I guess you heard about Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter guy of TV fame who was killed by a stingray this weekend. What a shame.
When my kids caught him on TV, they loved watching him, I think because of a mix of dangerous-animal fascination (who else jumps on crocodiles, especially when they're kids?) and inspiration from his on-camera energy.
When I watched with them, I had the same dangerous-animal fascination, mixed with an adult's edge-of-the-seat dread about what seemed inevitable: He was living close to the edge.
But that's what was great. He was living every minute of it. The guy really did jump on crocodiles, catch deadly snakes with his hands and swim with sharks, among other things most of us would think of as crazy.
This is a guy who, when he was a young man, went out in "the bush" by himself to catch crocodiles. By himself.
He loved it and it showed, so viewers loved it too. No surprise that his TV show was such a hit. It's hard to beat honest, informative, enthusiastic entertainment about the outdoors. Great stuff.
You have to respect all the kids he inspired to go outside – the guy literally had millions of fans – and how much he did for conservation in Australia and Australian tourism.
He apparently was a great family man too, and died while filming for his daughter's new TV show.
Not least, guys like him are a good and necessary defense (or offense) against the progress of the "weenie brigade." You know, the people who think we should wall off forests and reefs to let the animals live in peace.
A few of these idiots actually had the audacity to condemn Irwin after his death for handling animals too much and taking too many risks. I'm ashamed to be the same species as those people. But hey, maybe I'm not....
Irwin probably did a lot more good stuff I don't know about. After all, what outdoorsman doesn't?
So from one outdoorsman to another, thanks, mate. We'll miss you down here.
Where's Our 'Bass Hunter?'
This got me thinking, like just about everything does, about bass fishing. Specifically, I wondered who in bass fishing inspires kids the same way?
Initially I drew a blank. Bad sign.
Then I thought of Fish Fishburne. He used to inspire kids when he was on TV, but he's not part of the scene anymore.
And then it hit me: Mike Iaconelli.
Kids love that guy. I'm talking about kids who don't mind the cursing on TV (which shouldn't be aired anyway, and therefore no one should know about it) or who are too young to understand what that bleeping means. Or who don't like it but forgive the guy.
An industry exec once asked me if I'd ever seen Ike around kids. I had, but asked him what he meant. He said kids love being around him, and pointed out what I'm sure you know too: Children can smell a fake a mile away.
So Ike might be our best shot at a "Bass Hunter," or Steve Irwin of bass fishing. But one big difference between Ike and Irwin is that Mike doesn't have his own TV show.
He's been fishing well, he's good on camera and ESPN likes him, so he's been getting airtime. But how can he inspire kids like Irwin did without having his own show?
Got me.
And if not him, who?
My old compadre Mark Zona comes to mind. He's zany and kids love that – so do adults, for that matter.
But Zona doesn't have his own show either.
And even if these guys were offered the opportunity, I'm skeptical that those responsible for producing and airing the current generation of outdoors TV shows "get it" – "it" being fishing and outdoors media – enough to put such shows on the air, how and when they should be. (I'm pretty sure the good folks at BassFan do, though. Too bad we're not in the TV business.)
Here's the bottom line: If you understand that fishing is a pass-along sport, and that most kids these days think sitting home and moving their thumbs around in front of a TV screen is a lot more fun than being outside and hooking fish, then you realize that a kid-friendly TV show in bass fishing is essential.
So where do we go from here?
Notable
> Possibly of interest to Irwin fans, from Hollywood.com: "Irwin once insisted, 'My number one rule is to keep that camera rolling. Even if it's shaky or slightly out of focus, I don't give a rip. Even if a big old alligator is chewing me up I want to go down and go, 'Crikey!' just before I die. That would be the ultimate for me.'"
