Second Class Citizens

First, I have to say how proud I am of Jimmy. He goes to a body of water he has never been on; get a little help in general concepts on how the fish the lake but doesn’t have the “network” that most of the pro’s have; doesn’t get caught-up in the “Florida style” fishing; figures out how to catch Florida bass, which still baffles many of the pro’s; catches several limits of fish; applies what he is learning and improves on day two when most of the pro’s are back-sliding; is the only federation guy to make the cut; goes into day three with the worst conditions and out performs the bulk of the field including the “local experts”; holds down 2nd place for most of the morning, but DOESN’T GET ANY AIR TIME at the weigh-in! Man, if anybody deserved it, Jimmy did!

It’s clear to me that ESPN/BASS still see the federation as second class citizens. I was ready to settle into a Federation Nation life but NOT AFTER THIS WEEKEND! I’m P—sed!

I agree. I am proud of Jimmy but ESPN\BASS will be getting a nasty letter from me. I think I will drop one to Ray Scott also and ask him how he feels about the way his boss treats federation guys.

John,

So much for sponsor loyalty, huh!

The one common thing I saw through all of the coverage this weekend (and I watched it all), was that ESPN did not give much air time (if any at all) to those anglers (Yelas, Nixon, etc.) that are leaving for the FLW. Perhaps they took the same approach to Jimmy due to the fact that WI has voted to leave BASS as well.

I don’t agree with it and whether it’s really the reason is not that important. ESPN had an opportunity to back up what BASS has been saying about their commitment to the Federation. Clearly, they had a great marketing opportunity to showcase the Federation and completely blew it. And while Jimmy got some coverage on Sunday morning as we was moving up the leader board, the fact that he was excluded from the weigh in show is a blatant indication of what ESPN thinks about the Federation. I would encourage everyone to contact ESPN and BASS to let them know what you think of this.

Despite my disgust for the poor coverage of the Federation guys, I’m not willing to close the door on BASS. Jimmy still got to go the Classic, compete against the best in the world, show that he could hold his own against them, cash a $20K check and move one step closer to fishing for a living. Perhaps the TBF/FLW Federation program will reach this level some day, I certainly hope so, but until then I’m still willing to live with lousy coverage as long as I have the chance of making it back to the Classic.

Rick

Couldn’t agree more with all you guys.

Thats exactly how I feel too John. I was so mad they didn’t give him the time of day. They had pre-conceived notions of who they were going to cover before it even started (I think.)

I couldn’t agree more John. The only guy that beat him on Day three was KVD for crying out loud! That’s friggin’ awesome and they didn’t even mention it! The whole thing has become so political with the sponsors / anglers too…it’s pretty unfortunate to not see Yelas and Nixon coverage in their last classic. As a businessman, I understand ESPN’s position, but I think they could have come off looking a whole lot better if they had taken the high road with some more of those long time BASS guys that are leaving.

Well put John. I just got my last notice for renewing my BASS membership. Last night’s coverage may have swayed my decision. I know it seems petty, but that coverage was BS. Hopefully when they put it all together, they will show something of interest.

Did you guys know that Terry Scroggins was from Florida? Did I mention how well those Tritons with Mercs worked out? I suddenly have the urge to only buy Citgo gas as well.

The worst part was the fact that the footage to commercials was probably 60 to 40 and half of the footage was product placement. I understand the importance of sponsors, but no ones going to watch if thats all they are throwing at us.

I completely agree, have any of you ever watched FLW Outdoors on Fox Sports Net, its awesome, it shows every guy in the top 10 catch every fish of his bag, then his culling fish too, ESPN should watch some videotapes and try to imitate the FLW, way better coverage.

You can say that again! they should of had more coverage of jimmy and more coverage of fishin. Give me a break who wants to watch bryon and shaw say blah, blah, blah. and then they kept showing the same thing over and over.?? I don’t know, maybe they thought joe bb fan only saw a half an hour of the show and they were trying to cater to them? anyway I did not like the coverage. (but it was better than nothing, i think) With regular tournaments BASS has done a better job showing fishin not just talking. espn will be getting a suggestion letter. anyway way to go jim j

John,
I agree with you that the coverage ESPN provided to the Federation Anglers was not good. However I’m not sure it’s all ESPN’S fault. Last June I lined up a dozen camera boats for the E-50 on Wissota for ESPN, but I believe it was Jerry Mcginess who ran the production of that show.
At least he was the guy running around with the clip board telling us all what to do. The waiver we signed was for JM Productions. I think the guys at BASS need to get with Jerry and let him know that he needs to change the script as the tournament unfolds.

All of the Nation board members who attended the Classic have told me it was a great experience. I spoke with Ray Scott today and he is totally committed to seeing the Nation program and ESPN BASS work together again as one.
Like it or not TBF aint gonna get you to the Classic. The best we can ever do is an All American spot, and one Cup spot. Question: Does FLW broadcast the ALL AMERICAN live? And do any of the co-anglers get any air time?
See you at the St. Judes Tourney

John. I agree with you. I was not impressed at all with the coverage. Jimmy did the best jump of any angler and the 2nd heaviest weight on day three and they do not say squat! Jimmy being a Federation guy worked his tail off and beat alot of big name/pro fisherman and no one said anything. Poor coverage. They should have showed the complete weigh-in for all 25 that made the cut. That really burned me. All the guys that made the cut and nothing.

I like the coverage FLW gives. A lot more “on the water time” which is more fun to watch. See the guys catching fish.

With that said Tim, how do think the heavy hitter sponsors of the guys in the top 25 feel after their angler didn’t get any national air time to have the logos shown or products plugged. I think us as viewers probably aren’t the only ones a little po’ed.

The thing that really gets my goat is that I never once got to watch JJ work a swim jig

Eric. If I were a sponsor, I would be rather upset that there was not a opertunity given. I as a sponsor would probably investigate a circuit that would let my product be promoted. I know that every circuit has there rules and sponsors, I just think that the fishermans sponsors should be heard also. Triton got theres by having everyone fish out of a Triton. Does not mean if you were wearing a Ranger or a Champion shirt, they should not show you or talk to you.

I saw an FLW interview last year where the guy was wearing a Skeeter shirt and it was fuzzed out by FLW.

Personally, I think all the competing sponsor crap is getting way out of hand, and very detrimental.