First of all, Todd Richards is a little liar due to his twitter posting a few hours ago saying that Part One of his Tavarua Todcast was posted on the Quiksilver site. I, of course, got giddy and hopped over to the website. To my dismay, it was not there.

Todd finally corrected himself and got the Todcast posted a couple hours later and re-twittered (is that a word?) that it was actually up. What is this? Amateur hour? Don't do that Todd. I can't handle all these emotional highs and lows!

Anyway, Todd, Nixon and company (Travis Pastrana, Transworld Surf's Chris Cote, Bruce Irons, JP Walker, Iikka Backstrom, and THE Sal Masaleka) took over Tavarua, Fiji for a bit (ten days to be precise).

Part one shows us basically that A) Todd continuously, hilariously and predictably talks shit to everyone B) The crew shreds a mini ramp and plays tennis in the middle of the jungle C) The surf was pretty much ideal. D) Tavarua, Fiji is pretty much paradise.

Stay tuned for Part Two of Todd's trip.

Where's Bruce Irons these days?

Sadly that's a question almost nobody's asking right now. And therein lies his problem. Bruce has dropped off the radar ever since he threw in his ASP towel. While we were lucky enough to catch a few brief glimpses of his full potential during his competitive days, his surfing left the razor's edge area years ago, when he gave up. And with guys like Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith and Owen Wright filling the void, Bruce Irons, today, is largely forgotten.

Now Andy Irons may be headed down the same path.

Andy Irons' 2010 comeback hopes have yet to gain any traction. The fire that drove him to three very well-deserved world titles has been -- for whatever reason -- reduced to smoke. After his recent loss in Brazil he's got just two events left to stoke any flames hiding amid the ashes.

So can he do it?

The track record says yes, absolutely. Andy's been to the abyss and back before. In the late 90s he failed to requalify during his rookie year on tour. His trip back to the minors lit a fire under his ass -- a fire he used to scorch the competition en route to his three back-to-back world titles.

The problem is that was nearly a decade ago, when a young Andy Irons had plenty left to prove.

Today is different. Andy desperately wants something to prove -- but he doesn't seem to be convinced of what exactly that is.

In a perfect world he'd have it in him to give Slater and the rest another run. But he's still got some dust to brush off his boards and body if that's to become a reality. And he's got about two more months to do it.

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Both Bruce and Andy Irons were upset at perfect Pipeline on Saturday--their losses were considered an upset because both are former Pipeline Masters. In fact, Andy's got four of the Samurai helmets stashed somewhere.

But when conditions are as perfect as they were today, Pipeline is no mystery. And when it's not a mystery their home field advantage disappears. Suddenly it becomes about playing the hand your dealt, and the fact is Damien Hobgood and Taj Burrow have been spending a lot more time at the ASP poker table of late.

Andy lost to Damien Hobgood, while Taj Burrow got the better of Bruce today. Go ahead and chalk those losses up to rust growing on the Irons. Both retreated from competition in 2009.

Bruce won't be coming back, but Andy Irons has vowed to return to ASP competition next year. The former 3-time world champion is certainly looking refreshed, but if he's to take anything away from today's loss, it should be that nothing is going to come easy. After all, Andy Irons is always at his best when there's a good challenge in front of him.

Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson will begin their ASP World Title showdown Saturday in what's expected to be epic conditions at Pipeline. But it's obvious they've got a lot more to worry about than each other, because the threat from this year's trialists and wild card entries is more lethal than ever.

Andy and Bruce Irons, John John Florence and Shane Dorian will be relishing their spoiler roles. And they're just the tip of a long Hawaiian spear that has already impaled a number of ASP stars struggling to survive. Torrey Meister, Hank Gaskell, Liam McNamara, Flynn Novak and Gavin Gillette have crushed more than a few dreams already. And the casualties are likely to keep mounting.

Yesterday, Bruce Irons closed the door on Timmy Reyes, who is now headed back to the minor leagues after a lackluster season.

Today, Andy Irons dealt Australia's Drew Courtney a similar fate. Both Reyes and Courtney needed only to advance out of one heat to stay above the line and make next year's tour.

Hawaiians Flynn Novak and Hank Gaskel, who qualified via the WQS contest at Pipe last winter, knocked out Tahiti's Michel Bourez and Australia's Ben Dunn, who, coming into the final event of the season, were sitting 21st and 22nd respectively. Luckily for both, almost everyone in their vicinity was knocked out too, so they stand a good chance of survival. But Roy Powers and Ace Buchan are hoping to pounce.

And one of the most talked about threats now is 16-year-old grom, John John Florence, who, while playing in his back yard out at Pipe, held a clinic today at Backdoor---undoubtedly stoked to be sharing the lineup with only three other surfers. "There are so many perfect waves coming in it was just crazy," he said, "It was really fun out there." Of course, his fun was somebody else's pain. Heitor Alvez's 2010 tour chances were ended by Florence.

With new ASP seeding rules going into effect in 2010, there's much more at stake at Pipeline. Making the Top 10 will earn surfers a late round seed all year. Making the Top 16 will earn a late round seed through the first half of the season. But everyone who qualifies will be instantly put on notice, since the field of 48 will be reduced to 32 by mid-season. The better your seed now, the better the your chances of survival.

Oh yeah, then there's that little title race thing. Mick Fanning has a clear advantage over Parko at this point. At last check Parko has to make it to the semifinals even if Fanning bombs. Both will have tough draws; Fannign will face Meister while Parko is up against Gavin Gillete, so anything is possible.

Stay tuned...This is going to get good.

BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Torrey Meister (HAW)
Heat 3: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)
Heat 4: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. John John Florence (HAW)
Heat 5: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Flynn Novak (HAW)
Heat 6: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Michael Picon (FRA)
Heat 7: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Chris Ward (USA)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Hank Gaskell (HAW)
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Liam McNamara (HAW)
Heat 10: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 11: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Bruce Irons (HAW)
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Dayyan Neve (AUS)
Heat 13: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)
Heat 14: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Shane Dorian (HAW)
Heat 15: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Gavin Gillette (HAW)
Heat 16: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW)

Well, I guess we'll see about that. I almost didn't think they could get any better, but they are claiming it pretty big-time over at Quiksilver. Apparently its time for Season Two... and look, they even made a trailer for it!



But yes, if you haven't caught on yet, the Todcasts are amazingly funny, and they aren't ALL about snowboarding. (As you'll see from the cameo's in the first episode below. Tony Hawk, what?!? Bruce Irons, what?!?! Ken Block, what?!?) Although it sure looks like Quik is gearing it up to make sure each of their pro-snowboarders gets a character part in at least one of the "megacasts" they promise to grace us with at the beginning of each month. This means we get to look forward to hanging out with the likes of Travis Rice, Austin Smith, Bryan Fox, and Louie Fontain. Or more like, Todd gets to hang out with those guys, and we get to watch the hilarity that ensues.

Oh Todcast, you've gotten us all riled up! Now its time to deliver!



Catch up on last season over at the Quicksilver blog. Todcast Tuesdays.