WTF is wrong with the CLASSIC coverage??

[fisherman1111]

The whole classic coverage has been a joke. They are so far behind where they were 7 or 8 years ago.

Yep it is horrible. I guess their entry fees were going towards the website manager. LOL

[OkieBud]

[badboyjigs]

heard that rumor few weeks back, i think the rave reviews NPFL and the viewer number for there tourneys this year pushed em over the edge . And if you watch wheelers videos he’s kinda hinted at it , I’m guessing it’s gone from BFLs also

[BigFishSteve]

I'll say it: MLF will not ban FFS next year.

[Ski Tar]

So I went to Forth Worth for the Classic and here are some of my observations. First, Forth Worth is a beautiful clean city with a ton of culture and great places to eat. If you're ever in this city, do yourself a favor and go to Terry Black's and get a Beef Rib, you'll never forget it!! I completely enjoyed my visit to Forth Worth.
As for the Classic, The expo was great but the convention center, in Fort Worth, is WAY too far from Dickies Arena, where the weigh-ins were held. It made the logistics of attending both in the same day almost not worth it.

IMHO if BASS is going to host the weigh-in at a venue that is more than an hour away from the lake, they need to get the guys off the water a little earlier (maybe 2:00) to get them back at a reasonable time to start the weigh-in process. Which leads me to a couple of issues with the weigh-in. First, the anglers should be limited on stage time during the first two days of the event. I would suggest not allowing the anglers the opportunity to hold up fish unless they have a significant bag and also limit the on stage conversations. The weigh-in process takes WAY too long the fist couple of days.
Next, BASS needs to fire their sound tech immediately. As you know, each angler gets to pick their ride in music but the sound engineer just couldn't figure out how to turn down the song once the anglers got on stage, Mercer and the anglers were often having to talk over the music that should have been silenced once the angler stepped on stage. You could visibly see Mercer and the anglers being frustrated with this issue and it didn't get fixed/addressed on days two or three. Honestly, everyone around us were complaining about it at the day two weigh-in and I was AMAZED that it was still an issue on day three.

I agree with everyone that the live coverage was not very well managed. What happened to the days of moving the cameras around during the tournament day to make sure the cameras are in the boat with the guys who are actually catching the fish. On day one, Easton was building a big lead and BASS never managed to get a camera in his boat. As a mater of fact, the cameras pretty much stayed in the same boats ALL DAY long regardless of who was actually catching fish. Whoever made that call is an IDIOT and should be fired today.

Now the big issue, FFS. The anglers should be required to have one of their console units set to show their FFS screen so the viewers can see exactly the same thing the anglers are seeing on screen. That would go a long way with keeping the viewers engaged and allow them to actually learn something about how the pros are using the technology. They would occasionally show the FFS screens but only briefly. I think seeing the anglers screen, learning how to identify the fish on screen and watching the cast to catch is fascinating but BASS just wants to show us the anglers backs while they stare at a screen we can't see.

The TV coverage needs to MORE than just an airing of the live stream. Only the most hardcore bass fishing fans are going to be engaged by the live stream. The TV coverage needs to edited down to the most dramatic fish catches and the dramatic moments of the weigh-in, like it used to be. But the the editing and airing process has to happen the same day. The problem with MLF's TV coverage is that it doesn't air for months after the event and when it does air, the days of the event are not in order. TV coverage from both major organizations has gone down hill significantly in the last few years. Hell, I'm not sure why they even bother anymore. They certainly have given up on any type of professionally produced coverage.

Even with all these complaints/observations, I still think the Bassmasters Classic is the greatest event in our sport and well worth attending and watching.

[FrancoCialone]

$300,000

Seems like the World Champion BASSsmaster winner should recieve more than that !

[OkieBud]