bassmaster classic

[zx150]

I emailed bass and told them how bad their coverage was. I don't think that it will make any difference but at least I gave them my .02.

[Bassky]

I agree. There was too much bull, talking, instead of showing fishing. I would have liked to see more of the more known anglers weigh in also. How many times did you see the map of the lakes over and over again. I did like the live reports on the lake, but they were few and far between. To hold my interest, I would have liked live reports showing the fisherman fishing instead of the hosts talking all of the time.
JMO.
Bassky

[DJD]

I was at the final weigh in at the convention center and i really enjoyed it. I have a new appreciation for the classic show (which it is). I never realized the show aspect of the classic unil seeing the "set" first hand. The people there were great and the pro's i saw were first class. I even got to spend sometime on West Lake Toho. Our biggest was 5lbs but i lost one bigger. I sure miss that lake....

[smljaw]

How many people would you guess were at the weigh in Sunday?

[DJD]

My guess would be 8-10K. People would come in and out as the show went on. The boat show/tackle show/expo was going on in the next room at the same time so people went back and forth.

[bassfisher]

The convention center held 10,000 people and came close to filling up on Sunday, but was practically empty on Friday and Saturday.

[plowboy]

The indoor coverage was like a rock concert but I didn't learn much about fishing, patterns, lures, etc. It was pretty much a Toyota, Mercury comercial. To thier credit they did a great job at the weigh in with all the lights, video, etc. I just wanted to see more fishing. Its kinda like watching fake wrestling, alot of talk and show, not much action.

[KYHorseflys]

This is from another post I made earlier on another thread (KIM BAIN) - but pretty much sums up my thoughts on the coverage...

Who were the two losers on the docks on Sunday morning? They were terrible, I kept waiting for them to start bumping chests and high-fiving each other over some stupid stuff they were talking about... lord, have some class and tell us something interesting, not how pumped you are that a pro angler is standing behind you waiting to take off after the rain ends. Honeslty, I was pretty disappointed by the whole coverage... didn't learn a thing... watching guys ride in on their boat being trailed behind a truck waving at people was lame... show 'em fishin'!!! That is the sport? Right?

[opie13]

I think they plan on doing a regular show about the classic in a couple of weeks when they will show all the footage of the guys fishing.

[Danny]

I've read what you all think so far, and you all make excellent points. However, considering what this was, and the logistical nightmare of it all, I thought ESPN did a pretty good job.

I think there were just too many hours of coverage though. They did not have enough material to fill all the hours. They had to reshow several of their features, and if you were watching all of it, you got a lot of repeats. However, for those who only got to see a little coverage, the additional showings of the same features worked out well.

I think what ESPN tried to do was incorporate "College Game Day" from their football and basketball coverage, as well as their Basscenter into the coverage. Trying to get film coverage of the fishing edited, put together, turned around in such a short time is dang near impossible to do, yet they did a fair amount of it. The weather did not cooperate as much as I am sure they would have liked. You could see the remote broadcasts kept breaking up, and I am sure that was a direct result of the poor weather conditions.

Finally, remember, ESPN has dumbed down their fishing shows, PERIOD. Those of us that really want the advanced bass information can only find that kind of programming in shows like the following: Classic Patterns (where is that show now?), Lindner's angling edge, and InFisherman. This coverage was about trying to entertain those who are just getting into fishing, I believe.

Now maybe it just doesn't take much to entertain me, but by adjusting my view point of the coverage, I was able to enjoy the show.

I just wish I could have been there in person.

Maybe some year.

Danny