Classic Observations

Hey – the Bassmaster Classic. Remember that? It was only 2 weeks ago, but it's already three tournaments ago. I guess that's one bad thing about having the Classic in February.

This Classic was a good one, if you only look at the things that make every Classic good: the fishing, the fishermen, the fans and the fact that someone won. And since ESPN has taken over, the production. The Classic show itself is awesome – just like it was back in the day, but of course different now.

This was also the first Classic I've attended since 1992 where I could be an observer and not a reporter. What did I observe? Probably the same things as you. But here they are anyway.

The Luke Decision

Luke Clausen can't fish next year's Classic – and this year's Majors (oops, turns out that he can). Why? I'm not really sure. I left for Florida without my protractor, slide rule, calculator, abacus, weather vane, bag of chicken feet, sponsor-correctness chart and whatever else was needed to make that debacle of a decision.

New BASS rule policy: wet finger, stick in air, ask someone what the sponsors want, make a ruling.

I believe I'm not talking about Trip Weldon when I say that. Trip is the best tour/series-level tournament director in the business – maybe ever – so I have to assume that someone above him is pulling the strings.

Back to Luke. He's not fishing the '07 Classic. He can't because he's not fishing the Elite Series, according to BASS. And when it comes down to it, there's no rule saying he can, only a fact sheet about the Elite Series, Classic and Majors.

But Harold Sharp, B.A.S.S.'s first tournament director, told me "it has never been a BASS rule. It was decided just before the third Classic to invite the last champion to defend his title. The only one who did not do that was Bryan Kerchal."

He added that if Luke was a Triton guy – like he was a couple of years ago (he won the FLW Tour Championship wearing a Triton jersey) – we would no doubt be seeing him fishing the 2007 Classic. Harold is only speculating, but he's absolutely right.

On the other hand, since BASS obviously wants a Triton/Merc league (maybe a couple of Nitro and Skeeter guys in there), its insistence on pre-Classic registration for the Elite Series in order to fish the next Classic if you win might be smart from their point of view. That weeds out everyone but the people they want. (To be fair, I'm sure FLW would be very happy with a Ranger/Yamaha- and Ranger/Evinrude-only league.)

And hey – if you paid $70,000 in entries and travel expenses to fish the Elite Series and didn't make the Classic because someone who didn't even fish the Series did make it, you might be a little teed off. So is BASS suddenly looking out for its customers (the pros) with its Luke ruling? I doubt it – this is more about "sponsor correctness" than customer service – but there you go. (Which is what makes it seem so weird, because before (and even for a little bit after) the ESPN purchase, there was never a "right guy" to win the Classic, or the "right boat and truck" to use on the Bassmaster Tour. That was FLW stuff.)

BASS has felt free to change its rules at a whim, and could do so again to let Luke in. In fact, that ability is now part of BASS's rules: "These rules may be changed by BASS immediately upon notice by BASS to its members which notice may be published on the BASS Internet site...."

Speaking of rules, how about the one BASS uses to claim that Luke can't fish the next Classic? BASS Rule 1 (i) states in part: "To be eligible for the 2006 Bassmaster Majors, 2007 Bassmaster Classic and Majors, Elite pro anglers must participate in all 2006 and 2007 Elite Series events in which they are eligible unless approved by the tournament director."

Since Clausen is not an "Elite pro angler" because he's not fishing the Elite Series, does that rule apply? And even if it somehow could apply, couldn't the tournament director or BASS make an exception?

Did BASS not even think about the possibility that a non-Elite Series pro could win the Classic? It sure looked like it.

Did BASS not have a copy of its own qualification rules at the Classic? It sure looked like it – partly because the guys at BassFan seemed to be telling the folks at BASS what their own rules were.

A couple Luke-related thoughts

> How about Luke winning the FLW Tour Championship as a Triton guy and the Classic as a Ranger guy? In a way he's cross-wise, but if that's what it takes to win $500,000 at tournaments, more power to him. After the FLWTC, Ranger obviously made him a better deal. Wonder if Triton still thinks about that.

> How did the Elite Series field get full? Since BASS originally stated that everyone who qualified for the Elite Series could get in (remember the huge field size possible for this year?), and then blew one or two of its own registration deadlines to get enough people in, I wonder whether BASS has a legal leg to stand on if anyone tried to press the issue.

The Ike Tantrum: 3 Factors

Ike's meltdown still wasn't as bad as we've seen in other sports, but that doesn't make it good. In my opinion, here is factor 1 in what happened: the pros don't fish out of their own boats.

Yes, Ike has fished out of that model of Triton before and knows it pretty well. Yes, no other Ranger pros had issues with the aerators (that we know of). But put Ike in his own boat without his aerators in the Classic and I have to believe he still would've gotten mad if he had floaters in the wells, but he probably wouldn't have gotten that mad. Because right away, he would've known that he had no one to blame but himself.

Maybe I'm wrong, but consider this: Aaron Martens had problems with his electronics on day 1 of last year's Classic in Pittsburgh. Martens was fishing deep, and said at the time: "My graph froze up (that) morning. It came on, but wouldn't register, and I got off the shoal I wanted to fish. It was my best spot, but I never got to fish it (that day)."

Martens lost that Classic to Kevin VanDam by 6 ounces. Do you think there was a better-than-even chance Martens would've gotten 7 ounces out of his best spot first thing in the morning on the first day of the tournament?

Do you think he would've been able to fix the electronics if they went out on his own boat?

And how do we know Mike's boat didn't have mechanical issues? Do you think a BASS or Triton owner, or BASS sponsor Brunswick Corp., would ever admit it if so?

There's a litany of such equipment examples in BASS and FLW Outdoors events. Naturally the leagues try to brush them under the rug. But we're left with one big fact: Not letting the pros fish from their own boats every day of every tournament is stupid. Wait, let me make that all capital letters: STUPID. RIDICULOUS. CRAZY.

If the leagues claim they need to show the league-sponsor boats and motors for sponsor purposes, that argument holds no water. Most footage and still photos are of guys fishing on the front decks. Sometimes you'll see some carpet, maybe a few inches of gunwale, but rarely the whole boat, outboard or trolling motor.

And it doesn't matter anyway because the fans who care about boat brands are the only ones who will notice – and they already know which brands the pros use. I have friends who fish casually and they have no idea what boats the pros are fishing out of on TV. They also don't care.

Until this year, BassFan's Top Gun Championship was the only major event that allowed the pros to run their own boats every day. It's just common sense. BASS has bent a little in that direction by allowing pros in the Majors to do it. Hallelujah. Let's see some more of that.

Factor 2 is TV. Or rather ESPN.

It's not as simple as Ike turning into Mr. Hyde when the camera goes on. Since winning the Classic in 2003, he's been systematically encouraged by ESPN producers to act up and yell on camera. Apparently they feel – maybe correctly, judging from their claims about this year's Classic ratings – that this will increase their BASS-related ratings.

But it's not very pro-sports-like. Most other pro sports specifically DO NOT do that. In fact, they actively discourage it. They are conscious of their image – even the NBA – and make sure their TV partners know that.

When something rude happens in an NFL game, do you see it over and over again on the telecast? No. You'll see it a couple of times, the commentators say what they have to say, and then the coverage moves on. (The only place you'll see it over and over again is, well, on ESPN highlight shows.)

Obviously Mike went over the line. I'm equally sure that ESPN didn't help him or BASS or viewers' impressions of bass fishing any by making sure everybody and their uncle saw it – with, by the way, no applicable context (Mike was not fishing out of his own boat, other anglers curse, etc.). At least none that I saw.

I can guarantee you this: There were a million different ways to televise the Classic. We at BassFan would have done it differently, as would a lot of companies.

And if you don't want to see that stuff on TV, the only way to send the message is not to watch.

But ultimately that's just all background to the fact that no one is to blame here but Mike himself, which brings me to factor 3: Ike.

Obviously he is the biggest factor. Other pros have equipment problems and don't flip out like that. Other pros are encouraged to act up on camera and don't lose it (a few do, but not that badly and aren't shown on TV). What's going on here?

I don't know. I do know that lots of teenagers and kids look up to him, and I know he knows it. I also know he's a nice guy who has kids of his own. So I don't get it – and just so you don't think I'm taking pot-shots here, I've already told him so.

Over the years I've forgiven sports heroes for competition-related mishaps, especially when what set them off was something dumb, like a ref's horrendous call (not being able to fish from their own boats in a championship is dumb too). But F-bombing all over the place with spectator boats right there – well, we didn't see that when we were kids and I don't want my kids seeing it now.

Last but not least, the whole American flag thing. On principle, I didn't like it either. Not a bit. But I have to take it out of context not to like it because you have to look at intent. Ike ripping out the running light in a temper tantrum in a bass fishing tournament is a heck of a long way from Middle East wackos burning the American flag.

What if a little old lady mistakenly put an old American flag down on her stoop as a doormat? Should she be strung up for that?

What if Iaconelli's running light had a BASS flag or a stuffed bunny on it? Would he be anti-BASS or anti-Easter? C'mon now. It's intent.

I realize we're at war and national spirits are running high, as they should be. I also realized that our battle-scarred flag deserves as much respect as we can give it – and we should do the same for those who have given everything they have to fight for it. But Mike is a long way from John Walker Lindh.

If you hate Mike, you're going to hate him for the way he blows his nose, for the way he walks, for everything. But if you think Ike was disrespectful to the American flag on purpose – and doing it on purpose really is the only way to be anti-American about it – I respectfully disagree.

There's more than enough legitimate stuff there to get mad at Ike for. You don't have to hide behind the flag too. Save the flag-related anger for the people who really deserve it – the people who our men and women of the military are risking their necks against every day.

The Media

I've attend almost all of the Classics since 1992. I have to say that this was the worst in terms of how the media were treated.

Now understand what I'm talking about here. I'm not asking you to feel sorry for us in the media for doing our jobs when it gets tough (if you're a war correspondent and get shot or kidnapped, that's terrible but it goes with the territory). I just think that certain things ESPN/BASS did or didn't do might give some insight into what they're really up to. Examples:

> Ike on day 1 – No information was made available regarding the potential Ike DQ until the last minute, and even then it was vague. Bear in mind that unlike BassFan staffers, some of the media covering the Classic aren't versed in bass tournaments, let alone the finer points of BASS rules. Tournament director Trip Weldon was made available for about 3 whopping minutes of questioning about his decision, and Ike was never made to face the music in a press conference. And when the media finally got a handle about what was going on, BASS pulled the plug on the video feed in the media room, which was showing video of what Ike did out on the boat.

> The Luke rulings – BASS actually gave us different answers about Luke and next year's Classic. That was on days 2 and 3, and BassFan's Jon Storm had been asking BASS the "what if Luke wins" questions since day 1. First BASS said that Luke "definitely" would fish the 2007 Classic. Then it double-checked and confirmed that. Then we reminded them about the "Woo Daves rule," which requires Classic winners to fish the full tour to be eligible for the next Classic. Then BASS had to check on that.

Ultimately BASS had it published two different ways and went with the way that assured a Ranger/Yamaha/Chevy guy wouldn't be on ESPN2 next year. You think they made any of that convoluted rule mess clear to the media, or at least gave them the tools to figure it out for themselves?

> Luke time – If a Triton guy had won the Classic, would BASS have given him more time in front of the media in the final-day press conference? John Johnson on our staff, who has covered major sporting events like the Super Bowl, was amazed, angry and dumfounded that, as he put it, BASS or whoever made the decision to give Luke almost no time at the press conference "prevented me from doing my job." What's up with that?

> Sign a hat – What were BASS staffers doing when the guys who fished the last day came into the media room after the weigh-in? Not ushering them over for interviews. They were getting the anglers to sign hats. If it was for kids or some other noble purpose, it would've made some sense. But word is that the hats were for ESPN executives.

We know the Classic is all about ESPN's TV coverage now, but this is supposed to be the Super Bowl of bass fishing? The real Super Bowl is all about TV too, but the NFL doesn't treat visiting media that way, for obvious reasons.

Still Waiting

Maybe more than anyone, I hope BASS or FLW (or someone else) makes the top level of pro bass fishing a pro sport – not just a vehicle for selling sponsorships or advertising. But if this Classic is any indicator, I and other BassFans will have a long wait.

Last But Not Least...

Other Classic observations:

> The Classic weigh-ins are still too long because of TV, and the "TV time-outs" are weird, but like I said at the top, Classics are unmatched in terms of production value. Great stuff. Sometimes I can't believe it's all for bass fishing. ESPN's event people deserve serious props.

> I caught a few minutes of Denny Brauer commentating with Tommy Sanders on TV. Tommy is the consummate pro, and Denny's knowledge, expertise and delivery were great. Good combo.

> The "interactivity" of many of the displays at the Classic outdoor show was much improved this year. Hope that continues.

> Forget about $100+ on eBay. At the Classic you could buy a Chatterbait for $6.00.

> "Yo" again to everyone who wore official BassFan gear at the Classic. Thanks for flying the colors, and for coming up and saying hello.

> Who signed a ton of autographs even though he's barely in the public eye anymore? Fish Fishburne.