my two cents for the week

Here’s my two cents for the week…

 

*Much like most contests go nowadays, the best surfer in the contest didn’t win. The most consistent surfer did. Kelly came into the event almost toying with the small point break at times but he appeared excited, focused, and loose throughout every single one of his heats. Maybe he didn’t exactly tear the bag out but when the waves are not up to par that’s not your job. Winning contests isn’t about individual performances. It’s about stringing together enough rhythm to win. But maybe Kelly’s biggest help is his “me against the world” mentality. There may have been a point where I thought Kelly should shut it down, retire, marry Kalani, chase freak storms around the world, but it’s clear that he’s nowhere close to hanging his skates up. He’s made it clear that he’s not giving the title back until someone takes it from him and why should he? There was no one else in that contest that stood out to the point where I thought there were deserving of a title and until someone shocks me into utter silence on this blog then Kelly will remain king for better or for worse.

 

*Since failing at making the right fantasy surfer picks no one will let me hear the end of it namely Cole Moody and Ryan Croteau. The only person on my team who made it past round four and actually looked like he might repeat this year was Taj Burrow. Aside from his quarters heat with Brett Simpson, where I thought Simpo got robbed of a great tube ride and pocket turns, Taj looked sharper than anyone else. That is…until he came against Kelly in the final where he felt like he needed to audition for Kai Neville’s next project and in the process fell on two critical waves. Don’t get me wrong. Watching Taj do the most tweaked out snaps, lip cracks, and reverses on that featherweight Fire Wire is sick. Even I can appreciate that BUT…the conditions had deteriorated so greatly by then that Taj didn’t differentiate between day 8 and day 9. When the waves aren’t great, typically you don’t have to do too much to win and that’s exactly why Taj lost. That being said it also has to do with the fact that Kelly is lodged permanently in the mind of one Taj Burrow. They’ve drawn each other 23 times and Kelly has won seventeen of them. That’s a pretty frightening statistic and even more frightening that you didn’t learn your lesson in 2008 when Kelly hosed you down for 100k at Lowers. He did the same thing there. He stuck to inside runners with solid surfing that impressed the judges more than 800 open face carves to the beach, which was your strategy. When all else fails, resort to a conservative approach. No one seems to get that when surfing against Kelly in those circumstances except for Ace Buchan in France in 2008. Everyone else tries to one up the guy and that usually never ends well.

 

*I didn’t think there was anyone that could match Dane Reynold’s weird factor until I realized that Matt Wilkinson is Mickey Avalon’s look alike. The guy skates to his heats on roller-blades. I could care less if he rides a pogo stick. That guy was the pleasant surprise to this contest especially when he attempted a backside rodeo and almost landed it. For whatever reason, on a full nosed, fishy like board, this guy tore apart Snapper with flare and panache that no one else had and the best part…he cares! Anyone see him hanging his head at the end of that quarterfinals heat? Maybe he’s got that odd style but it works and if he’s winning heats then the rest of the world will love him. I can’t wait to see him bring his act to Lowers or HB in July. Equally as impressive was the other stand out goofy foot of the event Ace Buchan. Where Wiko was a little more erratic and all over the place, Ace rocketed off the bottom and threw it straight up every single time throwing buckets all the way through Rainbow Bay. The last three years has been a lot about change…maybe add some more lefts? I’m willing to bet both these guys surf better on their backhands then any of the regular foots because they never have to! Want to even the playing field? Give me two more lefts. Bring back Cloudbreak and G-land or Macaronis or something.