A three-event surf-off between Leonardo Fioravanti and Mikey Wright!
In a decision so sage and so wonderful it could be registered in an updated version of the Hebrew Bible, the WSL’s SVP, Tours & Head of Competition, Pat O’Connell, has ordered one of the two injury wildcards to be split between the Australian Mikey Wright and the Italian Leonardo Fioravanti.
The announcement from nineties superstar Pat, the former world #11 who has wrinkles on his face like cat whiskers and who once told Surfer he wanted to be friends with everybody on tour, reads,
“We have a unique situation with the WSL men’s wildcards for the 2020 season. After reviewing our criteria, as well as the independent medical board assessments, we believe both Leonardo Fioravanti and Mikey Wright have equitable cases for the second 2020 wildcard. After working with our event partners and speaking to both surfers, we have arranged for both Leo and Mikey to compete in the first three CT events of 2020 – Gold Coast, Bells Beach, and Margaret River. The surfer who finishes highest on the rankings across that opening Australian leg will receive the second WSL wildcard for the remainder of the 2020 season.”
The first wildcard, of course, goes to the Brazilian Adriano de Souza, surfing’s forgotten 2015 world champ and Brazil’s first Pipeline Master, whose title was allowed to marinate for roughly a dozen hours before Kelly Slater revealed his Lemoore wavepool.
The 2020 tour, therefore, contains these surfers.
2019 Top 22 CT:
Italo Ferreira (BRA)
Gabriel Medina (BRA)
Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Filipe Toledo (BRA)
Kolohe Andino (USA)
Kanoa Igarashi (JPN)
John John Florence (HAW)
Kelly Slater (USA)
Owen Wright (AUS)
Jeremy Flores (FRA)
Julian Wilson (AUS)
Seth Moniz (HAW)
Michel Bourez (FRA)
Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Jack Freestone (AUS)
Griffin Colapinto (USA)
Caio Ibelli (BRA)
Wade Carmichael (AUS)
Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Conner Coffin (USA)
Peterson Crisanto (BRA)
Yago Dora (BRA)
2019 Top 10 QS (minus double qualifiers from CT):
Frederico Morais (PRT)
Jadson Andre (BRA)
Matthew McGillivray (ZAF)
Jack Robinson (AUS)
Alex Ribeiro (BRA)
Miguel Pupo (BRA)
Ethan Ewing (AUS)
Connor O’Leary (AUS)
Deivid Silva (BRA)
Morgan Cibilic (AUS)
WSL Wildcards:
Adriano de Souza (BRA)
TBD: Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) / Mikey Wright (AUS)
I think it’s a great idea. I wonder what Rob Machado thinks. Mind you his career escalated once he got off tour.
I reckon that’s how these things work. Thanks for the reminder Twillsy.
Wade, Adrian, Morgan, Ethan, and Connor = Peterson, Alex, Miguel, Jadson, Deivid. Same, same.
None of those Brazilians has ever won the QS , was Rookie of the Year .finished in the top 10 or even 15 on the CT , or made a final at a 5 Star CT Event like J Bay or Cloud Break ? Research or we may claim a Pound of Flesh from your Shore ?
I’d rather see a game of soggy biscuit for the position.
SAO …. soggy SAO .
At schoolies week, back in the good old days of the early 80s, I was at a with some friends of my mate, who went to a public high school. (I had been part scholar-shipped into a classy private school). I was keen on one of the girls there, so when my mates said they were heading to the Broadbeach Hotel, I decided to stay in order to continue my efforts to tune said lady. After a while, the group went quiet, with some “you ask”, “nah, you ask” going on. I said “Ask what?”. One of them says “Andy reckons that you private school blokes play Soggy Sao every lunch hour in the school toilets”. “Hah” I replied, “He told me that’s what you guys do”.
Did end up with the girl, but she was way way ahead of me. She ended up as a radiologist while I’m delivering mail,
I dumbed it down for the masses.
Thanks Dognuts
Pat O’Connell is dork Jesus
Those black crosses look like they are missing from some pop video nipples.
So in order to take that jersey, who got screwed out of it? Trialists? Surely not sponsor wildcards
There’s 2 wildcard spots in every event, Mikey/Leo only need one of them (because one of them uses up an injury wildcard spot, not an event wildcard spot).
Gold Coast and WA have no industry sponsors so it’s easy – the sponsor wildcard defaults back to the WSL to use as they please.
So the only wildcard getting “screwed out of it” would possibly be one person at Bells – most likely the sponsor wildcard. No biggie, really.
Mason Ho: “Hey Neil (Ridgeway, RC marketing guy), what’s up
Brah?”
Neil: “Hi Mason, what’s up?”
Mason: “I heard the WSL needs a spot at Bells. Ey brah if you need to use that spot you give me every year go for it brah.”
Neil: “Thanks but we have a bunch of retail activations, autograph sessions and stuff all lined up for you that week.”
Mason: “No problem brah, I’m super bummed but I can just hang V land and shoot more vids with Coco and Pops.”
Neil: “Are you sure you don’t want to fly 10 hours for a few heats and get dragged around Torquay all week?”
Mason: “Yea brah, no prob at all.”
Neil: “Okay Mason, thanks. Let’s talk after New Year. The new owner wants to talk contracts.”
Mason: “Oh snap, changed my mind. I’ll be there for the comp.”
Hold on, how many injury wildcards?
De Sousa gets one, these guys get two more. There’s injury wildcards, two spots.
So they’re taking the spot from somewhere.
Each spot has a local trials (1 wildcard spot) and 1 event/sponsor windward.
Is that correct?
I highly doubt any event sponsor wants to give up their athletes spot.
Local trialists also.
Maybe I just don’t follow
What I’d like to see is Mikey and Leo equal on points in the 3rd round at Margs.
Then I’d like to see Mikey get a good lead on Leo and drop in on him for the rest of the heat, the ultimate gamesmanship now the precedent is set
I’d like to see Leo throw his round one heat to get reseeded against Mikey in the elimination round. Then as you described
I like the concept.
They should throw every heat and enter Margs on equal points, take a 3 month break and chill out…then best man wins at Margs!
Or maybe something like this if it’s a dead heat
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
That carpark scene was like watching two supermodels fight over a rice bubble
Yep. Always thought Mikey was a psycho with all those tatts and tough guy haircut, perhaps not
Gen Y mate, times have changed.
They get sleeve & neck tatts to look tough on insta, but still live at home and mum does their cooking and cleaning.
I’d like to see the whole Wright family gang up passive aggressively on Leo, talking about how odd it is that an Italian is trying to be on tour and how Owen looks better in a suit, and how Tyler’s heat score average from 2016 is higher than Leo’s from 2018, until eventually Leo comes down with a mysterious not quite explained malady and can no longer compete for two years.
Intimidation, the good old Aussie way…but you’re from the northern beaches of Sydney aren’t you?
Intimidation in all forms (usually oneupmanship) is pretty standard around there
Leo and Mikey were tight on the King of the Groms and now they are playing similar roles in the WSL’s King of the Proms …
I am pretty sure that Leo May have even chaired Tyler up the beach after one of her victories in Europe ?
How is Ace Buchan still on tour?
Good for him, sucks for us.
Ace was what Kolohe is ….. child prodigy ….. right country , right colour ?
As wildcards they draw Italo and Gabe. What happens when neither get beyond the seeding round after three events?
maybe they will non-eliminate each other in re-seeding super heat
It can’t happen since nobody is eliminated in the seeding round. The whole thing is a cop out by the WSL to save what little face they have left. They will be the bad guy if they choose one over the other so this lets them avoid controversy (although they will likely generate some somehow).
It depends on their respective injury wild card seedings ….. Kelly Slater was 13 seed in 2017 after 18 months off …it is even more complicated than the seeding round ( if that is possible ) and the ratings for the first 6 events of the year which is a combination of the current year and previous year’s ranking ….. ?
No ultimate surfer?
Sophie Gold’s Injury Contender Series
Fuck me, the Australian contingent looks shithouse
Cibilich will win the title guaranteed!!!
Who?
Look at that name – he’s Yugoslav, probably a Croat…..I wish someone could learn to pronounce it right.
olympics?
Za dom
Morekhunt Cilbilichich!!!!
Watch this space.
It’s not hard mate, phonetically ….. SIB – LICK, not how the seppos pronounce it SIB – IL – ICK
The guy qualified with a bung knee in Hawaii and absolutely killed it in the European QS Leg this year where the waves were basically 4 to 6ft for the 3 contests ….. One would think he might be actually suited to the so called more powerful waves on the CT as many a lad from Newcastle has done in the past since MR was a boy / seagull ?
Here’s hoping! Definitely going to win the title!
No but he is definitely in the race for rookie of the year …. stranger things have happened …Even Jeremy Byles won it won year !
It’s fireing
We’ve got that back end covered mate 👌🇦🇺
But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Did you read the Swellnet article by the Brasilian journalist about Italo? It’s a good insightful read.
Everyone is jumping on the ‘learned to surf on a cooler lid’ angle, but before ten he had a sports psychologist, nutritionist and coaches etc. Brazil might be way ahead and it’s not even discussed here. They’re in a bubble and so are we. Maybe you’re the only one not!
Yeah it’s such a shame we didn’t have the black nail polish faux punks who can’t sing , play an instrument , or even make an air in an airshow heat or make an impact for their clubs when they compete at the boardriders battle ……. ? But they suck up all the money which could go to help those at the bottom end and who will hopefully smash it next year anyway …. Remember that it has taken Kolohe 20 million US , requalifying by the QS 4 times , to finally make it to the top 5 after 9 long years on tour with the best assistance money can buy ( and still no win ) ….. just imagine what these kids could or might achieve with the same resources …..
Because they can’t complicate the tour enough they have to try harder.