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No one called me.
I didn’t get a text message, e-mail, fax, Facebook alert, strip-o-gram,
or anything else. In fact, had I not hit up the Association of Surfing
Professionals website, www.aspworldtour.com, on a whim yesterday, I wouldn’t have
known that last year’s Dream Tour #7 CJ Hobgood had just won a WQS 6-Star Prime event — the
Hang Loose Pro at Fernando
de Noronha, in Pernambuco, Brazil.
I suppose everyone else, depending on their time zone, was either
watching or waiting to watch the New Orleans Saints claim their maiden Super
Bowl victory. As emasculating as it is to admit, football bores the shit out of
me, so I spent the better part of Sunday polishing my nails, planting flowers,
baking pies, and fishing around the Internet for my own brand of sports
entertainment. Naturally, I’m subscribed to receive all ASP International press
releases via e-mail, but I hadn’t seen one in a while (I got zero during the
Volcom Pipeline Pro). I knew there were two ‘QS events happening in Brazil
while the Pipe event ran, so I just figured my subscription ran out. I promptly
hit up the ASP’s Dalai Lama himself, Al Hunt, like Carl the Assistant Greenskeeper
would: “Yo, Al! How about a little something, you know, for the effort?”
But I couldn’t wait for the update and clicked on the ASP
site, where I found it front and center. In the first Prime event of the WQS season, Ceej pocketed twenty grand
and 6500 points to take the WQS rankings lead and also earn a potential keeper
score in the ASP’s new One Rankings system, just in case he needs a mid-season backup
on the World Tour… though highly doubtful. He squished a cadre of local
frothers to get there; two barrels in the Round of
16 earned CJ the event’s highest two-wave total of 17.17 points before he waxed
Gustavo Fernandes and Alejo Muniz in their respective quarterfinal and
semifinal duels. In the man-on-man final, Hobgood and Raoni Monteiro sought smallish
lefthanders near Cacimba’s left side, where CJ threaded and cleaved his way to
an 8.0, backing that up on the next set with a 6.33. “I’m stoked,” said Ceej. "Last year I put too much pressure
on myself and it didn’t pay off. It’s amazing to win right now in the beginning
of the season. I was lucky all day long with finding those left barrels and I’m
glad to be here in this amazing place. I want to congratulate Hang Loose for
running this event here and supporting surfing in Brazil.”
So why do I care about another WQS victory for a World Tour surfer who doesn’t really
need it? Because I am a fan of the sport of surfing. And just like with the
NFL, every good fan needs a favorite player. CJ’s my Peyton Manning, my Drew
Brees. And if CJ’s board hits saltwater
in front of a contest judge or a photographer or a videographer, I want to know
about it.
Speaking of which, March is right
around the corner for the start of the 2010 Dream Tour. I really should update
my Fantasy Surfer Team.
You would think I would have gotten an
e-mail reminding me of that by now.
For updated ASP rankings, visit www.aspworldtour.com
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