How Many Events Do You Need To Justify A World Title?

Last week I was somewhat critical of Dave Prodan’s audio quality in an episode of Getting Heated.

This week I was e-l-a-t-e-d to find that Dave’s sweet baritone came across my speakers in a vastly improved manner. While the WSL may have declined his production request to upgrade to Air Pod pros, it seems that switching to a larger, more acoustically-inclined environment was all it took. Meanwhile Dave could just be on vacation, in which case ignore everything I said above.

This week Mick, Ross and Dave dive into a myriad of topics, including the idea that there needs to be X number of events to justify crowning a World Champion in 2021. Comparing this year to CJ Hobgood’s abbreviated 2001 world title season is fair, but much like the Lakers’ “asterisk” next to their recent NBA Title, the public tends to be understanding of the COVID-19 related hardships that line the road to success. Mentally/physically battling two weeks in quarantine before surfing a World Tour event is no easy feat…

A general breakdown of this week’s ‘heats’ and Mick/Ross opinions are as follows.

Heat 1: Who loses out the most with the tour not going to Lennox Head?

Ross- The surfers do, given that they’re losing another event and they are missing the opportunity to surf a pointbreak that Ross describes as “more powerful than the Goldy.”

Mick- The locals miss out the most seeing as there has been a lot of shark attacks in the area and an influx of tourism would be good for the area and reingratiate the idea of a Lennox vacation into the public’s mind.

Heat 2: What is the minimum number of events needed to legitimately crown a ’21 World Champion.

Mick- At least seven or eight events, as five is too small and the winner would want to avoid an asterisk a la CJ Hobgood.

Ross– Apparently Ross would like to put an asterisk on Italo’s World Title ’cause John John got hurt? Wonder why… Anyway, Ross would like to see there be some sort of limit, but says 4-5 events would be enough especially given they’re testing the ‘Superbowl event’ at Lowers.

Heat 3: Is Julian Wilson Australia’s best hope for a World Title?

Ross- While Julian’s great, he would take Ethan Ewing or Jack Robinson over him at this point.

Mick- He’s still their best shot as he’s won in every type of wave throughout his 10 years on tour and isn’t scared of anyone.

Heat 4- ‘Going Deep’: What is the main driver that has sidelined American/Australian title contenders in recent years?

Mick- Speaking in terms of Australia, the Pro Junior series is not as strong as it once was, disallowing young surfers from accessing their needed practice runs against the world’s best surfers.

Ross- The draws of freesurfing are greater today than ever before, splitting the focus of young Americans and Australians, whereas in Brazil the focus has always been almost solely focused on competition, hence their success.

Click in above for their full run-downs and tune in next week for another episode and update on Dave Prodan’s headphones.