With all the turmoil in the surf industry lately (Quik cutting their teams, Billabong being up for sale, K5 going out of business, etc), it's good to see a little normalcy again with the circus returning to Australia's Gold Coast March 2nd (about 2pm our time on March 1st). Yes, the Association of Surfing Professionals is kicking off their world tour again at Snapper Rocks. Or actually down the street at Rainbow Bay maybe- it looks like as there is a big 'ol hole out in the Snapper line up that was dug up from a recent cyclone. Regardless, it will still be rippable as they have new swell filling in and there's a few new faces on tour this year plus some intriguing story lines. Like...
Parko's got his 1st world title! One of the nicest guys on tour and definitely the most stylish has slugged it out on tour for 11 years now. And now that he's tasted victory, does he know what it takes to make it multiple titles? Seems like once guys figure it out, they run off a few- like Carroll, Curren, MR, Fanning, Hardman, AI, and Slater of course.
Speaking of Slater, he's already won 26 world titles (or something like that) so it will be interesting to see if he still has the desire. After coming in a close 2nd last year from a narrow run at Pipeline, is he over it and would rather be an ambassador now?
Wildcard! Quiksilver was nice enough to grant Dane Reynolds a wildcard into the event (ok, he's a Quik team rider, one of the best surfers on the planet, and there would be looting and pillaging if Dane wasn't there to entertain the spectators-
kind of a like a monkey on a leash with one of those organ street vendors. Anyway, Dane won't give a crap as usual, blow up in a few heats, and remind everyone why he needs to get out of Ventura more often and get back on tour to wow us again.
So what about the boy who would be king? John John was more impressive than advertised last year and signed a massive contract recently with Hurley. Will all the pressure and monumental expectations get to him this year? Or does he still have that sense of bewilderment and will tear apart Snapper like it's a freesurf on his way to a world title?
And what about the young guns like Sebastian Zietz and Nat Young. 2 guys who have been on the radar for awhile in the mags and WQS but finally cracked the world tour this year. Especially Nat Young- seems like this guy's been around since the 70's. I stand corrected though as his profile on the ASP website says he's only been alive since 1991. Odd. Regardless, it may take Sea Bass and The Animal to get their sea legs under them the first few contest so don't expect any upsets on the Gold Coast.
Make sure to check out the contest this weekend at Quiksilver's event website here.
