Billabong Pro Teahupoo 2014

also should add kelly to the 'smile' list.
news flash: while everybody is ooh-ahhing medina kelly (no surprise here) flies under the radar to #12.

 

How does the best contest with the best waves in the ENTIRE HISTORY of the ASP have the last two heats come down to the Judges. It's so so so so sad and disappointing. i was literally sick to my stomach after the final. if i was kelly i'd go punch richie porta right in the mouth.

 

kelly even said to pete mel after the SF heat on strategy


"yea he's been sitting a bit deeper and getting those smaller runners" - kelly on medina



everyone there saw him being a chode and getting the small ones to get scores. i don't think medina should of advanced out of the SF heat because of that but whatever.

I'm telling you, ASP WANTS A BRAZILIAN WORLD CHAMP. the money to made in Brazil is ridiculous and they need a poster boy for it.

 

I can't stand Medina but he won that heat against Kelly fair and square. Kelly looked terrible in the final. He blew it on that wave he passed on, fell, got lost in that one barrel, and only really made one good wave which I think was overscored (it's was scored higher than some of his waves from the JJF heat which were better barrells). His heat against JJF was the best of the entire contest though. That one wave where he took the high line above the foam ball was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. I don't think that was intentional though honestly. Too bad that wasn't the final .. Medina is a very good surfer and an even better contest competitor (kind of like Kelly). Probably the world champ this year.
JJF looks like he's over the WCT scene...I bet he has another year or two then he bounces.

 

I was thinking the same thing last night. I'm guessing these heavy wave chargers get the sh!ts of losing to technicians when they are getting the heavier and more critical waves.

 

jjf shoulda gotten tens on just his style and ease in the tube alone. Medina looked like he was holding on for his life on those drops - and they weren't even the heaviest waves.

 

You thought Kelly won the final??? I wish he did, but he didn't.

 

medina looked so stiff and awful in all of his waves in the final. Yea, he was on the ledge but he didn't pack any of those very deep.

if it wasn't meant to be for Kelly, give an 8.0 and make that the ending. the fact they hemmed and hawwed for a solid 5 minutes after the last wave Kelly rode and then turned around and went

9.3 9.3 9.3 9.4 9.4 and he losses by .03 is so frickin disheartening.

 

and it was all the judging, they took the easy way out on the JJF/KS SF heat too.

"oh lol they tied and kelly wins cause of his 10, time for the finals everyone"

i really hope JJF and KS found richie porta and gave him a talking to after all of this. i'm sure CJ would like to join too.

 

if i'm JJF and i just watched some medina win this contest i'd immediately hit the eject button on the WCT. ASP wants brazzo's to win, not Hawaiians.

 

Kelly is the biggest money maker for the ASP hands down. If they want anyone to win it's him.
If Kelly loses interest and quits they will lose WAY more than if Medina wins.

 

and there you have it

 

i love watching kelly surf but at many times in his career, he has been as calculating as medina. i think the judges got it right. medina wasnt as "way raad dude.." as owen or some of the other guys that got their asses handed to them by falling. why is falling considered good in a competition? medina, kelly and JJF (who is an alien) had the best reads all contest and took the fewest falls. he may not have been on the biggest, but he generally had the longest tubes in all of his rounds and let his competitors blow themselves up going for 10s while he pumped out low 9s. its a contest and a business - so he is smart as well as a great surfer.

he knew he had to go bigger to beat kelly and did, taking a fall and coming back at it. kelly doesnt blow the paddle on that 1st one and makes that 2nd to last wave for a 10, he wins deservedly. but he didnt...

for those who are focusing on the how all the ties occur, think about the math. they say that you need a 9.34 for the win or something and then a 9.33 gets the tie. since they average three scores, which only go to 1 significant digit, they really need a 9.37 to win since mathematically you cant get a .34, .35 or .36. not saying there isnt some gaming of the scores, but ties are logical outcome with this method.

kelly and jjf should have had a one wave each sudden death (or a bench-off) to break the tie. that heat was too good to end like that

great contest but makes me more bitter to miss the swell this week

 

falling shouldn't count BUT successfully riding heavier waves should be rewarded and consistently taking smaller, safer waves should be penalized.

 

He got the better waves in every heat he was in.. If he went up against Owen or JJF he would have had to go on some crazy ones... He got the biggest and best wave in the final

 

my tinfoil hat game is so tight.


but really think about it. Kelly is at the end of his road, he's riding stickerless boards and is more concerned about the empire he has constructed/is constructing via his own fame/status/celebrity.


Brazil is a burgeoning economy on the come up to 1st world status in the next 50 years. the surf scene down there is nascent and hasn't gotten the corpo whore treatment that OZ/USA has gotten ad nausem since Gidget.

Brazil needs their Gidget moment and the ASP is using Medina as their Gidget.

 

and he rode it like a linebacker in a 3 point stance. white knuckling those waves was cool in 2000, now you have to surf them and you should be penalized for looking like a barn door.

 

I have to agree on Medina doing the stinking stance and just hanging on while Kelly has style and just plain looked better riding the barrel. Awesome contest though, finally got the cable for my laptop and watched in on the 65 inch, insane.

 

makua just won the big wave contest DOING JUST THAT!

 

CJ??? He didn't get the score against Bede because it was the smallest wave of the heat. And CJ claimed the sh!t out of it. If it was Medina everyone would b!tch, but since it's CJ it's passion.
And watch CJ surf. He's not scared, but rides the barrel with very similar style to Medina. Wide stance and very stiff