"Toledo doesn't deserve to be called a world champion! Respect is something you either have or earn."
Surf fans have turned on the Brazilian Olympian and two-time world champ Filipe Toledo after his latest fail at Teahupoo today although, as a finger-pointer meself, I thought he did ok given the psycho conditions.
Even Japan’s finest surfing export Connor O’Leary, a man who ain’t afraid of a damn thing, had a sub-five heat total.
Fans hissed on the WSL’s YouTube page, however.
Drawing Felipe in chopes is like having a bye straight through to the next round (20 likes)
Two feet world champion
The year the WSL “changed” the CT so as to ‘GIFT WRAP’ the t.rophy for Toledo Not a REAL World Champion
Felipe is so bad in heavy waves. He is a coward
Toledo doesn’t deserve to be called a world champion! Respect is something you either have or earn.
1.63 for a two time world champ
I dont know why he cant… have you ever thought about it? he has EVERYTHING physically and mentally to be a good solid surfer in waves like these…. we see it all the time, guys from somewhere with not very good waves, coming to this spot, and shredding on some heavier days. but Felipe? it has to be something psychological. I dont think we have ever seen a surfer with his skill level come to Tahiti and blow it the way he has. can you think of any?
Why does Toledo even goes to this event?
Filipe is always afraid of that wave, it’s a shame, and there are still people who make excuses for him
If that wasn’t enough, the world’s best surf contest analyst, Steve Shearer, painted a damning account of Filipe’s failure on the forecast site SwellNet.
He even included a litany of Pip’s Teahupoo results.
And in a damning conclusion, Shearer wrote:
There’s no redemption story. There’s no arc of improvement, or attempt to put in the work to overcome and improve. In the words of Robert De Niro from Deerhunter, “it is what it is.” Toledo will show up, and if it’s small and clean, is perfectly capable, with his advanced backside tube riding technique of making heats. If it’s heaving he has learnt coping strategies of sitting wide, or too deep. Catching small inside waves to hand back priority to opponents.
He’s found a way to deal with the deficiency by dodging it, in real time. Which is, in its own way, quite impressive.
The only remarkable feature about it now, is the deafening silence from the booth during his heats about this dual World Champion’s refusal to learn how to get the job done at one of the tour’s marquee locations. You struggle to find an analogue in any other global sport where this would not be a major talking point. A World Champ who so clearly struggles to overcome a massive deficit in his skillset.
(Editor’s note: Listen to Turpel talk about Filipe’s “strong and true line” during the heat.)
Not a word from the booth. Academy awards for the acting whereby the talk is of Toledo getting it done out there, when even Blind Freddy could see that just ain’t happening. It keeps it interesting, I suppose. One of those glorious paradoxes of pro surfing that keeps us all coming back, in various states of disbelief.
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I enjoy watching him repeatedly bottle it. It is excellent medicine for brazos
And everyone used to bitch and moan about Pottz too. I don’t mind Joe, he’s meant to be the straight man. It’s whose with him that should be providing the colour and/or the hot takes.
The others you mentioned are still working on their technique/game. They aren’t two time world champs. Italo’s style is a bit rank but you can’t say he doesn’t have a crack or put every effort in to being a professional.
now there’s a review…most here will not go near……Italo is great on his backside….Joao is a charger and has a pretty good all around game….and Pip made 2 great takeoffs…in what Dog Marsh described as ,”scary as its the biggest it’s been all day…if Pip had have come out of that tube…he wins and beats Connor who is a charger also…….remember his heat against Medina on the Goldy…another level ahead of everybody…like J-Bay and when JJF beat him at Bells in 99 in 10′ surf…..this 2 feet and under shit is just that…and Sunset Beach anyone…..
This is terrible analysis mate and Im shocked, it’s like something the WSL would come out with. Theres nothing scary about J Bay and 6ft Sunset and if Pip had made that quick pit Conner would have answered back but he KNEW he was winning that heat.
Pip is fucking terrified of heavy lefts and there are 3 of em on tour which is over a quarter and he is awful at all of em, literally teenage girls would beat him there. He has shown ZERO commitment to get better in those conditions even though it’s his fucking job!!! It’s like me being a chippy and saying na sorry boys I’m scared of heights, which I am and refusing to do what I’m paid for. Its embarrassing
And people forget, he ripped the hell out of big Sunset and won that comp, so he can surf good over 6ft. It’s big, heavy, reefy waves he can’t hack it in and he’s actually improved a fair bit there. I thought he did OK-ish yesterday, would have liked to see it big and clean to give him a real test of how far he’s come
if he came out of the barrel…??
Hopefully Fiji is 8ft+ so we can see him coward out again. Following that we’ll get to see him claiming every wave & the commentators blowing smoke up his arse at Trestles…
Prob the last time to webcast was worth listening to
and fair to say that kelly’s disinterested moments are also fucked
but he’s earned millions of dollars
This has been the problem with the WSL from the get-go. We all make fun of Turpel because he sounds like one of the dumbest people alive, but the real problem is nobody they’ve ever had in the booth actually analyzes anything. I’ve been watching the Dodgers lose 8 of 9 games the past couple weeks and the announcers are constantly talking shit. Why can’t we have that?
Italo is the only other WC mentioned and he gets shit constantly for the red bull style. I don’t give a shit about Pip’s money, family, trophies, etc. If you won’t surf, DON’T GO. Plenty of replacements queued up.
Shocker
#Seanconnerywouldnotgo
I don’t hate. I just think he is a massive pussy not deserving of a world title.
Plenty of ire for the Woz.
I forced Mrs Madeoff, a veteran of many HB US Open events, to watch the Toledo heat and she walked away confused while openly wondering how the BG crowd would treat this less than exciting heat? Now, keep in mind she cannot understand my fascination with BG much less my infantile behavior in general. So she walked away after the abysmal heat injecting a logical barb of contractual wonderment around whether sponsor commitments forced him to show up, paddle around while laughing with Connor as he gifted the heat away and of course collecting performance compensation from said sponsors.
ms rocks decided the blown out hazy conditions didn’t meet her ‘pristine tropical venue’ conditions for watching wct heats and boycotted – my attempts to woo her by providing the pip backstory and context fell flat , to put it mildly
She sounds lovely and very worldly.
Hey Ricardo, you’re son is a fucking Chopes shoulder hopping, barrel dodging pussy. None of those others you whaddabout are pussies like P*p.
And he calls himself a world champ? Couldn’t have done it without Oprah’s diddler kook subby.
if he made the barrel he wins…not shoulder hopping…..big Chopes and he made the takeoffs!
He’s still suffering from a bad batch of the PPT.
Poo poo touch
His only potential saving grace is that his heat was pretty unruly without many rideable waves for either of them and Conner O’leary is no slouch. Happen to be watching it with my kid, who doesn’t really surf, and once I told him the history of Toledo being a 2x world champ but scared at Chopes his response was “how can he be a world champ if he’s scared of a wave on tour”. I just said “exactly”.
As for this sharty, love seeing the LT write up but come on Dez. This is 3 in a row that are basically copy and paste with this basically being a Swellnet arty re-posted on BG to become a sharty.
Small hands?
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