A couple of years ago, at the end of my very last television show, The Fishin' Hole, I left everyone with three pieces of advice. Three things that would surely make a difference in their lives.
One was to surround themselves with competent, creative people.
The second was to remember that everything happens exactly as it is supposed to.
And third … During stressful times, sing to your dog.
Although they didn't, those first two sound like they came out of a book. But not that last one.
And if I could expand on No. 3, I would say — Never sing when anyone else is around. And always make the song up right on the spot.
Well my last months have been an adventure with plenty of stress to go around. Archie, my dachshund, probably hates to see me coming.
"Oh no … he's going to sing again," is what Arch is probably thinking.
As many in the bass fishing fishing world know at this point, I, along with Don Logan and Jim Copeland, am right in the middle of purchasing B.A.S.S. from ESPN. I have to say that during the last five months that we have all worked so hard on this; there has been hardly a hiccup in the negotiations. However, something like this just takes a long time and that's all there is to it. That "takes a long time statement" is where the stress for me comes into play because I have very little patience. So you guessed … I sing to my dog.
Hey, I sure passed over the names Don Logan and Jim Copeland awful quick back there. But if you stayed tuned over the coming days and weeks I'll get back to them and rave appropriately about them. For now, let's just leave it at this. They are bass fishing nuts who are extremely wise and enthusiastic about this journey we are about to take.
At this point, I can't say much more about Don, Jim or anything for that matter. You see this deal is not completed yet. If everything goes well and the deal is completed, it will still be another month before everything is done.
So why am I even bothering you right now? Well, first of all, this is the first blog I have ever written. I wasn't even sure how you spell blog. Does it have two "g's" or one? Whatever.
This blog is meant to let you know what's going on with me during a very exciting time.
B.A.S.S. is a very large piece of the puzzle when it comes to the outdoors world, and if Don, Jim and I can make the right decisions, then it can be an exciting time for millions of others.
Be aware that if you are reading this then you are automatically a part of the journey. And we need to get to know each other.
By the way, do you realize you are partnering up with a man that thinks singing to your dog is important?
-Jerry