snapper pro

[alakaboo]

Not really, he is a pom

[alakaboo]

Overweight myth landed this frontside air at Duranbah the other day.

And there it is.
Julian Wilson would have done that air with a flat board and a method grab. 10 times more difficult and yet half as interesting

[channels]

Spork, that's just crap. If you read the thread you would realise the common theme is less competitors, longer waiting period, shorter comp.


Anyway what are Internet forums but talkback radio for the digital age.

[foamy]

Just wondering.........

DO YOu GUYs eVeR STOP darn WHINGING ??

Its the very nature of the realsurf glitterati to whinge, whine and complain, It's what makes them happy. They never have a solution that is even slightly viable, but they if they do its usually pointed at bagging out the Brazza surf community/ current world champ or claiming that claiming or not claiming is ruining the Aussies chances. Meanwhile, the rules of comp have changed slightly since the 70's, its now three to the beach with and air reverse that takes the bacon.

You are entirely in your element Spork. A surfing fan talking about surfing.

Actually, I think this site has less kneejerk anti-Brazil surfer crap than most. The most recent Medina comments were about Medina's natural brilliance being stymied. And, Braithy and Steve's and most other's comments are written as fans, just wanting it to work better and better express what they love about surfing. Many of the ideas might not be viable, but we know we are not sports money geniuses. However, there seems to be a financial sustainablity problem and fans putting up their ideas is just expressing that they have a care and an interest.

[daisy]

I got a lot out of Braithy's latest, and found myself concurring. but I don't really see myself as the World Surf League target audience. wrong age, wrong country, etc. I would say though that the money being thrown at the thing has improved the heats playback function.

What I'm waiting to see discussed on here (unless I missed it) is what happened to Occy. I did hear from a fly on the wall that his contract was already looking dodgy the previous year, and he seemed to have dropped out of sight at some point after J-Bay if I remember rightly?

not sure I really miss his inputs, and the following sentence was maybe a bridge too far for me..

Occy and Potts drink their starbucks and discuss the conditions in a intelligent manner

but i'm curious what happened

[spork]

There was maybe six folk who givva toss about the comp in my workplace, but i got em all interested when i mentioned the Banting was a former student who may just do good. When he beat Fanno i let em know at a staff meeting. Now they are all interested. Do you think they give a toss about alternative formats? Money issues, who the current champ is? Truth is mr and mrs average have no idea, but give them a local hero and suddenly you have a whole lot more fans.

[rmb]

What I'm waiting to see discussed on here (unless I missed it) is what happened to Occy. I did hear from a fly on the wall that his contract was already looking dodgy the previous year, and he seemed to have dropped out of sight at some point after J-Bay if I remember rightly?

not sure I really miss his inputs, and the following sentence was maybe a bridge too far for me..

Occy and Potts drink their starbucks and discuss the conditions in a intelligent manner

but i'm curious what happened

To me he wasn't properly utilised. Occy is probably one of the most loved characters not only in surfing but Australian sport, everyone knows Occy. The WSL could do worse than providing him with media training polish him up a bit and use him for the Australian market. Not as a commentator but as an analyst alongside someone else who is already a little more polished.

[Davros]

F$cking ay, why surf shit waves it's about viewing audiences and TV/ Web deals.

What about just scaling back the circus and being on soft standby in a region to ensure great waves.

Surf commentary is like bowls commentary with the occasional Jack High, I reckon Potz is good. I reckon they should show older footage of comps during the comp so you get at sense of how its advanced and how the boards have changed, e.g. Compare a 90s board to a recent board and break them down.it educates new viewers on history and tricks them into thinking they understand the journey of surf history and feel part of the whole scene when they are regurgitating it to mates who know even less.

[Karlos]

Hey longbum, been a while since we've seen you 'round these parts. Welcome back.

[foamy]

Overweight myth landed this frontside air at Duranbah the other day.

And there it is.
Julian Wilson would have done that air with a flat board and a method grab. 10 times more difficult and yet half as interesting

Nick Carroll, on this site, while answering a question about the mystery of JW, said he puzzles on this and maybe JW does not sell his manoeuvres.

Which is not necessarily about waving your arms around. It is about the dance.
Many could do Fred Astaire's steps, not many could convey his grace and joy.
Part of the pleasure of Slater and JJF is their toreador movements. They are feeling it. The joy of the intersection between wave and human.

JW sometimes curves brilliant arcs, but he can look distracted, knocking off another dazzling turn while he wonders if he left something on the stove.

[diggerdickson]

This year is probably the first time that I really don't give a stuff about this contest. To much fluff, to much "look at me we have the greatest product" and no surf. I no longer care and don't think I will follow it this year unless things change.

[gardie]

I love the idea of the surf check as the morning show.

Throw in a Brazzo to cover all bases in the car.

Would be classic. I am sure a coffee brand would come on board.

Same shite everyday with go pro break down currently

These guys are burning through someones bucket of cash fast and although I am sure there is a big production crew there is also the industry hangers on catering etc all speeding up the cash burn..

Need to reduce the field size.

For comps partly funded by local community follow the US and Aust open format and make it part of a festival with music and other action sports that dont rely on mother nature. Go mobile within region and beam it back to main event site. Pick the eyes out of it for the main event.

For the grand slam events (Pipe J Bay Tahiti and Fiji for me although Gold Coast with a cyclone swell is up there) broaden the waiting period and then pick the eyes out of it. Less infrastructure and more a hit and run mission. With swell forcasting plenty of days to market a looming swell and contest.

In terms of the commentating I like analysis on the replay but the play by play description in real time does my head in.

I would prefer more ongoing technical stuff. Use a drone to show us where they are sitting. ie Parko versus Medina last year. From the camera's you see currently you dont fully appreciate how far behind the rock they get.

Drone could also show us the sets coming.

Where not whinging just wanting to see something that works.

[crabmeat thompson]

Where not whinging just wanting to see something that works.

absolutely correct.

something that works, and more importantly something which is sustainable. my shithouse mathematics tells me the wsl is down 30 million this season before a wave has even been paddled into to, after losing 25 mill last season. i don't care how rich ziff is ... at some point with those kind of losses this will no longer make sense to him to stay onboard with. then what?

the comps are top heavy in infrastructure and prize money, and very low in outside investment and sponsorship, and due to this imbalance each event they lose more money and fall further behind.

for people like spork and his workplace to keep enjoying watching their local product be a giant killer on the world stage, the business side of the wsl has to improve so the wsl is able to stand on its own two feet without having handouts from a rich dude.

right now the wsl are making up their viewing numbers (over inflating them) in order to sell their product to future investors & advertisers. when your house is built on lies, it's only ever a house of cards.

[foamy]

Top spot on the page. The Braithy position.

Did your hear about the two antennas who met on the roof? They got married.
The wedding wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.

[aaarating]

Braithy's mention of Jim Banks in his entertaining piece on what the surfing life experience means to him (and lots of others) was serendipitous as I had the good fortune to chat with his dad, Bob, at a function celebrating Jackson Surfboards owners (Dave & Jim) 40 years of work serving the Cronulla surfing scene. Bob was telling me how his son at age 12 was using the infamous Coolite we grommets all rode in the early '70s. Except Banksy developed a natural surfing talent way beyond most mortals and would pester his dad for a 'real' board. Money was tight so the future Bali OP champ would just have to stick to his coolite. That was until Bob heard from a mate that his son was mixing it up with the local hard chargers (Ralph Rotten et al) out at the point. A little kid taking off and making the drop at6 foot on a foamy without fins was a bit embarrassing to the point surf heroes of that time so Bob felt compelled to get his son a proper secondhand fibreglass surfboard. Shortly after, Jim announced he was going in a contest. Bob thought it was just a junior thing and that his son would be home by lunchtime. He got a bit worried when it was getting dark but then the young grommet gets dropped off in front of his house with a brand spanking new board from Jacko's. A winner from the outset.

[crabmeat thompson]

ha! that's a great story.

they don't build 'em like Banksy anymore.

[2nd Reef]

Interesting talk RE viewer numbers and business model. Pumping the numbers has become sport for the big surf organisations and the reasons are obvious: they project a bigger image than reality and (hopefully) attract investors or govt funds.

You can see how it works for Surfing Australia (SA). They commissioned the Gemba Report into Oz surfing population and now use those numbers for govt handouts. For example: SA scores taxpayer money for the Stand Up Paddleboard titles that they claim tops 1 million viewers. Far as I know it didn't even have a webcast and of the four videos they produced the total viewers (not unique) are about 3,500. Uniques would be even less.

So you can see why they inflate numbers.

ZoSea are in a slightly different situation in that they can pump the numbers now but at some point investors will conduct due diligence. Therefore their fake numbers can't last forever. Most worryingly is that ZoSea believe there are 120 million "bona fide fans of the sport" and aim to grow the sport to 250 million real fans.

Hands up those who want to see a world with 250 million surfers in it?

If ZoSea don't reach sustainable numbers then the slack has to come from the other end: a contraction in tour structure and prizemoney.

[steve shearer]

Or they find the next Dirk Ziff.

I can think of one or two right off the top of my head.