Gerald Swindle DQ’ed

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My favorite part was the dude that called out DNort on a body of water he wasn’t even on.

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That was a laugher wasnt it?? I guess from the views ive seen it is tough to see how many boats were out there. He did go awfully close, but i disagree with the nascar reference- with bump drafting and rubbing in nascar at 180+ mph it is much more dangerous imo than what he did. We dont really know how long he would have had to idle and upriver idling puts off more waves than on plane imo. I guess i agree with the punishment given as it did not appear safe, but dont agree it should have been more. I also agree that espn sometimes caters to the controversy instead of showing some guys fishing and it gets old.

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I also agree that espn sometimes caters to the controversy instead of showing some guys fishing and it gets old.

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No, not ESPN, they would never go out of their way to creat and exploit controversy; see Terrell Owens 24 hour coverage, he might go #2 tomorrow and we will be there with wall to wall coverage. ESPN has been the biggest blessing and curse to professional bass fishing.

Brovarny you are right on. How many times do we have to see Ike’s meltdown from the 06′ classic? How many times do we need to see Swindle do this? I already can predict that everytime swindle in position to win this year, it will be talked about and replayed over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over………ESPN has their “puppets” Ike, Swindle, and Skeet. Klein and KVD had huge bags on day two and they got ZERO “fishing on the water” coverage. They had pathetic coverage on tv the first two days as far as I am concerned.

The dude apologized to me in a PM…but not publically .

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Sometimes when I’m in a tournament, i will acctually go up to a “perch jerker” face the bow away from them, trim up my motor and rev it and spray them, just to keep the stereotype of a bass fisherman….ONLY KIDDING!

We sure do get a bad rap don’t we?

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Man I spit all over my computer reading that….. it would be even funner with a boat like mine, outboard jet with power trim

I think some of you guys are looking a little too far into it. On behalf of G-Man, I’m sorry he didn’t meet your apology demands in front of everyone.

No one is perfect and not everyone makes good judgments at all times. Get over it…he’s only human.

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No one is perfect and not everyone makes good judgments at all times. Get over it…he’s only human.

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I agree. He’s in the SuperBowl of Bass fishing. The pressure to compete and win is more than many of us could handle. In those situations, good judgement gets left on the sideline.

Time to move on.

These pics are from a friend of mine James Overstreet that works for espn..he was down there covering the Classic…Here is G getting ready to blow by Howel

He looks a tad upset !!

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He looks a tad upset !!

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Who wouldn’t look upset after burning a great chance to be the Man?

I would be upset too, if his weight would have counted he would have been sitting good, he actually might have won the thing.

All I know is I can’t hardly wait to be in the boat in that position
Those Tritons sure look nice

I’ve been reading posts like this all across the web and finally decided to chime in.

Fishing tournaments all the time, tournament anglers let each other get away with things simply b/c it’s part of the game we play.

ie. Waving boats to fly by on pad – I did the same for a few boats in the Stren last year in Goose…..I heard them coming and as they started to shut down I waved them through, Right By me….Never once was I scared for my safety. They appreciated it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/columns/story?columnist=tucker_tim&page=b_fea_bt_Classic_Spectators

If you read this recent article on Spectator Etiquette, I would bet that this might not have taken place had the spectator boats not been spread across this bay they were in. I slowed the video down and counted at least 12 boats across this area…..not leaving G-man much room to get out. = Bad sportsmanship on their part.

This is just out for question???B/c I’m not sure what to think about it…but as far as the Camera boat goes…they are the exception to the rule in that they are generally accepted in getting as close to the anglers as possible in order to do filming….Had that Camera boat not been there, g-man would have gotten waved through by Howell and had plenty of room to sneak out of there on Full Pad. Maybe they shouldn’t get right up in these guys faces….with today’s camera’s, they should be able to get good shots and still remain at a safe distance.

Was it a dangerous situation? maybe, and I can understand the ruling..especially w/BASS’ no tolerance policy when it comes to rules

BASS doesn’t think things over at all all…If there is any question of an infraction – Automatic DQ….No tolerance at all….Unfortunetly there probably will never be another way w/them.

Swindle probably had Half a million things running through his head (pun intended) and he simply didn’t take into effect a possible boating safety issue for something these Pro’s do to each other all the time when permitted.

Everyone that reads this has made a mistake at some point or another. Ever gotten pulled over for speeding? that’s a safety issue isn’t it?? Does it make you a horrible person? probably not.

OH yeah, KVD CHEATED earlier in the year when he was DQ’d….Didn’t see you guys burn him at the stake like G-man

We’re all human and make mistakes….Relax

I’m sure i’ll get hated on, but that’s nothing new

Well put slop- i think in a tourney situation we are all thinking of how to maximize our day- and that (i can imagine) is amplified when fishing for 500 grand and a lifetime of being the man. Maybe we dont speed by other boats 10 feet away, but we run across 12″ of water filled with stumps and deadheads at 70+mph all the time. There is danger with any boating, but is it more dangerous than what many jet skis do while blowing a .2 blood alcohol or when boats fish tailrace conditions under dams? Spectator etiquette (sp?) is a major issue with the classic and with them spaced all over a narrow channel makes running of any kind difficult. Dangerous- yes, dq weight- ok, but dont tar and feather the guy for his life.

I would like to add my two cents. I was personally down there for the Classic . One thing is safety is safety, however we all know what Slop said is so true. Swindle was just like every other guy out there. They are trying to fish their hearts out. It is bad enough that they have an observer tagging along, it just keeps them honest. However, how would you like to have all the rubber neckers following you around and lets add the camera boats. The camera guys are in different boats, they go to the guys they want to film, pull up, and they start filming. In some cases the camera man even gets on the pros boat. When the pro is ready to move, he now has to waste time trying to get everyone clear so he can go. Now in this case look at the area that Randy Howell and the G-Man where fishing. Enough water for two guys, not enough for two guys, two camera boats, and multiple spectators. I am not making an excuse for the man, just stating I can not fault the guy for anything. I agree that this is very unsportsman like. There should be minimum distances applied to spectators and if they are caught crowding an angler they should be fined by the local DNR. Just my opinion.

Pushy and arrogant is the perception. More me first. The spectators have every bit as much right to that water as any of the competitors – as do weekend boaters or anybody in a legal watercraft. It is probably not worth cucifying him, but surely not worth justifying and excusing him either. He evidently drives his boat like he owns the water quite often.

I also have zero tolerance for unsafe gun handling. Zero.

Tim