Fuel TV coverage
Your joking about those bikini shots right?
vicco, brother, it grieves me to say, no. You have to understand the project here. These poor incompetents have been trying to promote surfing as a world class sport for near enough two generations now and where are we? Rating less than Premier League Darts unless I am sadly mistaken.
Now it seems to have escaped the notice of most of the surfing media that somewhat more than 50% of their potential audience is actually female and, apart from that small minority who swing the other way, have no interest in the female form unless, and it is a very big unless, the female form in question is attracting undue atention from their partner.
Now I ask you, do you see nubile forms displayed at any seriously major leagus sport? Smiling faces in the crowd, yes, bikinis, no. Even cheerleaders displaying their athletic skills, don't appear at the golf, the tennis or the world game. Let's aim high here and get our cheap thrills elsewhere for the benefit of our glorious sport. Surfing, surfing uber alles!
If there were chicks in bikinis at any other major sporting event you can bet the camera would be on them too!
Unfortunately, apart from womens beach volley ball, there just aren't enough major sporting events at the beach :)
Have to agree with Blindboy here. And wholeheartedly too.
Surfing is still in the dark ages when it comes to equality. If anything it's regressing. The objectification of women was always present during the birth and initial flourish of surf media through the 70's and 80's. Indeed, the broader national culture portrayed women in a similar light during those times.
Surfing, however, did seem to present it with an irreverent and ironic edge. These days it seems that it's lost that edge and is merely gratuitous ogling or potty humour devoid of irony. Flagship publications such as Tracks have devolved into overpriced lad mags. Meanwhile society has given women the respect and status they deserve.
My youngest is a burgeoning proto-feminist and gets furious with the portrayal of women in the surf media. Even the so-call 'female surf media' are targets of her ire. They, in her words, are condescending and reinforce negative stereotypes. Table talk is great fun at our place.
She has a group of friends that all seem to share her thoughts and, to their credit, they dismiss the surf media rather than dismiss surfing.
Just back to the Fuel TV coverage.
Although there are a few things lacking such as more replays, scores etc. I found it convenient to just flip over the channel and see the live competition right there in front of me without having to sit down and dial in with my computer.
I caught glimpses of it over the last few days and enjoyed most of it.
Negatives were the lack of scores and heat tallies, as well as having to explain nearly everything they said regarding surfing so that non surfers could understand. I'm guessing that not many non surfers would be watching and it's like explaining the rules of football during a football game. But I guess they want to bring in more people etc.
I think it's a good idea and with a few improvements could be a great addition to the webcast.
God if I am ever going to actually start watching pro surfing on TV you are going to have to do better than this guys! Yes I know the budget was limited and studio time was hard to come by, but Jesus, Jehovah, Muhammed and Buddha, give the audience a break!
Some of us are trying to put decades of disenchantment with pro surfing behind us, we are sacrificing some long held priniples here in the hope of finding some source of solace in our declining years.....don't leave us to the mercy of the footy thugs and the cricketing smash and bore 'ems. Get your act together now before we lapse into the kind of mental decline that leaves us unable to distinguish a decent barrel from a shallow head dip in the slop.
To be specific: scores! You know those judges have gone through years of training and minutes of mental anguish to create them so why not tell us about them in a timely fashion? We are watching this several hours after the event, yes editing is extra work and may involve missing out on the late session or, more likely, the pleasures of the hospitality tent, but nothing makes much sense without them. Now if there is anything that might be more important than wave scores it would have to be the RESULTS...you remember the concept, winner, loser, stuff like that. To finish your show without telling us the result of the last heat, my god what planet are you guys on? Can I reccomend professional help? Something has gone seriously astray in someone's head!
Oh! One last point. The phrase "backside air" has a humorous alternative interpretation and should be removed from your vocabulary unless you want to descend into prepubescent humour......but hey stay with it, hire Kelly Slater,minimise the interviews with the hangers on and has beens, eliminate the sexist, exploitive bikini shots, keep the competitors to a maximum of two sentences, run split screen wave comparisons, develop a better technical vocabulary (12 o clock vertical is a good starting point, use the rest of the clock), run hot waves from previous events or the warm up sessions to replace the chat etc
After all this time, I'm starting to believe the hype, surfing could be a respectable pro sport and, even better, it looks like the timimg is coming together with my retirement from any but the merest dabble in actually doing it so I can sit back and enjoy the exploitation for its pure enetertainment value.....ah life's good kiddies...don't let anyone tell you us old blokes don't have fun!