Collins Would Wipe Out Op Pro Judges

Make Richie Collins the king, and he would line up all the pro surfing judges and . . . shoot them?

“I would shoot them all and get new ones,” said Collins, who said one of his waves Thursday was miscalculated by Op Pro championship judges.

“I would bury them alive, like they have buried me alive. I think that’s realistic.”

Extreme measures by an extreme surfer, to say the least. But in Collins’ mind, it’s logical. He said he’s fed up with Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ judges underscoring his waves.

“I’ve held in my argument for 2 1/2 years, and I’m tired of it,” he said. “My career is being ruined.”

He let loose in a big way Thursday, upset about a 7.83 score he thought was an “8.5 or 9.”

Collins of Newport Beach apparently swore at judges and made an obscene gesture as he passed the main grandstand. That didn’t sit well with ASP tour manager Al Hunt, who fined Collins $100.

Collins would have been wise to vent his frustration another way.

Renato Hickel, the event’s head judge, is always ready to lend an ear to competitors upset with their scores.

Hickel videotapes each heat and plays back waves in question for the competitors. He spent 30 minutes explaining Collins’ wave to reporters Thursday afternoon.

But Collins never met with Hickel to discuss the score, instead heading straight to the press area to offer his opinion.

“I can go through it with Richie and show him,” Hickel said. “It (the videotape) is a big help. We don’t use it to judge, but to back up an explanation for a protest.”

Hickel said Collins had little recourse. Even if he had agreed that Collins was underscored, he couldn’t have changed the judges’ scores.

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Longboard surfing: For the first time in its 12-year history, the Op Pro will feature 16 of the nation’s top-ranked longboard surfers in a specialty invitational.

The event starts with quarterfinal heats today at 11:20 a.m. The finals are Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

No division at the Op features more of an age range than the longboards. San Clemente’s Colin McPhillips, 18, and San Diego’s Joel Tudor, 17, will compete against legends such as Huntington Beach’s David Nuuhiwa, 43, and Cardiff’s Dale Dobson, 46.

Huntington Beach’s Joey Hawkins, defending world champion, is 23. Most top shortboard surfers are younger than 30.

Much of the focus will be on Nuuhiwa and Dobson, who are surfing their first Op Pros.

Nuuhiwa was a five-time world champion in the 1960s and was ranked fifth in the longboard division last year.

Dobson has won 73 contests in the past 25 years and was inducted into the International Surfing Hall of Fame in La Jolla last January.

“At first we thought it would be a legends event,” said John Warner, Op’s chief executive officer. “But we have 18-year-olds surfing in it, too. It should be an exciting contest.”