In wake of George Pittar win, Brazilian surf fan base turns on itself!
Weeping, as is often said, is free. For Brazilian surf fans, though, the cost has been exacted in bitter in-fighting after they were forced to watch their four biggest names put to the sword by unfancied Australian George Pittar at Margaret River.
Lie a serpent’s tongue, George Pittar flickered in an out of range, feinting low and landing high, before slamming the tip down his victim’s throat and leaving, in order, Filipe Toledo, Yago Dora, Italo Ferreira and Gabriel Medina gagging and panting, wondering what in the heavens had just happened.
Response, as documented two days ago, was poor from Brazilian surf fans, and which you can read here.
Sadly, the hysteria has split the Brazilian surf community, normally a united front, prompting spokesperson and former tour surfer Jadson Andre, who was bombarded with fury after he admitted to agreeing with the nine points awarded to George Pittar on his contest winning ride, to blame adult learners and non-surfers for the imbroglio.
(To get English sub-titles, hit the three lil dots in the top right and press closed captions.)
“People come here and say I’m not rooting for the Brazilian, a bunch of people who don’t have a photo on the beach, a photo of them surfing or doing anything. They come here and speak with the greatest authority in the world as if they understand more than me, okay?” says Andre.
“They understand more than the guys who are competing out there, right? I was out there for a just a little over ten years competing with those guys, understanding the judging criteria, but no, you’re the ones who are right, I’m wrong.”
In reply to one follower Andre clarifies,
“Our sport has reached an audience that doesn’t not understand the game.”
Do you think true? That surf fans, for the most, are dirty kooks?
Or are we staring in mirror?
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Jadson “Bite the hand that feeds you” Andre
He’s right tho – there should be a blue tick sign for authentic, authoritative and authorized commenters. Failing that, anyone with a disqus / BG profile
In fairness it is all Latin America. They are all in on social media and don’t have much to cheer about in their fucked up countries.
Poverty makes you crazy.
Fucking Brazillians they’d cheer on a coconut getting washed up on a beach if it had their flag painted on it.
I think that global surf fans are predominantly clowns*, yet Australian surf fans are primarily competent surfers. This outcome is just a broader expansion of the fact that globally surfers are mostly heinously unskilled, whilst the standard of Australian surfing is very high by comparison.
It often strikes me how poorly most international surfers actually surf. I say this from sharing lineups with them both within Australia and overseas and from my recent take-up of watching that Surflie YouTube channel that rotates from various surf cameras around the world. Most times I’m aghast at how low the ability of the average surfer at the foreign locations. Some times I’m almost convinced that there’s a surfing workshop for special needs crew being run at a spot.
Im saying this as an average Australian surfer. That meaning if you took a literal average between the best and the worst surfers in Oz you’d find someone of my ability. But put me amongst a lineup of average surfers from other nations and I’d probably be a stand out, if not the best surfer out there.
It’s hard for surfers from other nations to conceive the quality of surfing in Australia and the casual relationship most of us have with top tier shredding. Despite being a basic punter from a background where competitive surfing was mostly shunned, I’m still exposed to and surrounded by incredible surfing talent. None of my mates was ever sponsored but when one of them tried competing he won the Australian championship. Another mate was unsponsored, never went in comps and was (ostensibly) a bricklayer who ended up dominating some of the best waves in the world such as G Land and Desert Point. The mellow bloke on his twinny who turns up at the right time around here is regarded around the world for his style. My old next door neighbour was described by Kelly Slater as one of the most naturally gifted surfers he’s ever seen. Yet they are not even guaranteed of being the best on ground on any given day in Australia.
Go to any decent quality break in Oz and there’s likely to be a former, current or future elite level surfer going about their business. If not multiple rippers of known quantity. That’s before you ever register the local primary school teacher, electrician and concreter who could all make a fair go of the pro tour if they were inclined.
Take George Pittar as an example. As he recently stated, he hasn’t won a surf comp since he was fifteen. Fifteen! Think about that for a moment. He’s good enough to beat multiple world title holders at the top of their game, but the overall standard of Aussie surfing is so high that he hadn’t even won a junior comp or regional event in years of competing against Australians at home, so deep runs the talent pool.
Of course there’s good surfers from all over the planet but the talent depth of most other nations plateaus with extreme rapidity.
So yeah…Jadson is spot on for most of the surfing planet when he says that most surf fans are clowns. But not Australia. Jadson no doubt feels this way himself and was probably tempted to mention the Australian exemption to his statement, but he’s too nice of a guy to lay the cruel boot of reality into his clown world Brazzo country men.
*Beachgrit regulars an obvious and noteworthy exception to this general rule.
Ergo the tall poppy syndrome
I see your point but also see all the other one hit wonders – william cardoso, cole housmand, pipe master bede durbigde, and that small guy who won france once
No, I’m below average in any lineup. In Australia I’d probably be at Rick Kane level his first paddle out on the North Shore.
You’re obviously from NSW or Queensland where the talent level is sky high. Victoria, SA, Tassie is a big step below. Water is too cold to get hordes of groms surfing through winter, plus the big population centres have no surf
WA a clear 3rd in talent but still a long way from Qld/NSW.
I do get your point though about knowledge. I think Derek’s probably trolling us by posting comments from 15 year olds who can’t help but post shit, but Latinos can be absolute cockheads when it comes to supporting their sporting heroes, regardless of their age.
Definitely agree on the whole.
So many no-name shredders who would be the standout or among the main crew at any spot around the world. The quality of waves is a huge contributor.
This leads into a bit of a paradox. Because of the quality of waves, I did see a lot of ripping surfers–which is to say people at minimum doing multiple maneuvers on one wave–who had very little flow and subpar technique that they would compensate for with their athleticism and ability to recover. Because the waves themselves are usually not very slopey (at least where I was surfing), it seemed like people could get away with faulty technique. Very athletic, yet prone to pushing water.
What’s a trip is that the people who come to mind always seemed to be sponsored, and then in contrast some of the most critical, stylish surfing I saw was from the no-name punters Blowy did so well to mention.
I wanna take a kill over the one on the left. Whats her insta
Gmed number 1!! Nuthin else matters.
His shaper number one! JC!
Yay!!
looking forward to the Brazilians fans cheering & chanting 5 times louder than the locals at Snapper. Talk about a takeover at Burleigh last year.
My favorite immigrants!!
Yeah Jaddy.
Once did a deep dive into a few profiles on Insta after reading a Brazilian cry fest after a questionable judging decision. And yeah some soccer mums ranting away like experts and who, by the looks of their photos have never held a surfboard in their life. Almost found a wife though.
I tried to turn my Brother in Law into a surf contest fan…. watched solid Teahupoo together… Owen Wright heat. I thought it was exciting
“We just watched two guys sit there for 29 minutes of 30” was his analysis
It takes a niche audience with plenty of time on their hands
Only a “Surfer knows the feeling”
Contest Surfing needs a shake up.
Like in Cricket. (Kinda like World Series Baseball, but it includes other countries, in the World…)
Some cunts would rather watch Test cricket for up to 5 days, vs the new games like T20 Big Bash leauge.
I do enjoy the Cricket vibe at OPTUS Stadium, while watching a Test, or on TV with mates, but I also GET SO FUCKN BORED. 5 DAYS
T20 is over, done and dusted in one sitting….And it is EXCITING.
Imagine somehow they made Cricket EXCITING!
The players take so many risks, and belt for 6’s non stop.
Dunno how it can translate to the WSL though, I would still rather watch surfing.
I am still tormented from standing there all fuckn day, with seconds of action every now and then, playing cricket as a kid on the weekend. All I wanted to do was go to the beach.
One of the better sports to watch, rather than enjoy playing.
Surfing is the complete opposite
Not to mention the cost of all the stupid gear, just for junior cricket (no second hand Box) for 1 day a week,
When you could just get a sick 2nd hand Surfboard for much less, and be down the bloody beach everyday day having PROPER fun.
T20 takes a complex, nuanced competition between bat & ball and strips away everything worthwhile in favour of big hits. It’s uncannily similar in that sense to pool surfing – a stripped back dumbed down version with less variables.
So anti Jaddy comments are off the table?
No, but lame schoolboy ones are.
Noted
Who knew Jaddy was the saviour the WSL needed, uniting all nationalities against the non surfing surf fan
Note he used the double negative, though.
Q: Dear, why was your shit 20 minutes?
A: I didn’t not scroll BG.
uh-oh, game over….