Injury? Which One?

By Nick Carroll

Tommy Whitaker, off the tour two days ago, but thanks to an injured Parko he'll get a start at the next coupla events.

So yeah, we’re only two days on from the touching humanity and wrenching drama of the Great 32 Cutoff, and sure enough, reality has reasserted itself thanks to the ASP Wildcard Committee.

Well OK, not so much because of the committee itself, but because of its fantastic hidden super powers. See, the ASP Wildcard Committee holds the keys to two extra slots on the big tour – and now the numbers have been hacked back and the corresponding prizemoney and points differentials have improved so wonderfully, these extra slots have acquired a whole new level of importance.

Thus, guys have been diving in after ‘em like kids after each others’ Chrissy presents.

The “injury wildcard” has had a colourful history. Once upon a time it was the sole preserve of the WPS – in other words, the pros themselves – and was handed out on a yes-or-no vote at WPS meetings. Yep! Professional surfers got to choose their own opposition! What a great idea!

But bitchen as that was, it couldn’t last …. Like eventually somebody (other than the surfers who were denied the wildcard) would figure out the essential flaw in the system.

Now the wildcards are decided by committee, its members being surfers, tour docs and ASP management. And as much as this appears a victory for sanity and transparency over flagrant bias and manipulation, it still all seems weird as. Because the surfers who’ve been awarded injury wildcards for the rest of 2010 have been surfing in ASP competitions all year.

Five surfers put up their hands for the spots. Two remain confidential to the ASP’s process. Three – Kieren Perrow, Josh Kerr and Florida’s Gabe Kling – have been mentioned in dispatches.

Gabe, who had a rotten 2009 with a knee injury that kept him out of the WT but who missed out on an injury spot at the start of this year, has been awarded one of the wildcards over Kerrzy. According to the ASP, Gabe got this hall pass because he has amassed more points than Kerrzy on the One World rankings this year.

I’m fucked if I understand this. It seems a very peculiar way of examining a surfer’s injury status. Surely if you’re injured, you can’t surf well enough to earn points. Are Kerrzy and Gabe injured, or not?

Kieren, who was just barely outside the Great 32 Cutoff door when it slammed shut the other day, has been given the second wildcard. His medical evidence was apparently proof that his performance has been hampered. Yet he has surfed in every world title event so far this year. He won heats; got a ninth at Snapper and a 17th in Brazil, knocking guys out of contention in the process. He got a pretty good score in his losing heat at J-Bay, only being booted by Bottle Thompson’s epic 10-point ride. Can you knock guys out of a contest and still claim an injury wildcard?

This may all be moot come the end of 2010. Parko will be a gimme wildcard for ’11, unless by some miracle he wins Pipe and requalifies on points. If Kai Otton doesn’t recover from disc problems in his neck in time to compete in the next event or two, he’ll have a good claim on one for ’11 as well.

At least their injuries are keeping them out of heats.

Ps Tom Whitaker and Dean Morrison, the two surfers who duked it out so memorably for major league survival on Tuesday and ended up benched, look like they’re getting hall passes of their own. Tom and Dingo are first and second in line to replace injured surfers at big events – which means Tom’s got a start at Trestles, France and Puerto Rico if he wants it thanks to Joel’s mega-slash. And if Kai can’t start for an event or two, Dingo will slip right in as well.

So what's the verdict on the new format?



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