Sunset 2023: Day 2
Sunset 2023: Day 2
Surfable gurgle - it has its benefits. Most people turn their nose up at it but the Woz had no choice but to get some heats done today at Sunset Beach in waves that made a dog's breakfast look tidy.
No point trying to bury the lede so let's jump straight into the most interesting and dramatic feature of the day: a last-second interference on serial hassler Zeke Lau against Rio Waida.
Before they scrub it you'll get to see Zeke come into the shorey after the call, scream out “What the fuck!” in a very intimidating fashion before storming the beach in a white fury, jumping the bunting, striding past a mute AJ, past a hand-written sign saying 'Please, Please Keep Off'.
The broadcast cut away to an ad break and that was the last we saw of Zeke.
What we know so far:
- With three minutes to go Zeke is cruising in first place with a pair of 5's for a 10.93 total, and he has priority.
- Leo is in second place and last priority. With 2:12 to go has a weak, non-comittal half-paddle. No change in P.
- 1:58 to go, both Zeke and Leo have another half-paddle for a wave - presumably as a defensive tactic to keep Rio, sitting in third but within striking range, away from it. The wave is nowhere near breaking and neither was committed to catching it.
- 1:30 to go and Rio waves his left hand up in the air to plead for a priority change.
- 53 seconds remaining priority switches.
- 11 seconds remaining and Rio paddles into a peak, Zeke clearly looks at him and takes off. Rio seems to exchange words with the Hawaiian and Zeke falls/bails out.
- Rio puts both hands up to claim the interference and surfs the wave into the shorey.
- Zeke raises both hands in disbelief, quickly looks at his Apple Watch and raises his hands again.
- The interference is called. Zeke is out with a last place, which combined with his second-last at Pipe, almost certainly spells the end of the current phase of his CT career.
Pertinent questions:
- Did Zeke know? Almost certainly he couldn't hear the beach announcer (we have been told repeatedly this is the justification for the Apple Watch). He probably didn't see the beach P signs change either.
- Rio did know and so did Leo - because in his post-heat interview Leo told us he screamed at Zeke not to go - which is why Zeke bailed IMO.
- Does Zeke have grounds for a protest?
- I believe so. Both on the grounds of the P call itself, it was very similar to the reversed call on Filipe Toledo yesterday, and if the technology failed.
Two more points of discussion:
- Zeke strode up the beach alone. Noticeably absent were the Make or Break camera crew we saw last year and 2021. Looks like this may be the last season, unless they were absent for some other reason. This would have been absolutely golden drama for a professional production company looking for juicy storylines. A pro surfer meltdown, possibly career ending, on a day of crap surf and weak drama. Can't script that.
- Second, and inverse to the first point. The Woz took one look at the unfolding drama and ran away like a teenage thief caught in the act. Any other pro sport would have carefully walked us through the drama, analysed the event in forensic detail, and produced some hot takes. When it comes to actual Sport: drama, intrigue, and true competition, the reason people actually tune in, they are just not up for the task. The taproot of that trouble of course is they are reporting/broadcasting/commentating on themselves and they are petrified of pissing in the tent. It's a structural issue and it's never going to change.
What else happened today?
Not much. Kelly's opening 5-point wave yesterday looks insanely important in retrospect. No way on God's Green Earth a 51-year old would have got out of the Elimination Round today. If he makes the cut, that ride will be crucial.
The sport remains brutal to journeyman rookies. As well as perennial rookie Zeke Lau's major fuck-up, we saw 30-year old Maxime Huscenot catch one ride in thirty mins before getting a mushburger on the head as the siren went on the last heat of the day. Second last at Pipe. Last at Sunset.
At least he got a go unlike his mate Ramzi Boukhiam. Both now almost certain to get cut at Margies, with Ramzi likely to have salt rubbed into the wound as some career veteran gets the injury wildcard (possibly Slater).
Ten years of striving and you're done in two lacklustre, wave-starved heats with barely a shot fired.
26-year old rookie Ian Gentil and arguably the cleanest surfboard in pro surf history (WSL/Bielmann)
Jack Robbo, as predicted yesterday, showed the little hiccup from the first day was nothing to be concerned about with a composed performance against Kai Lenny and Jacko Baker. Again, a close call went Jack's way as Kai's last wave was judged just under the requirement he needed to eliminate Robinson.
Jack survived to fight another day (WSL/Bielmann)
Medina looked strong in his goofy foot clash with Ryan Callinan and Connor O'Leary. Second-last and last for Connor means he will have one eye on the Challenger Series. It's not a stable picture as far as basing a career on. Two months into 2023 and the calendar is looking very blank; only two comps confirmed on the Gold Coast and Sydney. Sure, there will be more, but if you are looking at making house payments on coastal real estate, it won't be a good feeling.
Fun gurgle would have been a pleasant way to pass the time if you were tooling around on the North Shore with nothing better to do and all day to do it. Likely could have surfed it solo. Different story with your career on the line. You'd be wondering what sin you committed in a past life to deserve judgement on a dog day afternoon like this.
// STEVE SHEARER
Comments
Bye bye Zeke, can’t say he’ll be too sorely missed
Yeah, hard to be empathic for a bloke who deliberately rode over Wilcox in Hawaii, burnt him at Mainbreak Margies and flicked his board in Jacob's 'general direction', actively sought to physically intimidate JJF at Bells and generally has reputation for aggressive and threatening behavior. This is restoring my faith in cosmic justice.
Fuck yeah Andersonj!
Indeed!!
x 3
well said
FR...you say you cant script it....but it just seems the Woz have the magic pen to be able to script it. ......Must be that Elo guy
Eat shit Zeke, wanker.
PS FR...love your right ups mate, that wasn't a blight on your commentary
Apart from the spectacle itself, It's the stories, dramas and personalities behind sport that gets punters interested. FFS lean in (how's that for a corporate buzz word) or fuck off WSL. Don't like Zeke, but I'll definitely tune in when he surfs. We need heroes and villains to create a successful franchise. (Survivor anyone?)
It's a structural issue and it's never going to change
Yep - this is the case. Very frustrating.
Is that another way of saying it's Elo?
Sending a big box of tissues from Bells. And another from Bali :)
If Zeke just focused on surfing he would have no problem staying on tour. The first 5 events suit his style.
The way he has been approaching competition is not winning him many heats or fans. It might be too late to put the sword away now though.
Zeke just dumb surfing as he was winning the heat
Recently he tried to milk interference vs I belli
And a few yrs back jack Robbo at sunset
Spoke to a few w today surfers late last yr and all agreed zeke not well liked at all by many on the tour.a complete dick apparently
Good riddance
Zeke might be getting self promotion tips from Kyrigios.
Read this comment on social media
"I wish the WSL would eliminate priority with 5 minutes to go in heats/finals etc. Too many heats decided by the priority surfer blocking their opponents. Let the last 5-10 minutes be priority free & watch the excitement ramp up."
Not sure how it would work or if it would work, but interesting concept, maybe 5 minutes is too long though.
Love it Indo!
Would spice things up a little.
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
+1
Coulda just run with +6, Morg
LOL. Na just plus +1. Operator error when my dog jumped and my coffee went everywhere.
First time online Morgs?
But isn’t that exactly what Zelenskyy was doing- blocking ??before the priority was taken from him?
"The Woz took one look at the unfolding drama and ran away like a teenage thief caught in the act. Any other pro sport would have carefully walked us through the drama, analyzed the event in forensic detail, and produced some hot takes"
- to me, that's the problem. In plain sight, the WSL is trying to create & protect a fantasy world, when transparency is the cornerstone value of our era. In turn, this leads to '70's style bad-ass Hawiaans like Zeke flexing his territorial tail, like a poorly managed pit bull. I feel sorry for him.
He gets a lot of hate. I wonder how often he thinks about that heat at Bells with John John.
Anyone know what he said to the judges? You can hear him going off on an open mic just after Kaipo signs off into a (non) ad break at 3:52:.00. on the YT version. Just can’t make it out over the ambient surf noise.
To me it sounded like “wannabe tennis tour”.
Haha Sando!
I still think run two heats in the comp. Give them 3-4 hrs per heat best three wave score and let them scrap it out like the real world. Drop ins mean you’re out (unlike the real world). Second heat same again just top 6-8 guys. Comp done in one good day of waves or two good sessions
I like the sound of that.
It just seems crazy to me that so far for all the heats run all that has done is eliminate 3 men and 1 women on the actual tour (the other two were wild cards that cant get points anyway). Surely the answer is do away with wildcards other than injury replacements and do away with the no-losers round. Then you have more options to run the event in better waves. Imagine if in the first three days of the Australian open tennis no one lost ? Crazy.
Thanks Steve for another great insight into the WSL pro-surfer endurance rally
According to tonight's utube bot-vertising;
Eze' made benefit from "Grammarly"
& "Relax.... ....... ....... ..... it's Apple"
otherwise.... best wave wins the heat; lots'a lobster diving closeouts
To me it doesn't matter what an athlete has done in the past, you need to assess what has happened in the current situation. The switch of priority call could have only be validated if Joe Turpel was commentating.
Not with standing the wave Rio took off on would never have yielded the score required and Zeke didn't get in his way. The football coach would have thrown the protest flag, the tennis player would have asked for a review. WSL are clueless, ripe for a rebel tour.
Rebel tour, Cloud Break, Raglan, Sandon Point, Dungeons, Cortez Bank, Mavericks and Finish at Haneli Bay. Make it electric and see if Elon will finance.
No cut, decided on accumulated points like most other championships in the known universe.
One of the most pertinent themes of this write up to me and many of the comments is the WSL doesn’t really seem like a ‘sport’.
It’s a becoming show, a broadcast, a Hollywood film a bit like WWF wrestling.
I can’t take it seriously anymore.
If WSL cant find waves in Hawaiian peak season winter ..... or Indo & Fiji...
Surfing Cortez may be a cursed with an even longer wait for a big clean swell & waves ....maybe every 10 yrs... (meanwhile sponsors retired to tax haven in Bahamas, etc)
PS Jordy really flowed today
True, but WSL hold contests with shit waves. If no waves for Cortez waiting period, hold free diving comp in lieu. Be happy to give Cortez the flick for another left....be even happier if W$L are relegated to history.
"Fun gurgle would have been a pleasant way to pass the time if you were tooling around on the North Shore with nothing better to do and all day to do it. Likely could have surfed it solo."
Kinda what I had been thinking during the first few heats today.
Second heat of the day with Yago, Callum, and Rio looked 'fun' as before lunch.
Cortez Gold..... a terrible curse
"all the pleasures".... "compelled by greed"... "couldn't satisfied our lust" ....... "apple:?"....
I dunno they run 2 rounds and only a few surfers get eliminated after those rounds . The woke surf league seems to be going backwards by the years
First two rounds eliminate only 4 surfers. 2nd and 3rd place finisher’s in the elimination round should go. But does this work for numbers in the remaining heats.
Zeke would currently be his own harshest critic atm I would imagine. Two comps in a row. The head noise would be unbearable.
Greed in'deed
https://royalgold.com/our-portfolio/principal-properties/cortez/default....
I think Zeke knew he lost priority though had no option other than to play dumb. You can see the wave he paddled for when lost P looked like an “oops’ moment. Surely you would think after a moment like that you would be keeping your wits about you whether you lost priority or not.
You can’t just sit on the shoulder and paddle for waves with priority till eternity so your competitor gets none.
Great call by the WSL.
FWIW, last year two surfers made the cut with both a last place and second last place in their scores (as Zeke will).
In fact, one surfer - Seth Moniz - had one second last place and two last place finishes.
Of course Seth also had a finals finish at Pipe, and that's the only thing that'll save Zeke now.
"The wave is nowhere near breaking and neither was committed to catching it."
disagree af. i posted almost this exact timeline in the comments yesterday (you're welcome, btw). look at zeke's paddle, there's a chip in that zeke (even if unintentionally) boosts onto. it has, at least, the appearance of having an intention to catch the wave.
also two people stacking up on the third should definitely be something that, if you can lawfully do it, should be penalised
I'd already written down the same time-line in my notes simultaneously if you were implying I ripped off yours.
I usually come up with 15-20 pages of notes/day, with as much timeline detail as I can muster over 8hrs.
Also have to agree to disagree about whether it was a committed paddle.
Judges saw it that way, so your opinion carries more weight.
omg no no, no ripping off implication - i was (jokingly) big noting myself, sorry if it seemed pointed or anything!
i think, irrespective of the priority call, zeke ought to have been aware of the shift (as both Leo and Rio were, as you pointed out)
So happy for Rio... Zeke is a knob
No doubt Zeke is a knob. Not smart and stupidly entitled
But WSL has a great opportunity to make crap events interesting!
Give Zeke a wildcard to all events on the condition his apple watch audio is on during the heat (like Big Bash cricket?)
We all like to have someone to hate from a distance
Does the watch also notify changes in priority? The interference call did take a while though...
Andino you flog .. punching your board .. great advertising for the sport .. millions of kids watching.. should be fined ya dickhead..
King Zeke Kahanamokulau !!!