Chopes - 2008

[wanto]

yeah all up a pretty shithouse contest. too many heats won by the order of the sets.

[pridmore]

it sounds like it was a dud comp and an unworthy winner, reminds me of alot of comps I have been in, and sounds like most comps pre-dream tour, which made it good viewing but fucked up some of the best waves in the world by showing billions the waves and obviously the crowds have flocked to get there piece of the action...I didnt see any of it coz I was chasing waves in Fiji so I couldnt give a shit really but our surf guide over there was right into it but I just didnt care at all.....would have liked to see an Aussie do well only because the title is going back to USA again...

[Nick Carroll]

And I'm pretty sure I heard NC say 'blowing up' or something suspiciously similar earlier....

I did NOT say "blowing up"! Honestly. Why do I bother. You try to do good work, you really do, then they hold the finals in sub-Narrabeen surf 'cause the wind's gonna change.

Then we all come home and guess what, the wind didn't bloody change...it stayed clean as. And today woulda been the final day of the waiting period. With a new swell.

Enough to make you say "dude" or perhaps "going to town". Or "shout-out", God help us.

It was nice to see Bruno so happy but boy was Manoa bitter! He'd read the script and it didn't have "second place" next to his name.

This is a goddam weird year in WCT world that's for sure.

[rightbrainpositive]

Not trying to suck up to you Nick but seriously, you should be commentating at all the WCT events. Good job mate. Appreciated your detailed analysis and inside info without the 'corporate' persuasions...

Others who should be on the Mic full-time : Gerr, Schmoo (without Quiksilver affiliations), Josh Kerr (he's honest and would start a few controversies), Rabbit (even though he probably isn't allowed) and Liam should definitely be doing Pipe again.

[Nick Carroll]

Thanks!

Re commentating at all the events, apart from anything else, I'd lose the plot. Couldn't sustain the interest/curiosity. I don't know how Sterlo et al do it twice a weekend through the NRL season. Of course a lot more happens in a typical footy game than in two hours of WCT surfing.

[boardscape avalon]

how bout manly ay..

[rightbrainpositive]

Yeah, I'm sure it is difficult to maintain interest but I think that there's more content preparation than can be done if the hosting company had the resources to fund it. An example would be using replays to compare the way a competitor is surfing a wave compared to the previous year, or compare the styles of a cutback between competitors.

Do you guys have a 'running sheet' to go by if things get dull (besides going to a sponsors ad)? There should be a multitude of ideas for you guys to bring up if things get dull. I know the viewer messages are probably mostly lewd and can't be read on air but I'm sure that there are some answers that would stimulate interest if the commentary team asked the right answers.

Special guests should be a regular occurrence. In the Globe comp, why don't they get one of the island chiefs in Fiji to jump in every now and then and have his say. It would be hilarious ("Ey, det boy allwes ask for extra beer but we allwes hef to kerry him bek to da room et night... no wunda he no make it to round tree..)! Then you got larger than life characters like Hoyo and Uncle Buffalo K... Surfers wives and girlfriends would be pretty funny too.

I hope VZ are inspired after all the questions they received thru their comp. Candid q&A's are pretty entertaining and could be used more during lulls. And you can't ask boring, overdone questions like the one that sends Mick Fanning to sleep; "So Mick, do you feel extra pressure now that you are the world champ?".

As you know, interviewing is an art and it does get butchered by boring, biased journo's who are paid by the big companies. It's a shame no amount of money could lure Derek Hynd to commentate at a comp... he'd have plenty of interesting things to say. As far as big-company paid commentator's go, I reckon Kelly is probably the best. He's honest and he always has an interestingly unique view of things.

For the record, I'd love the chance to commentate an event. If maintaining interest is the most difficult part of the job, I reckon I'd go alright haha

[Nick Carroll]

Well the contests are all a bit different on this score...the Billabong team are fantastic and that's one reason why I do their events and not others, they're professional and slick and are always trying to improve stuff.

I do a lot of my own pre-commentary research, we do interviews with surfers pre-event for filler etc, always interview surfers during the event, and most importantly, keep a clear separation between PA public announcement stuff and the webcast commentary. That way you can speak a lot more freely, and interview surfers a lot more candidly.

There are limits to how many people you can bring into a commentary loop before the whole thing becomes a strain on both producers and viewers. It's not about enjoying the sound of your own voice, or entertaining yourselves. It's about being clear, telling the stories that aren't obvious on-screen, and keeping everything moving.

[mustkillmulloway]

sack luke egan

[Lucky Al]

i loved it! couldn't get enough of the barrel riding, who gives a fuck who won! the barrel riding of kelly, manoa, andy, chris ward, cj hobgood, parko, mick campbell and some others whose names aren't coming to mind made it the best event of the year!

[smackthatlip]

Second year in a row of the trials scoring bigtime and the main event getting skunked. Maybe they should bring the event forward a couple of weeks next year. Guess that bastard Murphy would get involved then.

[Lucky Al]

oh yeah dane was good, i laughed out loud when jordy claimed that thing on the inside and the commentators were shouting about the tube dane was in outside. haha, aaahhh of course i would claim whatever jordy did too if i ever did it in a million years - but you have to laugh!

[Lucky Al]

i love the interviews the heat winners give after the heats - they're so invisible-man modest about their ubermenschen feats!

[rightbrainpositive]

Well the contests are all a bit different on this score...the Billabong team are fantastic and that's one reason why I do their events and not others, they're professional and slick and are always trying to improve stuff.

I do a lot of my own pre-commentary research, we do interviews with surfers pre-event for filler etc, always interview surfers during the event, and most importantly, keep a clear separation between PA public announcement stuff and the webcast commentary. That way you can speak a lot more freely, and interview surfers a lot more candidly.

There are limits to how many people you can bring into a commentary loop before the whole thing becomes a strain on both producers and viewers. It's not about enjoying the sound of your own voice, or entertaining yourselves. It's about being clear, telling the stories that aren't obvious on-screen, and keeping everything moving.

Yeah i appreciated your research Nick. It was clearly evident. Even little things like having a chat to Kai Otton's Dad makes a difference. Info like that paint a fuller picture that makes it a better spectacle.

I gotta say, it's also pretty off-putting when certain commentator's 'fan out' at certain surfers. I don't think Dino Andino realised how weird it sounded whenever he 'praised' Chris Ward.