"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..
SimRacer wrote:
"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
...

Ok, I know Iaconelli is a touchy subject here, but I am going to post my
opinions and then let it go from there. Reading this months bassmaster
I couldn't believe that so many people feel the way they do about Ike,
then I realized, well 3 or the 5 posts were people hating Ike. Ok, so
this was done intentionally by B.A.S.S to spark some controversy and get
some blood flowing in the community, stew on it for the winter.

I admit, After 2003, Mike wasn't one of my favorite guys. I actually
went as far as saying "I didn't like him", maybe I said Hate, I don't
remember, but it was negative. As I had posted before, I bought his
book just to see what he had to say about himself. Like I just wrote in
my email to bassmaster, I told them I came away with a different opinion
of Mike than I had before reading the book. I guess respect is a word I
would use, appreciate is another good one. It wasn't strictly the
content that changed my opinion instantly as it made me aware of how I
consume information fed to me by publications, and television, as well
as radio shows, and billboards, etc etc etc.... I made a commitment to
myself that I will not immediately judge someone any longer by what I
happen to catch in passing on a television in a 10 second time frame. I
had no idea what a chore that would end up to be, but it is a work in
progress.

I would hope I am not alone, but Mike is always right there in almost
every tournament. The guy eats , sleeps, and breathes fishing! He has
reached levels most if not all of us only dream about. When we see him
scream, most of us call him a idiot, or "clown" "bassmasters Oct. 2005".
I personally I see excitement displayed a different way than I show
excitement, and you know, that is ok. We all know that competitive
fishing is not just fishing, that might even be the smallest part of it.
Mike found something that compliments his fishing abilities. Who
talks about a guy who finishes 4th consistently, and make a living I can
only dream about, but just sits in the corner and does his job. B.A.S.S
isn't going to give him more camera time, therefore no sponsors are
going to pay $2 million to put a logo on his shirt per season, and so
on. Outside of being unethical, and doing my best to follow the written
as well as unwritten rules, I would do whatever it took to put myself at
the front of the pack, and taking what is mine. Reality is , B.A.S.S
and FLW make a lot of money off these guys with them getting next to
nothing back financially (from what I have come to understand, please
help me on this if I am wrong ? Rich? Warren?).

I guess I just have a hard time not respecting someone who sets a goal,
and reaches it. Fighting through everything else, this wasn't just a
overnight success, and except for maybe Bryan Kerchal, I don't many
really are. Yeah, maybe Mike does go overboard to "market" himself, but
this is a business, and what he brings to the sport with passion, and
skills should not be overshadowed. And postings like the one in
Bassmaster (again, achieving their goal of people talking about Mike
without having to give him a kickback (maybe camera time is that
kickback? both parties benefiting?)) may have influence on people that
might just be beginning, established, children, teenagers,etc etc. It
makes me cringe when I hear people say, "He gets how much for catching a
fish???". I don't think there is enough "readily available"
information as to how they pro's got where they are, and I think that
type of information would possibly cross into several demographics in a
Televised format. Ikes book was just the tip of the iceberg of what I
believe could be done.

Oh well, that is all I got.


PS: You should see my wifes face when Mike screams, it makes me laugh!

Chris.


Great post Chris. You may or may not recall, I've been one to "defend"
Ike
here and there as people have panned on him these past couple of years
here,
and I was doing so not because I thought his hootin and hollerin was
cool,
but because I had met him at an "appearance" and off TV, to me, he
seemed
like a nice enough guy. Seemed grounded, and thankful to be where he was
(and at "that" time, where he was, was about to quit fishing due to it
"ruining" his family life, et al...) He hadn't won the Classic yet, and
truth be known, he was here (NC) that day because he was simply on his
way
to Santee for that year's BASS tourney, and Dick's Sporting Goods of
course
is one of his sponsors. (His appearance that day was at the Dick's @
Crossroads in Cary NC)

After reading his book, I figured that right about then is when he was
going
through that "I've made it to the Classic, I'll go win it, and then I'll
retire" phase, and his easy going demeanor that afternoon, to me, was
all
the more impressive in hindsight. He was obviously going through a
massive
internal struggle and yet he was all smiles, full of helpful info, and
no
question was too dumb. To top it off, I think he was supposed to be
there
from 12-3 (it was a Sunday, 12-6 operating hours here in the Bible belt)
and
I am pretty sure he was there the entire 6 hours they were
open...signing,
talking/teaching, posing for photos and such. His TV persona aside, he
just
seems like a normal guy to me, and is the reason I've never had a
problem
with him....even if he does squeel like a little girl when he gets a
fish in
the boat and is coated with tats. ;-p The *only* other big time pro I
have
been able to spend as much time with that even seemed nearly as down to
Earth to me was Rick Clunn at the 2004 Classic here in Charlotte. He was
way
cool to hang with considering it was a Classic that he hadn't qualified
for....nice fella overall, very nice to his fans considering his
*situation*
that summer (he missed the Classic...) indeed.

Don't get me onto people like Marty Stone, who actually shares a
"hometown"
with me (he from Linden NC, me from Fayetteville NC, just a few miles
south...). It must just be me, but at local tourneys before he turned
pro,
until very recently (I saw him at a local appearance), he's the biggest
jerk
to be around unless you're waving money at him...I'll take a youthful
tatooed screaming Ike, or a granola new age guru Rick Clunn over him 10
to
1, anyday....but those are just my opinions, and we know what they're
all
like...


Right on Sim, Bassmaster said they would post my reply to them in a
future issue, so I guess we will wait and see how that turns out. Gotta
love it!

LOL! Yup. We all love our BASS heroes (idols, or whatever. My parents
are/were my heroes) but without some youth coming into the sport, it would
be doomed.

So what Ike markets himself to the hilt? So does Michael Waltrip in NASCAR
and even with his paltry 4-5 wins in 20 years, he still has a job. Must be
something to that "marketing yourself" thing that Ike and Mikey seem to do
to the point of distraction for some people. A lot of people would do well
to take a lesson from it instead of complaining about it.

So what Ike yells like he's been cut everytime he boats a squirming
bucketmouth? Again, over in NASCAR, you have Carl Edwards doing backflips
off his car everytime he wins. OK, so these new guys celebrate in different
ways than we've come to know. Is it really that bad of a thing?

These "young guns" are just blazing their own way, and I for one think it's
a good thing that there are people out there that want that badly to succeed
in my favorite sports (fishing/racing). Isn't finding what you were born to
do and making a nice living out of the pursuit of it the American Dream
anyway? Anyone that disagrees must be either envious (a treacherous emotion
IMO) or be trudging through life as a defeatist...I personally say "Hoorah"
for these guys out there chasing their dream and actually grab onto the
brass ring and achieve it. It gives me hope that I may still be able to do
the same thing one day if I don't give up on myself. So, like Ike or hate
him among yourselves, I'm with you Chris, I certainly respect him. He's
making it doing something I could only hope to do. I'm "making it" in the
corporate world, and wish I could be there in the mix with him (and all
those fishing for money guys) instead.