ike dq’d

Thats to funny!! I wrote the previous reply and then went in to watch more coverage, if you watched like I did they referenced Mike to Dennis rodman as well.

gs

I know it is mostly marketing and all but I just look at this kid and shake my head. I don’t care what the endorsements or anything else, is it worth looking like an idiot on national television. I always tell my boy to act like he’s got some book learning no matter what he is doing. This kid’s parents must sure be proud.

You reap what you sow. Ike has taken the sport to a brash “in your face” competition which some people like, and some dislike. Unfortunately for him, it also puts him at center stage and a new ambassadeur to the sport.
I like Ike and think he’s a great angler who’s done a lot to get the sport recognized and elevated to a national level. However, I do think he has gone over the top in the last year with his antics and playing up to the camera. Now it’s costing him dearly.
Should he have been DQ’d for his temper tantrum? IMHO… no. We’ve seen guys throw their rods and swear up a storm during tour events on tv in past years. What’s the difference this time? But like I said, you reap what you sow.

You gotta love him, all real, no fake persona just raw bass fishing madness… nothing bothered me except the fish he put back that appeared dead. He was as close to tears as you can get when they asked him about the disqualification, but still fighting and still disagreeing. The world needs more of us fishing loony toons …only wish I could fish 1/10th as good as he can, I already have the crazy down perfect. Go Jimmie

I need to see the video, but if there was an American flag attached to that light my opinion of this XXXXXXXX just dropped even lower.

If any of you follow golf at all ( ), you know Tiger Woods chucks clubs across fairways, swears up a storm, and throws hissy fits ALL the time!!!! Many times on camera durning LIVE T.V……..But I sure have never heard of him getting DQ’d from an event.

I saw the footage, and wasn’t to impressed by the culling of the dead fish either……BUT I can completely understand why he did it, and honestly it makes total sense……If he got the tournment directors approval, which it looked like he did, I believe he made the decision that was in his best interest to do well in the biggest tourney of the year.

in my opinion, Ike is THE REASON the classic is as big as it is today……If he wouldn’t have yelled and screamed and kicked all over the place when he won back in 03 (?), we wouldn’t even be having a discussion over this bass tournment. NOBODY WOULD CARE

It’s a pretty sad state of affairs if we need an idiots like Iconelli to make professional bass fishing worthwhile.

Anybody catch Denny Brauer this morning? he was pretty Po’ed about the ordeal. Tommy was babbling on about how he did on day two, yadda yadda yadda and denny comes in and says something like “why are we even still talking about him, hes in 51st place?!”
I was like ouch…But maybe theres some truth to that. I think maybe we should all let it go. Pretend he’s a highly paid, steroid induced basketball player..nobody makes a big stink when Allen Iverson flips off the stands..so why should we drag this subject on and on? at least Mike Iaconelli isn’t going to hurt anyone and i’m pretty sure he’s not hyped up on pot either…
just my $.02

There was a flag attached and it ended up in the water. This is a disgrace and act of total disrespect, especially to those overseas putting their life on the line each and every day. If he needs to repeatedly pull off this happy gilmore bull$hit to market himself, then he should go make a movie.

come on guys… being DQ’ed for not really even blowin up that bad, ive seen much wores out on the water before. its the classic, its stressful but i dont think he should of been DQ’ed. i think it wont hurt the sport at all, the stroy will die down and it will be a thing in the pasted like last year. just my 2 cents
-Aaron

I cant condone Ikes actions but when they make guys fish in boats they are not use to I bet livewell issue come up more than we know. Different boats have different systems obviously Mike was not familiar with this system or he would have had it operating correctly. Killing his catch was not intensional. Seeing dead fish and his shot at the clasic go out the window has to be hard. Maybe we should put our selves in that position and go from there.

This is an interesting topic to say the least. I’m still undecided on the whole ordeal. I’ve read every post up to this point and there are pro’s and con’s to both sets of opinions.

We’ll start with the possible culled dead fish: As much as we hate to see something like this, if it is in fact NOT against B.A.S.S. rules, we can’t really blame him for doing it. If it ends up being against the State laws, then we still can’t blame him for doing it. Why? Because we then have to blame the tournament director for giving him the ok to do so. (if that was the case). State Rules should take precedence over tournament rules…and it’s the tournament directors job to know that and enforce it.

Now for the temper tantrum…that’s vintage Ike. Is it bad for the sport? Somewhat. IMO, it’s no different that any other sport…How many times in Nascar do we see guys purposely crashing people or getting into fights after the race. Look at football, we have things like Ray Lewis and the MN vikings scandals of last year (not trying to hate MN) Each sport has it’s “trouble makers” and the sports carry on and the individuals that cause the “problems” continue to thrive as well. It will be soon forgotten, but the media will bring it back up next year for “drama” and blah blah.

Like I said, i’m still unsure on what side to jump on b/c I completely see both sides’ arguments.

On a last note, this is another reason anglers should fish out of their own boats…Ike knows how to run the livewell on his boat. It’s second nature i’m sure. As many times as I’m in somebody else’s boat, I still have to look around for all the switches b/c i’m not familiar with it.

I am not condoning Ike’s actions, but something I saw on t.v. brought something to mind.

I think it was Preston Clark, not 100% sure, but the angler had a good bass come off and said d** it. This clip was not just aired once, but twice last evening. Now, this is where I think things get fuzzy. Obvisouly Ike’s explosion was on the extreme side and very in appropiate, but if he was given the explanaiton he was dq’d for unsportsman like conduct b/c he swore, then the other angler is let go.

I agree w/ Slop, every sport has a bad apple, and in Ike’s case, he has a bad momment every once in awhile.

Anyone Read this:

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/classic/news/story?page=b_classic_Ike_DQ&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos3

Slop,
To add to some of your statements, Is it really then tournament directors responsibility to teach each angler what each states laws are? I doubt it. I think Ike ask the director if culling a dead fish was against tournament rules. The director must have said no, so Ike did so. Denny and Byron said that night that it was most likely against state law but there needs to be a warden there to be an eye witness and handle the fish to be sure it was dead/or see it floating there. I think Ike was wrong there. I also suspect that may be the real reason they DQ’ed him, they just aren’t saying it. The reason I say that is because as others have stated, he isn’t the only one to push the borderline.
I agree that anglers should use their own boats, but for a different reason. For their sponsors mainly. A boat sponsor is huge and to not be able to use that and show it in a tourney is kinda a joke to me, but I understand the politics behind it. So we don’t need to debate that. My point is that Ike, AGAIN, should have been well informed about how to work the boat he was using. It is his responsibility.
Not bashing Slop, just another view.

Unreal……

When ESPN bought BASS there was all of this talk about NASCAR…..

Instead we are getting WWF.

Quote:

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Unreal……

When ESPN bought BASS there was all of this talk about NASCAR…..

Instead we are getting WWF.

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That’s not all bad, just wait until all observers have to be Swedish Bikini models.

Now just wait a cotton pickin second here!!!!

He who has NEVER had a temper tantrum, throw the first light pole!!!!

Are any of you saying you never lost composure?

Are you saying that in a competitive sport, such as this, there is no emotion involved? ALL of these fisherman reveal emotion in one form or another.

Are you saying that Ike is the only guy out there who rubs people the wrong way? OR the first guy to rub people the wrong way?

Isn’t Roland Martin a jerk?
Doesn’t KVD have a reputation for being rude to fans?
Should I go on???? There is a large core of these “tourney fisherman” that are not perfect……In fact, VERY FEW are “top notch guys”……….

Ike shouldn’t have been DQ’d.

IF you were going to DQ him, then it should have been for dis-repect to the American Flag. BUT, do you think that maybe, possibly, 1 of the other 51 boats in that tourney, carrying the American flag didn’t loose theirs in the water by flying 65mph??? So, for disrepect to the flag wasn’t/isn’t really an issue here, because it “wasn’t the target”.

He lost composure, but WHO WOULDN’T? You open your live well and all your fish are dead? ON a $500,000 tourney?

Unless there is a “code of ethics” book for this circuit, where he violated a code…….They were wrong in DQing him.

Personally, I think he should sue BASS for DQing him and creating undue stress that made him loose the tournament.

IF I was him, I would hire an attorney and go after BASS on this!

Like Ike or not…….He is good for the sport……..If you don’t like IKE for his actions, blame ESPN……They made it quite clear they were going to turn BASS into a money making franchise……..IKE makes money for BASS and ESPN……

Real quick on the culling dead fish issue… according to Bassfan.com, B.A.S.S. rules state you can’t cull a dead fish. I think they could be refering to breaking any state laws is against BASS rules. (It’s illegal in Florida to cull a dead fish)

However, Ike says the fish he released wasn’t dead (probably just barely moving, but nonetheless, still alive). He DID take a 10-ounce penalty at weigh-in for 2 dead fish.

Quote:

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Iaconelli released fish that appeared to be near death. If he did release a dead fish, it would have been a violation of BASS rules. “That was not a dead fish,” he said. “It was absolutely alive.”

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I think it would be “classic” for IKE to leave B.A.S.S. and do FLW full time.

Thats what I am thinking he might do. I think him trying to sue BASS and all that would only dig him into a deeper hole and make him look more ridiculous. What grounds does he have to sue on? Tournament directors have full power at their discretion to do what they want to do. Its stated on every waiver we all sign to get in tourneys.
I am not an Ike basher, I am nuetral on Ike. I think he may be getting a little over board now though. It was all funny and that when he does good and freaks out(not to mention getting old), but now when things don’t go his way he could probably show a little better composure.
As far as us all having spazzed out a time or two, sure we have. But I wouldn’t be doing it too much with all that the Classic has to offer on the line and the coverage with children watching. Is that a good example to set? Opinion based I guess. Its good to be passionate no doubt. To break things and throw fits, maybe when theres less than the whole bass fishing world watching.

Agreed ERon……..But it wasn’t “live coverage” where the camera was fully on him. ESPN didn’t have to show his temper on TV, so with that said, kids wouldn’t have seen it.

Only the spectator boats would have seen his actions, and “maybe” heard his vulgarity.

I understand that the director has “last say”………But I think it is wrong…..

Ike is awesome, he’s an awesome fisherman. I think this whole ordeal was blown way out of proportion. To say he swore in front of spectators, ill bet all of those spectators have never heard a swearword before. But the whole lightpole thing, that was a tad overboard, but not DQ worthy. How many times has a baseball player thrown the watercooler? But I too, think Ike will go FLW, a lot of people will.

To start i will say I am very neutral on Ike, no dislike or major like. I will however say how his “antics” are now much more animated by him. In otherwords, he was a big mouth and once he got some attention and “marketing” abilities from it he suddenly did it a lot more and much more animated. So my problem would be he is not truly that way, only exaggerated to gain notariety from it (if it doesn’t come natural, DON’T fake it).
Second: After watching the entire classic with my 14 yr. old son (who LOVES Ike!)I do have to say it was a bit disturbing. My son is in every sport he can be in and has been coached by me in some. I always (in sports and life) teach him to be very sportsmanlike. He said himself that Ike was acting like an idiot. So, when it effects my son and what he sees, it effects me (this is just like Ron Artest from the NBA last year).
BASS wanted to be like NASCAR and they now have their very own version of Kurt Busch!! Now after my ranting, I am no longer “neutral” on IKE!

Ike going off like that fell into the laps of ESPN like Dick Cheney’s accident fell into the laps of the anti-gun nuts.

I’m not a big conspiracy guy, but to say that wasn’t a little staged would be like saying Jimmy Houston actually stalks wild game.

Ike is a spaz. Forgetting to run the livewells is a rookie mistake.

As far as the light pole incident… He was, and should have, been DQ’d on that alone. No other sport would allow such childishness – not basketball, golf, football, etc.

What really bothers me is that he disrespected the US Flag. He shouldn’t be allowed to have one on his boat if that is how he is going to treat it.

If thats all it take Gerald Swindell should have been DQ’ed at the Bud Shootout last season when he jumped on Zell Roland. That wasnt very proffesional either. Zell wasnt much better telling the camera guy G was full of crap so to speak.

Another thing was the fact that it wasn’t Ike’s boat, do you guys think he would have busted his own light pole? Also do you guys think he would have been DQ’d if had busted one of his rods and threw it in the water? I doubt it.

Just came across this,

http://www.bassfan.com/Opinion_article.asp?ID=57

Im with Mike, not ike

Scott

Rumor Mill: I was reading on another fishing site that Ranger and Yamaha have dropped Ike. They also claim if you go to Ranger’s site and look at who their pro staff is, Ike has been removed. Like I said, its only hear say to me. Just wondering if any of you others have heard or seen this stuff yet.