Classic Bracket Tournament Questions & Notes

[OCdockskipper]

A few questions & notes on the Classic Bracket tournament that started today:

 

1. This tournament was based on the first 16 Elite series anglers who were outside of the cut line for the 2019 Classic and who hadn't qualified in other manners.  However, without any explanation, the field was cut to 15 and all mention of Greg Hackney (3rd outside the cut in the AOY standings) is gone.  In fact, the article on the BASS website "Meet the Classic Bracket Competitors" states that they were to be 16 anglers and on Sunday had Hackneys picture in it.  Now Hackneys picture is gone and there are only 15 photos.  Curious what happened...
    
2. If Hackney had to withdraw, BASS could have chosen the next angler out of the cut line to keep the field at 16 anglers.  However, that next angler would have been Boyd Duckett.  I think it is safe to speculate that BASS would prefer to keep Duckett out of any BASS tournament, especially one that gives him a shot at a Classic berth.  I wonder if Hackney dropped just to put BASS in the awkward spot of having to either invite Duckett or alter the format at the last moment to exclude him.
    
3. If Pro Bass Fishing was like Pro Wrestling, this tournament would have been rigged.  Odd accidents would happen to those anglers who have defected from the Elite series to MLF, or they would have penalties called on them that would have bordered on ridiculous.  In the end, Vinson, Lowen & Combs would have won their brackets while the other competitors would be left to wondering how they got hit with a metal folding chair while on the front of a bass boat...

[tander]

Wow, these are some good questions. Never thought about the Duckett situation.

[BassNJake]

I figured Hackney saw the average lake depth was 200 ft and decided he didn't want to drive from LA to GA just to lose

 

Did not see that Boyd was the next competitor in the classic line .... thanks for that as it adds more drama to an already drama filled fishing season