I am a 29-year-old angler who has been following Bassmaster and BASS for as long as I can remember. I must say that I do consider myself a Christian. I do not attend church on a regular basis anymore, but my values have not changed. I do not take offense to beer companies and BASS joining forces. I do, however, take offense to the direction that ESPN is taking BASS.
I was extremely excited when I read that ESPN had purchased BASS. But since they have been "in control," they have gone way out of their way to over-dramatize every little aspect of the sport, instead of capitalizing on the very reason we all tune in...or used to. Tournament footage is what The Nashville Network showed, along with Bob Cobb, not break dancing and arguments over who was fishing in who's area. Getting rid of Fish Fishburne was just one of the many mistakes that ESPN has made.
I understand the "NASCAR" blueprint that ESPN is using, but it will fail. You cannot air clips of anglers who think there are "entirely too many rednecks in bass fishing" when that is the very audience you depend on. You have never heard a star NBA player say that "there are far too many undereducated thugs in the league:" it's not good public relations. What is ESPN going to do if David Fritts wins the Kentucky Lake tourney in 2006? Are they going to have an interpreter for him, or maybe dub over his voice? They had better just start showing the on-the-water coverage, whether they are catching fish or not, and stop trying to "polish" bass fishing.
FLW is kicking their rear end right now because they have better coverage, and they don't show silly examples of a dropshot rig or a Texas rig 18 times in a half-hour show. If you don't know the difference between a shallow crank and a deep crankbait, do you think you're going to watch a bass tournament on TV?
ESPN is trying to get all of the people who have made bass fishing what it is today clear out of the sport, by not covering someone because they talk with a southern drawl, or chew tobacco, or even might be a couple pounds overweight. These are all signs that you might be a tournament angler, and you are not marketable. Hey, maybe next year they can raise the entry fees to a cool $10,000 so that only 10 anglers can afford to compete. There would be plenty of on-air time and probably no "hole-jumping."
I am starting to take offense to the idea that bass fishing is going to come down to how much money you have, how marketable you are and how stupid you make yourself look to be a star -- and not how talented you are, or how lucky, or blessed you are to fish for a living.