It's 5am in J-Bay.

[foot-e]

Best commentary call? Occy complimenting Nate Yeoman's (I think) natural affinity with the wave: “He's taken to J-Bay like candy to a baby”. Pure comic gold.

yeah caught that too and thought the same, except it was more like "He's...yeah...umm...you know..taken to...ummm you know...ummm...J-bay like...errr....ummm...you know...errr....ahhh...like...aaahh...umm...you know...candy to a...you know....baby."

and shearer your observations on GT..gold. I see they took your advice today,

[foot-e]

but you know... occ... you gotta love him

[alakaboo]

bottle finally surfed as fast as he talks! unreal.

roy powers, give yourself an uppercut.

[mustkillmulloway]

i heard taj has win it

or he can bloody walk home

[foot-e]

occism - "that was a rare long lull, we've been having long lulls all day"

[SAsurfa]

More classic Occy just then.

The footage crossed to the jet-ski vision and Occy was like " that's a nice helicopter view.. oh wait, I can't hear a chopper, it must be the jet ski"

[jimmy]

More classic Occy just then.

The footage crossed to the jet-ski vision and Occy was like " that's a nice helicopter view.. oh wait, I can't hear a chopper, it must be the jet ski"

Craig still reckon when Occ counted a barrell in slo mo as 9 secs was my highlight...

But i think Louie has had brain surgery..

[offshore1]

It's interesting to me how everyone is laughing at [or with ?] Occy. I like Occy's commentary but is this a professional act for a professional sport? Could you imagine such commentary at other professional sporting events? People would be baying for his incompetent blood. I guess that is what sets surfing apart from those other sports. But is it also what prevents professional surfing being taken seriously by unfamiliar/new sports fans (i.e. not familiar with Occy) and some big business sponsors? It scream amateurism. Good for us but good for the growth of "the sport"?

for mine, I don't want surfing to be like other sports. It's really never been like other sports. And that's probably a large part of its appeal these days to the wannabe masses..
Occy's like the NY Yankees catcher and manager, Yogi Berra, who said things like: "He hits from both sides of the plate, he amphibious."

"Color commentary" is what they call it.

[grazza]

but you know... occ... you gotta love him

Why? Because he's a dribbling idiot? I don't get the Occ cult - the guy's just embarrassing. His only saving grace? He makes Luke Egan sound interesting, one hell of a hard thing to do. Do either of guys have any clue about what actually going on? Say what you like about Bray, Alexander, even Rabbit Warren, none of them would enter the booth without properly researching the event, the athletes, the rules, etc. Egan continually gets this stuff wrong, and Occy... well he is just incomprehensible. I just heard a "sentence" with 15 "you knows" in it. I don't think he can finish a thought off without being distracted by a new thought. The Buddhists call this Monkey Mind.

You might be laughing with him. When I am laughing, trust me, I'm laughing at him.

[lessormore]

Occy = embarrassment.
He might be OK for a dodgy webcast broadcast through a surf website(with 90% of the traffic being surfers), but now surfing has been given the opportunity in the big time with a live TV schedule,they need to lift their game.
Occy's final parting words of the day-
" well, I'm outa here in about an hour and a half..............no- wait a sec, I mean a minute and a half............"

[gra]

Still, commentating would be a tough gig for any amateur.

I think he gets paid

Technically professional (ie: paid), but not really pro. ya know?

But commentating must be a tough gig, and realistically few of us critics could do better: in (say) a half hour heat at least 20 minutes might be taken up with two blokes bobbing in the lineup and you're instructed to keep the tumbleweeds at bay, well, of course you're gonna spew forth some shit every now and then.
And I know this sounds naive, but I still think the whole webcast thing is miraculous! I mean, I can sit here and actually watch a surf comp on the other side of the fricken world on my computer? I feel a bit spoilt by it all to be honest.

[pridmore]

Yep, its not super slick commentary but its more real and Occ ( and Fatty and co. ) are funny buggers and that comes across and thats the charm of having that type of people doing the work,( plus their ability and knowledge on the sport-...hate calling surfing a sport, just not right imho ..) .Occ comes across dopey and seems to fumble his way thru it...and thats what is classic about him.....keep it up , I enjoy it, a few little laughs makes the lulls pass quickly ... interesting when non surfers listen to Occs commentary though, the missus ( who knows who he is but doesnt appreciate how good he was or have a clue about his personality ) says to me" fark these guys sound really dumb, is that Occy ? " ....

[Clif]

One bloke got a sick loooooong pit in round 2. There were a few fun looking waves but there was a lot of waiting for them to come through. I would have loved to have had a session out there to myself and a mate, but any more crew on it would have turned possible bliss into a nightmare: a set every 20-30 minutes with everyone frothing

[steve shearer]

Notable returns to Form:

GT got some headgear and his mood and general sense of bonhomie lifted remarkbly.

Nice choice : a simple black watchcap beanie, as might be sported by a wharfie or, more pertinently, a local Chokka fisherman.
Unassailable masculinty was the take home message from Brand GT on Day 2.
And as anyone who has travelled knows the Seth Eefrican Chokka fisho is as hard as fcuking nails.
Personally, I prefer the more flamboyant GT; it seems somehow to add some combustible fuel to the mix, some kind of cross-grained femininity to the general atmosphere of jockiness.

Boy, how fcuking dull are a good proportion of the 44 : deadset they should prune the deadwood back to a Top 16.

Jordy looked brutally efficient in Rd 3 : like an advancing Roman army against a bunch of backwards peasants.
He's already proved the superiority of his Top Turn against Slater once this season in overhead Pointbreak surf. Turn speed in marginal surf is his weakness against smaller opponents ie Taj.
In overhead surf his Top Turn is of a different scale to the rest of the 44 ; like comparing the Sistine Chapel to the Mona Lisa: it's just grander.

Owen Wright is exemplifying the tendency of the judges to reward slower speed, more vertical surfing in the lip.
That is a travesty. Coming from behind the section and pivoting in the lip(or doing a section floater) and then having to race and hop and catch up with the wave might be radical but it's a clear visual and stylistic regression compared to the perfect template for J-Bay surfing laid down by Tom Curren.
I wish judges would penalise these imperfections not reward them.

Sorry, but Occy is just dumb. To be funny you need some wit, some kind of intelligence.....not just a general cluelessness and lack of primary school comprehension.
Louie, sometimes is coherent but quite often for long stretches begins to ramble in a garbled, nonsensical mangled syntax that has a kind of deeply soothing effect. Maybe it's too long sitting down that causes blood flow to drain away from his brain........is there a possibility they could mike him up so he can walk around every say, 10 minutes, just to keep the circulation going?
Could be worth a try Bong.
Come on, it's not that friggen hard.
At the job interview: first question. Does this man have a basic command of the English language?
If no, then keep searching.
Blakey, Peter Mel, Snips, Doherty, even Carroll with his ocassional paroxysms of misplaced enthusiasm can all do the job.
Why are people so keen to defend the clearly second rate?

Anyway, the webcast is good. This is vastly more entertaining than the world Cup.

[pridmore]

defending Occ...coz he is Occ....least he hasnt got that wasted that when he takes a piss hasnt passed out and fallen flat on his face breaking his nose and then being sent home ( by Bong ) as he is unable to commentate.....

[sean doherty]

Okay gents, time for Banjo Paterson to emerge from ya wallets, squinting into the daylight.

Which of these squibs is gonna win this thing?

I'm rolling with Jordy, shot-shot proper like.

Ahhh... the horror of GT's Kurtz/Galliano headband.

[bohdidontsurf]

Ahhh Occ, god love him. I thought after the numerous other broadcasts where he insists on calling Bede DURBIDGE (note Occ, just the one R) , Bede DURBRRRRRRIDGE (multiple second R's added out of frustration), that he would get it right this time.........nah. I dont think he will get it right until Bede snots him. Sean D, can you have a quiet word to him???

[Cpt.Caveman]

haha he's classic, its a very raw glimpse into the very comical character that is the Occ! Sure he mispronounces words all the time, apologises frequently, and always seem generally awkward with his lack of inhibitions, but I always have a bit of a laugh when he is a commentator. Luke is too serious and simple, nothing to feed the excitement of the event.

I like that the surfing industry has a place for Occ after he burned his time when he was able to develop skills and earning potential, by going surfing all the time. Hell, they could have taken him into the office for some sort of job shortly after his first burnout, but they kept him going on some thin drip waiting for him to finish his hibernation. Billabong are trying to look after him well in my eyes, even if its causing them problems from some people who don't appreciate the Occ