Anyone else disappointed with ESPN coverage of the "Bluegrass Brawl"?

[jdw174]

In every Elite series so far, they've followed the leaders by showing the "boat track". As a resident of west TN I fish Ky/Barkley exclusively and was interested in seeing some of the areas where these people were fishing. Guess what?....no tracks save for VanDam's which showed him at the mouth of the Big Sandy River. No "fish tracking" segment, either. What I saw was a very large portion of the show dedicated to Shimizu setting in his boat laughing hysterically while yelling "Big Mama". Great job, ESPN.

Note: On Friday while fishing south Barkley, I had Kevin Wirth pull up just south of me to fish the other side of the lake from where I was. He was there about 20 minutes. Also had Tommy Biffle go by me headed towards Dover. He came back by about a half hour later.

[DJD]

There is usually something that bugs me on their coverage or who they cover but I actually enjoyed the show. It's nice to see Kevin Wirth and others do well, i was pulling for KW since it was his tourny to lose on that last day. I assume they had more footage of KVD but elected not to use it?

[Danny]

YES!!!!

Last year's series was covered much differently. Each event had two episodes devoted to it. They had the fish tracking segment they had introduced, and this year nada.

I am only guessing, but since they went from 6 events to 11, I am guessing they did not increase their TV budget. Therefore JM Associates could not produce the 22 episodes vs. the 12 from last year for the same price. What was settled on was, in my opinion, much less entertaining and even less informational.

Lastly, while I was not all that crazy about Mckinis on the episodes, it seems he and Tommy Sanders had a much more .... sorry my mind went blank for the word I am looking for. There is a word, it starts with an "S", and it means that the sum of the two is greater than the two of them combined at "face value."

I do like Zona, but he really isn't adding anything to the show, like I thought the potential was there for.

I'm just glad someone else thought the same way.

Danny

[jdw174]

Actually, I was pulling for KVD, but that's just me..:)

There's a lot of opinions floating around on the BFHP. Many think that ESPN is losing money big time and that BASS will go up on the auction block in the near future. Some opine that there will be a lot fewer participants in the Elite Series next year due to their not making enough money to justify entry. Some think that several may be filing for bankruptcy because of this. Many are siding with the FLW, and some for BASS. The arguments are getting kind of old. As for BASS Saturday, this morning I see we're treated to Wimbledon Tennis instead of fishing. I guess when something has to get interrupted it's just easy to stiff us fishermen.

[Chefdave]

No kidding, I worked all day yesterday, came home and busted my butt so I would have this morning free so I could watch espn before I had to go into work. Guess I'll go in early! Work beats Tennis!

[hogdaddy]

As for
>BASS Saturday, this morning I
>see we're treated to Wimbledon
>Tennis instead of fishing.
>I guess when something has
>to get interrupted it's just
>easy to stiff us fishermen.
>
Yea me and my son was disappointed too.Ya'll said something about entry fees,how much is the entry fee to the Elite series?

[jdw174]

Last I knew it was $5000 per event, PLUS you have to have a wrapped boat. I imagine that a few of those guys floated a loan to get into every tx in the series.

[mhall]

ESPN never fails to let me down on almost evrything from basketball coverage to fishing, all about the money and nuttin else.

[gump]

There will not be any two tour fishermen next year. BASS and the FLW have I think three events scheduled for the same weekend. And I beleive with BASS elite you have to sign up and pay for every event at the beginning of the year. Might be hard to justify $55,000 next year for some of these guys. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
IMO one "elite" tour would be better for the sport. Sponsorship and advertiser dollars wouldn't be divided and one strong tour could emerge.

[MsgMills]

What a big disapointment to get in from a not so great day on the lake and come home to unwind and watch ESPN and some great fishin...Since I didn't do any good myself on the water...What do I find that my VCR has recorded but Tennis....Who in thier right mind wants to watch tennis...That's about as bad as replacing Fishing with Bowling....... What a waste ESPN....

[BassBest]

Tennis?, Ain't that where they slap that little bouncy ball back and forth to each other until one misses?, Oh, and they grunt a lot too right? Yeah, glad I was working, some people may watch tennis, but to replace professional fishing circuit with it, what an insult to our intellegance.

Elijah Orr
Kentucky Lake Bass Club
Asst. TD
270-354-5285
[email protected]

[R19]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jul-02-06 AT 00:31AM (EST)[/font][p]Disney owns ESPN

ESPN owns BASS

Last two sat mornings have been full of scoccer and tennis. Looks like there is more money for Disney/ESPN in sports other than fishin. Give it back to some southern red neck boy (Ray Scott) and he will show them how to promote the sport of fishing. Disney/ESPN two thumbs down in my opinion.


R19