Go-bassn wrote:
I'm really surprised at some of you guys for disliking the guy just because
he expresses himself differently than you would.

IMHO, he's not a good enough actor to make the phony level of exuberance he
displayed pass for anything resembling reality. I don't have as much problem
with his on-stage antics as with the way he hammed it up for the camera when
he caught his last fish. At that point, he did not know that he had won, just
that he had put himself in good position to do so. There wasn't an ounce of
real emotion in his display, and it was the equivalent of an NFL receiver
doing the most over the top endzone dance in history -- after catching the
ball for a first down on the 20 yard line.

Of course it wasn't JUST Mike. There was a lot of excess celebration every
time one of them caught a fish. I've ridden in the boat with many of these
guys in the Classic for a lot of years. NONE has put on an ahole celebration
every time they caught a fish. In fact, none has gone as nuts onstage after
winning, as Mike did every time he caught a fish. I blame ESPN. I think the
contenders have been coached by ESPN to show as much excitement as possible,
to make "good TV", and ensure themselves on camera facetime. That they didn't
act that way when there was only one outdoor writer in the boat with them,
and the over-the-top celebrations started with the inclusion of the ESPN
cameras in their boats suggests that the behavior is more linked to ESPN than
to their real emotions. And from what I can tell, Mike went farther overboard
with it than anyone else.


This guy was a mere
Federation boy not half a decade ago fellas, he's lived the dream.

Not sure how that's an excuse, much less a reason. If it was, then Bryan
Kerchal should have been Mike to the power of 10, since he was still a
Federation guy when he won the Classic.

I applaud Mike's fishing skills. He is obviously right up there with the best
of them. But I find his act embarrassing for the sport.

RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing