I DON'T KNOW JACK SCHITT ABOUT SURFING. WHY? HERE'S WHY.
This happened a number of years back, way up in Ventura CA

during the Amateur World Surfing Association Championships.

Each Association i.e., TSA, GSA, ESA, et al, were involved.

Every Association had two judges, I and my partner, surfing

editor and publisher, who shall remain anonymous, were appointed

by Master Judge, Hoppy Schwartz to rep the WSA. Judge Anonymous

and I had witnessed the most talented riders ever in surfing.

He and I adjudicated on the talent level of the individual

participating on the wave. Judge X and I rated the boy on his

wave skill. Weather we were called back for another contest

mattered not. The other judges wanted back again, falling into

the now famous "Clone Judge Syndrome". The "CJS" is based on

how close in scores other judges came to a heat's final

tabulation e.g., Five judges vote White (top seed) 1st place,

6th judge is penalized if he voted Blue 1st place. On a one to

twenty, you learned if you awarded a contestant a twelve you'd

be pretty sure everybody else did and the contest people loved

it, because it showed how consistent the judging was. One day

an old friend and I were doing a WSA thing at Oceanside Jetty.

Kay judge was a pre-med student at SDSU named, of all things,

"Doc" He was the guy the Head Judge loved. All other judges

wanted to be just like him. Well, my friend from Santa Cruz,

Lars Hanson, could care less about being invited to the next

contest, and judged from the heart. All day, he would be low

judge. After 8 heats Head Judge Hoppy ran over during the

middle of a heat Lars was judging, scolding him for not

judging with the results as the others. Lars knew his judging

days were nearing an end. The next heat he had a 6 way tie for

first place. After the heat tabulation ended, here comes Hoppy

bawling Lars out for having a 6 way tie for 1st place. Judge X

and I were dismissed that day for non-compliance of the judging

rules. Never, ever waste money in contest fees, regardless, how

good you do, your future is in the hand's of the judges.
TUBESTEAK/REFEREE
DATELINE 5/28/2004 SAN ONOFRE WILDERNESS PARK