ASP TRESTLES IS ON - WAKE UP !

[aaronn]

http://mfile.akamai.com/76678/live/refl ... bkup=20324

[steve shearer]

Ummm......random thoughts.
I noticed Carroll's pick De Souza came last.

I need to tip Davo now....for a variety of reasons, most of them sentimental and unprintable.

Now Hurley.....you pricks.
When I went to your website to check results I found it very hard to find the days results.
I could not find a basic forecast anywhere......now although the Real Surf forecast team has tagged the event spot on so far (semi NW swell, small background SSW swell) we need to know the basic forecast info so we can plug in and watch your event.
FFS : your IN Southern Cali not West Africa. It's not that hard.
Basic forecast info enables fans to tune in...
Give yourselves an uppercut Hurley.
Christ, is this Sport run by complete imbeciles ?

[LONGINUS]

Yeah exactly, in light of the ESPN bid it's good to see the ASP is really pulling out all of the stops and ensuring this contest is covered by the asshat squad.

Rob Machado knocks out Taj in Round 1 -

[lessormore]

Rob Machado knocks out Taj in Round 1 -

I was actually round 2 and Taj had priority with one minute to go and gave him the wave that won it for him.

[LONGINUS]

Who can tell with all that lag, I feel like Im playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein in 1998

[aaronn]

one of the best webcasts of an asp event i've seen
note bede no longer has a major sponser
brock little is hot !
rosie looks hotter as a brunette
tiago pires surfed better than chris davidson
pat o'connell is contest director
anyone who seriously predicts adriano de souza to win is CRACKERS and
needs to PULL THEIR HEAD IN !!!
steve shearer - try the RESULTS button at http://www.hurley.com/hurleypro/

[munch]

dream tour - 2ft onshore slop

[monkey]

Taj done up like a kipper two years in a row.
Love R Machado's surfing but he was massively overscored, a la Slater 2008.
Josh kerr looked awesome in his heat - big carves, speed, airs, if the waves stay kinda junky that sort of act could be hard to beat.

[puurri]

dream tour - 2ft onshore slop

In valleygirlspeak "grodey to the max"

[Nick Carroll]

I'm enjoying watching this contest from afar ... but find myself a bit annoyed by the incredible lack of curiosity on the part of the journalists covering the event on site.

Most of them seem to think their job is to rework the ASP's press release material with a few slangy phrases and pro surfer nicknames thrown in.

"Rumors of Joel's injured ankle", what the fcuk? Is he carrying an injury or isn't he? Go and ask him!! Lowers is an incredibly hard wave to ride well with an ankle injury; the flat wave face demands a lot of subtle movement through the joint. Look at the types of top turn being pulled by the heat winners, for example. Maybe he didn't even know the injury was still there before he started surfing heats again. Maybe there's no injury at all. How would we know? Nobody's reported it.

What's KS riding? From the pics it looks like a parallel-stringered, carbon fibre supported diamond tail around 5'6" with a five-fin plug set up that he's currently using as a three fin. But fcuked if anyone's bothered to find out and report that either. Nor have they reported on whatever D Reynolds has under those gawky yet magically gifted feet. Nor on any other piece of equipment.

Has any journalist actually paddled out and gone surfing at Lowers around the event in order to explain the conditions accurately or watch the dynamic among the pros as they warm up? Maybe. But if so, we don't know anything about it.

Has any journalist bothered to explain to everyone just why it is that the event at Lowers is forced into a six day surfing window within its original 12 days? Or talked to a local surfer of any kind? Or talked to any professional surfer about this being the first event to come back to the three-man first round system, and what that feels like compared with the sudden death? Or checked into that sudden death system after four events and discovered with some interest that the chances of a top 16 pro advancing into the next round are substantially LESS (around 50/50 compared with almost 70/30) in the sudden-death format? In other words: sudden death is a killer for the top seeds?

What's happened re the "Champions Tour"? The LA Times dropped a broad hint that "something" was gonna happen around this event. It was the sort of hint you'd expect from a journalist who's being prepped by someone he knows at ESPN. There's just been a fcuken great trade show on down the road. The ASP had their semi crisis planning session two weeks ago and you can bet all the surfers are discussing what to vote on at the next Board meeting. But ... no, not a word.

Fcuken start doing some journalism you guys. You're not there just to hang around the pro surfing "scene" and eat free lunches courtesy of Patty O. The webcast is KILLING you.

[steve shearer]

Well afcukingmen to all that.
America is in a real hole right now and it's possible the lack of any substantive journalism of any kind is more of a kind of symptom of a much deeper malaise which relates to a wholesale dumbing down of the population but I digress.

On Slater's Equipment.
It seems this board has some real performance advantages in the same way as the small swallowtail which he used to blindside the opposition last year.
It's still capable of pulling the turns the judges like but it's obvious ability to hold speed through the flatter faces is making his surfing standout and look very different to those riding more conventional equipment.
Although it has to be said some of the waves he fell on V Brett Simpson show he doesn't have it dialed on his forehand yet.

Also De Souza is looking good.

Umm....did someone say Parko would fall early and Slater would triumph..?
What's that...a script you say.

[el rancho]

mick fanning has one of the best styles on tour at the mo.

surfs very much like slater, very fast whippy style, enjoyable to watch.

the parko/machodo heat was a bore, RM chose some duds. boo.

[Donweather]

the parko/machodo heat was a bore, RM chose some duds. boo.

Well if RM chose duds then Parko must have chosen poo.....how the feck did Parko loose that heat? Seems ironic that Hurley are sponsoring the event and their main man is also killing giants in his heats?

[DV8]

On Slater's Equipment.
It seems this board has some real performance advantages in the same way as the small swallowtail which he used to blindside the opposition last year.
It's still capable of pulling the turns the judges like but it's obvious ability to hold speed through the flatter faces is making his surfing standout and look very different to those riding more conventional equipment.
Although it has to be said some of the waves he fell on V Brett Simpson show he doesn't have it dialed on his forehand yet.

Reynolds riding the same sort of shape interestingly . Around the 5'8 mark I think I heard. Little flat rockered speed disc . The only two willing to experiment away from the standard shorty in a competitive environment . Also noticed the highest amount of Pro's at any one contest that are using equipement that has some ties to epoxy or alternate tech . Taj, Kekoa , Kerrsy and Dane that I'm aware of maybe more ?

[black duck]

Or checked into that sudden death system after four events and discovered with some interest that the chances of a top 16 pro advancing into the next round are substantially LESS (around 50/50 compared with almost 70/30) in the sudden-death format? In other words: sudden death is a killer for the top seeds?

Any theories behind the stats Nick? Seems odd that some of top 16 can't handle sudden death as well as others. Could be the stats are a spiking slightly without enough events to iron out the figures? Maybe the three man first round (everyone's a winner!) provides a real nerve calming balm, allowing some momentum to build?

[Nick Carroll]

^^Well I would reckon that the top guns, like all the rest of 'em, have grown used to the luxury of a warm-up heat.

They then get chucked in cold against lower ranked guys who've had the warm-up, and things are a bit more even as a result.

The same sorta thing used to happen pre-WCT when the trialists would get four or five heats under their belt then come into the main event breathing fire and blood. Half the top seeds would be gunned down straight away. But usually, the experience and talent would take its toll on the trials crew by the quarters.

If the ASP persists with the sudden death thing, I would imagine the top guys would figure out what's happening and adjust to suit ... there are ways of preparing for this circumstance. Pro tennis players manage it for instance.

[el rancho]

sounds good to me, anything to increase competition and make for better surfing.

[steve shearer]

And please, for the heats on demand to have any meaning whatsoever the scores for each wave must be shown as the vision is on. Otherwise it's just gobbledegook.
Saw Dane reynolds heat....again the little flat shrunken 80's shape looked good but ocassionally got away from him on his forehand, even though he did the best fcuking turn of the conny on it..still having seen that I'd back Slater and Reynolds.