My media bracelet snapped this morning when I was packing my bag to come down to the Quikkie Pro. Turns out that snapped media bracelets do not get you into media areas. “It’s the last day of the event,” said the security guard sternly, looking me up and down. “You’re going to have to go back to where you got that bracelet from, and get yourself another.”
“But bru, I snapped it this morning when I was packing my bag!”
“Did you?” he asked totally impassively as he escorted me to the exit in front of everyone. My blood was boiling. All I wanted to do was to get in and have a decent view of the Kerrzy/Slater heat, and then the Jordy/Parko grudge match, but he was having none of it.
“Fuck it man!” I was spewing like a petulant child in the media centre. “It’s just snapped! It’s a bit of cheap plastic, and it snapped. It’s been on my wrist for like 9 days, obviously it’s going to snap at some stage. What the fuck?”
As my rant continued, someone introduced me to Dave Prodan from ASP. I was angry. “Could you replace his bracelet?” asked Tim. “Dave looked at the bracelet, looked at me, and said, “No problem.” Tension dissolved, and my rising pressure was allowed to subside. Thanks Dave. I was allowed back in. The security guard thought it was pretty funny when I went back and showed him my brand spanking new bracelet, but I was totally over the prick. It was hot, there were thousands of people around, and I was fairly meekly going about my job of promoting their event. I needed to get out of Snapper. It was starting to do my head in.
I got in to see the end of Slater’s elimination, and then a very psyched Jordy eliminate Parko. He didn’t actually give Parko a look-in. In a chat with Jordy a few days previously Jordy told me with regards the media frenzy about his supposed rivalry with Joel, “He has beaten me a lot over the years, and from now on I am going to beat him.”
That’s pretty straightforward, really.
Adriano de Souza took victory over Josh Kerr in the first semi and in the second semi it was all about Taj. Burrow was riding some new equipment and was looking fast and loose on the board. Jordy however is one of the most determined surfers in the world right now and he was having none of an easy exit. A massive forehand air and a bunch of inside turns saw Jordy get slightly underscored, and Taj might have been slightly overscored, and the heat went the way of the Australian. Jordy has matured into a professional, and there was no moaning and complaining. He took his loss and learned from it.
It was Shaun Tomson who said that when you lose you must, ‘take it like a man, as you can’t change judges scores,” and Jordy seems to have taken this to heart, much like Slater and his approach to competing. Jordy is by far the most determined and focused surfer on the tour right now at this early stage, and he has a bigger and more explosive range of moves than competitors like Taj and Adriano. He also knows all about the distance that needs to be travelled over a full year on the tour. As he said on Facebook, ‘See you at Bells.’
My calls for world title contenders 2012. Slater, Jordy, Kerrzy, Taj.
