5 Dollar Fishing Game Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 With last year being a non qualifier and this year near last, is KVD fading away as a top pro? How long before the sponsors drop or threaten to drop him? Wondering if the other top performers in years past have any concerns if they were less than the top 10 or 15 this year? Thoughts?
Molay1292 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 KVD will remain relevant to the sport as long as he chooses. His sponsors are not going anywhere soon, the man is a cash cow. 15
S. Sass Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Just my opinion once they win and have their relevance it no longer a matter of finishing in the elite few. It's all about the sales pitch he can put on. Look how many have sponsors that don't finish in the top. As long as he can convince fishermen they need the stuff they are pushing he doing his job. All about the $$$ 2
Super User gulfcaptain Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 Wow, has one bad year. Came in 24th in AOY points. Would have made the Classic if they had counted his 2nd place finish at Bassfest like they counted it this last year. All washed up. KVD is far from being washed up and no longer relevant. Ask any of those guys on tour, he's always relevent in a tournament. Look at some of the guys that do better on the Elite series and they aren't even relevent in Major League fishing. But KVD seems to hold his own there....now tell me how is he fading? Easy answer, he's not. 6
5 Dollar Fishing Game Posted March 11, 2016 Author Posted March 11, 2016 Well, I would say that he isn't showing up like the rest of the elites. He has "been around" for a while and with that said and all the $$$ he gets I imagine it is the business side of bass fishing that keeps him "relevant". Not saying he is a bad angler per say, but common sense and the last two years standings delineate he hasn't performed well. Maybe as earlier posted he can sell a great sales pitch. Perhaps this is what keeps him relevant.
Wbeadlescomb Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Ya'll are crazy if ya'll think he is washed up. He is going to win more tournaments and probably another classic. You got guys like Tommy biffle that are still competing at the top level and Tommy is probably in his mid 60's 3
Molay1292 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 2 hours ago, 5 Dollar Fishing Game said: Well, I would say that he isn't showing up like the rest of the elites. He has "been around" for a while and with that said and all the $$$ he gets I imagine it is the business side of bass fishing that keeps him "relevant". Not saying he is a bad angler per say, but common sense and the last two years standings delineate he hasn't performed well. Maybe as earlier posted he can sell a great sales pitch. Perhaps this is what keeps him relevant. What do you think the other anglers would say? I doubt many of them are bold enough to say that KVD is only relevant because he is a good salesman. My bet is that his 4 Classic championships, 7 AOY's and winning 20 tournaments at the very highest level have a lot more to do with it. There has never been an angler like KVD and it will be long while in my opinion before we see another. 2
Super User gulfcaptain Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 All pro's go through ups and downs. Greg Hackney wasn't really relavent until a couple years ago. He did great the first few years and then fell off but came back and won AOY. I know people hate KVD, he fishes Quantum, runs a Nitro, sponsored by BPS, and a big figure in Strike KIng. But he has had the same sponsors from DAY 1. 1 bad season in how many years and out come the he's done, he should retire, he's no longer a game player. Skeet had a few bad years until he started pulling it together. Swindle, Ike, Grigsby, Russ Lane, Ish Monroe, Rick Clunn, Paul Elias, Boyd Duckett, Timmy Horton. Are any of these guys relevant? The answer. Yes. Everyone fishing at the Elite level each year is relavent. All are competitors. All have to make the series and qualify each year or get bumped....including KVD. So he finished in the middle of the flied a couple years ago and not in the top 50, think he was 4 or 5 places out of qualifying. But he's washed up and fading. Whatever......the man has more talent and forgot more then what the people here more then likey will ever know but question his ability. Each ELITE earns their spot and until they are off the tour and don't qualify, then they are all relavent. 3
HookdUP Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 People say Lebron James is falling off too.... Aaron had a period like this ... I believe ...you don't know what finishing in the middle of the points race means until you've fished a few clubs or regional things .. And he's fishing national things. People are probably happy he's allowing them a little money. Look how many pros say KVD took a million dollars from me ... Including the great mr Aaron
Super User WIGuide Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 KVD done? Hahahahahahah yeah no....definitely no. 3
junyer357 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 KVD to me is like Dale jr is to nascar. It doesnt matter how he does in the weeks/year competitions, he will maintain his sponsorships and such due to his popularity, ability to at least be in hunt for title, and mostly his ability to move products he endorses. He seems to have a loyal fanbase, as well as the name recognition, despite not being the "best", but good enough to be competitive. Most sponsorships are not about who places well, its about marketing and money. Who can move product and generate sales. 1
Super User QUAKEnSHAKE Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 washed up has been hack
MattStrykul Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Variance is all it is. Fishing is like being a professional poker player; you can be the best in the world and still go on cold streaks. 1
Super User gardnerjigman Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 Man... could this topic be beat to death anymore? 4
Super User buzzed bait Posted March 11, 2016 Super User Posted March 11, 2016 LOL, dude finished 24th in AOY last year.... so you're saying the other 90+ guys didn't "show up" either? "jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius" - Fulton Sheen 2
BaitMonkey1984 Posted March 11, 2016 Posted March 11, 2016 Fading top pro? Absolutely not. Has he peaked-maybe, but that is to be expected you can't be the best forever. I would never count this guy out- he is a fierce competitor. In the AOY standings last year he was 24 out of 113 of the best anglers in the world. Top 20% of the best 113 anglers in the country is a stat any of us would die to have. Regardless of what he does in the future, he likely has a marketing life of 30+ years before the newbies forget about him so I don't think his sponsors are going anywhere. Its the same reason Roland Martin and Bill Dance were/are still marketable names today. 4
5 Dollar Fishing Game Posted March 11, 2016 Author Posted March 11, 2016 4 hours ago, buzzed bait said: LOL, dude finished 24th in AOY last year.... so you're saying the other 90+ guys didn't "show up" either? "jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius" - Fulton Sheen Not a bit jealous. Just asking a question.......
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted March 13, 2016 Global Moderator Posted March 13, 2016 Watch a season of MLF, especially the one from Michigan or this one running now. The one in Michigan, it wasn't a matter of if KVD was going to win, but by how much (something like 40 pounds more than second place, that's a FORTY pounds more than the second best effort a professional bass angler could put forth). He almost went out in the first round of the sudden death round where they had to catch 28 pounds of bass to go out. He's still one of the best out there. 6
Super User bowhunter63 Posted March 14, 2016 Super User Posted March 14, 2016 I dont think he is washed up,He still has a few wins in him.He has a done alot for the sport.I think he will be around a long time yet.
Super User Jrob78 Posted March 14, 2016 Super User Posted March 14, 2016 Nope, I was in that thread too. 1
curtis9 Posted March 16, 2016 Posted March 16, 2016 I think he excels at MLF because he has no spectator boats. At elite events he's got a huge army of boats following him around, which can't help.
Super User ww2farmer Posted March 17, 2016 Super User Posted March 17, 2016 Fading? Washed up?................I doubt it. I think there are a couple reasons he hasn't dominated the past few years like we were used to seeing. #1...........Everyone has their strengths and weakness's. Quite a few of these tournaments the last 2-3 years have NOT been in KVD's wheel house, but those that have, he's been right up there.............like B.A.S.S. Fest 2014. #2................in the immortal words of the nature boy Rick Flair..........."to be the man, you gotta beat the man"....................he's had a huge target on his back for 20 years................it's not that he's slowed down (maybe a little?? IDK??) but that the others have caught up and closed the gap. #3............and this is just IMHO................maybe a little success "hangover". I don't know him, and maybe he'd argue against this, but when you have been on top for so long, maybe a little complacency starts to take hold in such little amounts here, and little there, that it doesn't show up over a short period of time, but after a couple years it will.................like the mouse who jumps up on the counter and takes a crumb off your nice apple pie...........you don't notice the first 5-6 times he's done it, but after there is a big chunk all of a sudden gone, you finally do something about it. I am .................as a 40 year man...............a KVD fan boy LOL. I have met in passing quite a few pros over the years, and I have never met a nicer bunch than Rick Clunn, Brian Snowden and KVD. I could tell you whom I thought were real jerks, but that's frowned upon here. Now for ww2farmer's "cool story bro" moment of the week...........I was at the BPS in Auburn NY a few years ago with my wife and kids while the Elite series was up here and all the Nitro/BPS pro staffers were doing a meet and greet. I watched the mobs bombard these guys with the idiotic "whats your favorite color" questions, and "what's a good spot on this or that lake" etc....I could see a bunch of them (the pros) kind of getting tired of the song and dance, but KVD rolled with it kept a smile on his face and was ever the gentleman. When I got a chance to speak with him, I said.............."I am going to ask you something that I haven't heard asked by anyone else today. You guys are on the water a lot............what's your favorite sunscreen and skin moisturizer? I need to keep my boyish good looks while not turning red or into an old leather handbag." I think I might have made him chuckle...............then we posed for pictures with my kids, and then life went on....................ahhhhhh the memories... LOL. 4
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