Kelly Slater took over the ASP world tour ratings lead today. And deservedly so. The nine-time champion continues to impress nearly two decades after turning pro.

But warning sirens were blaring in Brazil for Slater and his tour-veteran band of brothers, because a new crop of world tour stars took control of the business side of Billabong Pro in Santa Catarina, especially rookie winner Jadson Andre, who defeated Slater for the win in front of an ecstatic hometown crowd.

Andre is the first rookie since Bobby Martinez in 2006 to win an ASP world tour event.

"Call the cops!" Said Luke Egan, the online commentator. "This place is going to explode. Tomorrow will be a national holiday in Brazil."

"The best day of my life," a stoked Andre said afterward, beaming. Andre did what hid buddy Adriano de Souza couldn't do in Brazil last year, which was hold Slater off in the final.

By the semifinals, Slater was the only surfer left with more than five years of tour experience.

As we expected, this was Andre's coming out party. The rookie Brazilian put his incredible bag of tricks to good use at Praia Da Vila, none more than his incredible aerial reverses, which delivered for him time and again.

Jadson Andre, for what it's worth, is the Brazilian answer to Dane Reynolds. He drilled that message home by shooting Reynolds down in a semifinal showdown that -- as expected -- turned into an aerial dog fight. Andre's acrobatics sealed him the win.

Go ahead...discuss.

While Andre has some issues in the flow department, make no mistake, he brings as much amplitude to his aerial arsenal as any surfer on tour -- any surfer. The thing is, his clash with Reynolds wasn't even as close as the judges would have you believe.

Jadson had Reynolds comboed in short order. Dane eventually fired back, and the judges did their best to help him. They gave Reynolds the 7.5 he needed in the closing minute of the heat -- which, frankly, would have controversial if it stuck. It didn't look like he got it.

But Jadson wouldn't be denied. On his last ditch effort at the buzzer he dropped another bomb, nailing two major releases that forced the judges to capitulate. They threw him 9s, and sent Andre to his first ASP World Tour final.

The irony, is in his post-heat interview, Dane said he didn't think Jadson's last wave was a 9. (He was right, but it was a lot better than a 7.5, which was all Jadson needed.)

Dane, to his credit, seems to genuinely be having fun now with the whole contest thing. His surfing shows it. He's still in a discovery phase with his equipment, but he's further down that path than most of the guys his age.

The Channel Islands crew did a great job of sneaking some fullness into the outlines of boards for Dane, Taylor and Kelly. Hidden width goes a very long way in those conditions. Slater is using more of the wave face than ever, and that's what allowed him to win a few heats on the righthanders. Slater's boards were crucial in helping him finally get past Owen Wright, who up until today, had the champs number. Slater's clean speedy carving and vicious backside uppercuts delivered him the scores he needed to get him into the final, where his presence secured him the current ratings lead.

Wright, who struggled in Australia, finally got the 2010 traction he was looking for. We learned of the damage he can do in 2009, when he routinely slaughtered the big boys as a wild card. His Brazilian performance keeps him out the mid-season cutoff danger, which was his only concern coming into this stop.

While the youth movement won this battle handily, the generational war is far from over with the tour heading to J-Bay next. J-Bay doesn't lend itself to the aerial reverse, and rookies like Wright and Andre will be making their first trips ever there.

Slater said it best in his post event interview. "It'll be interesting to see if they [young guys] can do reverses at J-Bay, Teahupoo and Pipeline." Translation: advantage veterans.

Sure is nice to see Kelly throwing down the gauntlet again.

ASP World Tour leader Taj Burrow suffered a Round Three loss today at Praia da Villa, losing to South Africa's Travis Logie in Round Three of the Billabong Pro Santa Catarina. The early round loss -- his first since Portugal last year -- leaves the door open for Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Jordy Smith to pounce.

Slater looked solid on his pin tail while taking out Tanner Gudauskas. Though only a few solid waves came through during their late day match up, Slater made the most of his opportunities, surfing clean and fast.

In clean and very contestable conditions, the Billabong Pro moved through the grueling Round Three and part of Round Four Wednesday, where survival means a solid result versus a decent one. The business end of the event will wrap on Thursday, when thewinner is likely to be crowned if conditions hold.

Taj wasn't the only big gun to fall. Bobby Martinez was finally grounded after flying high through Australia. Martinez lost in the first heat of the day to Aussie Luke Munro. Joel Parkinson has yet to find his stroke this year. He had a tough time getting anything going today and lost to Tahiti's Michel Bourez in Round Four. And Damien Hobgood's struggles continued as he was steamrolled by rookie Jadson Andre of Brazil.

Rookie Owen Wright finally got some momentum going in his match up against the powerful Bede Durbidge. Wright was doing his release thing at every opportunity, electing the faster, dumpier, against-the-grain lefthanders that offered up some big targets.

There were inspiring performances Wednesday in the clean beachbreak conditions. Mike Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Dane Reynolds all looked sharp. And Taylor Knox put on a beautiful carving performance while cutting down his friend Tiago Pires of Portugal by way of the long rights. "I knew I had to lift my game. He's a tough draw, and not just a great surfer but a great guy."

Jordy Smith absolutely annihilated Aussie Ben Dunn, in what was arguably the best performances of the day. Jordy iced the performance with a huge backside air reverse on his last wave. Smith is breaking out this year. He's currently sitting in the third place position, and seems to be getting more comfortable in his skin at each stop.

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Most of the big boys rebounded today at the Billabong Pro in Brazil as conditions improved for Round Two.
Kelly Slater, Taj Burrow and Mick Fanning all survived their loser's round forays after being defeated on Saturday in Round One. Slater (below) looked solid vs. Brazilian wild card Messias Felix.

But three-time world champion Andy Irons wasn't so lucky. His world tour comeback has been lackluster so far. Now three events in Irons' competitive career is officially on life support. Andy has two more events to get his act together. A very solid result in South Africa or Tahiti to keep his career afloat.

Luckily, Andy has two months to get into fighting shape, because frankly, he's still looking a bit soft in the middle, and his surfing isn't nearly as threatening as a result. A dead giveaway of this is his heavy reliance on the layback snap of late. The layback snap -- while at times flashy -- is a lazy maneuver. It takes far less effort than a full-body wrap around. It's the move you push out when you're out of energy. Andy's batteries still need charging.

Much of the story in Round Two was the horrific rookie slaughtering. Dusty Payne, Brett Simpson and Nate Yeomans were among the victims. But Owen Wright and both Tanner and Patrick Gudauskas advance straight into Round Three after their strong performances in Round One on Saturday.

As is usually the case heading into Round Three, there are some solid fight cards on the schedule. Here are a few I think could get interesting...

Parko vs. Matt Wilko -
Parko's lit his first heat up, surfing smoothly and with a hunger we haven't seen yet this year. But Wilko is looking to get some traction here. He's dangerous in these conditions. This is no walk in the Park for Parko.

Damien vs. Jadson Andre -
Two very dynamic goofygooters. Damien's been having a rough go of late, and Andre -- who has a healthy bag of tricks -- is also on his home turf. This one will get interesting.

Adriano vs. Pat Gudang -
The more I think about it, the more I realize these guys have very similar approaches. Adriano is the defending champion, but Pat has proven that he's not easily intimidated...and he'll be looking for launch pads.

Dane vs. Kekoa -
On paper you wouldn't think this would be close -- especially in Brazil. But Kekoa never looks like a major threat on paper even though he almost always is. The guy throws some serious power into his turns. Dane will have to take to the air to get past him.

Bede vs. Owen Wright -
This is a battle of the machines. Mr. Wright is in desperate need of his first good result and some momentum. But Bede is a notorious giant killer. Nobody's going to roll over in this one.

Freddy vs. Jeremy -
Two of the guys who're always lurking just below the headlines even while putting in some very solid performances. They're well matched in the bag-of-tricks department.

Kelly vs. Tanner Gudang -
Another one that isn't close on paper...But keep this in mind: Historically, Slater has more problems with rookies and wild cards than he does title contenders. Gudauskas will have plenty of motivation -- the problem is it could just be too much. Surfers tend to abandon their game plans against Slater, when they should be thinking more like Rocky Balboa in the original. In other words, just go the distance and make it respectable.

Jordy vs. Ben Dunn -
Jordy seems to be playing the game well right now. Speed is the key for him against Dunn in Brazil conditions though, so board selection will be key. Smith gets confused by equipment choices. That's why this one could surprise.

Taylor vs Tiago -
Tiago can never be taken lightly. And Taylor will never take anything off of his heavy turns -- even here. This will be a tough match for Knox. Though he's from Portugal, Tiago has some serious fans in Brazil.

The ASP World Tour as you've known it is no more.

The full impact of the changes announced last fall during the European leg are now being realized, and they're much more significant than first thought. Apparently Slater's threats weren't in vain.

The reason for the surprise? Well, the ASP didn't actually implement their new "world ranking" system until the beginning of this year. Word on the street is the process was a much more painful to figure out than anticipated (which explains why they unveiled it with very little fanfare).

The major sticking point was deciding how to properly format the new "world ranking" that will ultimately control a surfers destiny in the years ahead. Valuing the ASP's various tiers: World Tour, Prime, and Star events, was no easy feat, as each level's results had to be merged into the larger ranking picture.

When their homework was finally completed the ruling was to punish losers and reward winners more significantly at every level. Going forward, this means there will be a much higher turnover at the top ranks, and job security for surfers like Jay Thompson (above) will be non-existent as ranking volatility increases.

Ultimately, the best part of these changes is surfers can rise faster than ever before to the world championship level. The scariest part (for them) is they can fall just as fast.

Most fans are already aware this season has been essentially cut in half. Indeed, after stop number five in Tahiti, the 12 lowest ranked surfers on the current World Tour will be sent back to the minors as the field is reduced to 32. Only the top 22 of the remaining 32 will qualify for the 2011 World Tour based on their World Title ranking. The remaining 10 slots will be filled by using the all-inclusive "world ranking."

All points earned -- regardless of tier level -- count toward a surfers World Ranking.

While things out on the World Tour just got a lot tougher, with the new world ranking the Prime and Star rated events play a much more significant -- and immediate -- role in the larger picture as well.

In fact, the payoffs available in Prime and 6 Star events are now impossible for World Tour surfers to ignore, which is why 33 of the Top 45 showed up at Margaret River for the recent Prime event there. The Nike Pro at Trestles, Hurley U.S. Open in Huntington and Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz is slated to be stacked as well.

Why are the big guns showing up? Well, the breakdown on the right will help explain it. Note how even a 37th place finish in a Prime event (the second tier in blue) will net him 368 more points than yet another 33rd in a World Tour event (in black). Frankly, this is as it should be, since a 33rd on the World Tour is a last place finish, and a 37th place finish in a Prime event means that surfer made it through a couple tough rounds.

A surfer that actually goes on to win a PRIME event will net as many points as if he finished in 3rd place in a World Tour event, which will play a huge factor in boosting his world ranking, whether he's already on the tour or not.

The greater meaning of all this is the minor leagues aren't so minor any more. That's a good thing for surfing fans.

What's most encouraging about this new rating system is it takes solid results to survive at every tier. Mediocrity is being punished, while winning pays more than before. In fact, this year the point spread between a last place finish (33rd) and World Tour win is 9500 points -- a 73% jump from 2009. The spread between a win and 17th place is 50% larger; 9th place by 26%; 5th by 15%; 3rd by 11%, and 2nd place by 7%.

In other words, the thrill of victory is growing...but so too is the agony of defeat.

Come 2011, those factors will be magnified as the ASP says it will be constantly refreshing it's World Tour events using the up to date world ranking. It has yet to be decided how often they'll be hitting the reset button, but the fact is one no longer has to wait until the year's end to climb to the top (or fall out of it).

A surfers world ranking will be based on the best 8 results of the last 12 months, regardless of where we are in the current season. So while the year-end ranking will matter if you're shooting for a world title, the process of moving up and down the ranks will be much more fluid throughout the year.

With events at every level weighing much heavier in the big picture, things are sure to get a lot more interesting.

I have two for you today, both from the Nike 6.0 Lowers Pro.

"I haven't kissed any pigs lately." - Taylor Knox on Swine Flu.

"No, he's in my heat." - Chris Waring after I said to him, "I heard you're in Dane's [Reynolds] heat."