Ask Carroll

[crabmeat thompson]

It Kelly's to lose.

Agree?

[Nick Carroll]

It's still Micks to lose and Kellys to win.

Kelly's got the easier job in a way, though, he's just gotta win the contest. Fanning has the illusion of victory being dangled before him; making the semis will seem like his goal. But it's a shitty goal. It's like needing a 7.2 to win a heat, if you go looking for a 7.2 you'll end up getting a 5.

Mick is a smart competitor and will no doubt have talked this very thing through with Phil McNamara.

Thing is, he has never won two heats In a row at the pointy end on a 10-12' day at Pipe. So it's new territory for him. Kelly, hell, he's won this contest twice as much as anyone else. He looks like he's shrugged the shoulder injury for now (maybe cortisone). He will be frothing.

In this situation I like froth more than smarts. But it's in their hands, nobody else's.

[brendo]

there is internet chatter that fanning threw his spot so he wouldn't face jjf to surf for the title. draws an injured hobgood instead, and IF he wins faces nicol. after hobgoods effort at cloudbreak last year, with so many cuts and bruises, and being a noted charger, and hesvy pipe,fanning is outa his depth. sure hes a good surfer, but in triple overhead waves he doesn't stand out more than any of the other CT guys. seebas could be a darkhorse, but a parko/Kelly semi will be epic! bring on sunday! your thoughts nick?

[alakaboo]

He didn't throw it. Jjf out competed him and will win.
I'd rather be Kelly than Mick. Mick ain't no Andy.

[romak50]

Anyone see the freesurf this arvo on surfing life ? Holy shite it was big. Good to see a session go down with just raw footage rather than the polished (hmm..) webcasts. Reakon CJ could cause some damage tomorrow.

[crabmeat thompson]

Agree. Mick didn't throw anything.


One things for sure tomorrow. Whoever wins the world title, they will have earned it.

[brendo]

braithy, would u say mick has earned it if he wins the next 2 heats then bombs out? or better still loses to Kelly in the final? that would be a hollow title win....
I don't think mick deserves to win it this yr, slater has been the better surfer in varying conditions. and like alakaboo said, mick aint no andy....

[Nick Carroll]

Deserves got nothin to do with it Brendo, I say just watch and see who's got it on the day

Just got an irritating txt from Tom who surfed Sunset this arvo, described it as "giant". Said on his last wave he was coming on to the inside section and it actually drained dry to black reef. He jumped off and got washed safely over it into the channel. Cnut! I love that shit.

[crabmeat thompson]

If Mick beats Cj and possibly JJF at 12'+ pipe, then loses in the semis, I'd have no problems with him winning the title even if slater wins the day.

Slater was horrible through Europe. That's why the title is run over 11 events.

[DucksNuts]

It's the other possibilities that are giving me a stiffy:

Imagine Yadin and Mick in that quarter - Yadin surfing for career and Mick surfing for title.

Kai coming up against Slater - repeat of 2007 in Brazil. Beats Slater to give Mick title?

Beers and bets at 4 30 am. Giddy up

[brendo]

nick, do u think micks wave was a 9.7? didn't seem anymore critical than yadins 9.33. in fact
yadin came out after the spit and off the foam ball. I smell something...oh yea...bullshit

[Beanpole]

Yeah I reckon it was one of those calls that would be see as loaded whichever way it went.
I know its the vagaries of the judging criteria but two years in a row Slater has put on the star performance at Pipe and missed out on the title by a heat score from a lower scoring heat. That's the way it goes. Pretty awesome stuff though and the best surfers all scored a win. Good viewing.

[Natho]

I think this young Mitch Fanning kid who did well at the pipeline is one to watch in the future.frothing

[Nick Carroll]

nick, do u think micks wave was a 9.7? didn't seem anymore critical than yadins 9.33. in fact
yadin came out after the spit and off the foam ball. I smell something...oh yea...bullshit

I thought the score was line ball...until I saw a still of how deep Mick really was on that wave.

This is the thing re webcasts. You see some angles and not others. A still angle from dead in front showed Mick 20 metres BEHIND the leading lip edge. He couldn't have placed himself any deeper.

Everyone can have an opinion, mine is that it was fair enough. I also think the fade Mick put on to set that section up was the coolest thing anyone did on tour all year. You can have your alley oops and manoeuvre-10s etc, fading backside off second reef Pipe with a world title on the line is man of steel shit.

[Nick Carroll]

and if you wanna see the shot, here it is. pic courtesy TC.

1479348_10151758322076809_320345518_n.jpg (8.62 KiB) Viewed 3561 times

nah that's not a 9.7, like hell it isn't.

[Nick Carroll]

No.

Though he has given it a good go.

Kelly loves to charm people, he has the Glamour, you know, the ability to put people under a kind of spell. He has bunged that on with me a few times and despite yourself you feel the magnetism dragging you in.

But that's not the actual person, it's an act, the act of a person who has been famous for a very long time, and it kind of pisses me off. Like I've known Kelly for a long time, since well before he started winning world titles, so why try this charm shit.

Fortunately he's sorta stopped that in the past couple of years and we usually have pretty good conversations now, maybe he's just becoming more normal or maybe I'm just getting older.

[tonka79]

and if you wanna see the shot, here it is. pic courtesy TC.

1479348_10151758322076809_320345518_n.jpg

nah that's not a 9.7, like hell it isn't.

not being flippant, but i'm sure kelly would have been awarded a 9.7 in the same situation, or higher

[tonka79]

I thought the side by side comparison was telling. FWIW, I thought initially Yadin was unlucky.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=513342425440377

TBH, I thought Mick's first wave was a little underscored. Thought it was perhaps a high 7.