Simple and free.
Let us be very frank and honest with each other. The World Surf League is so bad in its role as the “global home of surfing” that it has even stripped the joy out of fun making. Everything, and I mean everything, is wrong with the farcical show other than the fact that it airs to YouTube for free. Or airs to YouTube for free until final’s days which are magically ported to the worldsurfleague.com and its wonky funk.
It is unnecessary to recount the bloat, missing multiple live waves every single heat, inane booth chatter etc. but what regularly gets me is that none of it ever changes. The various World Surf League chiefs treat it all as if God, after handing Moses the Ten Commandments atop Mt. Sinai, also passed along the Official Rules and Regulations of Professional Surfing at its Highest Level Never to be Altered or Touched by Human Hands.
Asinine and made perpetually more so when other niche sports do themselves proud by experimenting with stale formats, bending the “established ways” to fit what makes them unique and special as opposed to the other way around.
And let us take snowboarding. As you know, I am currently in Canada searching for depressed Erin Brooks fans. Natural Selection, the core lord snowboarding event, just so happens to be in town and likely running tomorrow. Now, like many bracketed competitions, riders go head to head, sans repechage, but how to seed? In the old ways wherein highest ranked goes against lowest ranked because that is the way God intended?
No.
Natural Selection hosts an event at the kickoff of the window, introducing all riders then randomly selecting a name. The winner gets to choose when he/she wants to drop. At the beginning, it is mostly about timing but as the draw fills, it becomes about whom the selected think she/he can beat.
The glove slap across face receiving oooohs and aaaaahs from a captive audience.
But what if professional surfing plagiarized? How much more fun would it be to see John John Florence pick his foe instead of simply going up against some low ranked cannon fodder? To see Italo Ferreira dancing the samba while pointing at Griffin Colapinto?
Too bad the World Surf League cannot change anything.
Ever.
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Any line worth choosing in Revy is a Pipe drop, anyone with the insides of Felipe could never step
Recently run Australian Boardriders Battle blows away anything the WSL could ever imagine.
Didn’t the WSL take their wall of positive noise approach from Natural Selection?
Reports the WSL will be selling these on Finals day in the Papa Toledo tent as well as free BBQ … at least 1 good decision.
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If WSL surfers mixed with Natural Selection… Felipe would pull out of Revelstoke with a stomach ache and be seen a day later crusing groomers at a hill in the northeast… Caity would be in the final versus Zoi and proclaim “Revelstoke is for the f$#king girls”…
Sounds good, I want v David de silva at Margs for my heat
The WSL reminds me of one of my one of my favorite snacks the snickers bar and its current shrinklation tactics. The only way to stick it to them is by not purchasing there product. I want that 10% back.
Maybe this approach can be implemented for the mid seas cut. Just names in a hat. Would you draw names of who goes? Or who stays? I’d say who stays. Much drama and suspense then you’re left with a bunch of disappointment.
With hidden immunity idols? Please?
‘If any surfer has a hidden immunity idol and wishes to play it, now is the time’
*Fred Morais stands up*
I’m confused, isn’t this the same WSL that changed things up four years ago and have never been forgiven by their core audience?
Exactly…
The World Surf League can’t even seed a CEO. Which just goes to show God has a sense of humor.
Ya think JMD will be done bar hopping and make it to the finals?
Sure, she’d never miss a late night Waffle House finale. Wait….what was the question?
Anyone else think its weird that extreme sports are the most boring to watch?
Too much down time and without good commentary and booze it is a real bore.
I hereby appoint you head of WSL
Oh boy. My big break.
Kelly already
Chooses when he’d like to drop
The countries at least
Not enough pools for everyone to have an ocean across the USA and potentially capture a broader audience though. After the Palm Springs fiasco, not sure that there ever will be.
Shit, didn’t realize it’s STILL closed!
Even for Canadian standards, has there ever been a higher concentration of beanies and flannels than at the Natural Selection seeding ceremony? Maybe a Conner Coffin concert?
The only problem with the wsl is getting good waves
Which is the ultimate uniqueness of surfing
And JMD (sandunes)..and kaipo…and Joe.. and top heavy computer slaves …and Felipe…and venues back to front…and shitty sponsors… and…
Ran into a famous journalist in El Salvador way back and asked him why so many countries struggle with their government. His thoughts was that people get the government they deserve. So there you have it. We deserve the WSL.
You can’t take surfing and make it a snowboarding contest/exhibition. The NS forum is super exciting for snowboarding but it’s not a real competition. First of all, its and invite only affair that naturally keeps the competitive level fairly even across all competitors (basically you don’t have a situation where JJF chooses Ramzi Boukhaim as his competition). More importantly and has been brought up numerous times, snowboarding occurs on a repetitive and fixed surface while surfing relies on a surface that changes by the second and a power source that is inconsistent at best. The NS method would never work.
Well let’s take Surfing to closest thing to a fixed surface. ie World class reef breaks
Closest thing to a fixed surface in surfing is a pool though, at which point it is no longer surfing.
A fixed surface.. Felipe’s face staring out at 5′ pipe.
My point is more that surfing will never be on a fixed surface with a repetitive medium. There is nothing better than a specialty event that invites the best of the best at that spot (Padang Cup comes to mind). Problem is that many of the best aren’t allowed to compete in those events making them nothing but novelty events that don’t have the best of the best. They end up with a few of the best and bunch of nobody’s. That is nothing like Natural Selection.
Natural selection is hardly a half pipe.
This is true but mountains and snow don’t move and constantly change by the millisecond.
Don’t be so black and white. It’s an interesting concept and one that Surfing could borrow from.
Surfing might take place in the ocean with shifting sandbanks and different swell directions, yet still the result based on the break and time of year, is largely still pretty predictable (repetitive). For example everytime they go to Peniche you more or less know what they’re in for and much the same can be said for any tropical reef pass.
Uhhh, the water is constantly “shifting” under you. They call that hydrodynamics. Try look it up.
What an absolutely clueless take. Fixed surface? Repetitive? Have you ever seen one of the events?
Courses change for every event, and change during the event as lines get picked off. Some lines are only rideable once, since the amount of snow moving down the mountain with the rider basically destroys any chance of it being ridden again.
“it’s not a real competition” – really seems like you’ve never even watched the event… maybe watch the highlights from BC last year, or just go spend some time in the backcountry
Are you a fucking moron? Yes genius, snowboarding takes place on a fixed surface. Its called snow and it doesn’t move. As it is a fixed medium, the runs are repetitive, meaning they repeat themselves on the same surface as last time (not the same exact fucking line). And yeah dumbass, Natural Selection is not a “real” competition when compared to the WSL. Its an invite only event making it a specialty event and not part of a typical tour where invites are based on past results. So go ahead and stick your lame condescending approach up your ass. Maybe you need to spend less time being cunty and more time surfing so you can realize that snowboarding and surfing are 2 totally different sports with very different competitive approaches ya fucking downvote dildo. People who have spent time in the backcuntry and surfing know the difference.
BTW-my money is on Backstrom for the win.
It’s called snow and it doesn’t move. Hahahahaha
“ It’s called snow and it doesn’t move” – you obviously have not spent much time in the backcountry if you’re spouting nonsense like that.
And you clearly don’t know shit about surfing if you think they are similar Billy boy.
You just caught your first Barrelled today
Why are you at Natural Selection? Can’t imagine there is any thought of Lodge Grit coming back.
The bread winner forced him to be there
I just wanted to see if he would admit Circe made him go or if he would come up with some weird ass excuse that somehow included bourbon, cashmere sweaters and Topsiders.