It’s just hokey and ridiculous… this should be fun

[Rick Howard]

I think the worst thing to happen to Tournament Bass Fishing was ESPN. They tried to turn something that is mundane into something exciting which just makes it look hokey and ridiculous. Dudes dancing, screaming, trying to make up catch phrases all in order to Bogarde more camera time to up their stock with sponsors.

Bass fishing is not dramatic, unless you’re in the tournament. Stop trying to make it dramatic for TV. Just report on the goings on.

BASS should go back to clip shows. Keep the live stuff for those who want it. Stop the BFA alert! Move the Classic to the end of the season. Then the Classic could be held anywhere in the lower 48.

I’ve never watched a second of MLF. I just assume that go away to stop fragmenting the sponsor dollars.

Last, BASS needs to become a non-profit (Like the NFL). Disallow all angler sponsorships on boats and jersey and such, or at least greatly minimize it. All those sponsor dollars and BASS profit from entry fees should go into the prize fund. Then maybe we have anglers can support them selves by their ability to fish tournaments alone.

and go….

[Phrog Phil]

Always used “Bogart” instead of “Bogarde”. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say ridiculous but some interesting ideas.

[Bobby Gray]

Ok then......

[jbassman87]

not sure you are going to get bit.

[188Musky]

Purely for entertainment’s sake, what will be the source of the cash flow should top level tournament bass fishing go “non-profit” like the NFL.

[mean_dean]

A couple of interesting ideas, however, there is not enough $$ in tournament bass fishing for it to really become a mainstream fixture.

[Quillback]

Always used “Bogart” instead of “Bogarde”. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say ridiculous but some interesting ideas.

Being that you are a Sox fan, you know all about Bogaerts. I hated to see him go.

[mattmann7]

Everything you describe minus the weekend half hour show is already available in club tournaments. Tha agony of defeat and the thrill of victory included. MY first club meeting I attended I realized right from the start that its little league for old dudes. The Federation clubs are non profit. We had to zero our bank account end of every season. Monies in had to equal monies out.

All sports sell the dream to maintain fresh blood and attitude revival in the ranks. Those of us in the clubs may have rubbed elbows with some top tier fisherman at some time so it makes it more interesting. The hoopla created by ESPN draws advertizing dollars to fund the BASS and MLF enterprizes. Good business model or it wouldnt still be viable.

[BigFishSteve]

Not one second? One little second of MLF?. Not a clip....nothing?. Are you sure about that?

[ColtonM]

Ummmmmmmm

The every fish counts is better for TV to normal non-fisherman. However most "purests" like best 5 but best 5 is not as "dramatic". I will agree with that.

However having fishing on ESPN is awesome! There are 100s of thousands of people that sit in their recliner on a Saturday morning that would have never seen it period. Perfect example my future father in law. He called me one morning because he saw it on and never had watched it before.

[dean c]

Always used “Bogart” instead of “Bogarde”. I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say ridiculous but some interesting ideas.

[Toni]

I thought they should make them race to a prime spot and whoever gets there first gets to fish it for 15minutes while the other boat sits and watches then both fish for 15 minutes on the same spot. They could take jabs at each other, cross lines, all that stuff to either catch fish or interfere with the guy who seemed to be doing better. After the second 15 minutes, be given another waypoint for a prime spot and repeat.

Get some trash talking and bluffing at the docks going on, have a session before blast off with the competitors where they can rip each other, make threats, all that. Kinda like WWE BASS tournaments.

I would watch that.

[lakebouef5]

ESPN sure made a mess of BASS and tournaments. MLF came along and said, hold my beer!

[billnorman1]

I don't know the rules about hockey. As far as Bogart we only used his name when relaxing when I was younger. "Don't Bogart that joint, pass it around".

[Phrog Phil]

Yes,that was my thinking

[Mark Perry]

The ESPN/BASS days are ancient history. I don't think anything that happened back then has much to do with current times.
Live coverage plays such a huge factor with fans and sponsors and to me a big driver of it all in current times. Social media is probably the biggest driver of what we currently see.

[MadYakker]

The ESPN/BASS days are ancient history. I don't think anything that happened back then has much to do with current times. Live coverage plays such a huge factor with fans and sponsors and to me probably is the single biggest driver of it all.

Glad I'm not the only one who was wondering how ESPN was connected to BASS anymore. They don't even mention anything BASS in their listing of pages at the top of their webpage.

[mossie3]

Can you imagine the WWE cutting out all the drama, flair, and showmanship and just going out there to wrestle?

[novakevlar]

Bowling, billiards and ax throwing have been on ESPN. Safe to say they're willing to try and turn any mundane past time into the most exciting thing since Slamball.

[tcesni]

Glad I'm not the only one who was wondering how ESPN was connected to BASS anymore. They don't even mention anything BASS in their listing of pages at the top of their webpage.

Yea, that was about a decade ago when ESPN sold BASS. Some folks need to catch up.