It’s been 11 years since he’d last done it, but Mick Fanning put down three solid waves to win the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach over Kelly Slater. Slater got the first heat wave, pulled into a barrel but didn’t come out. Fanning answered back with a 9.1 and an 8.6 putting Slater into a combo situation.
Slater fumbled around for a while, seemingly falling off every wave he caught, until finally pulling out one of the biggest air reverses in ASP history. That one air scored a 10 and put Slater back on track. But then Fanning busted out a massive 9.7. Slater was stuck for the rest of the 40 minute final hunting an 8.8. The best he could do was a pair of 8.07s (one of which he felt was horribly underscored).
“I was moving around trying to get active,” Slater said. “I was just trying to find my feet. I knew Mick was going to be patient. Mick put his serious face on and won’t talk to me in the water so I threw a little rotator at him. It was always going to be a struggle with those waves out there. Long waits between walls.”
When the horn sounded Fanning was ahead 18.8 to 18.07. “I made one final and Kelly won it. I made another final and Joel won it, so it feels pretty good to get them both back today,” Fanning said from the stage. “It’s bells anything can happen. Its one of the hardest waves to win on in the world. . . One of the most special things was sitting out there when everyone was cheering for Michael to look back and see the beach brought a tear to my eye.”
So Fanning wins, Slater takes the ASP World Tour ratings lead and the women still have to run their quarters, semi’s and finals. Follow the jump for complete results and the official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
Stop number two on the ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bell Beach could wrap up today. Four heats of round five are underway now and then it’s right into the quarter, semis, and finals. Kelly Slater, Owen Wright, Mick Fanning, and Joel Parkinson are already in the quarters, so this is going to be good. Click here to watch it live.
Surfer Magazine’s Hot 100 franchise continues on for 2012 with a 38 minutes video that free for everyone to see right here.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past two years reimagining SURFER—making it a brand that delivers the most authentic surf content in ways that our fans really connect with,” says SURFER Editor Brendon Thomas. “As partof that rebuilding, this year we completely overhauled The Hot 100 issue from a linear list of names to a diverse magazine geared towards young surfers. The movie is a natural extension of that.”
We’re going to watch it anyway if and when we find 38 minutes in a row. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
Rick Klotz is keeping the retro surf punk groove going with the latest video for his clothing label Warriors of Radness. If you’re at work you may not want to click play (NSFW). Otherwise, relive the glory that was the Op Pro Bikini contest.
The show will feature works from Andy Jenkins, Eric Anthony, Hershel Baltrotsky, Michael Coleman, Christian Morin, Andy Mueller, and Chris Waycott. Not only that, but the first 100 people to arrive will get a free tote bag from incase featuring “the faux-office-inspired graphics of The Art Dump.”
Slope wizard Chas Guldemond has reportedly signed to promote Texas Pete Hot Sauce throughout 2012.
“I am extremely excited to be paired up with Texas Pete – a really cool brand,” said Guldemond. “I appreciate their support and confidence in me and look forward to promoting their hot sauce this year and beyond.”
Truth is, nothing makes road food more palatable than a little hot sauce. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
We don’t watch it anymore, but it appears that Fox may be hoping to push Fuel TV into the mainstream by ditching action-only content and running straight into main stream sports coverage, according to a story on Deadline.com
No final decision has been made, but the plan would involve converting the company’s action sports network Fuel (36 million subs) into a new national offering, which would compete against fellow cablers Disney/ABC’s ESPN, Comcast’s new NBC Sports Network and the CBS Sports Network. Like those entities, News Corp is attracted to the juicy affiliate fees a national sports network can command.
Might as well go to where the audience is. It’s certainly not in action sports. But Fuel was a nice try, certainly.
We’d like to think that someday the president of the United States would actually roll into an nuclear security summit with skills like these. Until then, we’ll have to just dream with The Jay Leno Show video effects people who built this Barack Obama clip.
When the horn sounded Fanning was ahead 18.8 to 18.07. “I made one final and Kelly won it. I made another final and Joel won it, so it feels pretty good to get them both back today,” Fanning said from the stage. “It’s bells anything can happen. Its one of the hardest waves to win on in the world. . . One of the most special things was sitting out there when everyone was cheering for Michael to look back and see the beach brought a tear to my eye.”
