Knockout puts jaws out of place
Dayyan Neve was a winner on the first day of the Rip Curl pro. That means he progresses straight to the second round, guaranteeing him at worst a 17th place, and $US5400 dollars. It also means, should he win one more heat, he will be in that upper echelon of the tour that makes life so much less stressful.
Yet following his round-one victory, Dayyan was the most vocal opponent of the new tour format. So vitriolic were the flecks of saliva that landed on a reporter's face following his victory, his tirade received an entire article in the local rag. I sat down with Dayyan and discussed his grievances at length.
What’s wrong, Dayyan?
Basically there are only 16 guys who are benefitting from the new system, from a tour of 48. A majority of people are getting ripped off. We had a system like that in the past when there was a trials system. To me, the whole idea is a step back in time. It seems to me everyone is having a whinge about how much they are putting into surfing. They want to make it a single-tier tour and financially better for the companies. Which is bullshit. Companies have been reaping the benefits for 30 years, making millions off the sport. They are taking too many liberties.
That may be, but something had to be tweaked. I mean here we were with surfers losing, and getting a second-chance draw. The viewer wants to see tears, public capitulation, substance abuse issues that are a consequence of the cut-throat reality of the new tour….
I don’t think the idea is well thought out. If they had ran a round of three-man heats yesterday you would have seen all the top seeds in action. You are getting two extra days of top seeded surfers on the internet and in the public. And for the public that is more dramatic and interesting.It is unfair for the bottom surfers to start in the opening round when 16 other surfers are seeded in the next round. Basically it eliminates the chance of them being knocked off tour. If you get 17ths from that spot on tour, and a couple of ninths, you’ve requalified. It makes it tougher for the guys below.
They want the tour to be more exciting and more profitable, what is wrong with that?
Surfing is a unique sport, and it has to be approached with that in mind. Some surfers are going to travel halfway around the globe, and rock up for their first heat. And they’re not gonna have the preparation they need to surf an event adequately. It gives someone a chance to move into the third round as well as giving the losers the chance to warm up, get used to the wave, the conditions, get their brain and body ready, and flare up in the second round and come out on top. I think it’s a very fair way of doing it.
One tier tour?
I’m not completely sold on that at all. We’ve done the hard yards. We’ve done the QS. The whole thing is that it makes it special to be on the WCT, it’s special. You’ve worked hard and the prize is making the tour. It takes away how special the tour is.
What about the guarantee of better surf?
They haven’t given themselves the option. Rip curl announced they were gonna run this system, no matter what. What would have happened if we had five days of amazing surf?
But for the most part, one swell typically doesn’t last longer than three days. And the last system often resulted in having to wait for the elusive second swell to finish off a contest.
I disagree that Bells is the perfect spot to test it. You’ve got Johanna, Phillip Island and Winki, so you can run it over five days easily. We were all happy with how it worked last year when it ran at Winki. Places like chopes, where the swell window is much smaller, I agree with it being in place.
What do you propose?
Another option is sitting everyone in the first round with a three-man heat, with the first two progressing and the third dropping out. In that case, the top seeds get the advantage of surfing against lower seeds. No one gets the added advantage of being in the next round. It’s a much fairer idea. But people won’t like surfing the three-man heat and getting knocked out of the contest.
But you guys were consulted on the change. How did it get through without the agreement of the surfers?
We got spoken to midway through the year about the option of the system. I had no idea that they were going to run this system, and got told by someone with nothing to do with the contests just before the Gold Coast that the system was going to be used. None of the surfers were informed* and if the surfer’s representatives knew, they didn’t pass it on. It’s a breakdown in communication somewhere. Someone is to blame. Most of the people weren’t involved in the process. We got told about it, but no one knew it had been passed, or voted on it.
Have you spoken about this with any of the top 16 surfers?
I spoke to Kai Otton today about it over breakfast. He is chuffed about the fact he is into the next round. There is no chance of them getting a 33rd. If him and the rest of the top 16 stay there the rest of the year they will happy. I suggested my way. He blew up and said I would rather have a man on man heat to decide it, if it came to it.
The whole idea of this new format is that it will lead to an eventual one-tier tour. Something that we are a fan of. What are your thoughts?
How are they gonna get a one tier tour moving around the world? Contractually it doesn’t work either. Pros have incentive-based contracts to make the tour. What happens when they are dropping in and out? I reckon dig deep and find the real points and real facts behind these decisions. I mean, fuck, I competed my whole life on the tour to get to this point. It was a big deal, qualifying - a big deal. I had a qualification party. It was a goal to work towards. If you change it now to a single-tier tour, there is gonna be massive hell to pay. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was legal action. – Jed Smith
*If only Dayyan and co had been checking the Stab website daily. We broke news of the format changes and a one-tier tour back in October, 2008.
Posts: 6
Reply #6 on : Mon April 20, 2009, 16:50:01