Judge This

The superlatives were flowing freely during the finals of the Mr Price Pro, with the commentators calling it ‘the best ever final’, ‘the most crowded since the Gunston 500 days’, ‘the most exciting final ever’, and even ‘the final that I will think about until the day that I die’ or words to that affect. Dramatic stuff! Two years ago at the Mr Price Pro Shaun Tomson called surfing, ‘The greatest sport in the history of the earth,’ or something like that. Heady stuff indeed!

While the accolades poured through as to the magnitude of the sport and how it actually fits in and resonates alongside the history of civilization, Jordy was comboed with a 16.70 on his home turf, while surfing in top form. Something huge must have gone down for this to happen.

It did.

A massive alley oop air (or a Japan or a Judo? What was that!) from Julian Wilson that saw the Australian land cleanly and launch straight into a big close-out floater for a perfect 10-point ride. That combined with an 8.93 for a frontside slob air reverse, followed by two more hits on his backup wave, saw Jordy in a remarkable position of chasing two rides. Already with an 8.83 and a 7.87 on the scorecard, Jordy had a challenge ahead of him.

We all know what Jordy is capable of, and us patriots stood around, patiently waiting for Jordy to hook into a bomb and stomp the air of the final, then go out and do it again. It was what he needed to do to win, and we all expected him to do it with ease. It didn’t happen, and the waves slowed down for our man, or went wide, or faded away into deep water.

The clock ticked out, the ocean conspired against him, and the young Australian was back in the winning seat for the first time since the Rip Curl Pro Peniche World Championship Tour event in Portugal last year.

What does this result mean to us? It shows us a number of things.

1. There are many surfers on the world tour that are incredibly skilled and talented. While Jordy is our hero and star, surfers of the ilk of Julian Wilson (ranked 11th on the World Championship Tour) have the moves on hand to win events and beat him and others.

2. Surfers need to have an edge. For Slater it’s experience, for Fanning it’s fitness, for John John it might be barrel riding, and for Parko it might be total understanding of what the judges are looking for on a particular day and surfing accordingly? Whatever it is, surfers need to have an edge or develop one. Jordy’s edge is his air game as well as his power surfing, and over time he will develop them both into a cohesive and unstoppable package. If you don’t have an edge you’ll soon be out of the game.

3. Not discounting Travis, there is a great divide between Jordy and the rest of the South African surfing population. If we use international contest results as our yardstick, we have very little on our horizon, apart from Slade. Our dwindling surf industry, lack of surf contests, shortcomings in sponsorship packages and lack of crowds at most surf spots have a trickle down effect that results in less inspired performances. No disgrace, we are merely products of our (pretty cool) environment. If we incorporate free surfing we also have Brendon Gibbens, who is filming with Kai Neville in France.

4. We are on the right track with junior surfing. Billabong, Hurley and RVCA are investing in junior surfing in South Africa, and this will reap rewards in years to come. Any one of our kids, currently being groomed through the junior ranks at the moment, might flare up and become the next Jordy at any stage, or the next Travis, or the next Greg Emslie; surfers who have enjoyed and currently enjoy a surfing career on the World Championship Tour.

(Ed's note: In an interview at the J-Bay Open of Surfing, presented by Billabong, yesterday, Occy said he was blown away by the standard of surfing at the event, mentioning that SA had made huge strides since the CT days when a couple of wild cards, like Shaun Holmes, would cause a few scares. The entire field at Supers really ripped, he said, adding that the event was really hard due to the presence of so many powerful young SA surfers.)

Finally, I’d like to make mention of our local judges and of the international panel of judges at ASP events. They make some truly kak decisions, they really do. Thing is, these decisions are of the utmost minority, and almost all of the time they are making the correct calls, and on the whole the correct surfers get through their respective heats. The judges have a hard job, and there is plenty of space for human subjectivity, but that’s the nature of the game. Our local judges are actually of a very good level.

At the recent Oakley Pro in Bali the judging was good, the right surfers were getting through their heats and the legitimate surfer (Parko) won the event. Plenty of South Africans online however, had a field day dissing the judges, hurling abuse at them, and at media associated with the event.

When Jordy lost his heat by a fraction of a point to Travis on the Gold Coast he didn’t make a scene, cry foul and abuse the judges when the result was announced, despite being bummed. Nor did he do it later on social media, the home of haters. Why would he do that? The head judge is not going to reverse a decision if a surfer calls him a doos on a public forum, is he? The results are set in stone and surfers have no choice but to hold their heads high and walk away, proudly, no matter what. Tantrums are for babies, and online crabbiness is lame.

Jordy was a gracious loser at the Mr Price Pro, congratulating Julian and claiming his massive alley oop air. Many South African competitive surfers as well as ‘fans’ of the sport would do well to learn a lesson from Jordy with regards to his sportsmanship and style, and maybe if they showed more pride in the sport as a whole, as well as support for the local judges and for the ASP system of competition, it could grow our sport in the country to the next level.