The more they win, the less it seems like an act.
The more buzzer beater victories they have, and the greater
composure they show, the more we might begin to wonder if they have
unearthed a secret.
Call me ignorant, but I don’t follow
the news.
Most of the time I have no idea what’s going on in the
world. I know nothing about politics. I’ve voted exactly once in my
life.
I have no social media aside from a Twitter account I
opened six months ago, a necessary evil to find and promote
writing, but I hate it. I enjoy neither self-promotion nor
self-doubt.
I want to keep my world simple, do my own thing.
But I struggle.
I’ve never felt satisfied for any length of time.
Forever I’ve felt like I’m falling short of some unidentified
purpose.
Life is a speeding thought train I can’t get off.
Things flash into focus and are gone again before I’ve really seen
them. I never really know what to dedicate my time to. When I do
try to stop, all I want to do is get moving again, to find the next
thing.
I think often
about how other people feel about their lot, how they approach
things.
Generally I’m
envious of those who seem able to focus on singular goals or
passions.
I think that’s why I was drawn to writing and reading.
To immerse myself in different worlds, to know things intensely and
love them fiercely, if only for a short time.
It’s like a series of joyrides. I’m having the most
fun imaginable, but then I walk away and leave them, upside down
with wheels still spinning.
I wonder sometimes if life is easier for people who
don’t think too much.
And if you don’t have a wandering mind, and you can
find something to love, do you have greater capacity to dedicate
yourself to it?
Is it easier to empty your mind if it’s not very full
in the first place?
That’s four WCT competitions, including the last three
in a row, that have been won by two young surfers leaning heavily
into Eastern philosophies of meditation and mindfulness.
Griffin
Colapinto and Jack Robinson.
The more they win, the less it seems like an act. The
more buzzer beater victories they have, and the greater composure
they show, the more we might begin to wonder if they have unearthed
a secret.
Our only real cause to doubt them is the hamming of
their methods by Joe Turpel and his ilk. But let’s face it, they
have the capacity to make anything sound disingenuous.
Colapinto
noted yesterday that he has been learning from watching Jack
Robinson’s approach.
Good artists borrow, great artists steal.
You become a great dancer not by standing at the front
of the class looking at yourself in the mirror, but by standing at
the back, giving yourself space to dance, and by watching those in
front of you.
At this point, Griffin Colapinto’s dancing has made me
sit up and take notice.
Honestly, I wasn’t convinced we would see a repeat of
his Portugal victory anytime soon. The waves were sub-par, his
meditation seemed juvenile. It seemed like the kind of win a
talented surfer might get when he catches a vibe, but not
necessarily one he could repeat.
But repeat he did, today in El Salvador. And though we
might question the quality of the waves throughout the event, and
the consistency of the scoring in the final, we cannot question his
overall performance, nor the quality of his opponents.
Jordy, Kanoa, Gabby, Filipe.
If you beat those men in the course of an event, in
any conditions, you deserve the win.
Most
impressive is his fearlessness, especially when faced with
Toledo.
Just imagining the sheer speed, power and amplitude
Filipe conjures is enough to diminish most competitors before
they’ve even reached the water.
Not so Griffin.
Yesterday he virtually called out Medina when he
claimed he’d been a boy the last time he saw him, and he was
looking forward to facing him as a man. Another statement that
marked a changed in his psychological makeup and perception of the
world.
Today, in the post heat interview after manhandling
Medina, it was Filipe he called for. He’s been the best, he said. I
want him.
In the aftermath of his victory over Toledo he gave a
brief interview with Strider from the water.
“Comeback performances, those are what I dream
of,” he said. “If I’m in that position, I love it.”
We know from past commentary that he’s referencing
literal dreams. The surfers Colapinto sees in his visualisations
are those he defeated here.
Medina has made two semi-finals in his first two comps
back, and in both he looked like a potential winner.
His recent happy-go-lucky persona was more muted today
post-loss. It was good to see that tension. Make no mistake, he
wants to be in the final five. He’ll need to win at least one of
the last three comps, and he can, as we know.
He feels his
scores have been a little lowballed recently, and I think he has a
case. (Not that my objectivity is reliable when it comes to Medina
and the amount of money I have riding on him.)
I didn’t bet on Filipe, but he, too, might have cause
to grumble about his scores. Along with Gabby and Italo, his aerial
maneuvering is still scored lower than that of other surfers.
It’s not surprising. Think how much of their surfing
the judges have watched. If they were without bias and expectation
they wouldn’t be human.
The fight for the top five is shaping up nicely. With
Rio (I can’t believe it starts in a week!), J-Bay and Teahupo’o to
go, there’s still a bit of meat on the bone.
Here’s a thought exercise I’ll leave you with, does
the fact the finals are at Trestles give some surfers a
psychological advantage from the off?
Griffin could
relax from day one, as could Filipe, as could Kanoa. Not only are
the finals taking place at a wave that’s pretty much their local
spot, but it suits their surfing.
It’s a mind game.
What if the finals were scheduled for Teahupo’o?
Who would be off the leash then?
