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Eduardo

About a year ago I posted this piece, in which I wondered how dangerous surfing was compared with a number of other sports. I conducted a little survey, based entirely on my own highs and lows (mostly lows) in the sporting arena, and found that football (soccer) was by far the most dangerous sport of all.

On Saturday night I watched both the France v England rugby game, and Match of the Day. As usual when I watch rugby, I marvel at how hard it is. I shudder to think of the many ways in which serious damage can occur, and thank the Lord for making for 5'10". Because of this, I gave up playing rugby when I was 18. By then, everyone else, save for the scrum half, was bigger than me. I was getting hurt too often, and it was time to pursue the game I've played and loved the most - football.

Twenty one years later I relished Saturday night's Six Nations game in the Stade de France. By its end I had nothing but tremendous admiration for those who take to the rugby field. But I also pondered conversations I used to have with one of my oldest friends, Rich. He played rugby, I played football. We were both reasonable amateur players in our respective sports, and we loved nothing better than to debate which of the two was the toughest game. Rich would say it was obvious, and laugh at me for even suggesting that football was on a par with rugby. But I'd maintain that because of the speed with which football is played, and the way that legs and feet, not bodies and shoulders, are travelling at such velocity towards one's opponents, football was always more likely to result in serious injury.

I was mulling over this contention as I settled down to watch Match of the Day. I was also wondering if my latest football injury, a grade 2 quadriceps strain acquired last Tuesday while playing 5-a-side football, would hold up if I went for a surf on Sunday. And then I saw what happened to Eduardo, the gifted Arsenal striker. Do not watch the clip below if, like me, you are queasy (though mercifully it's not in real time).

For what's it worth, I don't think that the Birmingham City player, Martin Taylor, went into the tackle with any malice. Eduardo was too quick for him, and Taylor was guilty of clumsiness as much as anything else. But the incident is a horror story. Eduardo has apparently suffered a double compound fracture of his lower left leg, and he will surely be out of the game for as much as a year, if not longer.

I duly went for a surf on Sunday. Praa Sands was gorgeous and clean. I had an indifferent first wave, and then, on my second, my strained thigh muscle popped again.

As a consequence of playing football last Tuesday, I now have yet another injury. In the short term, there'll be no surfing for me, certainly no more football on Tuesday nights and definitely lots of rest, ice and compression.

None of this, of course, even vaguely compares to the trauma that Eduardo is going through. All I can say, to Rich and to any other doubters, is that football is a very, very tough game. I hope that Eduardo one day takes to the field again, and despite my belief that Taylor did not act with intent, I hope that anyone playing football, at any level, will take heed and never, ever go in for a tackle with studs raised again. The potential consequences are just too horrific.

Three top contests to keep an eye on

Lots going on in the contest arena at the moment. The highest profile international event is the Rip Curl Pro WCT Somewhere in Chile (it's actually being held at Arica, dubbed - reasonably enough, when you look at this picture - as "the Chilean Pipeline"), which kicked off this week. Congratulations to local surfers Manuel Selman and Christian Merello for their performances in the Trials. The pair becomes the first Chilean surfers to compete at a Fosters ASP World Tour event and Round 1 should start in solid swell tomorrow morning. What price Kelly Slater, currently 6th in the ratings, and Andy Irons (7th) upping their status by end of the contest?

In Europe, the European Surfing Championships are underway at Anglet in South-West France. The English Team has strong prospects thanks to the likes of Sam Bleakley, twice a former European champion, the Isle of Wight's highly rated Johnny Fryer and last year's Junior BPSA Champion Matt Capel. The team has been sponsored by Headworx.

Closer to home, this coming weekend sees one of the most popular events on the domestic surfing calendar, the Fat Face Night Surf at Lusty Glaze, Newquay. This is the second event on the BPSA Tour and always great fun. Given the storm currently raging outside my window, the Night Surf could have some tasty swell. Better still, the event will be streamed live thanks to Kevin Stone, the younger brother of highly respected Newquay surfer Jed Stone. Check out www.focusworx.com/streaming.htm for the action.

British success - yes, there's quite a bit of it about

The ISA World Masters Surfing Championships in Puerto Rico are now underway, with British hopes high thanks to a solid contingent including the likes of Jed Stone, Gary Rogers, Daz Wright and Roger Knight. A total of 12 countries have sent competitors to the event, which Richard Lucke, the President of the Surf Federation of Puerto Rico, declared to be "the most important in the world." That might be pushing it a little but should the British team do well their success will crown a fine series of recent British performances in the water. Just last week, at the 2007 Kneeboard World Championships in Santa Cruz, California, Jody Winter from Newquay took to the podium to claim the Ladies World Championship, while Polzeath's Richard Smith took the Pro Junior World title. In surfing, last year Reubyn Ash bagged the European Junior title and the British team brought home a silver medal thanks to Ben Skinner in the ISA World Surfing Games. Karen Walton, the National Director of the British Surfing Association, sums up the mood of optimism and good vibes in the contemporary British surfing scene: “We are so proud of what the team and each of the individuals have achieved in the Kneeboard World Championships. As a British surf team attending a World Championships event, they have set new standards and have gone from strength to strength. Put together with last year's perfomances,  no-one can deny that British surfing is making an extremely strong mark on the international scene."

The stoke and the skate

It's been a long day. I'm knackered. But, for those still looking for the stoke even at this time of night, let me point you in the direction of Jed Stone. I interviewed Jed today. He's 53, fit as a fiddle, and he rips. He's a good bloke, and, even better, he's an old school skater. I'm talking about a man who knows a frontside grind from a fakie, a McTwist from a 360, and - of course, brethren - a no comply from a NO ARGUMENT I AM GOING SURFING. Turns out Jed skated a couple of the same bowls as me, a long time ago. Also, that he managed one of them. I confessed that back in the day, when a friend and I had tired of some Fistral aggro, we hit the Holywell skate bowl, and once there, we decided to skate the car. It was a Mini 1000, and I'll scan the photos in soon. Jed's reaction?  A big, broad smile, an immediate understanding of exactly why we decided to skate the car, accompanied with an instinctive assessment of "did you make it?" We might have done. But for now - and I should be back soon (swell may take me away) - I wish Jed and his fellow competitors all the best in surfing's amateur World Champs.