Watching medina claim that last wave and his Dad leaping off the steps and running down the beach was possibly one of the worst moments I have seen in pro surfing. He clearly didnt do enough to get the score. if trying to manipulate the judges with outrageous claims has become part of pro surfing then that is just crap. Also why no commentary on fannings heats, his surfing was so precise and a pleasure to watch. Friggin brazos.

"Friggin Brazos". Two weeks of bloody great commentary by Julio goes down the dunny 'cos he didn't cover Fanning. Nice.

sorry Stu but iamlegend got it correct . was also sad that he blamed the ASP for Medinas act of pure stupidity .

"was also sad that he blamed the ASP for Medinas act of pure stupidity ."

You'll have to clarify this Kimbo, because if Medina's drop in was 'pure stupidity' then he should've been penalised by the ASP. But he wasn't, and the ASP are to fault for that, as Julio said.

You can't have it both ways.

I'm backing Stu here.
Some incredible writing in this series, and it was even more impressive to see the comp from a different perspective. On the other side of the fishbowl, as it were.
Loved every minute, well done Julio for writing and Swellnet for setting up the commentary.

Medina is an incredibly fierce competitor, which has served him well thus far, but the exchange with Ace will have won him no respect. Time will tell whether victory at all costs tastes as sweet for him as victory with respect does.

I agree with "How can you trust these guys?".
How can they just pretend nothing happened? Has there been a formal statement made by the ASP?
If Ace had priority why wasnt something done about it and Medina penalised?
These guys arent playing for skittles and that was a major cockup that desreves recognition.
Ace should be jumping up and down a litlle more then he is.

Great running commentary from Julio. I'm pretty sure a lot of us have come away from this contest with a changed perspective on the Brazzo's. Or at the very least, a little more educated.

Medina might be the future, but I think he's one of those guys that's going to be the surfer you love to hate.

Like leckiep alludes to, victory without respect is kinda hollow.

Hung out with Adler in the Maldives last year at an event and geez he can lay down some heat.
Super stylish full rail surfer and loves a beer like the rest of us!

Great work Julio,
Loved your comments!
The year ahead looks very interesting for the title race.
Adriano has become one of the few guys that can crack Slater's mind set.
Fanning sounded happy to get as far as he got. Jordy is on another level in this conditions.
Medina needs to grow up, he acts like a spoiled kid.

Let's go for a beer with timmeh next time you come to Oz.

Great writing, Julio. You are a real surfing journalist, not like that Matt (Who?) from Surfline.com with all his prejudice.

One thing, Neco Padaratz had two finals in a row back in 2002 against Andy, won the first in France and lost the second in Spain. So Adriano is the second Brazo to achieve two finals in a row.

Thanks!

Swellnet should bring Julio out here Bomba! Or maybe he can get you a gig in the Maldives in September so we can have that beer.....
What do you think stu?

Thanks for asking, Timmeh. My professional opinion is that I should be in the Maldives in September drinking a beer.

Julio,

even though Jordy, an African, was the winner, you. (or someone else), posting up a photoshopped job of Adriano the Sousaphone as the Billabong Rio winner on an Australian surf site is not only humorous, but subtle as hell.

keep up the top shelf work, bru.

the only thing left after your top coverage of the Rio affair,.. who's the insider Fijian Stunet hires to cover the next event?

may i suggest, Semisi. and his Fula Bula band....

Yew!

You just watch the mainstream surf media run a mile from the Medina vs Buchan incident. We won't hear of this again. God forbid anyone speak out against the ASP.

@Luis Coruja,

Looks like Surfline have pulled the inflammatory piece by Matt Pruett. As of today the photos are there but not the words and in one of the photo captions is this: "Editor's note: After internal deliberation and evaluating reader feedback, we decided that the best way to tell the story of Jordy's win in Rio is with photos and captions. Stay tuned for Surfline's Power Rankings for a full performance breakdown of the event."

@the-roller , actually they posted the photo of Adriano showing the number ONE . Leader of ASP until now. And Jordy surfed so fu@##ng awesome all event , victory well deserved ..... cheers BRU.

Was a joy to read Julio! A great series of writing and insight & perspective.

It was a win/win situation for both surfers.

It sure was. Adriano, as of right now, is the best competition surfer in the world and I dont mean because of his #1 rating. I mean because of his ability to learn and adapt, to not be intimidated by Slater and Fanning, and to change heat tactics if necessary without getting rattled. Jordy is the best freesurfer in the world and this win away from home will only fuel his confidence - it's all a fressurfer needs.

The problem now is Fiji where both de Souza and Jordy are unproven. I've got a feeling de Souza's #1 rating may not last very long.

Great reading, congrats Julio. I remember Kelly saying in an interview when Jordy fiqured it out he would win a world title. He has the game for Tahiti and Fiji

I totally endorse the writers comments about the Medina drop-in. Seriously the ASP has been going for, what 40 years, and the one time they have to make a call about something specific, who had priority they can't even make a decision. Like deaf mutes they carry on like nothings even happened. Even now, right now ..any press release to announce their considered viewpoint, nothing..compare that arrogance to any other global sport..let alone the AFL or NRL in Australia. It's so far below an acceptable standard. I really feel for Ace, if he was wronged the heat should have been his. Grow up ASP and allow our sport to grow up to.

Stu, can you please keep digging for an ASP comment on the Ace incident? Very keen to hear their side of the story. Dissapoint stuff that clouded an otherwise awesome couple of days of viewing.

I love that Adriano is so driven that it gets up Kelly's nose and I sure as hell respect his passion and committment. I love the way Medina surf's even though i cant stand the kid. Pro surfing needs the brazillians - they are making the sport at the moment.

But it is the country without a WCT event that is producing the most entertaining surfer of the moment. Watching Jordy this year is incredible - all year he has been the number one pick for me, and in both events pre-brazil he lost by the smallest fraction of a point. His power hacks, his power airs, hell even his claims are awesome. But the big question remains - can he back up his form in the big hollow lefts....?

speaking of photo shopped sessions...

down in Brazil. things are a bit freaky weird.

hide the keikies.

if anything, what Julio has so eloquently pointed out in his series covering the Billabong Rio Pro is that the people of OZ and Brazil-ville have many things in common....

and that most Brazilians have balls. Women included.

Paging Westerly Windina.

http://gawker.com/check-out-this-horrifying-brazilian-testicle-mascot-49...

I agree that ace was robbed. Even if the priority disk episode was a mistake by the judges or the disk guy (which itself is not clear), why should he pay for it. Something should have been announced soon after the incident. Maybe the judges felt the pressure of the location, and medina's ridiculous (for the most part) claims. Maybe this is why he was not made to return to the shore after illegally using the jet ski assist in the next heat? You think he would have learned from doing the same thing last year.

Always awesome perspective from julio!
One more thing that may be interest to note was that during the final, gabriel, miguel and toledo were having a fun free surf session with huge airs on the left side of the competition area.
It was a least surprising for me to see the 3 young guys surfing during the final of the contest (where most of the competitors tend to pay attention of whats happening) and specially one with another brazilian fighting for the title at home.
THey didn't give much importance for the final and prefered to surf those , at least nothing special waves, right by the contest and diverting the crowd attention...

be careful cajo and brunin , speaking the truth about incidents that involve Brazils new young guns will see you outed as the racists you obviuosly are ! . We must now tread carefuly when discussing this nations surfers because acting with digraceful manners is now ok as long as you show "passion", "wear your heart on your sleeve ", "are under 21" , "came from a tough background" or are being misled by a parent .

Congrats Julio. Loved every sentence. Also loved watching Mick's full rail committed surfing, though I am old. I admire airs but for me they are getting a bit flippy to watch unless they really link the wave together rather than a Hail Mary. Jordy was amazing a Bells and just as impressive here. Adriano is totally obsessed and you have to admire his absolute commitment and I wonder if he is on the wrong side of the tracks from cry baby Medina and Toledo. Speaking of Medina he is a brat though it sounds like his step father is what we refer to as the ugly parent. I think he would have been smacked down to size much earlier if he grew up in OZ (particularly if he played footy). I wonder how the Brazilians respond to the pain in arse petulance? Youth is not an excuse to know how to win and loose.

During the live broadcast on PayTV, Egan (who was Contest Director or some other token title) came back to do commentary after meeting with Medina and Buchan, and admitted that the disk guy was asleep at the wheel, mentioned that it has been two years since the last time it happened and that each event has 51 heats so that's a lot of heats between mistakes. Fortunately what played out means that no actual harm was done (Medina had actual priority and if the disk was done correctly, then he was in the right), except for the fact that Buchan was left out there by himself without any clue as to what happened, and destroyed his rhythm. As usual ASP run from a problem and don't have the cajones to face up to it and deliver a verdict. If they had set the record straight on the spot, Buchan could have surfed the rest of his heat on anger and adrenaline, rather than confusion and desolation.

I believe at the meeting after the fact, they were toying with the idea of running the heat again. Buchan said in interview later that it would be a bit difficult to run against the home-town hero when they feel like they're being robbed. You've seen what happens at football matches when the crowd gets pissed off...

Couldn't agree with you more Kimbo....

I didn't mean you shouldn't come as well Stu!

Gabs, Adriano & Filipe's surfing has given our brazo friends real credibility in my opinion. Gab's constant sooking and his toxic dad are threatening to blanket its ability to be appreciated be ALL of us.

Y'know what though, even though I personally don't like Gab's persona (as it comes across on the webcast), it sure makes for interesting viewing. You never know if his stepdad's about to go apeshit in the competitors area or whether Gabs is gonna have a meltdown after each losing heat.

and they sacked Bobby for a few fucks

What?

Great great stuff, Julio! Would like to read more in the next months...

A lot of good information from the old days too. Good scape from the mainstream suck up, market influenced, biased shallow media we have out there.

more great writing and as usual very truthful and up front about all things pro...including a history lesson for all of us,and how australia has influenced brazils surfing culture!

I think that this contest with Bells, confirms thar Australian surfing is now on the downward spiral.......the heat between Mick and Jordy (thankfully Julio did't comment) show exactly where Aussie surfing is at .....Mick tried airs and just can't land one.....the difference in repetoires was a gulf too far to bridge.

The Australian system, in producing Australian elite surfers is seriously broken and detrimental to our future chances of producing a World Champion.....currently it seems Aussies surfers do the Junior series then go on the QS..and qualify when they are about 22 years of age( as per Jack Freestone) ......the Brazilian's are Qualifying when they are 17 years old ( as per OCCY/Nicky Wood etc)...so by the time Aussies qualify the Brazilains will have been on tour for 4-5 years...

in the next couple of years there could be up to 10 brazilians on tour and possibly a handful of aussie Journey men...

Australia's tendence to now put all the money from the government into developing bureaucracy's,and regimenting repetoires thru average coaching and surfing academy's...which seems to feed the ISA programs...which is just amateur hour....does anybody care???

So Australia get used to Brazil being one of the more talented surfing nations...as soon as Mick,Joel,Taj,Ace, ,retire.....we have???

@brutus ... we have (just off the top of my head) Owen, Julian, Wilko and Jack Freestone. Yep, no talent there.

They're not a scratch on the hordes of australian surfers that used to fill the ranks. Weve now got 12 in the top 34 but with Kieren on the cusp of retirement, Taj, Mick, Joel and Bede all over 30, and only Mitch Coleborne making an entrance (potentially) the numbers are dwindling further. Remember Wilko only saved his butt with a finals berth at Santa Cruz. When does the Hurley High Performance centre start kicking in?

Maybe some of the Aussie juniors are opting to finish school so they perhaps can have a shot at life after their pro-careers fail to materialise?

Then again, maybe many of them don't want to chase competitions at all. A quick scan of the major players team rosters shows many more paid free surfers than competition pros. So perhaps it's not a lack of talent in Australia but an increase in options.

Where's the incentive for Australian junior surfers to aspire to the WCT?
I was chatting to photographer Joli on the beach at Westcape a few years ago watching Ryan Callinan surfing who was 17 at the time. Joli was saying the kid was earning $250,000 a year!
He has probably paid off a house by now and can kick back, do a few surf trips a year and coast through life? I can't say I've heard much of Ryan since then as far as his surfing career goes but he sure did rip!
Maybe the big surf companies pulling the comfortable rug out from these young up and comers' arses will give them incentive to try harder for the WQS/WCT? Sounds like that going to happen anyway and could be what's needed to get the hunger back into Australia's juniors to go for the big time?

$250K per year? Well, there's a handy insight as to some of Billabong's problems.

Four surfers in that category is a million bucks a year (and there are a LOT of surfers in that 17 year old category). Ten surfers is 2.5 million bucks per years.

That's a friggin LOT of boardshorts to recoup costs.

BTW, it's not just Billabong, it's been a symptom of all of the major brands over the years. Hence the recent reports that Quik will soon be ceasing sponsorship of a large swathe of their riders, excluding the A Team.

@brutus is correct, the way surfing Australia runs there program is all about paying there coaches wages and obtaining prime real estate, the coaching is way out of date and needs a complete overhaul.. The methods don't stand up to the state of surfing 2013!!
the best example of this is the world juniors which surfing Aus put everything into an come out with a win for Freestone.. However look at the heat draw NO Andino, gielsemen, medina, Pupo, Toledo, JJF etc all surfers under 21 and could compete in the event however there coaches and association advised them to look further and at the WCT almost 100% of those surfers are now running for a world title :: Australian youngest hope Julian is 24 yrs old : those other guys would be on tour 6 yrs by that age...

I also agree with the laziness that has come over our junior surfers, look at the video Matt Banting posted today stating how he doesn't care what everyone thinks of him! His our answer to Gabes/Flipe, they are same age, same level of surfing however Matt doesn't have the drive that the hard battling Brazzos thrive on, I'm not saying tht Banting is wrong but these kids are not interested in being about of the wank that comes along with surfing australia 2013, it's too rigid, too conventional and boring as hell, they are still implementing the Martin Dunn three swoops to the beach routine... Look where that got Ben!!!

In my eyes Australia is the land of surfing, just like Brazil is the land of football.You will always have the talents, unless they get too messed up by standardized training and coaching.That crushes individual talent.

What concerns me in surfing is what is crushing a whole generation of football players in Brazil. Money and media. I've always been afraid of what might happen if surfers start becoming millionaires. Easy money turns them lazy. And media makes them boring as hell, because they've got to maintain a good image. It is important for the sponsors. Imagine that shit in the time of Elkerton, Pottz, Archbold or Ian Cairns. Those guys were wild. There's absolutely nothing boring about them.

I still think Australia will keep the talents coming as always. Julian, Wilko and Owen are a good example of that. I think Brazil kind of matched US and Australia's level of surfing for the first time in surfing history. And they want blood, because they feel they have a lot to prove. I believe this new Brazilian generation is a result of globalization and economic growth of Brazil. The world is 'smaller' now, it's easier to travel, and pros have been able to do it much more, with more money from sponsors too. Getting good waves and learning to charge big waves and developing tuberiding skills. We still need some style lessons though. Some long waves would help with it. A 10 seconds ride is as good as it gets in Rio (on a good day).

Kelly Slater has gotten filthy successful thru professional surfing. he earned it... 2010 net worth?.. a cool 22 mil....

http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/kelly-slater-net-worth/

yet, he's still taking down most all comers on a regular basis....

he knew at a young age. and still does to this day,.....

Success doesn’t come from feel-good messages and overinflated self esteem. It comes from grit, rules, and discipline.

this mistake in Rio, and ASP executives somewhat avoiding speaking on record about this inadvertent slip of a disc, is one thing.... but why does the failure of Billabong Inc get even more of a sluff?

as goes Billabong, so goes Aussie surfing?

Interesting comments,and i think all can see that all is not well for the future of australia's competitive surfers.

The surfers don't really get a say in how to become world champ...we have a system in place that has not and will not produce World champions,in fact it is doing the opposite in standardising our surfing and brainwashing kids with the need for a regime of weights,cross training,diet,heat training etc.....

the fact that we have already had a big gap in australias competion demographics.......Mick and Joel....then.........???....Owen,Julian probably were the picks for becoming champ.......but this has not hapened and whole bunch of younger surfers are now really pushing ahead of Owen and julian......

It's the kids who are losing with the current system......not really been given the chance to develop their own style and persona....

So does kelly,the brazilians,and say Jon Jon....need a high performance centre to achieve a title....???

me thinks not.......hopefully the Australian govt will stick by their statement that the $'s given to surfing will be subject to KPI's....and are performance based......so far very very average results...but australia did win the world tag team finals....pity there's no future in team surfing!

Will be interesting to wee at the end of this year the make up of the brands teams.....how many comp surfers VS free surfers.......try explaining to a bean counter why free surfers are paid so much...

discussion will continue,and hopefully when the KPI's are all in....the result might call for serious change

hey sorry for getting of track.......but as Aussie competitive surfing spirals down..it will affect business and the national pride.....and .....??????

Interesting, Brutus. But do you really think a overall decline in the world rankings of Australian surfers would really affect "business" and "national pride" and other things?

I mean, apart from the two week period either side of a World Title win, does the average Australian surfer really take a lot of notice who's in the top five?

My understanding is that most surfers simply want (1) WCT events to be held in unbelievably good waves and (2) a high quality webcast to distract them from their real work.

I don't know about that Ben.

There's pockets of average australian surfers who really care. You see them at Snapper and Bells.

Coolie turn out and treat Mick & Joel like kings when they arrive back from the Hawaiian leg after world titles. Drive around town and every 3rd or 4th car has a go parko sticker on the back windscreen. Every second bus stop.

It'd be great to have a poll and get a feel for the average punter and if they care if Australia is competing for world surfing titles. I have an inkling the results would surprise people with how many people care.

As for what Brutus is saying, I agree ... I think the HPC is neutering our young surfers. All creative and artistic style and flow is being beaten out them with the robotic mantras of Marty Dunn and Co at the HPC, imo.

Wilko and Owen can't be considered our (Australia's future) and Julian is fast headed in their steps. Australia has dearth in talent when you compare to Brazil and Hawaii/ Mainland. As these guys hit their physical prime; they're closer to plateauing than they are to ascending in relation to their performance curve.

Toledo, Gabby, Pupo, Nat Young, SeaBass, JJF, Kolohe et al, they all outweigh Freestone's potential and they're taking tier lumps and surviving -- and recently, even thriving -- on tour right now.

Have you ever seen a 'Go Parko' sticker outside of the Gold Coast though?

Oh, I fully acknowledge you wouldn't see one of those stickers outside of Coolie. Which is why I say there are pockets that care about the WT.

I wonder what would happen if Sydney got a dominant world champ? How would that change the landscape of how Australia views our WT surfers? More media and therefore more people would surely latch onto that?

Which is why we need to do a better job of raising our young tour hopefuls!

Funny how everyone is louding the young 'future non-australian world champs' and writing off Fanning, Parko, Taj, Julian and Owen after Snapper, Bells and Rio. We will see how this conversation changes after Chopes, Cloudbreak, Peniche and Pipe. The Aussie vetrans can still thread a barrel front or backside better than any of these young future hopes.

(Quick disclaimer: John-John, and perhaps Seabass and Medina possible exceptions)

Not so much for this year or even next year, Monk.

But what about:

In five years time when Owen & Wilko are 30ish, and Taj, Joel & Mick are all retired, and these other nationality kids are now men entering their primes and dominating. And all we have to put against them at this stage is Jack Freestone (with about 2-3 years less WT experience as them).

Yikes!

Nah, I don't think it'd be any different if we had a Sydney world champ. The exposure they receive comes down to a lot of things, including the personality of the surfer, their sponsor, the brand's marketing goals, etc.

I think the 'Go Parko' campaign was a well executed marketing strategy, which was easy for people to get involved with (especially via Social Media). By way of comparison, I'd hazard a guess that Adam Robbo received a comparable amount of exposure in Victoria for his Trials-to-Rip-Curl-Pro-Final efforts in 2009.

BTW, I agree that there are pockets of surfers who care a lot about all of this. I just think that the majority of Australian surfers probably aren't too fussed about who's on top of the leaderboard. I mean, if you asked a dozen random surfers - and to highlight the issue, surfers NOT on the Gold Coast - which Australians were ranked in the Top 5 right now, do you think they'd know the correct answer?

In south-west WA i reckon four out of five poeple could tell you the top 5 ranked surfers. A lot can happen in 5 years - and pro's could come from any streatch of the Aus coast. Jack Robinson will be 20 in 5 years, and a heap of his young mates from the Cape to Cape stretch will be performing at a massive level by then... Only time will tell if they will be good enought to match the brazillian groms - but I see these guys in the water from time to time (when they punt over me on the paddle back out) - as far as I know the coaching strucutre is not so rigid over here - these guys surf so well, and are having so much fun. Maybe we will see more up-and-commers from other parts of the country where surfing is more organic and fun-based in the early years...

If I'm completely honest, if it wasn't my job to know, I wouldn't know the current top 5. No chance.

But say if you're a diehard Manly Sea Eagle supporter. Can you name the top five on the NRL ladder?

Australians by and large love their sport and are patriotic to a fault. They may not be deeply entrenched into the sport down to the small print -- ie knowing the top 5 ratings leaders at any one point within a season -- but that doesn't mean they don't care if Australia doesn't have WT title contenders.

Even though I loathe to, I will. To compare surfing to tennis. How many of us have been die hard tennis fans over the years for the 2-weeks the Aussie open runs? Especially when we've had Hewitt and Rafter (and even the scud once) going deep into the tournament. Then we forget about Tennis until next january just like we always have.

I think the two issues we're talking about are separate ones.

How many surfers care who's in the top 5 right now?

... and how many surfers care if we have Australian title contenders every year?

imo Australian surfers care about the latter.

So to get back to Brutus' question, "But as Aussie competitive surfing spirals down..it will affect business and the national pride"

Everyone loves a winner, and if Australia is void of one, the surfing industry here will slide further to what they're already doing. At least in theory its a conceivable notion.

Good points Braithy.

But, I still don't think that "business" and "national pride" will be greatly affected as "Aussie competitive surfing spirals down".

It's also possible that something else will fill the void, like one of the Tassie fellas scoring 50ft barrels at some yet-to-be-surfed reef off their west coast. There's plenty of non-competitive stuff to get excited about in the world of surfing every day of the week.

And touche to your points! I love those Tassie fellas!

I'd love to find out how much interest there is out there. And real numbers too, over the standard industry talk of, "there's 78 million surf fans out there and over 25 million surfers!"

Stu, Ben, Brathy.

check this top shelf article...

The recently completed Rio test match. Brazil's surfing history... and the failure of Bong...

summed up in one small, comprehensive packet....

http://dreadpiratedoyle.com/2013/05/21/billabong-rio-pro-2013-barra-da-t...

dig.

@Roller

I didn't like it how he never mentioned Bede Durbidge once! I'm infuriated.

I liked his history bit too. Brazil has such an undocumented, yet vastly interesting surfing history.

Brazil has a few quality waves there too, much more worthy of a WT event than Rio. Strange they can't explore those options further...

Bede won in Brazil too I believe.

"Nobody in the history of surfing ever had so much guts and desire to prevail" he says of Adriano. What immature, hasty and disrespectful words! It all made sense when the massive conflict of interest was declared in the final paragraph: "Julio Adler is a native of Rio de Janeiro".
P off Julio, your article is turd.

Special contribution there Yehmate... give yourself a pat on the back and the top of the head and then tuck yourself nice and warm into bed. I imagine that your dreams are often your only fleeting freedom or respite from the little prison of anger that you find yourself confined to in your waking ours. Or is this just a bad moment for you?

Great coverage of the event Julio. Thanks for your hard work. It's not easy, as Braithy and Freeride have done before you, to put together such great pieces day after day during an event. Makes good contests better and mediocre contests bearable. And thanks for continually finding such quality contributors Stu and Ben...

Interesting conversation above. I know less than 1% of what most of you do about the current crop of up coming aussie surf talent... but I think it will come out of the woodwork. The talented groms that don't seem all that interested in competition right now (largely because they can make a living from free-surf etc) may change their tunes and become competitive mongrels by necessity when that juicy teat dries up... as it currently is. If ZoSea manage to successfully pump the WCT with serious money and sporting Cred, as they are promising, i imagine the it may start to look like a far more tempting career objective. But, even the best case scenario is that we will need to get used to a radically shifted balance of power in the top tier. I like it... the brazilians are bringing the WCT out of the boring bro bro malaise that it has suffered from ever since the height of the Kelly/AI rivalry. Without the bad behaviour, grating confidence and crazy skills of the current brazilian surfers (and yet another glaring ASP screw-up-then-head-in-the-sand moment)... we wouldn't still be talking about RIO.

Yep, not far off Grug, read me like a book apart from the fact I'm not in bed yet. But anyway, I stand by my comments (ok, maybe it wasn't ALL turd - sorry Julio). But it IS a disrespectful article to the likes of world title holders Nat, Rabbit, Dooma, and in particular Slater (who has prevailed like him, c'mon?). Yes, who cares and all that, but still, let the man at least win a world title before you diss past champions as having less guts and staying power (is that what prevalence means?). Right, where was I? Oh yes, all red and angry. Get stuffed Grug!

Well it's good to see you stand by your comments. A sign of strong character, at least amongst those in the population that have no understanding of what strength of character actually looks like. i.e. not stubborn ignorance.

Also great to see you make a nascent effort to actually justify your impressively nuanced original response. Baby steps. Now, a quick feed and burp then off to bed with you.

Wow Grug! Those rehearsed one liners are coming thick and fast aren't they!

It seems that a lot of people are now becoming aware that there is a problem in the system that is responsible for producing world champions and that at present the system is just not producing and it looks like the HPC in Casaruina is set up to service the ISA program of meaningless titles and team orientated competitions......which is really a platform to try and get surfing into the olympics and thus the need for a big high paid bureaucratic job....

It feels like the ISA luv the IOC model....and Australia's surfing resources that have been provided by the Aust govt are being used to promote amateur hour.......a system that produces athletes at the ripe age of 21-2 is broken..we can all see that the Brazilian surfers are hungry,passionate ,incredibly gifted......and are not being regimented and repetoired like our aussie kids.

Its the system thats at fault not the surfers......kids that are 16-18 in Brazil are not worrying about Junior world titles,they are raw ,fresh and loaded with talent and their learning curve is on tour,not in some HPC wanking off...

the brazilians are qualifying at a young age and we are still babying our surfers...

So what poissible commercial effect could this have on surfing in Australia....Ben....comments....

" I still don't think that "business" and "national pride" will be greatly affected as "Aussie competitive surfing spirals down".

Ben the effect will be in the mainstream markets....if there is no australian in the final of a WT event..there is no mainstrean media coverage,and try and imagine snapper and Bells being like the Aust Tennis open.....no aussie that can possibly win a title,and no one rallly cares..so how popular is tennis,not like when we were ontop!

the tour de France is another cadel wins huge coverage and Aussie bike riding gets a commercial turbcharger....

less media coverage means less corporate dollars...so it is conceivable that sponsorship from outside surfing dries up,as turnover falls for the surf Co's theres less money for teams and in affect juniors......rememebr about 5 years or more we had about 10 junior comps in australia...and now???

oh yeah....you should check out the depth of brazilian Junior surfers coming ......remember this name...Victor Bernardo....like Holy Toledo,but bigger,black supa style has every trick in the book,had 3 fullseasons in hawaii,lives in Cal near trestles...and carves....

Aaa ah tennis! I remember way back at the start of the pro tour that was their ambition - to be just like tennis and golf. Well at the moment it would be appreciated by most of us if they would follow the tennis trajectory. No local heroes, falling participation rates, as cool as grandad's cardigan. I think we need to go there. If you get your thrills from a vicarious identification with you heroes, that would be a problem, but shit wouldn't it be nice to paddle out into a thinner crowd?
From my perspective any decline that is occurring is related to the intensely crowded surfing conditions around our population centres. It's not that the potential pros aren't being identified it's that the intensely competitive atmosphere they once had every time they paddled out is no longer there. A crowd of 20 hungry locals is a much better training ground than one of 50 with an age range of 10 to 70, most of whom are on over sized equipment, and many of the rest are on some misguided trip to recreate the 70s.

@Julio @stunet I didn’t mean to cause offence, Julio;s coverage was excellent and good on swellnet for providing a forum on which we can discuss the articles and the wider topics associated with them. Being a Gold Coast local you could say I have a slight bias towards Fanning and just love his surfing. Fair enough he does what he needs to get through heats and rarely throws psycho airs but his precision, speed and timing of turns on a single wave is masterful. I kind of feel sorry for Medina with the amount of pressure that is seemingly put on him by his family. It was so awkward to watch him claiming that heat against Adriano like he had just won his first world title when he clearly didn’t get the score (and he had got through his previous heat with a dubious priority call). On top of that his Dad went nuts on the beach then it all ends in tears, literally. Anyway I’m just seeing the world from my cultural perspective and that’s a world away from Brazil so I take back my ‘friggin Brazos’ comment. Peace

Gidday, there is a glaring difference in Pro surfing modelling itself on Pro tennis, or golf. They have a relatively level, reliable playing field, where it is possible to accurately judge the human performance. Even 'subjective' sports like gymnastics has the same level playing field.

Imagine one performer getting the correctly set up parallel bars, and the next one bar missing, the next no bars, the next oiled up bars and so on. Or one tennis player has his end of the court perfect, the other has no lines, the next game a flooded court, and so on. Likewise with golf. It would be impossible to truly judge who is the best performer, and most fans would be over it quickly.

Uplift I'm not normally a huge fan of the stuff you post on here but I've gotta admit that you are absolutely spot on with your last post. Honestly if most surfing fans lost interest in the tour would it be such a bad thing for the average local who is going to go surfing regardless? Even if it caused a few people to lose interest in surfing altogether well I know I'd be pretty stoked with less people in the water..
Don't get me wrong I like seeing Aussies win, I spent the whole day of the pipe final last year under a house watching every heat hiding from my boss..
But at the same time I would rather watch footage of Craig Anderson surf desert point or that left in Namibia all day long compared to 95% of tour heats. I'd much rather watch Fanning tearing apart Rifles or some point in mex going mental than see him surfing at only 80% just to make it through a heat.
I just don't think having a world champ is the most important thing in surfing

Uplift,

You're missing the point because you're mixing up the administration with the playing arena. As Blindboy said, and as Bobby Martinez also noted in his expletive-laden last stand, surfing has tried to model itself on tennis in how it is administered and how it is structured, nothing to do with what happens in the water.

It has tried to reach broad appeal and become a global, corporate-happy sport. It didn't get there in the Bronzed Aussies era and it hasn't quite got there yet, however it remains to be seen what ZoSea can do with it. But if they do succeed, the result, as BB say, is that it would lose all cachet in core surfers eyes and may be the agent of it's own demise.

Stunet, no I made my point. How can you separate tennis administration from the playing arena. It depends on it. It suits it. My point is, if surfing wants to become a successful spectator sport, that is appeal to a wide audience, then it needs to work with waves. No other sport has to.

The challenge is to create a way of doing that, that satisfies surfers and spectators, not copy one, i.e., tennis, that has never had to deal with a variable like waves.

As I believe that with enough focus, passion and imagination, anything is possible, then so is that. The possibilities are limited by imagination, which however can be limited by conditioning.

A circuit where surfers are stoked, along with spectators. The first hurdle is believing that it is possible. Most run straight into it and get quickly knocked unconscious. Then there's honesty. Then change. Easy...except people often love their stories to death.

There's a classic rule in the stock market. Don't fall in love with the company. Nearly everyone does, in one way or another.

And I agree with goofyfoot. Brazil looked like a typical day at Middleton. Sometimes.

the point is Kids are not being given the chance to develop a career in surfing.

the current system is slanted towards increasing the size of the bureacracy, and putting our tax payers money into what is clearly a system that is not producing elite athletes,and seems out of step with the rest of the world producing and getting surfers on tour in their teens.

As for tennis ...well where is Australia at with developing young tennis players or our national cricket team,which comes out of the Cricket academy..the millions of $'s spent....and the result???

Keeping a surfer like Jack robinson away from the current system and the HPC,can only be a good thing!

Agreed. Jack Robinson is probably our best hope. In spite of the HPC, not because of it!

The world just gets weirder.

One huge, won't go away, ongoing for 40 years point is this.

http://www.forbes.com/athletes/list/

So even if the kid makes it Pro Surfing wise, the sponsors and fans don't care very much.

Slater's domination is ridiculously unmatched. Despite his awesome effort and achievements, he can't crack the big time.

We can comment all we like about other sports, the sponsors and and fans, and the results, staring us in the face, couldn't care less. The truth, the blunt reality.

It was aired on this site several times, that a top performer, a guy that can beat Slater, can't even scrape up sponsorship. Everyone just dodges that fact, mummified. The truth about how fantastic Pro Surfing is. Its unheard of in top Pro Sports where the bottom rung athletes, many who never even get to play, are payed much more, and treated much, much better than top Pro Surfers.

All this talk of creativity, thinking outside the box. Hey, I know, lets keep doing what we've been doing for the last 40 years! Hit the repeat button... better still hit loop... then just give it a quick respray, some flashing lights, and put it on the net! Yet, there are a zillion ways Pro Surfing could go? Unless...

http://www.delossbrown.com/boxedin.html

I agree about the creativity/young surfers thing. Basketball was like that. We all got taught the same fundamentals. Everyone the same thing. I was lucky, my club was affiliated with top US colleges, and we soon saw that the top US players all had their own style. And they lifted weights, which we were told would make us klutz's. And they could jump higher, run faster, react quicker, plus, be resistant to injury, they could... kick our arses. So I tried it, and I could jump higher, run faster, react quicker, plus, be resistant to injury. Every one of my friends from that era, all who were brainwashed into not using weights, carries a debilitating injury. Which may be of use to that same guy that can't get a sponsor, as it was also highlighted how he regularly snaps his professional, athletic legs like toothpicks. Change the way you train/weight train.

Then there's that uncreative Bruce Lee klutz to think about.

'Furthermore Bruce was very innovative. Back in the 50's, the Chinese Martial Artists were very conservative. They believed that weight training would slow down the practitioner's speed. But Bruce found a way to beat it. He would start his program with heavy weights and low repetitions first, then he reduced the weights and increased the repetitions. He continued to do that until his repetitions reached maximum and the speed of the exercise also increased. In this way he built muscles and developed power without losing speed.'

http://www.rbgfitclub.com/bruce-lee-weight-lifting-philosophy-and-routine/

http://centeneral.tripod.com/tr.htm

And here's what another Pro legend has to say.

The truth is, one tool utilised by Bruce Lee to reach that level, was weight training, at a time when the majority of athletes shunned it. A dream come true for him, no contest.

So, looking at the truth, not here-say and talk, will weight training enhance or debilitate a Pro Surfer's performance?

Whats happening in Victoria, Surf Emporium Central, disco surf, the mecca of the surf industry? Where's the up and coming stars from that region. On a serious note, it always interests me that that region doesn't spit world champions out regularly.

Uplift,you can't compare mainstream sports to niche/extreme sports.

saying Kelly doesn't rate compared to soccer/baseball/basketball etc,is pretty easy to explain......mainstream sport is just soooooo much bigger than surfing ,and therefore earnings...

as for weights etc...not sure if you understand that its the current system,not one particular exercise......!

as for Victoria..never have produced a world champ.....not sure we ever will...kids here spend most of their time surfing jan Juc in Comps....which has stifled all creative surfing and has delayed their maturing as a surfer by nearly a decade.....

but there are some young fellas who have decided to become watermen,ditch the current road to nowhere local competition scene ....and are actually becoming complete surfers from 1 -20'.....Viccos have always been more inetrested in surfing,because we get such good consistent surf ,with size...

Yeh, but boxing is not considered a mainstream sport either, and many feel it is dying. This quote was from an article on this site about the Quicksilver Pro, and the future of Pro Surfing.

'The whole precipice we stand on in 2013 reminds me of UFC and boxing.

Boxing with all its tradition and heroes has slowly eroded in popularity to cage fighting. However when UFC first arrived it was sneered at as nothing more than a thug's game and definitely no threat to the gentlemanly sport of boxing.

UFC, with reality TV shows and Fox Sports reaching into homes across the world, is now riding a wave of popularity; meanwhile boxing slowly bleeds out on the canvas.'

Yet, 2 boxers actually top the list of highest paid athletes. Not one mixed martial artist, even Anderson Silva, is in it. Usain Bolt is on the list too, and 100m sprinting isn't mainstream... but the popularity of extreme athleticism is undeniable.

If surfing wants to target the niche of extreme sports, they'd better get extreme. No more comps in b grade slop. And they should have been all over the best day ever at Cloudbreak.

Most super popular sports have tons of complicated rules that even the athletes whinge about. But the bottom line is, its not too hard to appreciate who is winning, and why. And extreme athleticism is always eye catching. Even diehard surfers get bored watching wave-less heats, and heats in junk. A non surfer will never even want to get it.

It still interests me that a state and region that is the home of the likes of the legendary, hard, tough, professional, never say die Geelong Footy Club, with all those waves to train in, wetsuits, surfboards and surfing paraphernalia on every corner, can't produce a top Pro Surfer.

Why can't that Brazilian guy get a sponsor?

boxing is a mainstream sport and has been for a 100 years or more ....one of the problems in Boxing is that there is,the WBOWBC,IBO,IBF,WBF which has so many world champs its been diluted down,till the sport of boxing has become fragmented..even though I note that mayweather has another 6 fights @$32 m perfight.

the UFC is new ,fresh and the fights are controlled by one body...plus its way more exciting to watch MMA than boxing!

UFC is not mainstyream yet.....but will be soon...and of corse that means that the fighters will get more and more money...

waveless heats and mush are what mother nature throws at any surf spot....Trestles is often 4 waves a heat,like a lot of spots,J/Bay is slow sometimes as is Fiji/Tahiti........ah mother nature how do ya factor her in?? Wave pool?

As for the Vico's.......I think we have won as many world titles as Tassie,SA,WA.....less competitive culture and vey small populations....and Surfing Vic /TBC like to have their comps at Jan Juc in slop ,so the kids all surf jan Juc.....and not the reefs until they seem to burn out on Comps...and then start to really surf.....

You can quickly find lots of evidence that boxing is no longer a mainstream sport. Here are some highly respected, experienced, valued opinions.

http://www.satfix.net/showthread.php?99220-BOXING-NOT-MAINSTREAM-SPORT-L...

I like watching UFC too, but something like Pacquiou/Mayweather would totally eclipse anything it can offer. Its like its such a test to reach that level, yet so obvious and basic that anyone gets it. Nothing much in the way of judging the better athlete. Even if the judges botch it the fans can make a decision. There is absolutely no disputing that the spectators revel in it. And are prepared to pay to do so.

Yeh, the Mother Nature thing is glaring. After 40 years, no present solution has factored it in. Although they are pretty copy-cat. Not much innovation.

Collinwood v Geelong, or any Vic AFL match up? Not very competitive?

For sure the Jan Juc stuff is hard to reason. Margies area has always produced some standouts. I think the deck is stacked in favour of slop bashing, and has been for a long time. BK reduced to battling it out in slop was a sad sight. That doesn't do much for enticing viewing, let alone paying to do it.

Sometimes I imagine stables of surfers on a team on standby, one Pipe expert, one Sunset, one Chopes, etc. Even a slop ripping maestro (don't take all this as not acknowledging that it takes a lot of skill to really surf powerless junk well). All sorts of people can relate to a team, because they can relate themselves to the types needed for each particular job.

But most surfers want awesome waves. There has to be a way to work with nature. And there are no shortage of cashed up people trying to climb into a way of sitting in the channel in Tahiti, whether there's a comp or not.