Ike's Melt Down

[Packard]

Ike's hilarious and he did that out of passion for the sport.

[Gone_Phishin]

He really ticks me off when he yells at the fish. I have seen him hold up fish he had just caught, and scream either down the fish's mouth, or at the fish's face. I find this disrespectful, and not cool. That would be like some one shooting a whitetail, and then standing above the dead deer and yelling that's right mofo.

Again, not cool.

[Boogey Man]

Wonder what the Fish and Wildlife folks would think about him throwing his rod and reel in the lake? Littering?

And for those that say Ike is good for the sport, how so? Increased fishing license sales? Increased boat and tackle sales? Ike is like a child that exhibited some bad behavior and the grown ups laughed. The child now thinks it's "cute". How many times did BASS replay him kicking the American flag in the water? My opinion is they think it's "cool" to have a bad boy.

I recall an article by Jay Yelas from a few years ago that pretty much sums it up.

"In light of all the confusion pro anglers and fans are currently facing regarding the 2006 BASS tournament season, I'm compelled to share with them and the broader fishing industry some recent history that has led us to where we are today. The purpose of this is educational. It's purely my personal take on what is going on in our industry and is not necessarily the official opinion of the Professional Anglers Association (PAA).

I began my career with BASS in 1989. Back then, and all through the 1990s, BASS was the premier bass-fishing organization in the country. In those days, BASS prided themselves on what they called "BASS class." They were a small company from Montgomery, Ala. that held traditionally conservative Southern family values. Of course, they weren't perfect. But as a whole the employees of BASS, and their leadership, had "BASS class."

My childhood dream had always been to be a BASS pro, and I was proud to be a member of the Bass Anglers Sportsman's Society back then.

In April 2001, ESPN bought BASS from Helen Sevier. At the time, there was a buzz among the pros about how ESPN was going to take the sport to the next level. ESPN announced big plans and made lucrative promises to the pros, and we were excited about where we thought ESPN would take us.

Things at BASS didn't change much the first couple of years under ESPN's ownership. Kevin VanDam won the Classic in 2001 and I won it in 2002. I recall one of the top brass at ESPN telling me after my win that ESPN could not have picked two better champions for their first 2 years of owning BASS. I could tell he meant it, too.

The culture at BASS had hardly changed those first 2 years, but unfortunately, the TV ratings were only increasing very modestly. Those ratings were not good enough, and imminent change was on the way.

The year everything changed at BASS was 2003. First, in Jan. 2003, BASS announced their controversial new mandatory Busch Angler of the Year (AOY) program. For years, BASS had resisted the temptation to take the easy money from liquor companies. Beer companies had always been an easy sale, but the leaders at BASS had "BASS class" and their family-oriented values would not allow them to make those easy sales.

Under ESPN's ownership, a new value system was being ushered in at BASS. For the first time in BASS's history, profits seemed to become more important to them than people.

That was also the year Mike Iaconelli won the Classic. Iaconelli's dramatic last-minute win unleashed a torrent of spontaneous raw emotion like Bassmaster TV had never seen before. It was real, and it made great TV.

Instantly, everything changed with Bassmaster TV. The leadership of Bassmaster TV saw this raw emotion as what they needed more of to increase their TV ratings. At the very next tournament after Iaconelli's Classic win, Jerry McKinnis stood in front of all the pros at the tournament briefing and showed us a video of Iaconelli winning the Classic. He then told us that we all needed to "be like Mike" to help increase TV ratings, setting the tone for 2004 and 2005.

Over the next couple of years, ESPN seemingly culled through dozens of pros to find the best five or six who could "be like Mike." They could dance and scream and act a good role for the camera. Recently, ESPN has used these five or six as actors on their TV shows to the relative exclusion of nearly the whole rest of the field. For the first time, Bassmaster TV had become biased. Tournament performance no longer guaranteed valuable airtime for the other pros.

Worse, Bassmaster TV had become biased and phony. The other anglers who were acting in Ike's likeness were no longer spontaneous and real as Ike had been in his 2003 Classic win. Their antics on camera became scripted, expected, forced and phony. All a big show for the camera, and the public knew it.

Ike and his "likes" seem to have been promised by ESPN that they would become pro fishing's biggest stars if they continued their song and dance for the camera. ESPN alerted industry sponsors that Ike and his "likes" were going to be the stars and that was where they should put their endorsement dollars. A few bought in, but not many.

By the 2005 Classic in Pittsburgh, BASS TV had done a total transformation. Their TV show was hardly recognizable to their old fans. While much of the Classic coverage was informative and entertaining, there were parts of the Classic coverage in which ESPN had replaced "BASS class" with something of a cross between WWF wrestling and the Jerry Springer show.

After 2 years of seeing nothing but Ike and his "likes" on Bassmaster TV, the show's ratings are going nowhere.

In the process of trying to draw new fans to the sport with Ike and his "likes," ESPN had alienated many fans and pros alike. I'm personally now embarrassed to tell people I'm associated with BASS. I have many friends who tell me they have to hit the "mute" button frequently while watching Ike and his "likes" when their kids are watching because of the vulgarity they use. (I blame both the pros and ESPN production for allowing this trash on their show).

If there's one thing I've learned in this life, it's that common decency never goes out of style. Never. It appears ESPN believes that vulgarity drives TV ratings – more evidence of their apparent "profits over people" mindset. The vulgarity isn't working for them with Bassmaster TV, as the ratings are not what they had hoped.

ESPN seemingly does not believe it can be profitable in bass fishing by simply covering our sport the way they do other professional sports – by giving unbiased media coverage to those who perform the best. Instead of just "covering the game," ESPN seems to believe they have to turn bass fishing into some type of Hollywood production. Instead of an athlete competing in a sport, I feel like ESPN wants actors to help them make a TV show.

A perfect example is the comparatively small amount of TV time given to Mark Davis during the coverage of his four wins in 2004-05. I personally feel that the non-Ike-like anglers are a supporting cast that exists only to fill up space while ESPN turns Ike and his "likes" into stars.

In my mind, ESPN's apparent "profits over people" mindset is what's holding BASS back. If ESPN would return Bassmaster TV to being more family-friendly, clean up the inappropriate verbage in some Bassmaster magazine editorials (circa Sept. 2005), and if they would begin to care about all their fishermen at all levels, I believe they would get their momentum back. And I want to see BASS succeed."

[JIGFISHERMAN.]

sorry but ESPN followed anglers who were on top of the game.

Constant attention on Ike, Swindle, KVD, Skeet Reese, Edwin Evers, Aaron Marten, those are the guys who are on top, and who ESPN follows.

To me, that letter is a clear case of jelousy of a good fisherman, who just can't compete with what was new blood to him. Fish on top, be on TV. Simple really.

[Gone_Phishin]

sorry but ESPN followed anglers who were on top of the game.

Constant attention on Ike, Swindle, KVD, Skeet Reese, Edwin Evers, Aaron Marten, those are the guys who are on top, and who ESPN follows.

To me, that letter is a clear case of jelousy of a good fisherman, who just can't compete with what was new blood to him. Fish on top, be on TV. Simple really.

Can't compete? Dude, in 2002 Yelas won the Classic AND was the FLW AOY. In 2003 he was the BASS AOY.

[Packard]

He really ticks me off when he yells at the fish. I have seen him hold up fish he had just caught, and scream either down the fish's mouth, or at the fish's face. I find this disrespectful, and not cool. That would be like some one shooting a whitetail, and then standing above the dead deer and yelling that's right mofo.

Again, not cool.

I love when he does that it makes good tv. How can you say that is disrespectful to the fish when you are tricking him in his own environment and putting a hook in his body. The fish doesn't know what Ike is saying and it isn't hurting him so why whine about it?

[Gone_Phishin]

I love when he does that it makes good tv. How can you say that is disrespectful to the fish when you are tricking him in his own environment and putting a hook in his body. The fish doesn't know what Ike is saying and it isn't hurting him so why whine about it?

Apparently you don't/won't see the point. Also, good TV, and doing what is right, are generally miles apart.

[Boogey Man]

sorry but ESPN followed anglers who were on top of the game.

Constant attention on Ike, Swindle, KVD, Skeet Reese, Edwin Evers, Aaron Marten, those are the guys who are on top, and who ESPN follows.

To me, that letter is a clear case of jelousy of a good fisherman, who just can't compete with what was new blood to him. Fish on top, be on TV. Simple really.

Not trying to start a debate over who's the better anglers. It's about class and how you choose to conduct yourself in life.

Apparently Ranger still thinks Yelas is the classier of the two.

[basscatcher8]

That would be like some one shooting a whitetail, and then standing above the dead deer and yelling that's right mofo.

Doesn't everybody do that? lol sorry

[Glenn]

Can't we all just get along?

[Clint C.]

I agree the whole yelling at the fish is a bit much when he does that. This is just like any other sport and emotions can get the best of you. Unfortunately it got Ike.

[weezy109]

You might not like it, I don't either, but those years Yelas was talking about BASS was lurking in the shadows it had always loomed in being it a spectator un-friendly event. People wanna see that stuff so it IS good for the sport. Only bass fisherman would want to watch someone silently reel in fish all day long.

[s13john]

hahahh i love it, golf would be really boring too if someone didnt break a club or pitch a fit every now and then.

if it was a steez rod now that would be another story.

[The Rooster]

I'm sorry, but I'm in the camp with those who feel this behavior should NOT be allowed, and fines should be imposed to prevent this. People say nobody would watch it if stuff like this didn't happen every so often but I beg to differ. Nobody even knew who Ike was 10 years ago, and yet the sport not only managed to grow and stay in the game all that time without him, but it thrived while doing so. I remember reading Bassmaster back in the 90's when they said it was one of the fastest growing sports there was, and more people bass fished than did golf and tennis combined. I also believe that if this type of behavior is what is needed in order to grow the sport to the level they want, and to gain the attention they want, then we're better off without that level of attention to start with. What fan base are they attracting with it?? Real fishermen will watch anyway, and if you're not a fisherman then what are you even doing here?? And if the tradeoff is that the sport might not be on the level of some others, or make the same amount of money, well, I'm personally OK with that. And I know that's basically me saying I'm OK with limiting the fan base to only those who are truly into fishing for what it is. I also know that would impact the money made by the sport as a whole and that opens up a whole other can of worms with things like how do we attract attention to real issues and raise money to fight such things as laws affecting the sport in general by trying to limit access to public fishing waters, PETA, and all that, but I don't claim to have all the answers there. I just know that this is the wrong answer, period.

And the thing is, fines won't stop this sort of action anyway, so it's sort of like the promoters have their cake and get to eat it too because the people who watch only to see this stuff happen will still get their fix and keep watching. But at least some penalty for behavior like this will send the message that it's not how we should act. I know we've all lost our tempers (or as one put it, given them away) at some point. But never on camera. And when in front of the camera, you have a duty and responsibility to control it. If you're incapable, then get ready to be judged for your actions, regardless of whether those that judge could say that they would or wouldn't have done the same.

As for fans of the sport who want to see this type of thing more than they do "people silently reeling in fish all day", I view them the same as those who go to NASCAR only to see the wrecks. The sport could do without you. Yes, your monetary loss would be felt, but it wouldn't kill the sport as a whole. I was personally happy watching shows like Bill Dance Outdoors where the most exciting thing that happened WAS that he caught a 5 pounder, and occasionally spilled his vienna sausages in the lake. Or shows like Hank Parker. Good, wholesome, family oriented shows with the best of intentions that they delivered on during the show, where no one went nuts and yelled at fish, cussed, stomped on american flags, broke rods, danced on the boat deck and generally acted a fool. I don't see the sport of fishing as that type of sport anyway.

[weezy109]

People are not robots, they have emotional responses and losing a few hundred grand would certainly entice one. People love to see passion and the ones with the most are generally the most successful. Actually limiting access to public water at certain times of the year(like the spawn) is great for the sport. We really need to get attention drawn to the TVA lakes or other smaller lakes that are in trouble population wise around my neck of the woods and I am sure it is the same in other places. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over fished! The tournament the flw had on Cherokee lake in Tn was a disgrace. TVA/TWRA should be ashamed of themselves after that.

[I-wanna-fish-now]

I haven't seen the clip yet but coming in second 2 years in a row would hurt alot more when u put so much emotion into ur fishing like he does 2nd place is nothin but the first place loser and no professional sportsman strives to be anything other than a champion

Iaconelli is one of my favorites I like watching his freakouts which is all the time lol 1lbr-10lbr he freaks out on em all

[Traveler2586]

I think he does it to be noticed and so that fans will talk about him, like we're doing right now. Ike is an accomplished angler, there is no doubt about it. But for what ever reason, he hasn't been in the winner's circle much recently. So by flipping out, he gets noticed. I think it's an Act.

I understand the his passion for the sport, but I think this is something else. It revolves around paying the bills. And he's the only one doing it. If Every Pro totally lost it every week - "Going Ike" would mean very little. I do not care for the "Loss of control" act he displays.

Some do and the producers must like it also, as they ensure it makes it into every broadcast. It's like Reality TV, some like some don't.

A-Jay

X2, I see it mainly as just a marketing ploy, with some leftover childhood tantrums; without it, he would quickly fade into the background.

[Glenn]

And Scene.....