The outcome of yesterday's meeting between a majority of the B.A.S.S. Athletes Advisory Council and ESPN/B.A.S.S. officials can be described as "so far, so good," said one of the pros who attended.

Eight of the 10 pros on the Council -- which has the same composition as the board of the Professional Anglers Association (PAA) -- were there: Denny Brauer, Rick Clunn, Mark Davis, Paul Elias, Ray Sedgwick, Peter Thliveros, Kevin VanDam and Jay Yelas. Gary Klein and Larry Nixon didn't make it to the meeting, which was held at B.A.S.S. headquarters in Montgomery, Ala.

The pros were in a tight spot. On the one hand they'd just received ESPN/B.A.S.S.'s surprise "no patch, no points" rule that appeared to threaten the careers of at least several prominent fishermen. On the other hand they had an irate PAA membership. Plus they had a few more pressure points, including the fact that the season starts in a mere 7 weeks.

So the Council had every right to walk into yesterday's meeting breathing fire. But they didn't.

Instead of getting angry at ESPN and B.A.S.S. about the new "no patch, no points" rule, the pros were constructive. Before the meeting they worked out a few options, the best one of which would, in their eyes, give all the parties what they wanted and keep ESPN's version of B.A.S.S. moving forward.

That option amounts to reworking the patch and decal to promote the Busch AOY program rather than Busch. Presumably that means making "Busch" less prominent on the patch. The pros also wanted to know exactly what would be required of the AOY winner as far as promoting Busch beer.

B.A.S.S. Taking It Back to Busch

The upshot is that B.A.S.S. said it would take the anglers' request back to Busch and see what could be done. Nothing was promised, meaning that the options range from what the anglers proposed, to changing nothing about the "no patch, no points" rule, to perhaps another option.

"My read on it was that they didn't say it was a closed book or an open book," said one Council member.

Grey areas also exist, such as whether a pro who absolutely doesn't want to wear the patch would get points or not.

B.A.S.S. is supposed to get back to the Council in 2 weeks, and in the interim will be sending a summary of the meeting to tour pros "so everyone knows what's going on," said another pro who attended the meeting.

"That's the best we could hope for from today," he said. "They couldn't be expected to make a change without consulting with Busch."

Best Approach

"We all want to work with B.A.S.S., support B.A.S.S. and promote the (AOY) program," said one of the pros. "Ultimately that's the best thing -- everybody will be able to work together to promote the program, everybody can fish for the money and everybody's fishing for points.

"Let's just get a patch we can live with and have an AOY endorsement program we can live with, and then everybody wins. We're trying to have it be a win-win for everybody."

"The last thing we want to do is derail a Busch sponsorship," said another pro. "We realize how important that is to the industry. We want to keep them happy and make (the AOY program) as acceptable to the anglers as it can be."

That said, the pros aren't counting any chickens just yet. They're taking a wait and see attitude, and look forward to what B.A.S.S. has to say in 2 weeks.

Not All Cookies and Cream

Even though the pros took the high road, they did tell ESPN/B.A.S.S. that they didn't like how the issue unfolded.

"We did let them know that we didn't like the way (the rule) was presented to us, and that there needed to be a lot better communication between the anglers and B.A.S.S. -- and they agreed," said one pro.

But ESPN/B.A.S.S. has heard that from the pros before and agreed before. "I think they took it to heart more this time," the pro said. "They have to have timely meetings with us before the fact instead of after the fact."

Many tour pros also were unhappy with the tone of the B.A.S.S. letter, which they characterized as too "our way or the highway." One Council member said that ESPN/B.A.S.S. seemed surprised by that and told the Council that it wasn't their intent to "shock" or "offend" tour pros with the letter.

B.A.S.S.'s Statement

B.A.S.S. did not grant BassFan.com requests for an interview. Instead it issued this statement about the meeting: "Our meeting was very productive and positive. There are a couple of follow-up items regarding the Busch B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year program that will be forthcoming."

PAA Still Officially Shunned

Apparently ESPN and B.A.S.S. are still not recognizing the existence of the PAA. It said after yesterday's meeting that "the 10-member advisory board and B.A.S.S. agreed that all BASSMASTER Tour pros will be eligible in an upcoming election for next year's B.A.S.S. Athlete Advisory Council."

One pro said the PAA wasn't brought up in the meeting basically because the pros feel that B.A.S.S. as a private organization can call the 10-member Council whatever it wants to call it, but it's still the PAA.

Another said that since the pros elected to the Advisory Council are the same ones on the PAA board, that's "a message to B.A.S.S. that these are the people we want to represent us. I think this election will tell that story again. If the guys believe in the PAA board, they'll probably re-elect it.

"Naturally we'd like to see B.A.S.S. wrap its arms around the PAA and work with us, and I think that would be the best form of communication with us and to us," he said. "Both (leagues) probably would not like to see the PAA continue, but over time they'll see that it won't go away, that it will grow and get stronger."

PAA executive director Scot Laney said: "I'm not caught up in whether B.A.S.S. acknowledges the PAA or not. B.A.S.S. can do what they want. But I believe they realize that when they're talking to the advisory board, they're talking to the PAA.

"We recognize that B.A.S.S. is doing their best to bring a major new sponsor into our sport, and we're encouraged that B.A.S.S. would listen to our concerns in terms of the AOY program," he added. "The PAA is very cognizant of the various sensitivities of our membership, and of the fans of professional bass fishing."

Notable

> Apparently the much-talked-about $1 million AOY payback that the pros expected was a case of miscommunication. The pros on the Council appear to accept that now as a pie-in-the-sky figure ESPN/B.A.S.S. mentioned at an earlier meeting, but which was never a promise.

> Re: the trade the Council pros made where they agreed that ESPN/B.A.S.S. could wrap the boats run during the final two days ("TV days") of competition in exchange for a bigger AOY payback: The accepted explanation now is that some of the money from those boats is what is funding the all-cash payback for the pro side of the 2003 Tour purse.

> Two of the 10 pros on the Council have a financial relationship with Busch: Brauer and VanDam. Including Thliveros, who is sponsored by Crown Royal, that makes three on the Council who receive money from alcoholic beverage companies.

What do you think? Sound off by clicking here.