Bass pros as role models

[Guest avid]

Personally I have a problem with this role model stuff.  People put donw guys like Ike and Swindle because they are poor role models.  Who ever said that a bass pro or any professional athlete has to be a role model?  That is a distincition we as the public place on them.  They are doing their job which is to win tournaments and make money. Yes the "M" word M-O-N-E-Y.  If screaming or dancing or acting like a jerk gets them motivated and exposure and bigger paychecks than they are doing the right thing.  They are making money for themselves and their families.  If you want your kids to have a role model, well thats YOUR job not Ikes.

[srv1990]

Avid, agree totally with you on this one.  IMO the younger generation should be focusing on choosing role models closer to home, starting with their parents, teachers and the like.  With that being said I believe there are far too many professional athletes in all sports, and especially the high profile/high $ sports, that don't understand their impact on the children and young adults who watch them.   Whether those athletes like it or not their actions are being watched, and often times emulated, by many of today's youths.  It's a difficult position to be in, but they have to understand that when they choose a high-reward career in the spot light.

TC

[flechero]

If you want your kids to have a role model, well thats YOUR job not Ikes.

I agree 99%... the only difference is your kids WILL have a role model, your job as a good and involved parent is to give them reasons to pick you.

I like your fire today, Avid!!

[Raul]

Well certainly I wouldn 't want my kid to use as a role model some dumb athlete so common in basketball or football that barely knows how to read and write, that only made into and through college because he was good in sports and a failure in everything else. No siree. I 'd rather have him having my grandfather as a role model, the man really worked his rear end to the point of exhaustion and we owe him everything that we own now, from dawn till dusk the man spent day in and day out on a horse saddle for years until he gathered enough money to leave the saddle and manage his ranch from a more comfortable chair.....which didn 't stop him to jump on the saddle again when needed.

[Keepin_It_Reel]

I am 16 and my role models would have to be my football coach and Jermaine Oneal (basketball palyer). I like my coach because he always tells me that i do what ever i want and that if i keep tryin i can play as great as anyone, that makes me feel good. Jermaine Oneal is a good role model beacuse of how he handles himself and what he dose for kids and the communite.

[5150bass]

Yes, I agree with what you guys have said. I am seventeen and my role models are my parents because they busted their arses for me. I respect Ike and those guys for becoming great fisherman, but I don't want to be like them just because of that.  I also agree that it is not their responsibility to be good role models, not any more than it is for any other occupation.

Interesting topic Avid.

5150bass

[blanked]

I feel that any job that is in the spotlight you are a role model.  Just because someone is only in the job for the money doesnt exempt them from being a role model.  Nobody has a role model job for anything other than to provide for there family so why are fishermen any different.  Some kids come from broken families and the family members around them are riff raffs.  So those kids tend to look at people in the spotlight.  

I like what the Yankee organization does with its team members and that is that all Yankees will have a clean cut image.  No long hair, beards, earings, tattos, etc.

I would expect the same from professional fishermen.  If you cant follow these rules then your not welcome.  Being in the spotlight means part of the job is conducting yourself above and beyond.      

[srv1990]

Yes, I agree with what you guys have said. I am seventeen and my role models are my parents because they busted their arses for me. I respect Ike and those guys for becoming great fisherman, but I don't want to be like them just because of that. I also agree that it is not their responsibility to be good role models, not any more than it is for any other occupation.

Interesting topic Avid.

5150bass

I think you have the right idea, having your parents as your role models.  Not all younger folks have the blessings of good, hard working parents, but that should be where you start... good for you!.  I agree it is not the responsibility of athletes, in any sport, to be a role model.  I do think it is their responsibility to understand the impact they have on young eyes and ears.  Hootin' and hollerin' like Ike is one thing, but some of the stuff we see in sports goes over the line.

TC

[Cajun1977]

i beleive a persons role model should be someone close to you  (family freinds) and if someone does have a famous role model thats fine to         each his own     and raul  i seriously doubt that most athletes have trouble spelling or writing  keeping the grades and skill level required to play college ball is not to easy       i understand why some of us look negative toward athletes who get a scholarship into college     but we have no problem rooiting for them on gameday     but there  are equally scholorship programs for gifted students minority   students low income students    i think we judge to quickly    everyone deserves a fair judgement till proven otherwise

[K_Mac]

I agree with blanked. When you take a job that places you in the public arena, you take with it a responsibility to conduct yourself in a professional way. It is part of the job.

Professionals in sports, acting, or politics are often viewed as role models. They have skills and gifts that allow them to do a job that most of us can't. Because of this they are emulated, and sometimes idolized and worshiped. This is cost of having a job that many would give all they have to do. There is an old expression, The higher you climb the harder the wind blows. You can curse the wind, but that won't stop it.

[bronzeback_NW]

Mr.Jay Yelas,talks the talk and walks the walk.Thank you Mr.Yelas.

[CJ]

The only thing to add is that our youth is the future of bassfishing.Kids have and always will look up to those in the spotlight.I feel they should atleast keep it in mind whose watching them.I also understand the stress and emotions professional fishing could have.Another thing is that Ike could be good for some of our kids.Who would you rather your kids have as a role model Ike or some rapper who's rapping about sex,drugs,and violence.I hope my children spend their prescious time on the lake trying to catch a limit and not on the street or in some crackhouse trying catch A.I.D.S.

[bixbybasspro]

Mark Davis

[Kana]

Avid, the minute i read your thread i thought of my dad  so i just need to take a minute to tell you folks how much i appreiate what my fater has doen for me.  im 27 now but when i was younger  he tried to get involved as much as he could (school, sports, and personal/social life) and did a really excellent job of laying out life and setting reasonable expectations for me to adhere to, with out being overwhelming and driving me away.  with age and the trials of life that i face now i have to say thanks to my dad for preparing me for life.   i always respect his opinion and even if we ARE countries apart i feel i have an obligation to be respectful, responsible and do the right thing in life.  i couldnt have a better role model, and hes the one who got me into fishing so many years ago.  i hope when i have children of my own i can raise and guide them the way he has done to me. hes no bass pro (but fishes quite well), but i wouldnt have it any other way.

[BMoses]

Wheather or not we like it, each and every one of us has the opportunity and obligation to be a role model.  I know I have had my role models, Dad, different friends, and even a professional sports figure (I always liked the way Sweetness (Walter Payton) jumped back up and into the huddle without getting into anyones face) or two.

If high profile figures want to act like jerks while earning their MONEY then that is their business but they are still jerks and in my opinion poor "role models".

[Matt Fly]

There are enough pros on tour that set standards, like KVD, Tak, Hite, and others.  When you loose your cool on the  water, you have mentally taken your mind out of the game.   Thiese bad habits will cost  you dollars down the road.  So they are not only hurting themselves on the water,  they are recieving negative press from some, like the fans, us.  

[Guest avid]

I can see that I'm not the only one who has a strong opinion about this.  I'm grateful to Glenn and the mods for providing a forum.  I just want to comment that Kana's sentiment captures in a positive way my feeling about role models.  Your a lucky guy Kana and there is no doubt in my mind that you will be an excellent dad and an exemplary role model.

[bronzeback_NW]

Athletes should never be looked at as role models.But that does'nt change the fact that our childern will look up to them.Example-I'm not going to try and pass judgement here but at the height of the Kobe Bryant rape trial he became the leading vote getter for the allstar game at the guard position.And as I read alot of open fourms at that time there were many young people and kids voting for him because they thought he was so cool.Now to me that is a major problem in our socitey.I have four very young childern 7,6,3 and 8 months.I have to watch what I do very carefully because I see my boys watching me very close.My actions are being copied and studied by these two little boys very closely.I never had a dad to look up to,so I winged it through life and did'nt figure it out until about 9 yrs ago and I'm 42.Like the song says"The Jesus he see's will be the Jesus he see's in me".It's a tough job we have as parents.If we drop the ball we have fail are kids and hurt are society for the future.GB...Jim

[earthworm77]

Time to chime:

I do not think that pro athletes are good role models at all. Someone said it earlier, they are in it for the money and nothing else. While I see racecar drivers and bass anglers as better options than football, basketball and baseball, let's not lose scope that these people in the public eye are merely entertainers.

Why not look up to someone who actually has made a difference in the world. Relatives, Law enforcement officers, military personel, public service employees....all of these people are doing amazing things for the benefit of our country and your lifestyle, all the while they are barely paid a fair wage. They do their thankless jobs silently and without recognition most times. There are no signing bonuses and they don't have the option to sit out when there is a contract dispute. You don't read about them raping girls in hotel rooms, carrying weapons in airports, beating photographers, using steroids, sitting out an entire NFL because they wanted to smoke marijuana...yeah, that is true, the Dolphins Ricky Williams said that last year..... and so on. If any of these normal people were caught doing that, they would lose their jobs immediately. They would not be given a second chance. For Actors, Athletes and Musicians it is different because they entertain us and are deemed more important than people who actually make a difference. Sick World!

[Rattlinrogue]

Whether they should or shouldn't,the fact is young people look up to and emulate famous people such as athletes,musicians,bass pros,etc.Some are good role models and some not so good.Personally,I'd rather have my son look up to Ike or G-man than TO.

[Keepin_It_Reel]

What diffrerance does it make if a kid looks up to some like there parnets (who they like) or an athlete that they like? And if pro athletes are just in it for the money why are we blaming them for that? if i had the talent to go pro in football or basketball you can bet your azz that i am going to take the biggest hunk of cash i can get (i know deep down that most of you would as well, even if you wont say it) keep in mind alot of pros like playing games look how fired up someone like ray lewis gets before a game.

[MoBassFishN]

I have mixed feelings on this one. Avid, doesn't sound like the same you that posted on the tournament thread on TT!

I think it is we, as parents that have the responsibility to raise our children to be smart enough to choose an appropriate role model.

That being said, I think it should be every pro athlete's goal (not responsibility) to become a good role model. Especially those that are accepting sponsor dollars from supporting sponsors that target children or youth.

[mcipinkie]

You know, this whole thing is kind of strange, at least to me.

I watched Classic Patterns this week with Ike. He's a wonderful fisherman, very literate, a good communicator, really a good spokesman. He has an obvious enthusiasm for fishing. I Tivo'ed that show and watched it twice. He is really having fun. It was only when he remembered how he was supposed to act that he went "IKE".

I don't know who started him down this road he is apparently traveling, but this young man doesn't need to act like a fool. He certainly isn't one. He has the bass fishing world in his hands.

If you watch him closely, he's really a better communicator and teacher than KVD.

Unfortunately, at least from an outsider looking in, he has chosen his course. Obviously, the money is following. More and more pro's will start copying his antics, then us, then our kids. Look at Swindle. He used to be funny. Now he's just stupid.

Man, I wish I was Michael's age, and had his gifts.

Maybe it's not really being role models, but the antics of celebrities eventually filter their way into the main stream. Have you ever high-fived? Do you talk a little gangsta? Think about it.

[MoBassFishN]

I don't know who started him down this road he is apparently traveling, but this young man doesn't need to act like a fool. He certainly isn't one. He has the bass fishing world in his hands.

If you watch him closely, he's really a better communicator and teacher than KVD.

Unfortunately, at least from an outsider looking in, he has chosen his course. Obviously, the money is following. More and more pro's will start copying his antics, then us, then our kids. Look at Swindle. He used to be funny. Now he's just stupid.

Man, I wish I was Michael's age, and had his gifts.

Maybe it's not really being role models, but the antics of celebrities eventually filter their way into the main stream. Have you ever high-fived? Do you talk a little gangsta? Think about it.

I agree mcipinkie! Ike has everything that is needed to make it big. Unfortunately, the ESPN influence is turning him into what he is on TV. He has natural enthusiasm and has the gifts, desire, drive, experience, and motivation. He doesn't need to scream like an idiot to do well.

As far as high fiving, I've been doing that for years in buddy/team T's! AFter that limit fish comes in the boat, it's time to do a little celebrating. No gangsta though. The trash stays in the can!

[CJ]

Amen to that RR.