Still, many questions remain.
And it is time to think about professional surfing again. The last time we were thinking about it, some two weeks ago, Filipe Toledo was thrilling near Rio while John John Florence broke our hearts. Oh the pop of that anterior cruciate ligament threw the entire 2019 World Surf League Men’s Championship Tour race right into the trash. Or not the trash, per se, but… don’t you think the eventual winner will forever have an asterisk after his name?
John John Florence wasn’t just leading. He was lapping the field. He was doing so well that there was word the World Surf League was going to drop him to the very bottom of the World Qualifying Series rankings to see if he could re-climb into the Jeep Leaderboard Yellow Jersey just for fun.
The odds were set at even.
Well no more. Gone in a puff of flyaway. Disappeared certainly now and likely forever. Two world championships and a dump truck load of what might have been.
But I’m sorry, this is BeachGrit where anti-depressiveness is a way of life and there are still fun storylines to parse.
Like, will Kolohe Andino finally shake off the burden of great expectations and stamp his mark on 2019? Dino Andino’s second favorite child is sitting in second place and J-Bay’s racetrack rights are custom made for a coming out party. Agree?
Will Filipe Toledo strangle his countrymen or will Gabriel Medina regain form or will Italo Ferriera stomp all-comers? I’ve liked the cut of Italo’s jib the most this year. Haven’t you?
Will Kanoa Igarashi accidentally win another few events, getting lucky by catching miniature J-Bay (forecast looks bad) Teahupo’o etc., then become an international sensation like the Korean boy band BTS (pictured above)?
Will Jordy Smith slide one spot or three spots after choking in his hometown event?
Will Kelly Slater continue to inspire? Now that John John is out of his way is he smelling non-shark attack related blood in the water?
And what questions do you have?
I must say, I thought there really was going to be an overwhelming cloud of depression when I began writing this little jingle but now my sails are filled with wind.
Tell me you aren’t almost too excited.
See you in fourteen-ish hours!
Will Outerknown finally make denim outfits like those of the Korean boy band? Itd be a nice complement to the $58 dollar tee that came across my FB feed..
If you are getting outer known ads across your Facebook feed your browsing history screams VAL. I get penis enlargement and pay day advance loan ads so I reckon I am pretty safe.
Kanoa ,I hope will win again but will never be big in Korea .
Korea hates Japan more than China hates Japan and that’s really a awful lot !
Watching Kanoa surf against Adriano is like watching Looper.
Stinkbug De Sousa is really lighting his heat up…
“See you in fourteen-ish hours!”
Open the doors.
When JJ blew out his ACL, I swore off the WSL but here i am back at 1:41 am waiting for J bay
😭
See above, I was inattentive and partially retracted. I didnt pay attention to your modifier, “small”
I guess I should’ve paid more attention to your modifier, “small”
I partially retract
I know I almost always bag on Brazzos, FT aside, because well to paraphrase Eddy Murphy in Delirious discussing homosexuals, because they’re Brazzos. But all joking aside, how the fuck does Jordy get so consistently over-scored again and again? Guy shouldn’t even be in the top 10. Free-surfing he is amazing but in WSL contests he gets 2 unmerited points added by the Judges to nearly every ride…
cough cough..dude rips on another level.. granted, in comps he can be a bit slack. He’s been consistently underscored by judges not overscored. To say he shouldnt be in the top 10 is stretching it by a country mile.
See my reply above to Louis P. I love Jordy and I think he’s one of the best free surfers in the world
Jordy is probably the most talented guy on tour, if you fail to see this, you are a blind man sir.
Like I said I think he’s an incredible surfer especially in free service but the guy gets consistently overscored by the Judges IMHO. It’s not intended as a knock on Jordy but a criticism of the judges. I think the guy surfs bionically. I eat up every non-contest video clip of his. He’s also one of my best friends neighbor in San Clemente And he couldn’t be a nicer guy.
Free surfs meant to say
If he surfed in comps the way he free surfs he would have already won at least 2 or 3 championships. Again, I love the guy and he fucking rips but I think he chokes in contests and gets overscored or he would do even worse. I hope he lights the tour on fire I’d love to see him surf to his potential and ability, the tour would actually be interesting and he would dispose of everyone but uninjured JJF. I wouldnt have to waste my time bagging on guys I have zero interest in watching surf in or outside of comps like Gabby the whiner. No kid outside of Brazil grows up wanting to surf like Gabby, plenty of kids grow up wanting to be Jordy and for good reason.
Applies to everyone not just the Brazzos as much as I enjoy taking the piss on them.
Interesting take, maybe you never saw Curren or Occy surf there not to mention D. Hynd.
Filipe wins jbay and lemoore hoedown, does well in Europe, plays defense at pipe and Teahupoo, and he’s kissing the world champ trophy at the end of the year
Definitely plausible MW
Can you please message Chas and tell him to get the comments board up !
I’m as excited as Big Kev.
Out of everyone on the list, I want Quinoa to steal the Hobgood gold!
He can win Jbay, France, Portugal, Backdoor, and place high in the pool. And he has a taste for winning now…
Chloe, Jordy, Italo, Fil, Julian- they are all perennial bridesmaids, happy with second place.
And Gabby is lost in that classic post WT bad year rut. Without John, next year is all Gabby.
The operative words being “without John”. Gabbs (the whiner) is good at winning titles, when JJF is out and injured. Like the asterisked title he “won” in 2018.
And then he can be the first Californian born and raised world champ in ages to go along with the first Californian born and raised event winner in 15 years…
Poor kid’s so confused he’s Cali raised but trying to identify as a Japanese citizen to guarantee an Olympic spot. Wait til trump chops his US passport up…
sexually?
it doesnt matter anymore that JJ is gone.
might as well cover the WQS.
they are all competing for second place and its hard or maybe impossible to care about.
Word
사랑해
When it’s this small in the forecast, do you stick with the rail surfers like coffin, Jordy, wade etc who usually dominate at Jbay or go for guys like kanoa and all the mid range Brazilians. I act like I don’t care, now I’m sitting in last place in my fantasy league and it hurts.
If you believe in butterfly effects then blame Zeke for over compensating for his lack of surfing prowess.
I’d love to see big Wade swing that power arc to the winners podium. Hard to bet against Toledo. Igarashi could win too. I’ll take Jordy, Slater and Coffin too! Fuckin paradox of choice!
1st Toledo
2nd Wade
= 3rd
Jordy
Slater
Coffin
=5th
Igarashi
Medina
Kanoa will never, ever win a title, period the end.
I’d argue that
You just did. We will see.
With or without John, I personally think (relatively, in terms of time & place) the current lot of surfers are pretty boring, apart from Gabriel, Felipe, Ryan C. Looking at the draw, its hard to get too excited. Its good Adriano is back. I like Adriano’s nugget power. Maybe Italo can reach new levels and do something special & hoping Owen doesn’t fall of or pick bad waves. Jordy & Julian maybe the most clinical surfers in history who spent their career becoming more clinical. Hopefully, Jordy loosens up. I saw him throw some big ambitious airs at Ballito when I watched about 10 minutes of the comp. The Saffa commentators said Jordy has given up drinking alcohol & is a new man. If there are no spanners around, Gabriel could win and make a comeback. Gabriel surfs J-Bay pretty sick with very pleasing lines. He would be #1 now if he didn’t suck Bibi Netanyahu’s cock during the Gold Coast comp. The Real God punishes evil.
You are by and large right Nick, other than Felipe, Wade, Mickey and Robo.
I didn’t know Dino had another child. This must be some Cross Ward problem. Anyways, that sucks for that little rascal Kolohe being 2nd favorite. That’s tough. And rough. That’s enough.
I want to know more about the boards Kelly has been riding. They are looking better than any sleds beneath his feet have looked in such a long time. Maybe reach out to the shaper for an interview. What’s different about these magic boards? Is it black magic? Is there roller where there’s rocker? Old Guys Rule? What’s the rule, use a ruler?
Kelly’s success has been from not riding his own surfboards
As a three year old grom once said to me, “obvi”