“Everybody's got their dues in life to pay…”
Dateline: Baker Mountain Road
Derek Remitz, has been, cranky.
These past few years every time I would talk with my friend he would be, you know, sort of whiney, sort of negative, sort of down.
Close to being a pain in the arse.
But he is my friend, a young man I care about, I’m friends with his parents, he is well spoken of amongst the Elites out here, he isn’t a natural kind of hooting and hollering kind dude, he is normally quiet, introspective, smart, and somewhat…er…frugal.
But these past couple of years there has been a fog around my friend, so the other night when I drove up to his house in Grant, Alabama to see how he was doing, I was concerned, as I drove the dark winding mountain road I thought it to be a metaphor for Derek’s past seasons.
As I knocked on his door and he came out on the porch to meet me this is the exact first thing I said to Derek: “So dude, we haven’t talked yet this season, how you feeling man.”
And what he said shocked me so much that I thought, hey, you need to hear this yourself, so here you go….Push Play:
Look at his smile, look at his body language, Derek Remitz is happy, happy like he was years and years ago, the Derek I really know, is back.
You can see that for yourself.
I ain’t making this stuff up folks.
“…I know what nobody knows…”
“db, I had been getting a little negative with life…”
Derek and I are sitting in his kitchen, a stew is simmering on the stove, the refrigerator is making those weird refrigerator noises, behind us in the living room his dog, Bella, is tearing apart a stuffed toy, on the TV Duke just sinks a basket…Derek isn’t paying attention to any of it.
Derek wants to talk, “…negative with life…AND fishing.”
I know.
Derek came into this game with a huge splash, “I won the first tournament that I fished as an Elite, almost won the 2nd one as well.”
That was in 2007 and he was that year’s, Bassmaster Rookie of the Year.
“Turns out, that has been my best year…so far.”
All I really hear of that last comment is the, “…so far,” haven’t heard that out of this guy for awhile now.
“What’s changed man, what happened.”
“db I came to this last Bassmaster Classic and I worked the show, normally I would do that but wouldn’t be happy about being on the show floor and not out there fishing…”
That comment is not meant to be any disrespect for the sponsors or the folks who go to the show, these guys are the best in the world at what they do, and what they do is fish, and to fish the Classic and to win it is why they play this game.
They are here to be on the water, not on the show floor carpet.
“…but this year at the show I was amazed at how the people are still fans of us, still fans of me, I’ve been up and down all my career and yet these people still wanted my autograph, wanted to take selfies with me, it was a flat out eye opener on just how special what we do is, and how lucky I am to be able to do it.”
Then: “db, I just woke up after that, happier.”
“…where it comes and where it goes…”
During the last couple of seasons I would always see, Derek, would always say hello, ask about his mom, Judy, dad, Steve, girlfriend, Kelli, and it was always pleasant, pleasant until I asked about fishing then came grunts, head nods, one word answers.
I knew something was up, but couldn’t break through.
“I was just mad, I was mad at life, mad at fishing, I had a bad, horrible attitude feeling all sorry for myself. I was living on a roller coaster with all the ups and downs in my career.”
Derek has finished in the top four of the AOY point race, and in the bottom four of that same race.
“I’ve learned that having a bad attitude can snowball on you, I didn’t know that before, but when that attitude starts rolling it is hard to stop.”
Then Derek goes silent, takes a sip of beer, just looks at me, his smile is delayed.
He is looking for a friend, not a reporter, and so the friend comes.
“…I know it's everybody's sin…”
“Derek, you know what Babe Ruth used to say, he would always say that every strike out put him that much closer to his next home run.”
Derek’s smile gets bigger.
“I remember as a kid hearing a reporter ask Mickey Mantle if he ever went up to bat thinking he could hit a home run…”
Derek is just looking at me, smiling.
“…The Mick told the guy, ‘yeah, every at bat.’”
Point was, but never spoken and Derek got it, no one bats a thousand.
Truth is all these guys out here have the SKILL at their game that Ruth had, that Mantle had at their game, but skill alone doesn’t get you the ring, the trophy.
“I’ve come to realize db that this game is 98% mental.”
And with that, I was the one who smiled.
Life my friend, is 98% mental.
“…you got to lose to know how to win…”
“The power of positive thinking, I know it to be true I just have to start applying it db.”
Behind him, Duke drills a 3. Derek is oblivious to it all.
Skill gets you in the game, confidence keeps you in the game, consistency and courage, make you a champion.
I’m done writing notes, “Dude, forget seasons past, don’t even think about seasons to come, play in the now man, play in the now.”
“I’m trying to do that, I can’t change the past, I’m not going to let it bother me anymore.”
In the first Elite tournament of this season Derek finished above the Mendoza line, made a check right out the gate this year.
“I know people think the pressure is on me now because this is my home lake, but to tell you the truth, we all fish this lake so often it’s almost like home lake for all of us. I’m on a streak now (and he laughs) I’m going to do the best I can, it would be great to win here, but if I don’t…if I don’t…”
“…sing for the laughter…”
“Dude, if you don’t, don’t worry, Babe Ruth was the strike out king for something like 30 years, struck out over a thousand times and that record was only broken by a guy named Mickey Mantle.”
Derek, my friend, don’t be afraid to swing for the fences, that’s what those fans who came to the Classic Expo to see you, want you to do.
It is what I want you to do.
It is what you NEED to do.
Courage: Always swing for the center field bleachers.
Consistency: Never launch without thinking you can win.
Confidence: Is inner peace, is trust in yourself and your ability, is being HAPPY.
Welcome back.
Push Play.
“…sing for the tears.”
Dream On
Aerosmith
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