I'm probably not the only one disappointed by the 2010 schedule announcements. In fact, I see the schedules as a major retreat by both leagues. But I want to talk about BASS in particular, since it's been the scheduling leader for half a decade now.

First, it looks like BASS's move to eight events, with a hokey "post-season," will pretty much be permanent. In the ever-changing world of the BASS format, that means a couple more years.



And next year, the full Elite Series field is done fishing by the middle of June.

That makes the Elite Series nothing more than the Bassmaster Tour of the early part of this century – except for higher entry fees and a somewhat more exclusive field (although not that exclusive, since pros like Nixon, Yelas, Fritts, Hibdon, Clausen, Ehrler, Dudley and so many others won't touch it).

I thought it was great when BASS stretched its original Elite Series season into September, and again reached north to fish several events. It somewhat resembled the BASS circuit that built the modern sport – the Top 100s and Top 150s with schedules across the calendar year and stops at the Potomac, Champlain and St. Clair, among others.

Sure, BASS is to be commended for sticking to its western events next year, but do we really need three of the remaining six tournaments to be on the Tennessee River, just like this year?

I wonder how the BASS sponsors feel about abandoning key markets like Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Canada and Texas to run the same events on the same waters year after year. Here's betting Skeeter wants to sell boats in New York, Ohio and Michigan.

And when you look at the BASS and FLW Tour schedules side-by-side, that's 12 events packed into the Southeast during a short 4-month period.

Yawn.

When times get tough, they say to focus on your core business. For BASS, that's obviously the Southeast. A condensed schedule saves significant travel and support cost for the league. Fan turnout should be strong at proven venues. No risk-taking in this climate.

But don't overlook the obvious either. BASS is clearly concerned about pairing marshals with pros on big-water venues like the Great Lakes and Champlain.

There may be three less events moving forward, but remember that BASS must still air the same amount of original programming on ESPN2 – presumably to fulfill sponsor contracts – which is why it developed Championship Week to determine Angler of the Year (AOY).

Plain and simple, it's a TV championship.

For as long as I've followed the sport, the AOY title was decided against a full field. Instead, just 12 pros will battle it out this year and next – action that's easily handled by the camera crews, then served up to the public in easy-to-digest 1-hour TV shows.

The BASS AOY title is arguably the most important title in all of fishing, and I feel the TV dramatization of a 12-man "chase" is a corruption of the title's history and integrity.

Twenty years from now, when we look at the list of BASS AOYs, these years will no doubt have an asterisk next to them – like the strike-shortened year in football. Let's call it the money-crunch era.

We'll have to list the true Angler of the Year (the winner after 8 regular-season, full-field events), plus the TV AOY.

Which title will hold more water? Ultimately, that's for BassFans to decide.

At least they'll have 8 months without a tour event to think about it.