And further meditations on losing.
When it comes to the vexed issue of Pro Surfing we always think about winning because, let’s face it, we watch to see the freakish and the inspirational. We rarely think about losing but there is far more losing than winning and far more ways to lose than win, so maybe it’s time we did.
Easy enough for scribes to fuck it up. This afternoon, Australian Eastern Standard Time, they put the comp on hold and I gambled it would be off for the day and started drinking early.
Voila, they called it on and it was either drink my way through and lose all faculties or stop and deal with an early hangover before the night was through.
I stopped and in this mild funk offer a brief anatomy of losing.
In inconsistent and warbly speed-runners opportunity was scarce but there were enough for three people to have a swing. Bede Durbidge-lookalike Beyrick Devries found an early scorer then sat out the back like a buddha statue in a Bangalow garden: spiritual but impotent.
Jordy in the booth called bullshit on airs at J-Bay “It’s a turn wave,” he said sternly, “a rail event.” Jack Freestone calmly stomped an alley-oop with a late-tweaked rotation. Beyrick waited, and his winning wave came. He limped along it, under surfed it and failed to get the score required.
Way to lose number one: Surfing conservatively, nervously or tentatively on a wave and leaving too much in the tank. Worst way to lose.
Seth Moniz was all over heat two. The battle to avoid last place was far more interesting. Ace Buchan fell off, and fell off again. He was caught behind on a prime set wave. In the Aussie parlance, having a shocker.
Couzinet had problems of a different dimension.
He had no idea what the wave was doing. Out of flow, turns in the wrong spot. “Trying to find chemistry” as Ron Blakey so aptly put it. A disjointed, jagged attack on the wave of the heat pushed him into second place and it seemed like Ace’s shocker would be the reason to lose. Ace blitzed a medium sized wave and got the score to advance. Couzinet lost.
Way to lose number two: Inexperience at a specialist wave resulting in an out of sync performance.
The only time we normally focus on losing is when the judges take it into their hands and get the result wrong. Like when Fred Morais got a ten at J-Bay 2017 and knocked out JJF. Freddie didn’t need any judging help today. Nor did Jeremy Flores, the only surfer in the Losers Round who looked capable of going anywhere in the draw.
His power carves with the extra sting in the tail are now the closest thing we have to JJF’s turns, with a more classic configuration. It was Jesse Mendes who got sat in the dunce corner. Two strong rides completed and a third set wave that didn’t quite co-operate. In the end, the numbers didn’t add up.
Way to lose number three: Outsurfed by superior opponents and not enough risk taken.
Heat tour was an all-Brazilian affair and I thought Jaddy Baby might suffer the same fate as Jesse Mendes. Not self-destruct but just fail to bring enough firepower to the heat and be scored too low. Which has been his problem his entire CT career, apart from the big win over Slater in Brazil in 2010.
How do get past that? You bring your best, good enough to win QS events until the crack of doom and CT judges look at it and say “Nah mate, not good enough.” Which is what they did.
Way to lose number four: Just not good enough. Brutal assessment but that’s what is happening.
Jordy was sensational in the booth; he brings an edge to the game. I think him and Ronnie would create some magic. Filipe was a bit too modern Christian bland, if one can make that observation in this day and age. Jordy Smith the only man standing between Filipe Toledo and a three-peat? I think, yes. I don’t understand the draw and seeding system, is there an astro-physicist in the house?
Elimination Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Jack Freestone (AUS) 15.93 DEF. Ryan Callinan (AUS) 11.40, Beyrick De Vries (ZAF) 11.14
Heat 2: Seth Moniz (HAW) 14.27 DEF. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.03, Jorgann Couzinet (FRA) 11.73
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.84 DEF. Frederico Morais (PRT) 13.23, Jesse Mendes (BRA) 11.83
Heat 4: Peterson Crisanto (BRA) 13.07 DEF. Willian Cardoso (BRA) 12.20, Jadson Andre (BRA) 11.86
Round of 32 Matchups:
Heat 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Soli Bailey (AUS)
Heat 2: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Joan Duru (FRA)
Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Griffin Colapinto (USA)
Heat 4: Ryan Callinan (AUS) vs. Yago Dora (BRA)
Heat 5: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
Heat 6: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Deivid Silva (BRA)
Heat 7: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Ezekiel Lau (HAW)
Heat 8: Conner Coffin (USA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Heat 9: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Michael February (ZAF)
Heat 10: Michael Rodrigues (BRA) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 11: Wade Carmichael (AUS) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Heat 12: Michel Bourez (FRA) vs. Ricardo Christie (NZL)
Heat 13: Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) vs. Frederico Morais (PRT)
Heat 14: Seth Moniz (HAW) vs. Peterson Crisanto (BRA)
Heat 15: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Heat 16: Italo Ferreira (BRA) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS)
Jflo has the turns, but no air game. When the waves actually start to fire, FT, Kolohe, Medina, Jordz, Italo, Kelly, Julian, and maybe RyCal or Michel B will be in the finals….
Jeremy Flores make go farrrrrk with his turns a lot.
Made the same error of judgment, was lit by 3:30pm drank thru to 9 ish and woke up on the couch this morning to a screen full of missed multies and a less than impressed wifey on her way to work haha
Jesus you live the dream Krilly! a boozy, gambling stay at home hubby that sleeps in 🙌 Restecp!
Na I’m no Rory Parker mate
Ha!
The forecast looking way better.
I think Jordy is an excellent chance, not just here, but for the actual title.
I’m cautiously optimistic.
He and O came into 2019 needing to change it up in order to move up. O changed nothing, Jordy changed a lot. Fitter, sharper, more self-reliant, a bit happier too perhaps. He’s been scorched a couple of times this year by the panel but has shrugged it off whereas in the past, he’s become surly and irritated. I think his surfing will look better to the panel without JJF’s presence.
He’ll have to exceed all his previous back end of the year efforts though. History’s against him, but history can be bunk.
I have to agree that something’s different about Jordy. Usually whenever he opens his mouth I cringe and wish we didn’t share an accent (I have the same feelings about another South African sports Smith, Graham). But during his performance in the booth yesterday I didn’t shout SHUT UP JORDY once, so…
His history on the European leg confounds me. Heavy beach break and Jordy go together like chakalaka and pap, but maybe that only applies to Durban?
Marked improvements made at Pipe post-season. He’s still got some work to do, but towards the end of the season there was a surety in his backside tube riding that has been missing.
Will that translate to Teahupoʻo? I have my doubts and expect to see the usual safety surfing.
Surf Ranch? He’s got the kit to do well but I can’t be bothered.
It’s probably a moot point if he shits the bed at home, and it wouldn’t be the first time, but I still like him for the final.
Ah I ran all this stuff down on Surfline. I do think beyond the stats, moving to the Nth Shore has been a big thing for J and it will pay off down the line in 2019.
Just had a gander, nice assessment.
Maybe nxt year for the Jord Lord? He needs more tube time before he figures out Teahupoo & Pipe.
Also those stats u rolled out are sobering.
Whatevs. I’m staying with Andino.
Which title is the question
Title*
Witch Title
Jordy IS looking good, but a la LT’s article he knows how to lose. He’s done it every which way, JJF’s injury departure has now cleared the path-it’s up to Jordy to work out how to win (having only won 5 events in 14 years on the CT).
Thanks Longtom for bringing such clarity to a rather foggy losers round. The new format still seems pointless, they should just run a once and for all elimination round and get rid of 4 guys. Save us the agony and fruitless anticipation of 2 days of boredom where the obvious losers are given the brush. Jflo was the only reason worth watching today
Do they realise they could just axe 4 guys from the draw and save us 2 pointless rounds
Ha
It can’t go on.
2 rounds, to get rid of 4 guys. I can’t roll my eyes any harder
I used to consider Julian as having the best classical technique on the CT. Now, I think that title may belong to JFlo. Was trying to remember another top flight elite who has evaporated as thoroughly as Julian?
Analysis of the loss, unique take LT. Far more ways to lose…. and if you choose the right way to win, you still have to surf extremely well in that moment or there never was a right way.
Did not watch much, but is the forecast really weak or why are they running at all this early in the waiting period in shore break? I’m all for getting these weird non loser rounds out of the way asap, but still seems weird unless Huey is taking a two week nap.
Because even the WSL hates these non rounds. I kinda think there’s gonna be some very good surf in the closing stanzas.
Oh please no.
Ok thing more torturous than bad waves, is a ten day layday mid comp
Wsl gets heaps of cutaway scenes of pro surfers cuddling lions and running with the wildebeest….
Shouldn’t they be picking plastic out of a lions teeth, or freeing a cuddly hippo caught in a stray fishing net?
I’m a good 700km away from Jbay but we’re affected by the same broader swell and wind frontal patterns. Judging by the forecasted conditions for Tuesday-Thursday text week, we’re going to see some classic overhead Jbay walls with stiff offshore winds.
The same conditions that are going to make Jbay shit over the weekend are going to make my better local spots fire, so I’m sitting pretty.
J Flores. j florence
I can see how you got confused
Jeremy is a masculine given name of English origin. It is a variant of the name of the Old Testament biblical prophet “Jeremiah” in its anglicized and diminutive form. In Hebrew, the common meaning of the name Jeremiah in variation is: “May Jehovah exalt,” or “Exalted of the Lord”.
The surname Flores is believed to most likely derive from the given name Floro, meaning “flower” from the Latin flos.
A Florentine biscuit is a sweet pastry of nuts and fruit.
Ergo: JFlo, like all the best blooms, is rarely in season and even then for only a fleeting moment. His continental associations ensure a slightly fruity aroma. One that can be savored by men and women alike. It’s when in full bloom that this fruitiness is fortified by a hefty serving of nuts. JFlo is capable of taming the mightiest of oceanic swellings by harnessing his nutty power. This is the moment when one realises our fruity friend truly is held in high regard by the Lord. Figuratively and literally. For when I say holds, I mean clutches his flowery nuts in the Lord’s own hands. And when the Lord says, Jessa, how large are these nuts of which I must embrace for thee, JFlo modestly answers:
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
I reckon he has a long line of eager men and women who want to gobble up his sweet pastry of nuts and fruit…
.!. ({}) .!. ({}).!. ({}) .!. ({}) .!. ({}) .!. ({}) .!. ({}) …
My eyes weren’t up to struggling through last night, knowing that LT was on the job. I watched a bit of the Moniz, Ace, Couzinet struggle. Couldn’t work out whether Ace was being underscored early or The Cooz was being over scored. Figured it was Cooz over scored and went to sleep. And now you say they gave him the score in the end?
Also, noticed there wasn’t much in the way of “condensed heats” available yesterday. Ain’t nobody got time to watch 6 hours of sitting around being described by Joe and 89 WC…
Stab represents Australia, doesn’t matter if they have an office in the States. And Australia is really butt hurting for a surf hero right now. Julian is another Taj and Jack Freestone is just handsome, but no title threat now or possibly ever. So they’ve adopted JJF as their own, and also someone who can actually beat the Storm. JJF going down has them all crying in a corner right now so they are gonna asterisk whatever happens for the remainder of the year and whoever wins out
That’s just a v weird call Les Grossman. Yes, Australia is fucked right now – Australia is gonna be fucked for years. No, Australian pro surfing’s fan base is not really that on board with John. They like him, but they’re not emotionally committed to his success or failure. And the nation has a surf hero, except she’s a heroine, well there’s two of ’em actually. Steph and Sally get more mainstream media attention in Australia than any surfer since Mick retired.
If the Aussie guys would just hook up with some of the CT girls instead of trophy wives we’d be in better future shape
Imaginary offspring: Fanning’s power, courage and self belief/Steph’s pure style and charisma.
Goodbye KS’s 11 world title record.
… Not impossible
Style lightning
Its not that weird Nick, although I have to accept what you are saying about the Australian media coverage as I am not physically there to confirm or deny. I do doubt one thing though, that all those male groms in Coolangatta have posters of Stephanie or Sally on their walls as their heroes, or are trying to emulate their surfing versus one of the guys. As for Stab, they are fully emotionally and sexually committed to JJ, and it feels like Australians in general are behind him just on the fact that he can beat the Brazos
Jack looks weak from eating all that Vegan.
Ugly too.
Noone gives a fuk about John John. Exept for when he pops up then flix out.
BG feels more skip to me than Stab
Jack can eat whatever, Filipe is also a twig but is ripping assholes
they do give a much fuck about John John, he checks all the boxes
Whilst I don’t mind the re-seeding of the athletes between rounds the intricacies could do with some more work. There are some interesting match ups in the old second round…….Caio Ibelli vs Slater once more, Kolohe vs ADSs, Kanoa vs Frederico. Gab, Felipe and Italo should win their heats.
I thought my helpful diagram explained the seeding round etc yesterday? But perhaps some words will clarify…
At first, there’s a lot of flirtation and teasing as everyone arrives at the party and just hang out for a while. There’s a long night ahead and nobody’s getting lucky early.
Then there’s a quick game of spin the bottle and a few fugglies get sent home (but not nearly enough).
Then half the partygoers (the ones who are “nice people”) try very hard to score, while the good looking bunch play it cool. A lot of the try-hards strike out, but so do some of the cool kids who have played it too cool.
For those who are still around after that, there are a lot of hand jobs, fondling and premature ejaculations, and growing pressure to get the money shot – which can cause some to go flaccid.
At the end of the night Pottz has to mop Turps’ jizz off his face.
Nice party
JJF’s the dude-bro that goes home in an ambulance from jumping off a roof onto a fold-out table or something. Not motivated much by scoring, more by doing hectic shit. He scores (when he’s not injured) anyway, because chicks dig bad boys.
so are they? bones or not?
Kai no A will win this “Bagaça”
And will suffer multiple concussions by hitting himself in the head celebrating his victory, causing the loss of the world title and the gold medal in Tokyo 2020!
https://www.latimes.com/res…
Joan’s claim got claimed.
Like Joan d’Arc , it got burned at the stake …..
How dare you insult The Venerable like that!
https://uploads.disquscdn.c… *
*Memorabilia such as this will be available** for all you Love Bede-les through BG’s Shop should it ever launch.
**Not likely
Bede , like St Matthew , May need some help from Caravaggio’s Angels in the search for Olympic Gold ……. ?
https://www.google.de/searc…
love your work LT, but how can JFlo be closest to JJFlo, but michael jordan (smith) is the only man in the way? JFlo does have a tendency to choke, so does mjs. most likely outcome me thinks.
I’m on the JFlo train for the WT this year.
He can win Jbay*, France*, Portugal*, Tahiti* and Pipe*.
*If grinding barrels are present.
He has the passion and knows how to win.
All these other guys are bridesmaids.
I really, really, really want Michel to win chopes.
That would be just awesome for him.
J Flo for the title ?
Yep, I can swing with that but dirty lil fil …. and then GMed, ya just know he’s gonna get a roll on.
I’d rather JFlo CJ it up over anybody else on that shortlist