There’s no second chance to make a first impression…and god I hope the WSL nails the judging on this one. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m sick to death of seeing the same butt-stalls and arm-drags so guys can lock into a 5 second tube. The novelty has worn off.

Thankfully Griffin Colapinto gave us a fresh reason to watch. At least he was able to sneak into one after completing the best shit we’ve seen yet at the ‘Ranch. Is it me or is that section just begging to be launched off of? The WSL is going to have a tough time reviewing these barrels after each wave. Was Parko six-inches deeper than John John? To have to resort to that type of nit-picking could get old real quick. Where our Hawaiian traditionalists resist even adding a foot to the scale of a wave, there is now a risk of turning surfing into a game of inches.

Instead I hope we see some creative thinking from some of the high flyers. I even pray for some onshores for Felipe to punt into. Good on the WSL for broadcasting this thing live on CBS. Surfing has gone so corpo anyways you might as well go REALLY FUCKING CORPO.

I just hope these judges reward the boys for going for broke. The time to refrain from progression in order to get to the end of the wave is over. I’m a diehard, red-blooded American so I’ve got my money on the champ, JJF. But I’ve also got a feeling Felipe is going to blow some minds out there…inch-by-inch!

– TC