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Kelly’s Cloudbreak Masterclass
Kelly Slater didn’t just win the Volcom Pro, Fiji over the weekend he smashed it. In an event that witnessed some of the best waves for a World Tour event in recent memory, he dominated the field, amassing an average combined total of 18.57 (out of 20) from Round Three onwards. According to Taj Burrow, it was as good as he’d ever seen the Floridian surf, which given he’s now 40 surely reasserts his claim (well, our claim) as the greatest sportsman of all time. He agreed following the event that things don’t get much better for him than this at Cloudbreak.
“That’s probably the best I could surf out here. The barrel and the turn sections just lined up for me and I was able to do what I did. That was a perfect canvas for me,” he said.
Are you fukin stupid Bob. The big wave lunatics were not in the comp so how can Kelly compete with them??? CB and Restaurants are not aerial waves, no one was doing aerials other than the odd chop hop or fly away. In addition to that have you watched Kelly’s aerial game over the last 12 months, Bells and NYC airs probably the best ever done in a comp and under pressure.
Everyone has off days but in terms of consistency then Kelly is by far the best in any conditions and has 11 titles to show for it with number 12 on the way.
bob sucks
why does everyone keep talking about a top 44? we’re dealing with 34 guys… and aren’t a considerable number of sports at the olympics such as gymnastics subjectively judged?
Unfortunately you can’t be the best sportman of all time in a subjective sport. Look at the way the commentary team froth on him, I am sure the judges train of thought ain’t far away.
The subjectiveness if half the reason it ain’t at the olympics.
Did he get the best the best waves in the world this week? not even in the top 10 all the big wave guys did better.
Is he the best at Aerials? no.
The volcom contest did little to support this proposition if anything it weakened the concept of ‘top44′ in which kelly is competing in.
s he the worlds best competitor I could certainly agree. Kelly slater is awesome though. I am not criticising him. He is certainly better than those tennis players!
The end of the mystery:
“Aaron Ross @aaronski74
@kellyslater You have nothing to prove but I know you had an 8’4″ on you – why in the channel on Friday?
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11h Kelly Slater Kelly Slater @kellyslater
@aaronski74 had boards then saw two 50′ sets as I was gonna paddle out. Just wasn’t in the mood. Gotta trust your gut.
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Yes, he definetely is THE sportsman of an era. Not many would answer in such a natural way.
Unfortunately you can’t be the best sportman of all time in a subjective sport. Look at the way the commentary team froth on him, I am sure the judges train of thought ain’t far away.
The subjectiveness if half the reason it ain’t at the olympics.
Did he get the best the best waves in the world this week? not even in the top 10 all the big wave guys did better.
Is he the best at Aerials? no.
The volcom contest did little to support this proposition if anything it weakened the concept of ‘top44′ in which kelly is competing in.
s he the worlds best competitor I could certainly agree. Kelly slater is awesome though. I am not criticising him. He is certainly better than those tennis players!
why does everyone keep talking about a top 44? we’re dealing with 34 guys… and aren’t a considerable number of sports at the olympics such as gymnastics subjectively judged?
your post is wrong on so many points. do you know how many olympic sports are judged on a “subjective” scale of criteria? quite a few. also, why the hate for the tennis players, those guys are phenomenal athletes.
He is easily the best sportsman of all time because he has dominated a subjective sport for 20 years. You cannot argue with that type of domination. Not to mention, he either won or was runner up at the Eddie.
top 32, get your facts straight if you wanna pour your wisdom… Subjectivness and Olympics, what the hell are you talking about? Gimnastics, diving, etc. ring any bells?
And, if you’re a Sports fan, sure you can remember a lot of bad, biased calls, during the Olympics, remember the 1984 OG, and USA team being favored all the way?
imagine if you knew nothing about surfing but watched the sports news every night… The Same guy has been popping up on your screen for 20 years, who does that in sport? brilliant
The best competitor!
My mom didn’t give a shit for the tour heats, she did even now who is Kelly, but she got crazy when saw mr Navarro riding that 25 ft barrel…
Surf is a lot more that the world tour guys, do not forget it!
The turns he was making in the final were retarded. Best contest surfer by far.
Are you fukin stupid Bob. The big wave lunatics were not in the comp so how can Kelly compete with them??? CB and Restaurants are not aerial waves, no one was doing aerials other than the odd chop hop or fly away. In addition to that have you watched Kelly’s aerial game over the last 12 months, Bells and NYC airs probably the best ever done in a comp and under pressure.
Everyone has off days but in terms of consistency then Kelly is by far the best in any conditions and has 11 titles to show for it with number 12 on the way.
bob sucks
good to see the old master starting on the mind games with Medina “he,ll probably win them all over the next 20 years “
“If Kelly Slater was the only surfer in the world he would not look that good, but comparing him to everybody else makes him look great.” I think a quote similar to that was from an old poster and sums up the situation pretty well.
toby martin said it
hook, line, sinker!!!
Seriously though It’s hard to respect the assumption from such a non-independent bubble us surfers are in. Its like Americans saying they are the greatest country in the world. Incorrigible statements are not statements at all.
well the flag bit was over the top , leave it to the poorer nations .
Whilst kelly is a phenomenal athlete, its hard to substantiate a claim that he’s truly the greatest sportsmen of all time. surfing is largely dominated by 3 countries being america, australia and in recent times brazil. in this respect, its hard to argue that surfing is truly a globally contested sport. Of course other sports have countries who dominate in that particular field but participation in that sport is on a global scale such as football or athletics.
its tricky to justify that an athlete who competes in a sport which in the grand scheme of things is relatively minute in comparison to others. more over the great athletes of all time (Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens etc) stood for something than more than just contest results or total winnings. kelly hasnt really done that.
either way hes a freak of nature and asset to the sport of surfing.
a great athlete, but not the greatest.
“The Rascal” is taking a close #2 place for biggest dumbass on the internet.
How can you even dispute the facts? Kelly is well on his way to winning 12 titles, if he wants to, if he cares…that’s how good he is, him winning titles is based on whether he cares. Who takes a few years out of competition and comes back and doubles their title count, at the age of 40…? Nobody.
Surfing is subjective, but it’s also fucking hard. They surf some tricky waves and some scary waves, but that is why he is the greatest, he adapts to conditions and the actual athletic side of the sport, the performance. When you walk onto the basketball court, sure there might be some new kids on the scene with some cool tricks up their sleeve, but sure as shit the court ain’t gonna be twice as big/small one day after the next…get my point?
If it can be argued that any NBA, NFL, Boxing, etc athletes are the greatest sportsmen of all time, then it certainly can be argued that Slater is the greatest. Most major sports, besides soccer and tennis, are dominated by a small contingency of countries, exactly like your claim against surfing’s relativity.
bob is the biggest dumbass on the internet
this thread sucks.
I just want to say… I am glad and honored to have lived during Kellys KINGDOM. He is truly the best competitive surfer of history; he is the best sports man of all. Have you seen that piece of shhhhh Argentinian Futbol (Soccer for you US guys) player, that is to be said the best in the world on an interview???? Just disgusting, the same way Nadal, Federer and many others in the sports world. The humanity, the humility, and the way he speaks of himself and other fellow competitors, just puts a smile on my face. One day surfing in Costa Rica a nice wave came along and he was surfing the same spot. I caught the wave and on my way padeling out he gave me a “whooooo” WHO does that????? LONG LIVE THE KING!!!! KE12E
kelly “signed up” for the Big Wave Tour last year, didn’t he? I bet he could win a BWWT title if he put his mind to it. he won the Eddie. he surfs Todos on a 5’6″ or something when everyone else has a 8″.
The definition of sportsman was written a long time ago with certain criteria to be met to be considered. Total domination of such a difficult sport for 2 plus decades, world championships, big wave accolades, respect for fellow surfers, respected by surfers and non surfers alike. To say that he is the greatest sportsman of all time is so subjected when you look at the others on the list that would be considered for this title. I would definitly say he is the greatest sportsman SURFING has ever produced and it is such an honour to have witnessed what he has and continues to accomplish.He has joined an elite and very small group of what is considered true sportsman. I have to agree he is a super freak as an athlete and a great spokesman for the surfing lifestyle. Thanks Kelly
The end of the mystery:
“Aaron Ross @aaronski74
@kellyslater You have nothing to prove but I know you had an 8’4″ on you – why in the channel on Friday?
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11h Kelly Slater Kelly Slater @kellyslater
@aaronski74 had boards then saw two 50′ sets as I was gonna paddle out. Just wasn’t in the mood. Gotta trust your gut.
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Yes, he definetely is THE sportsman of an era. Not many would answer in such a natural way.
It’s between him and Jordan for the greatest sportsmen ever but they are impossible to split – end of story . As far as [any type] of surfing goes he’s so far ahead of everyone it’s becoming embarrassing especially at his age, Tavarua was proof of this. The only one that came close was Andy. Jon Jon is the only one that [maybe] will be able to step up and beat him consistantly but he’ll probably be 50 by then.
You have no idea of the level of surfing in Brazil nowadays… Medina is the tip of the iceberg. And the country’s getting richer, so in future years we will see a sway in dominance, for sure.
We might even have to consider limiting the number of surfers one nation can qualify in order to keep it as multination as possible.
yo evryone, imma let u finish. but i think happy gilmore is the greatest sportsman of all time
Whoever the worlds greatest sportsperson (lets not be sexist) is, would transcend their sport and hold the collective imagination of the world. Such as Ali. This can’t happen for surfing.
If you are talking about titles or heat winning percentages Usain bolt could easily beat slater’s 75% record. Titles are hard to compare cause there is a mix of olympic and world titles for him and over different disciplines. He may not last 20 years but thats because of the pure physicality of it. Running is also a sport that EVERYONE can do rather than a minority of people who are lucky enough to live at the beach and have the economic means to do it.
Guys like Robby Naish or Bjorn Dunkerbeck in windsurfing have so many world titles, I guess tens of them…Dunkerbeck has already 12 overall world title…
In boxing, some guys were undefeated, even though they fought all the greatest. Some of them won titles in a lot of categories, some of them hold championship during more than 20 years…
I’m not sure there is a need to compare Slater with any other sportsman.
Bob the knob and Rascal’s comments are so retarded. Did you see the way he was surfing those waves?
Best aerials??Again did you see those airs he did under pressure in NYC and Bells? Wait how old is Slater? oh yeah 40 and his surfing like he is in his 20′s. You put the guys who you think does the best airs in at 12ft+ Pipe or 25-30ft Waimea, will they perform at the same level? Probably not.
ks is the best surfer in the world
I would say surfing is the hardest sport to win so many titles at because conditions are so changeable and unpredictable compared to most other sports. Add to that the subjectivity of judging of what is almost an art form and you have to say that 11 titles and counting is phenomenal. Other top athletes (Jordon, Schumeiker Sampras etc) have all excelled in highly predictable environments. For that reason, plus the fact he is still improving at 40 years old, makes Kelly the greatest athlete of all time. Bastard.
Ask any one who isn’t a surfer an they would laugh. No no. They would ask kelly who ? and then laugh.
Who was that high voice commentator having orgasms with kelly performance?
Kelly as a kid toppled who we all proclaimed as the best surfer ever,Tom Curren and for the next twenty years was without a shadow of doubt the best surfer ( maybe Andy was comparable for a short four years) against a phenominal field of surfers, Occy ,Joel ,Mick, Taj and now the latest batch of phenoms who have the aerial repertiore so down but still Kelly beats them hands down not too mention Kellys big wave talents at places like Waimea ,Cortse Bank . No sportsman has ever dominated for such a long period in all facets of the sport and does not seem to be waning, greatest sportsman ever end of story
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