The two anglers most affected by the 2-year experiment of deciding the Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) via a two-event, post-season shootout were Skeet Reese and Kevin VanDam. Reese was atop the points list at the end of the regular season in both 2009 and '10, but KVD copped the titles in the post-season.
Neither could be reached in time for inclusion in the reaction story to B.A.S.S.' decision to return to the previous format of determining the AOY solely by regular-season points, but both checked in today. Below are their comments.
Kevin VanDam (6-time AOY)
"I've been doing this for 20 years and the system has gone through a lot of changes in that time. The first year I won it was under some other format, then it was points over six events and points over eight events and points over 11 events and then the post-season. I've won it pretty much every way and the times I finished 2nd or whatever, maybe I would've won it under a different format.
"People are going to make changes, trying to do things differently. The last 2 years they tried to create some excitement with the post-season, and I think they did that. We all knew the format going in and we all played by the same rules. In that regard, I don't see how any angler can have much to say, but it's great for fans because it gives them something to talk about.
"All of the (AOYs) I've won, I value them all the same because I won them under the rules we were fishing under. I'm sure there are going to be even more changes to come at some point."
Skeet Reese (2007 AOY)
"I think they made the right decision and I'm happy to see it go back to the traditional format that was used for so many years. It takes it back to its purest form, and I'm excited about that.
"It's bittersweet – I'm not going to deny that. I'm torn about the last 2 years because I was, so to speak, the sacrificial angler. But in the big picture, if I had to be that one angler who people looked at and realized that this format wasn't working and that we needed to go back to where we were, then so be it. I know what I've done and most other people know what I've done. It's just that I won't have those trophies on the mantel to look at when I'm old and crippled.
"It is what it is and what's happened has happened. Am I a little sour about it? Absolutely, but it's done. Kevin did what he had to do and played within the parameters he was given, and it's certainly not his fault. All I can do is go out this year and try to do it again."
