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"Somebody over at Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister or wherever needs to deliver the goods. ... The bottom line is that with all they've done, it is not enough. End of story."
Pot - kettle, kettle - pot. Damn glad to meet ya!
-------------------- "Democrats and Republicans two cheeks of the same ass."
They'd have to make it impossible to get enough points to win the title until the tour goes to Hawaii. So, that would mean if someone won every single event before Hawaii, they could lose the title based on 1 event, or 2 if they add Sunset. That doesn't make much sense. The Hawaii contests would have to be double/triple points or something, no? I think canning Brazil is a good idea, and a different and replacing Mundaka with a more consistent left point like Raglan or somewhere in South America. I'd be stoked to see a mobile big wave contest in Hawaii, wherever is biggest and best and it has to be like 12-15'+(Sunset, lanis, outer reefs, etc).
No mention of the Triple Crown in the article, which is like a world Hawaiian title based on Haleiwa, Sunset, and Pipe and seems just as prestigious to the guys on tour.
Not to mention that if a Kelly and Andy are in the finals with it all on the line with a couple local trial surfers Kelly will be blocked the whole round.
Maybe they could just make it a two stop tour, Sunset and Pipe.
No one ever said Scott Bass was very bright.
-------------------- I've been told many times on this BB that fins drag so i am no longer using them. -Greg Griffin
Post Extras:
stu dog
Duke status
Reged: 01/15/03
Posts: 21704
Loc: CA
Quote: Just what the North shore needs,more contests....
Yeah I say make it a whole winter long string of contests in the north shore thats what the locals need, hehe
I like the idea of making pipe automatically part of the top 8 scores. when was the last title race to come down to pipe? I would like to see a few more events go the way of the ripcurl search, make em mobile and keep the top 44 on their toes a bit. keep either the goldie or bells, but habe a mobile contest replace one or the other each year, same with france and mundaka, alterate each year between brazil and a mobile event and just keep the big boyz constant, pipe, chopes, Jbay
-------------------- If it's good, then share it around
Post Extras:
sponge
Miki Dora status
Reged: 02/10/02
Posts: 4767
Loc: Honolulu, HI, USA
Hawaii is not the only place in the world that makes a big & perfect wave. The world does not revolve around hawaii.
"If our world title is being decided in Brazilian beachbreak instead of 12' Sunset Beach West peak bombs than the so-called surf companies have failed us."
I agree though, that the world title has lost the soul of surfing. Contests should be held where the waves are not vice versa. Pursuit of endless perfect rides.... is that not what the average surfer is dedicated too?
Stay home and play hockey, eat back bacon and listen to Rush and Loverboy. The only exports Canada ever produced that were worth anything were DOA and the Subhumans.
As much as I agree that the World Champ should be able to rip in 3 foot beach break or 12 foot mackin' Teahupoo, the Brazil contest has got to go. Unfortunately or not, the surfers have a say in this and with close to 10 BRA surfers on Tour the other surfers aren't going to get the votes needed to eliminate Brazil off the WCT Schedule. Move Brazil up in the schedule?
From indications that I have heard the 2008 WCT Season is going to have some favorable changes to the schedule. I don't have details and that is just me reading in between the lines.
-------------------- life is not about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself.
Should the ASP World Tour always come down to Hawaii?
Here's a valid and valued response from a surf industry insider:
Scott,
while I agree with your sentiment about deciding world titles in serious surf on the North Shore of Oahu (when I was the editor of **** I'd have written something much the same demanding high performance surfing in the world's most high performance waves) some of your observations are askew.
The men's world title gets decided in Brazil only if the points on the board deem that's the way it should be. There are nine events before Hawaii and all of those events lead the ratings to where we are at this point in time. If a surfer (like Kelly Slater or Martin Potter have in the past) stitches it up by event seven or eight what is ASP Management to do about it? Close down the "Dream Tour" and only have two events per year in Hawaii that count for the world title? Ludicrous!
Further, from a competition point of view, pundits could argue that why should a world title be decided in Hawaii where no permits can be obtained to host man-on-man events? The top 45 plus three wildcards battle it all year long on the same tour on the same rules only to be thrown into the world's most famous and heaviest waves in a changed four-man format with 16 "local specialists" at Pipe. Show me any other sport in the world where the tour runs that way and I'll paddle from Bells to Blacks - and you want to double the points? Ask the surfers what they really think of that situation in your next article!
As a former sponsor of the Pipeline Masters I always dreamed the title would be decided there, but it never was and to be honest it didn't really matter. The Pipe Masters is the Pipe Masters, but it is a vastly different proposition to the other 90% of the tour and exciting in it's own very different and special way.
With a broad brush I'd say ASP Management, Events Council and Surfers (the latter two which make up the Board of Directors of the ASP with the Chairman) would love to see Sunset as a WCT. Perhaps you should discuss why it isn't with Randy Rarrick who runs the event on behalf of the Vans Triple Crown and the people at ***** who currently sponsor it as a WQS 6 Star. You would get a direct and informed answer to your question that way.
As for your statement "Fiscally we know the corpos are healthy enough. But are they still core? Do they still care? Is competitive surfing still a top priority? Have these, ahem…surfing companies lost their edge in the never-ending quest for double digit growth?" That would be a "yes". The "corpos" are as committed to pro surfing as ever. Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong, Globe, Boost, Vans all sponsor or manage one or more WCT event (some on both men's and women's tours), numerous WQS events (alongside a myriad of other sponsors) and sponsor the majority of the surfers going around on them. I'd suggest an investment somewhere in the realm of $30 million dollars in tours alone shows that they "care" about the "core".
Last time I looked Primedia were "corpos" too. Why don't you take up the Sunset License option when it becomes available and make it the "Surfer Magazine Sunset Beach Pro"? We'd welcome you with open arms on the ASP Events Council! But perhaps you magazine guys have lost your edge in the never ending quest to sell copies and rake in advertising dollars to take time to really care about the core.
On that note, it's incorrect that "two forces drive world professional competitive surfing: The ASP, which administers the tour, and the surf-garment industry, which funds it..." To be clear. The ASP consists of two stakeholders. 1) The Surfers. 2) The Event Licensees (whether they are surf companies, shoe companies, or telcos does not matter if they hold the License). A third group, ASP Management, administers the show on behalf of those stakeholders and do the difficult day-to-day job of driving the sport forward from juniors, to longboards, to WQS and WCT tours in every way they can. Without that effort (with all the warts and faults and brilliance) there would be no valid world surfing champion.
Anyway, you'll get your wish... I'll bet you a night at the bar in Lei Lei's that the ASP women's world title is decided in Hawaii at either Sunset Beach or Honolua Bay, er, Hawaii...
Thanks for your time,
**** _____end email________
SCOTT'S REPLY
At the end of the day we all generally want the same thing: 1) Two major events in Hawaii that help decide the World Championship. 2) the world title being decided by events that unfold each year in the world's most awesome surfing arena: the North Shore of Oahu.
My editorial (as one angry emailer put it, " ...thought up one morning while the malcontent Bass was sitting on the dunny) simply stated MY (little old me, a fan of pro surfing) hope that the powers that drive the tour understand that two pronged vision.
Granted there is a mountain of political, fiscal, regional and egotistical dogma to overcome, however that shouldn't stop the quest from moving forward. - SB
SURFER MAGAZINE values thoughtful counter points to the OPINIONS/EDITORIALS WE PUBLISH ONLINE.
So if I am understanding correctly the issue with having Hawaii count more or have more WCT events there is related to permits and non-allowed man-on-man heats?
I am so confused
-------------------- stocked!
Post Extras:
MikeZabriski
Nep status
Reged: 10/16/07
Posts: 805
Loc: Toledo, OH
I know I'm going to get a lot of heat for this but I hate watching contests at Sunset. It's just boring. It looks like a bumpy crap wave most of the time with a select few good sections. Everyone raves about it being an awesome challenging wave (which I don't deny cause I haven't surfed true Sunset) but as a spectator, it just doesn't do it for me.
Pipe on the other hand....
-------------------- Thou shall not commit adulthood
Post Extras:
swegin
Gerry Lopez status
Reged: 09/20/07
Posts: 1068
Loc: carolina
Hawaii's not heavy enough? Who said that? They obviously haven't gone down the Haliewa elevator to their doom faster than that twilight zone ride at Disneyland's California park; sprinted over sharp coral trying to get off the reef before the next explosion at Backdoor; cutback face-first into death rock at RP; sliced their feet at V-land; or bobbed like a rubber duck in a toilet at big Rubber Duckies. As for Hawaii contests, they should hold a "Brigadoon" contest at Lani's in November, only during the years a truth north blesses the coast. They shouldn't have it every year, like the Eddie, but only when it is da kine. They'd probably have to cut down the heat numbers, too, as the norths don't last too long. I'd like to see who would really cut loose in ten foot Lani's! They could name the contest "Gunsmoke" in honor of Jame Aurness, the cowboy movie star, would once got a great wave there.
Those kids are rad. I wish they didn't butcher All along the Watchtower so badly on the other Youtube vid though. Kind of a sacrilegious act for a rocker.
Post Extras:
Hootski
Kelly Slater status
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 8019
Loc: Alii Beach
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