“It feels super weird to me. I…I… it baffles me, I’m baffled at overlooking Matahi Drollet for Nathan Hedge."
The 1988 world champion Barton Lynch, wildly popular commentator and believer in wealth distribution but not a communist, has come out swinging at the WSL’s choice of men’s wildcard for the upcoming Outerknown Pro, in a holding pattern right now at Teahupoo, Tahiti.
Pro surfing fans were stunned, some good, some bad, one week ago, when the long-retired Australian pro surfer Nathan Hedge, who is an “ambassador” for the titular sponsor was given a start in contest.
On his shamefully undersubscribed podcast, The Stoked Bloke, “Papa” Lynch lays his cards on the table, so to speak, telling his co-host Peter King,
“I don’t know if you can run an event at this venue without this guy in it. Ask anyone in the world who the best surfer out there is and even Kelly, Gabriel and John John, would say Matahi Drollet!
“It feels weird to put a novelty wildcard into this event,” interjects King.
“It feels super weird to me. I…I… it baffles me, I’m baffled at overlooking Matahi Drollet for Nathan Hedge,” says Papa. “I understand commercial responsibilities but at the same time, you want the best in the event. And Hog, Nathan Hedge, that’s his nickname, he’s a great surfer and since finding sobriety he’s changed his life, turned his life around, acted and behaved in a way that has made him proud… great guy and beautiful heart and all the best to him, but it’s a bit of a wildcard out of left field when you’re at Teahupoo and Nathan Hedge gets the wildcard over Matahi Drollet. It doesn’t feel right to me.”
Papa Lynch also rips into the WSL’s mid-year cut (“I don’t see kids’ careers as something to create drama with”) and promises upcoming interviews with parties privy to the discussions.
“My understand is, discussions didn’t go that well. My understanding is people walked out at certain points… it was forced upon them.”
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Absolutely ridiculous to put hedge in as a wild card , might as well invite me , same results…equal 17th ….get a grip WSL…your fastly becoming professional tennis !!
Not gonna listen to the podcast cos BL’s waffle is just too much, he’s awesome & stuff, full respect, but it’s like he’s trying challenge Joey Turkey for non-stop talkathon.
I do agree with the points raised, Matahi should totally get a shot & the cut is fucked, they need to make the number on the CT less not boot half of em out just a few months in.
The WSL is bizarre. Mid year cut- then they should not have wildcards after mid year. Common sense. I love the Hog, Barton, PK- classics. Anyways moving on.
Anyone ever see the regular foot kid Eimeo surf before? I think he is hands down the best surfer at Chopes. Not taking into consideration for sponsor wildcards, both he and Matahi should have gotten spots over Bourez and Hedge.
I kinda hope Barton gets loads of casual and revealing interviews from mates as a favour and it becomes a bit of a sleeper break through for him. As long as he chokes back the anti-vax nonsense.
When football clubs get relegated, their fans carry on like it’s the end of the world.
For the clubs that fight their way into a promotion, it’s exactly the opposite – the best thing that ever happened.
In American sports, no one gets relegated – same teams, over and over, it is very boring.
Of course, surfers don’t like the Mid-Year Cut as it is the surfing equivalent of getting relegated.
The whole point is to add drama and interest to the competitive year and the MYC does that very well.
I don’t think it’s added anything to the womens side at all.
Apart from handing 1 heat win walk throughs to the quarters.
Q: What’s the difference between BL and AI
A: BL is dead.
I love the fact that Barton has an opinion different than the WSL and is willing to say it. Surfers use to be independent thinkers. Now when they interview the Pros they can’t stop thanking the WSL because they are so scared of stating they got burnt by judging on the last heat and be punishedby the WSL. Pro surfing has become more wimpy than pro golf or tennis. How about growing a set and speak out.
I love BL, but it is safe to say that if he was still retained by the WSL, he would not be saying anything remotely critical of the league. He would even be in the booth talking about how the mid-year cut brings new life to competitive surfing or some shit. It’s just the way it is.
Lynch’s quest to become surfing’s version of Grizzly Adams is consuming him in a strange narcissistic way. Man of the people is the stoked bloke but he has lost his way, and his version of the wall of positive thought he was delivering to a substantial audience. Well a lot more than he currently gathers in on his podcasts. And he knows it.
Barton’s heart is in the right place but he’s fallen into the trap of ‘post truth’ thinking.
Just because the world is a complex and bewildering place doesnt mean that everything can be rationalised away as true depending solely on your point of view.
That’s immature intelligence and fertile ground for both dimwits, and those who would seek to manipulate dimwits.
His whole “don’t believe everything youre told” schtick is just russel brand without the charisma and bombast. I feel sorry for the guy.
Believe it.
He’s always been how he is since he was competing on tour decades ago,just an older wiser version now.
And governments and their controlled media aparatus’s have infinitismally more manipulated dimwits under their spells than anyone like Barton could ever start dreaming of having.
Barton went by the moniker “the thinking man’s surfer” for many a year. But look who he was compared against.
He’s now been sucked into “conspiracy lite”. Which is just the same sort of lack of critical thinking as the anti vaxxers just without the burn it all down rhetoric.
He’s not enlightened, hes just looking for simple solutions to a world that’s too complex for him.
I’d say anyone who calls people ‘anti vaxxers’ who wouldn’t get experimental new technology jabs that are in stage 3 clinical trials until july next year and then have several more years of phase 4 and 5 to run until all the data regarding long term side effect issues are known are highly likely the ones who aren’t critical thinkers.
Can add your other comment in with that too,manipulated dimwits, for letting government and media coerce and convince them to overlook that fact.
Sugarcoating situations is always sweeter for all those
involved with vested interests too of course.
And if we’re ‘anti vaxxers’ that have decided to not get involved in a global clinical trial experiment,even after getting pretty much every other vaccine in our lives,then it’s s group i’m proud to be a part of.
Meanwhile the critical thinkers of the manipulated dimwits are balking at booster shots,have no efficacy left in a vaccine that never worked properly anyway,and have at least 5 more years of long term safety
data analysis to get through.
All humans are manipulated dimwits to various degrees.
We’re all the same coin,it’s just a case of which side of the coin one is on.
I’m on Barton’s side of it.
Im a scientist. The great failing of the internet age is letting people think that you can just pick an argument that suits your political persuation and to hell with the facts.
Science doesnt work that way.
Barton is just a guy bewildered by a complex world. Thinking guy’s surfer? Only when compared to a bunch of guys who were so good at surfing they didn’t need to finish school.
Its amazing how Hedgey in a previous article is given good press and now put shit on. Make your minds up BG
Oh does BG have to take a stance when reporting other people’s opinions?
Very good point.
“Why does the newspaper seem so thin these days?”
“Because they used to publish both sides of the story…”
Putting hedge in front of local Drollet is a fair business decision,
Got keep the dark skinned out of the comp and welcome in blowin white ppl.
Tahiti meet Hawaii 😢
Drollet got 2nd in the trials unfortunately.
Hedgey took down Andy Irons in Brazil to gift Slater another World Title.
He is sponsored by Outerknown and has made a final at Chopes.
Loyalty and respect.
And dislocated his shoulder in that final too from memory,so didn’t lose it properly,so to speak.
His podcast is undersubscribed for a reason it’s an old boring fart.
Barton and Peter King have a podcast? That sounds like Waco siege level noise pollution.
All events have a Sponsor wildcard so I get the Hedge pick.
Issue here is Michel Bourez getting one, Dude didn’t even enter the local trials?
Hedge is a name long time historians may remember. Plucking him out of the blue is fucking lame as fuck.
The WSL will never be legit unless it respects surfing and respects itself.
You’re a fuckwit mate.
Nathan Hedge is solid. Check some past footage. If it’s 10’+ thx bloke could final
Wake up to yourself when ya talking shut ya don’t know.
Forget your opinion, nobody including the co.paying for & the co running it give a fuck.
Do you know how to talk to people without throwing insults? Oh yeah, thats right its the internet, you’re faceless and get to act like a hard man with no consequences.
Truth.
Dude take a chill pill.
Kelly?
That’s Ke11y to you, serf.
He doesn’t belong at a CT event unless it’s a Legends Heat.
Go the Hog aye. Nonetheless I’m betting Hippy’d whoop your ass in a scrap. Just a guess based on intuition. Am I wrong?
They shoulda used Kevin Schultz? Idk who else even rides for OK…
Blame egghead. Its his company that threw hedge a bone not the wsl.
Well Hedgey got a great result. I feel it was a good pick by OK to give him the wildcard.
How lame are you. Self respect obviously a thing of the past.
Such staggering insight.
Agreed.
Can ya see Pip getting much further than rnd 2?
Hopefully this is Pips year to drop nuts.
He is super quick/agile so there is absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t be one of the best slab surfers in the world. He simply doesn’t want it and I can’t see it changing anytime. Deer in the headlights etc.
His only saving grace is that swell is forecast to be super S rather than W so will probably have a bit more time to pull in.
Took him off my team.
If it clicks in his head he could be lethal at Chopes. But yeah when if ever is the question
Nathan Hedge, out of thin air?
What is his QFS ranking?
What about the WSL is legitimate?
The only way that they could think of to monetize this tour was to become reality TV.
He’s sponsored by outerknown
doesn’t matter… and why does outerknown sponsor Hedge? What does he do for the company? So many guys grinding it out, a mid year cut that loses how many dreams and you give a spot to a corpo employee whose name has not been current in two decades?
Every event has a Sponsor wildcard ticket. Which is fair enough if you’re fronting the cash to run said event.
Why is he with OuterKnown? because Kelly wouldn’t want anyone on his team with a brighter star than his own.
Sport is the purist meritocracy.
You can’t run a professional sport when you intentionally comprise your program to curry favor with each advertiser.
You should be SELLING advertising instead of being controlled by advertisers.
Wild cards don’t exist in Rugby, Criquet, NFL, MLB, NBA, Soccer, ….. no legit sport allows a wild card to disrupt their competition.
You have a point, but I do enjoy VALID and competitive wildcards being thrown in the mix and i’ll most definitely be watching and praying for punchy waves for Hogg’s heat against Kelly and Pip.
what is valid about a dude who couldn’t qualify getting a spot after the league cuts the field?
comeon.
We’re talking about it and at least one of us will watch. Legit stakes 2/10? lol.
*re-qualify.
Dude rip curl drop mason ho into bells every year, as well as vic champion and no one cares.
So Hogs gonna go send his paymaster into the elimination round.
Riiiigghhttt ? Cmon Negs … jeez.
Goat fuckery again. Pip vs OK.
Hogg will want it more than 90% of the other competitors. And the head game is key element to succeeding at Chopes. Hope its pumping.
Tennis has it. Quite a few actually if you bother to google. Even olympics.
If you want to rage about inequity, how about the injury wildcard that egghead got after jbay. Or the clause for world champs coming back after sabattical. No need to slug it out in the qs, just patachute back in.
What we should have is one tour, no mid year cut and everyone who wants to gets to slug it out in 4 or 6 man heats and the top seeds parachute into later rounds. Nothing to complain about regarding fairness, though probably a lot of shit waves.
Sponsor wildcards have been in pro surfing for decades. Strange to be complaining about it now.
Team sports don’t do wildcards as they already have reserve players of their own.
Some individual sports can and do have wildcards.
So that’s an apples an oranges comparison.
you mention all team sports. Not individual sports.
Outerknown, the surfers brand for the over 60’s
Potential body double from the back, which could be useful for GOAT subterfuge.
I highly doubt OK would be giving him much money anyway.
It’s all about perspective I guess… Hedgey’s a legend in my eyes and can still take “grinders” out all day long in many different waves of consequence.
Didn’t he paddle from Namotu to Tavi in the dark back in the day? That’s gotta count for something, right? Or maybe I’m thinking of some other nuts Aussie…
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Exactly. I don’t see the problem… Ex-‘CT guy…fit as a a fiddle representing the old-guard and the brand sponsor. He’s gonna fuckin send it too. If anything maybe they should swap-out Bourez for Drollet…
Hedge fund.
He lost in the trials. Sure, why not, though? He could just as easily get a 17th like the other wilds will. They shoulda given Hedgey’s spot to Pottz for some marshmallowy, paddle battle-y goodness. The post-heat loser interviews alone would be great, consisting of 35 solid seconds of him sighing like someone just told him he had to drive Turps to the airport solo.
Bloody oath…