On Wednesday the hammer finally fell. The ASP's elite tour roster was officially culled of 13 individuals. Victims of the heavily-hyped hack-down were sent down to the minor leagues (Or were they? More on that later.)
Was it painful? Absolutely. Entertaining? You bet.
Yet the past 10 days have not been enjoyable ones for anyone at the ASP. The tortuous flat spell (which will likely lead to the event's death on Friday) compounded the already-increased amount of bitching and moaning as reality started biting the surfers at risk. The squeaky-wheel chatter on blogs and Twitters over ASP "fairness" and "confusion" spiked as individual fates became clear.
All of that was, of course, to be expected.
Officials knew none of this would taste good going down. These are solid surfers and all-around great guys who, in some cases, even have families to feed. Yet the ASP is not unlike other business that have had to streamlined to improve their product. This pruning helped cleanse the tour of flab that was -- hate to say it -- slowing the show.
The chatter will fade and a new normal will set in in due time. While the new reality will be tougher on all surfers, at the same time, it'll be better for them too, whether they realize it yet or not.
Say what you want about how it was executed, but there's no arguing the ASP has dramatically improved their product line this year. Tahiti's Survivor episode was just the latest step in that process. The World Tour elite is even more so now, and A-list match ups will occur more frequently as a result. That's a good thing.
Meanwhile, while the sound of being sent to the minors sounds horrendous, the truth is the minors aren't so minor anymore. Prime events weigh huge and play huge with webcasts, sizable chunks of prize money and ridiculous amounts of talent.
After years of toiling in anonymity, the WQS finally has a platform it deserves; One that shares a lot of the perks of world tour events. As a result, surfers rising up (or dropping down) through the minor leagues can still be in our faces via some high-quality broadcasts, and continue to battle the best surfers in the world.
The new Prime series revealed this year is proof of this. It's a solid product with quality webcasts that rival the best of the World Championship Tour. For the average fan, it's arguably more exciting. There's more action with four man heats and they also can take place in quality surf, like Lower Trestles and Margaret River. The best part, however, is the pool of talent is deeper than ever because many of the world's best must surf them to stay alive.
While many fear the eliminated surfers will disappear from the public eye because they're not on the elite world tour, I'd argue we'll be seeing more of them than ever. Through the rest of this year, and early 2011, they'll be fighting like hell to claw their way back up into the Top 32 of the ASP's new world ranking at events like the Coldwater Classic, the World Cup at Sunset, the Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River, and the 6.0 Lowers Pro.
Those events have been some of the most exciting of the year. If you saw Josh Kerr launch massive aerials to get past Taj Burrow at Margaret River, or some of the incredible showdowns at the 6.0 Lowers Pro then you understand. Even the US Open had it's moments with Dane and Kelly doing their thing.
And look at who won those contests: Josh Kerr, Gabe Kling, Brett Simpson.
One of the complaints being thrown out there is that qualifying is too hard now. That threading the needle can't be done by guys who aren't already on tour. Hogwash. John John Florence is already ahead of Keren Perrow on the ASP world rankings, and Perrow spent the first half of this year on tour. (Perrow failed to make the cut, but did he get one of the two injury wild card slots.)
I hear whining about too many good surfers are coming from the tour and dominating the Primes. Yet Josh Kerr fell off the tour last year. As did Gabe Kling. Both won Primes this year. So did Brett Simpson, who remains on tour, but is hardly in danger of winning any world titles. And if you can't beat Brett Simpson on a regular basis you don't belong at the top level. These are guys who should be winning Primes.
Of course Prime events are tough. Very tough. But breaking into the highest level should be a monumental task in any sport. As a fan, the harder somebody has to work, the bigger the obstacles, the higher the stakes, the better it is to watch. And therein lies the best of what the ASP's done with their overhaul.
With the caliber of surfers on display in this year's Prime events, the ASP has upgraded their entire product line, adding weight, significance (and an audience) to events that previously went unnoticed. From where I'm sitting, it's a good thing when Kelly Slater shows up at the US Open of Surfing.
The confusion argument that's being tossed around is probably the most ridiculous. That narrative was being driven by surfers at risks and their sponsors who would be losing, in some cases, their only tour representative after the hack. Excuse me, but what exactly is so confusing about making the cut (or not) based on a ranking system that considers your best results over the past year. If you want confusing try explaining college football. WTF?
There will be refinements to come. And some have taken issue with the fact that the ASP has indicated they're open to changes. The argument is why didn't "perfect the system" before putting it in place.
That's easier said than done. Pro surfing is headed into uncharted territory. Nothing is perfect, but I see the ASP's readiness to bend and adjust as a sign of strength after years of stiff resistance. As Bruce Lee said, "Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind."
Kelly Slater. Photo ASP/Kirstin
