This morning the WSL pulled the sort of chronic oversight that has become their raison d’être over the last few years.
Now, we usually ignore the debates around dubious judging calls in which the league is constantly embroiled (because we love watching high-quality webcasts free of charge, and worry the furious mob are biting the hand that feeds too hard at times). But every now and then, the league errs in a way that is just too grave not to scathe.
Like the time they switched exclusive streaming rights over to the shit show that is Facebook live, or the time they almost got Pipe cancelled. This morning, their latest unacceptable blunder was brought to our attention by the Instagram of Cornish charger Tom Lowe. Here’s what he said:
“Feels strange to be writing this as I never did contests growing up and don’t like to compare myself to others. But after not making the XXL performance list I’m gutted…Especially as I was so stoked with my season.”
“A few legends on the list have even stepped forward to give up their spots, which means a lot, but doesn’t look like it’s happening. I just threw together some clips, links in my bio..check it out..am I tripping?? Onwards and upwards.”
The clip has since been deleted, so we took the liberty of sifting through his ‘gram and selecting a few of our own highlights from the last 12 months…
From where we’re sitting the answer is a firm: ‘Nah Lowey, you ain’t tripping.’
However, we’re devilishly biased, considering Tom is the only male surfer on the world stage who’s made us even a bit proud to be British for at least the last decade.
So perhaps, for a more balanced perspective, it’s worth taking a look at what the big wave world glitterati had to say on the matter:
“You’re not tripping,” concurred Will Skudin. “You had an amazing year brother and I got to witness most of it. 100% you should be nominated for overall performance this year without question. Your Mully paddle bomb should be nominated as ride of the year also.”
“Couldn’t believe it when I didn’t see your name on there. You definitely did more than enough to earn it,” added Russell Bierke.
“A few other individuals along with yourself should have been included in that list.” asserted Greg Long. “To me it is obvious that whoever was on the selection committee didn’t truly have their finger on the pulse, and know who was actively chasing every swell, charging and putting on the best performances.”
Further ringing endorsements poured in from Natxo Gonzalez, Kai Lenny, Nic Von Rupp and more. And it didn’t stop there, with others striking a much less diplomatic note in their condemnation.
“Looks like they hired Ray Charles to do the selection,” snarled Timo Jarvinen, while fellow filmmaker Tim Bonython claimed that the WSL had ‘ruined it’.
So there you have it. Sounds a helluva lot like consensus to us. It seems something must be done.
In our latest illustrious ep of It’s Not The Length, we launched a campaign to get Nic Von Rupp -another of our favourite Euro chargers- the wild card onto the BWT, with the hashtag #WildCardForVonRupp. Perhaps now it’s also time to launch, #PerformanceAwardForLowey so he too can get the recognition he deserves.
Let us know where you stand in the comments.
Cover photo: James Tull
