Rip Curl Pro 2011 The Outsider: Ladies and Gentlemen, we are floating in space (I can't help falling in love)

In: Rip Curl Pro 2011 by Steve Shearer 15 Comments Fri 22nd Apr '11

Tags: bobby martinez , kelly slater , joel parkinson , Rip Curl Pro , Bells Beach

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Only philosophers embark on this perilous expedition to the outermost reaches of language and existence. Some of them fall off, but others cling on desperately and yell at the people nestling deep in the snug softness, stuffing themselves with delicious food and drink. 'Ladies and Gentlemen,' they yell, 'we are floating in space!' But none of the people up there care.
Jostein Gardner. Sophie's World.

Floating in space. Deeply satisfied. That was how surf fans were feeling after watching Joel Parkinson at the Bowl this morning (following yesterdays epic day). In a perfect world, one where the Dream Tour actually meant something again we would all be luxuriating in the vicarious aesthetic experience offered by an artist like Joel when he is given the appropriate canvas at iconic locations. That is when Pro Surfing transcends the normal sporting boundaries and becomes something approaching an art form.

We'll revisit this concept in a moment, because it continues to demand attention and it is on the minds of the best of the pros (as it should be).

I had a candid exchange with Parko after his win. This is it verbatim.

"Joel Parkinson at Bells, that is one for the true believers. What was your analysis of your performance out there?"

"Umm...I'm not sure yet. In good waves I find it hard to...I don't know...I can't even remember what happened. You get to the end and your hearts racing, your legs are burning and your buggered and I guess it's a good wave."

"Surfing fans look at iconic waves like Bells and iconic performances that you've put in out here and then we look at the Tour this year and we see a lot of shitty beachbreak locations...what's your read on that?"

"It's different (grimaces)...the Dream Tour seems like it's gone back to the old way of locations but there are bonuses with a lot more money and a lot more fans. I definitely don't wanna go back grovelling after surfing waves like this."

"No surfing fan wants to see Joel Parkinson grovelling in beachbreak."

"No, Joel Parkinson doesn't wanna see Joel Parkinson grovelling in beachbreak."

"We wanna see your performances lifting and maturing in the kind of waves people dream about."

"Definitely, the thing about the Dream Tour is it's supposed to be the kind of waves you'd draw as a kid with the world's best surfers on 'em."

"Well, it was an absolute pleasure to watch you surf this morning."

"Cheers. Thank you."

Kelly didn't do much to win against Stu Kennedy but he didn't have to. The tide came in and the surf turned limp. It was all over after the opening turn of his opening ride. He threw spray 20feet in the air. Only Andy Irons could match Slater's opening hit and he's dead. God bless his soul.

While I recorded the following exchange with Slater, Bobby was in the water against Jordy. It was a tight match-up but Bobby was soundly beaten in the end. We'll visit Bobby on the steps post-loss as he was consoled by his wife and manager. But first I said this to Kelly, "I'm not sure you saw what happened at Winkipop yesterday?"

"No, what happened?"

"Well, there was epic surf and epic matchups"

"Oh, I thought you meant someone got hurt (wry grin)"

"No, no, no. A lot of surfing fans are saying they wanna see the worlds best surfers in the worlds best waves and it feels like the Tour is moving away from that. I wonder what your thoughts and feelings are about that."

"I'm not sure how that relates to Winkipop because it was some of the best waves in the world yesterday."

"Well, that's what I'm saying. When you see iconic waves with the world's best surfers, it seems like we're moving away from that."

"Oh yeah. Well, look, it's hard to say 'cause as a surfer you wanna catch the best waves, right. It'd be nice to have G'Land and Fiji back on Tour. But things change. To some extent we don't quite remember the reasons we went to certain locations. So we may end up going back to a few of the spots this year that aren't great waves and remember why we went to all the great waves. We'll figure that out, but it comes down to sponsorship dollars. I mean we're all getting paid and the company has got to make those dollars somehow."

"So you don't feel any sense of frustration that there might be a concept out there waiting to be grabbed?"

"Yeah, there's always concepts. Implementing those and creating a tour structure that deals with the young guys and and how they work their way onto the tour is a question too. You can't just come up with the best of the best idea and expect that everything else falls into place perfectly. So I'm gunna go sit down and think about that bad heat for a while."

"Pleasure to watch you surf brother."

(Kelly walks off without answering).

I was at the top of the stairs when Bobby came in after his loss to Jordy. CJ Hopgood was in close consultation with a man I took for Bobby's manager. An attractive woman with a pained expression stood behind CJ listening in. I guessed that was Bobby's wife. Bobby came up the stairs. There was no anger. Just a palpable feeling of despair and tender vulnerability. His head was bowed and he stood below the manager as they deconstructed the heat.

Bobby said, "Man, I coulda got that 6.4 on that wave. I felt like I blew it." His wife leaned over and said in a loving voice, "You alright babe?" Bobby nodded but he looked close to tears.

He walked past me and I said, "Man, that was some of the best backside surfing I've seen in a comp ever yesterday. Thanks for laying that track down for us."

He paused and there was a moment where I thought he might have reacted with anger but he smiled instead. A deep tender smile, "Thanks so much man."

We're all emotional beings. Sport requires a connection and Bobby is providing that. Behind the anger is hurt. This man needs some encouragement.

There wasn't much else to recommend where anti-climax became the dominant emotion. Davo tore the Bells Bowl a new one and Fanning looked clinical. Even he has emotion.

We are discovering so much here, sports fans.

The final placings will be so dependent on the surf on hand...big calls await.

(Photos by Steve Arklay)
All Day 4 Photos here.
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