niggling S wind and raging tidal flow. No man alive flenses the carcass of a decaying beachbreak like Gabe Medina. He proved that in last years Final and again, although the scores looked close at the end and Seabass surfed insane Gabby was dominant from start to final siren.
God it’s a relief when the back markers get out of the road and a man can be truly and honestly positive. I think the Tour should be stripped back after Surf Ranch and enter Europe lean and mean.
What? You think that’s convict logic too? PS: How good does Mikey Feb look on a Red Beauty?
Ah shit…. mutherfucker. I tapped again and hit the couch, thinking they would finish tomorrow. A little bing woke me up. They are finishing. They are finished.
Semi finals in classic French high tide left-hand shorebreak. Good looking crowd of mostly healthy people. R-Cal riding the wildcard dream wave over Coffin.
No great insight to pick another epic showdown between Gabe and Julian Wilson as the heat of the contest. And that was what it was. Totally nutty. Julian threw an air, Gabe launched. Wilson greased a huge corked, inverted backside rotor. Judges took an age to award a unanimous ten. Gabby rode a million more waves but couldn’t find the one to equal the boost. Again, it made the air show redundant.
What is it with all the studs getting their rigs out in the pressers? Is that building the audience?
A fog delay. Unbelieveable. They start the final. R-Cal gets a score, then another. The fog moves in again. I am hallucinating off my head. Sun sets, five minutes to go. Julian lays out another fully corked tail high backside rotation. That’s it.
Thats the victory.
Time to swill the Wilson kool-aid.
Quiksilver Pro France Final Results:
1 – Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.34
2 – Ryan Callinan (AUS) 14.23
Quiksilver Pro France Semifinal Results:
SF 1: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 15.30 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 11.43
SF 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.67 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.44
Quiksilver Pro France Quarterfinal Results:
QF 1: Conner Coffin (USA) 13.50 def. Adriano De Souza (BRA) 7.83
QF 2: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 15.77 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.03
QF 3: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.10 def. Mikey Wright (AUS) 14.23
QF 4: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.44 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 10.73
Quiksilver Pro France Round 4 Results:
Heat 1: Conner Coffin (USA) 12.50, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.20, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 10.80
Heat 2: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 18.53, Adriano De Souza (BRA) 16.50, Willian Cardoso (BRA) 12.44
Heat 3: Mikey Wright (AUS) 13.96, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 13.90, Michael Rodrigues (BRA) 6.70
Heat 4: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 15.90, Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.10, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.07
2018 WSL Men’s CT Jeep Leaderboard (After Quiksilver Pro France):
1 – Gabriel Medina (BRA) 51,770 pts
2 – Filipe Toledo (BRA) 51,450 pts
3 – Julian Wilson (AUS) 47,125 pts
4 – Italo Ferreira (BRA) 33,490 pts
5 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 32,020 pts
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Highlite for me was not having to listen to one single moment of BL,s dronning bullshit.
Can’t believe there is any debate about LT comments on Asing.
Do we want brutal honesty and critic we crave for this sport, or the same old boys club “nobody wanting to criticize their mates” surf journalism?
This is WHY i love his comp reviews.
This is why none of them want to cut tour back to top 16. They don’t want to hurt surfers feelings.
Once they sign the contract, grab that nice coin and announce they are a professional, we have right to criticize them if they are hopeless, just like I would a shit tradesman or engineer working on my site.
#makeasinggreatagain
#draintheswamp
The top 5 only shine because we have laboured through the back 30 and though I don’t disagree some heats are hard to take I still enjoy the journey to the top and the anxiety of waiting for someone like Julian to win.
The top 5 need the Keanu’s and the people need the Keanu ‘s to know there is hope.
griffen answers door. looks at rosie. looks at pants. blushes. ‘was it as good for you as it was for me?’ snake films all. close up on stain. cut away. snake excitedly adjourns to lonely bed room muttering ‘oh boy!’
No redemption? What about a punter that pulls himself off the canvas after multiple beat downs and finally paints his masterpiece?
#BeachGritFanPorn
#MeToo
The Wilko bromance was a bust. Hats of to micro for the job he did for the year and change he had Wilko’s attention. Snake is the best coach I reckon. Straight talk express.
Julian, at home in wobbly beachbreak, used his new found dadpower to boost an air over Callinan; that was smooth.
When I watched he heat analyser of the first heat he was in, my first reaction was “That looks like a pretty good day at Coolum”. If only I wasn’t so risk averse, I might have put some hard earned on him.
A temporary regret is better than an empty wallet.
In the Battle of the Cronulla Coaches ( sounds like a bus company ?) The King came out on top . Congratulations Andy King and Dog Marsh . Vive Cronulla and Vive La France !
Medina beat Julian. sad but true
Yeah that’s what I saw as well. Julian’s 10 wasn’t and Gabes last wave was woefully underscored. I wanted Julian to win but he really didn’t.
Ahh – but it guarantees a final show down at the last event of the year, right ?
It’s what all Watermen want, right ?
You can script this?
I dunno. But it does make the cynic in me wonder.
Waterman and owner has a public bleat – et voila !
Coincidence ? Probably.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire, I say.
But that would mean the judges are …. [GASP]
…flaming gay. Yes, you’re correct.
Yes it was hard to see through the fog and possibly the worst video images of a mind blowing air since Julian’s 10 for another air he did in Portugal a few years ago . Medina ,who was on fire the whole event ,got taken down by his old nemesis again and this time it wasn’t even close ?
It is a bit of conspiracy only one angle of Juiian’s air was shown. Looking at the clearer footage angle in this video, it did not look like a 10 to me. Sage Erikson called 9.87.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
I’m a Medina supporter and I think Julian’s air was a 10. Its sick. I just watched it about 5 times now (viewing the Post Show, which I missed last night) and also watched it live. The twist he gets is amazing. Chicken skin. I think Julian’s 2nd wave was overscored by 0.67. I think Gabriel’s 1st was scored as high as it could be, slightly generous, because the air was very flat and wasn’t exiting. Gabriel’s 2nd wave I would have scored 8.2 (max). It was better than the 1st air but still flatish. So if I am generous and give Gabriel an 8.4 for the 2nd wave, reduce Gabriel’s 1st wave to 7.5 and reduce Julian 2nd wave by 0.67, Julian still wins. I think it was closer than it was scored by the judges but for me Julian has by far the best wave and won. Julian couldn’t land one backhand air at the pool but stuck two great airs in France. Julian seems definitely a mummy’s boy and fatherhood has brought his only two convincing & dominant wins. He was gifted twice against Medina (Portugal and Pipe) and got lucky in Tahiti against Medina (when Medina made a mistake of catching a wave when he did not have to; giving up priority with 1 minute to go). Julian’s looking much stronger mentally and Medina is the best (visible) forehand tube rider on the planet and equal to the best of all time (better than John, on forehand). I think this year is shaping up as the best showdown. West swell at Pipe makes Medina favourite. Northish swell at Backdoor don’t count out Filipe, who got an incredible 10 at Backdoor and is as good as anyone at Backdoor. Of course, Julian is great at Backdoor. Julian’s 10 at Kirra this year was so sick. Medina can weave Backdoor.
I dont care
Good write up. I’ll concede that Julian’s 10 may have been. The video is quite foggy. Agree with what you say about Medina except for the forehand tube riding part. He’s very good, but not as good I think as JJ or Kelly. Overall with JJ out Medina is the best on tour and should be world champ. If JJ included, then I say head high and below Medina best. Head high and above JJ.
Personally, I have never seen anyone surf a forehand tube (except maybe Curren, Shawn Briley or Kelly; or single fin era MP or Shaun Tomson) as deep as Medina. I haven’t seen John surf a forehand barrel as deep as Medina. This is where Medina is underrated. He is more than a great tuberider. He is up there with the greatest. Medina got a 10 in this 1st contest at Fiji, at 17 yo, where the commentators gave up on him and the camera lost him. He got at 10 at Tahiti last year where he backdoored a section that had already broken, similar to Julian’s 10 at Kirra but even further back. Medina has unbelievable control of his forehand tube riding, where he can make his board suck backwards towards the back/top/foam ball of the tube, thus keep himself so deep. He is the best on the forehand, imo. Even better than Owen. My opinion.
He’s (Gabriel) the best at speed generation. When in fast running tubes that might outrun a lesser surfer he’s able to catch up and get out. But overall tube riding which includes stalling, knowing when to pull in and the ability to ‘hang on’ when turbulent, for my $ it’s JJ or Kelly. With a gun to my head I would say Kelly. But no doubt GM is a very good tube rider….like all the greats, he has no surfing flaws.
totally agree.
Recap has Toledo smoking R-Cal IMHO?
Perhaps
it was one of several heats that could have gone either way.
I missed it live but on the analyser it looks a narrow victory to Toledo.
It’s still so subjective isn’t it.
That French beachbreak is some great surf, it actually makes watching enjoyable(I guess it is fickle.
WSL “note” since inception –
Surf better than the other guy
Not that confusing really.
Doubling down, Steve-o, I like it. But it’s also ok to say that Keanu’s just an irritating little god-bothering fuckwit and no-one wants to listen to him.
Couldn’t agree more on that RD4 heat with ADS, Callinan and 🐼. Absolute belter. Best I’ve seen in a while.
No mention of the Pete x Kaipo sexual tension spaz fest? They made Turps and Pottz look like stone cold pros today.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
all the turps we need
WTF with those guys. How was the explain priority awkwardness? Maybe was priority on who is giving or receiving?
while i am with you and this homo erotic banter between the Condor and The Pineapple (get a room without a livefeed and have at it boys)
Keanu was actually pretty insightful in this. Heat strategy is the only thing winning him heats (where available)! He is a stategy specialist and a self proclaimed lesser talent than most of the tour. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesnt work hard” and such are his post heat cliff notes. I guess my argument is more for Longtoms bashing of Keanu’s qualifications to give his heat expertise.
How many heats did fucking Micro win? The ones he did sure as fuck weren’t based off of raw talent. But he’s got half the fucking tour swarming his mousy little nuts to coached by him. When you gotta find a way to win against people far more naturally skilled than you, youre a fucking strategist. And Keanu has a WCT win under his belt, which is more than you can say for more than half of that tour.
Why no skill/technique development?
If the skill set isn’t up to scratch all the strategy in the world won’t keep you on the CT.
You’re going to get your arse bounced back to the QS quick smart.
Wouldn’t that be lesson one from an astute coach?
Fucken A
No skill development? The guy would have practiced every day since he was a grom. Still would. They talked to him about heat strategy because despite that skill development he is not as skilful as Medina, Jules and co. So he has made a go of it by having above average heat strategy. Just like Micro.
Practice is not the same as skill development, not the same thing at all. If there is no conscious effort at developing/increasing skill set all practice does is ingrain the insufficient skill set.
Not my thoughts, read Eriksson.
https://peakthebook.com/ind…
And judges don’t score strategy.
I’m sure he’s done both. And no amount of ‘skill development’ will make him surf like Medina or you and I surf like Asing. I would say effective heat strategy does win some heats, and loses some in the absence of it.
Agree JD. Then throw in the vagaries of mother nature and some surfers more consistently better than all the others at reading the ever-changing conditions. It sure makes for a fascinating sport in terms of predictability. Nonetheless the cream will still rise. The top ten will more or less still remain there for a good while. Bet on it…
But Keanu and Shimooka’s strategy got him back on tour , realizing and reacting to the the fact that there were points to be made at the 3000 point and 6000 point events last year ( At least for the winner ) while others failed miserably trying the all or nothing method and only surfing the greatly reduced number of 10000 point events .
“Does coaching work? Yes. Good coaches provide a truly important service. They tell you the truth when no one else will” – Jack Welch, American businessman. Same could be said for keen observation and astute analysis. Keep her lit LT.
Coaching hasn’t helped Wilko one bit
he was a contender with Micro , but watching his heat , judges crucified him , he is not the flavour anymore!
I now prefer his wide l-nose stubby board days, wilder maybe, less homogenised?
The idea of coaching, among myriad other things, turned Wilko from the cool weirdo fringe guy on tour to a slightly more eccentric version of Ace Buchan. Crazy how boring he is sans bull fighter wetsuits. Yawn.
If you actually looked at Keanu’s social you would see him out there trying rotations and such. Being 5’4″ with a stocky build doesnt exactly lend itself to being able to leverage rail work like jordy, or the aerial prowess of Felipe. So to think a coach can stretch your body out about 6.5″ in height would be a hell of a coach. The fact the guy finds ways to qualify is quite impressive really. The guy moved to San Clemente as well rather than just sitting on the rock and complaining.
I would love to hear more insight from you, if it were actually insightful. You’re merely spouting your own baseless theories with no basic comprehension of what actual skill and technique development requires at that high of a level. Your dig at surfing better than Chas does not let you off the hook for your obvious lack of skillset in the water.
Thank you Cap’n
wasn’t it weird, couldn’t work out whether they wanted to fight or fuck.
i think you may be the fuckwit
scottheybuddy more
Possibly the best series of airs in an event Julian has done since the Hawaiian Pro 2014 at Haleiwa ?
After a six pack of Brazilian wins I was sitting down peacefully with the screaming kids watching the final when I heard the hooter suddenly sound prematurely and I had horrible flashbacks to that other Julian final that never finished ………………. then realized it was France. A place where a man can surf alone and still feel like he is at the top of the food chain and no oversized fish was going to rob me of the joy of having one of them win it.
“A place where a man can surf alone and still feel like he is at the top of the food chain” hahahaaa it’s so true, they pride themselves on seafood but I’ve never looked upon a body of water so lifeless
you would actually be surprised how much more sea life there is now than the 80’s!
Don’t get me wrong, the place is beautiful, and I know there’s fruit de la mer, but doesn’t it just feel like there’s no sea life out there?
You’d be surprised . I was living in a tiny town on the beach and the only distractions outside the season were cards and fishing . We had a few basking sharks swim through the lineup , Bass ( great eating ) and regularly shared the left hand rip bowl with schools of mullet but there just not that threat of being consumed by a White , Tiger or Bull shark .
Did you witness the ‘couple strolling an empty pram on the beach’ days?
Let’s just do a little check-in on the ‘ol Facebook stream to see the masses tuning in to a very important heat, shall we?
(8:30am PST. Los Angeles, South Bay to be exact whaddup Erik!)
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Fucken Hell.
The screen grab of the year !
432 regional viewers, where all global regions coincidentally also have 432.
It’s been a while since we had a good comments section romance.
Should definitely have a stripped-back tour. I’m thinking 7 “qualifying” events and four elite events – let’s call them “grand slams” or “majors”. You could have one in Australia, one in France, one in New York….
the 4 majors is an absolute must. Pipe, Chopes/Cloudbreak, J Bay, Indo somewhere.
Does the WSL circulate these classified memos before every contest? The CT Pros seem just as confused by the scoring as they were after it was first introduced at a CT event. Reminds me of the new NFL rule penalizing defensive players for not avoiding landing atop a QB with their full body weight. No one gets it. Those judging the play. Those playing. Is it purposeful?
Maybe it was just me but I thought that 2 air wave from Medina was a little underscored, and Julian’s 6.67 was a little overscored. Still thought Julian had it just didn’t understand the scoring on those 2 waves.
C’mom Longtom, Nick was specifically taking you to task for getting a bit above yourself for saying Asing’s opinions on heat strategy have no credibility.
Given that Asing has won enough QS heats in a year to qualify for the CT and that he has actually won a CT event, if Asing has no credibility to comment on heats, where does that leave you, or me?
He is not a world class surfer.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
The fact that he could qualify and then re qualify the next year would challenge the legitimacy of your statement.
Are you suggesting you’ve never put money on Asing to win?
god that is self serving rubbish
I’m late to this whole party, didn’t watch anything live just a few recaps.
Can anyone explain the R-Cal koolaid to me?
I watched Toledo vs R-Cal recap and thought Toledo got robbed unless Shaun Cansdel half turns circa 2010 was the gold standard?
You clearly have taken up surfing late in life
I use numbers and data and 30 years of careful observation of actual champions winning heats and World Titles to base my commentary on. The rest is woo and WSL spin.
Wrong answer. Well sort of wrong. We can all comment on what’s wrong with a footballer’s game or a golfer’s swing and dare I say it a surfer’s technique. But we have to admit that all these sportsmen are way better than us mortals. Not brush it off as ‘so what, I watch a lot of sport’.
See, I’m not comparing my surfing skill with Asings skill, that would be ludicrous.
I’m comparing his skill with the rest of the CT field.
2 seasons, shunted straight back to the QS each time. In that context, the CT win at small running, slopey lefts looks like an aberration. An exception, not a rule.
A teacher has a class of a hundred students. 90 of them flunk and 10 get honours.
What do you ask that teacher? Why are you so successful? Or, why do so many of your students fail?
The bigger point I was trying to make is that the WSL seems hell bent on imposing this “everyone’s a winner, everyone gets a gold star” narrative.
Sport don’t work like that. Not a real sport that wants to attract paying fans.
You don’t pretend your losers are winners because that confuses the casuals and disrespects the winners.
Do I need to be an expert CT heat surfer to make those observations?
Or do I just need to be able to look straight ahead at the numbers and make the obvious conclusions.
The participation award goes all the way up in surfing, other sports take criticism on the chin.
Even if you compare his skills to the rest of the CT field, how many of them did won a CT event? Asing did. And beside the debate on whether he should be given the opportunity to give his insights, the real question is, did he say something accurate? He seemed pretty articulate and precise to me, that’s what we expect from a commentator don’t we?
seems to me you have no idea
You’re right there’s no such game as good cop/good cop, we can’t all be on the same side or it’s not sport.
It was Mr Carroll and the other guy who were having a go at you along the lines of “wait til you have been on the CT before you comment”. Which I agree is impractical (not to mention a bit condescending), otherwise the only pundits in the world would be former elite competitors. There is however, a fine line between labeling someone a journeyman with no hope, and heaping them full of scorn. But hey it’s the internet and we all run the risk of our comments being misconstrued. Play on!
the semi’s and final were held in junk surf , onshore , sloppy close outs.
Today it’s 10’+ and offshore , La Gravierre this morning and 12’+ La Nord for lunch!
You think they should have held the Finals today?
fuck yeah , last nites semis and final was the worst surf of the comp , heading down now , its sunny offshore and pumping!
Exactly!! Today is perfect and offshore, best day of the week to run the finals…WSL go it all wrong on this one…