Stuart Nettle April 16, 2010

What sort of a shifty spokesman is Kelly Slater? And what sort of a shonky operation would use him as their figurehead? Sure he's got a look that shifts units - dark skin, green eyes, polished cranium - but when it comes to delivering the message, his track record is awful patchy.

Last year, as we all know, the ASP faced a threat from the ESPN-backed Rebel Tour. The Rebels, in all their gung-ho glory, were gonna take down the ASP and all that it represents. That being: conservative surfing and thoroughly reasonable pay.

Slater was chosen as the posterboy for the outlaw gang and he took to the role with gusto. Quotes from the King popped up everywhere: "The ASP had a chance to go in a new direction and chose not to", "I don't truly feel the ASP has done the best job that can be done", "ESPN has signed on to support and fully back a tour". Thems were fightin' words and ESPN must've been glad to have him in their corner.

But then, under full media glare, Slater blinked. Interviews were denied. Quotes were pulled. His allegiance hadn't wavered however, as evidenced by a two-page, tell-all interview in the Sydney Morning Herald, yet his role as agent of change had...well, changed.

And now, not six months after the Rebel fiasco, the ASP appears to be in a stronger position than they were before.

*****

It's the Quiksilver Pro 2008, Josh Kerr is up against Mick Fanning in the semi-finals at perfect Snapper. On the last move of what will be his last wave, Kerr pulls a grab-rail flip. In the scheme of things it is a decidedly low-risk move: performed at the end of the wave, below the lip, and with a grab.

It said much about the state of competitive surfing that the surf media went into a gentle frenzy. Such a Kerrrazy move done in competition!

Jump to the present, and surfers are doing grab-free spins and flips as the first move on the first wave they surf. Witness Dusty Payne's recent heat where he did two grab-free air reverses straight off the bat (and still lost!), or just about any of the heats at Winkipop during the Rip Curl Pro. Given the right conditions, the big air has become the new top turn.

The performance levels in competition have risen drastically and in a remarkably short period of time. And who do we have to thank for it? The person who unwittingly orchestrated the ASP revamp, who knocked out Dusty Payne, and who went on to win the Rip Curl Pro, with a big, progressive, aerial move to boot. Slater of course, and his moves are sending the message that the ASP's current format is working. 

With every win Slater raises the bar higher, making the ASP look good and pushing the Rebel Tour further toward the department of historical footnotes.

So how must ESPN feel about having had Slater as their spokesman? They got the pretty face and the odd killer quote but their competitor, the ASP, gets the action and all the benefits that flow from them.

Your stocks are plunging ESPN and it's all due to the polished cranium.