“It’s so important to make someone happy…”
Dateline: Here and there at the Classic
“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.”
– Frank Lloyd Wright
Here’s a very simple principle for business success: No you, no us.
I just saved you $40,000 in that MBA thing.
Here’s a very simple principle for professional sports: No fans, no you.
You, are the bedrock of everything around you. You vote with your dollars, you vote with your cheers, you vote with your feet.
The customer is not the king, the customer is in fact the king maker. In the entire history of this planet the peasants far out number the kings.
In time both the ruled and the rulers discover there is but on true king, and he does not walk this Earth, so all you out there sizing up those crowns need to back it down some.
In the past three days at the GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods I have met hundreds if not a thousand or so of you, you the fans. There’s no kings, no queens, just hard working folks and their kids, parents, grandparents, BFs, BFFs, sponsors, workers, police, police dogs, people who set up the stages and the folks who sweep up after us.
Here’s what I learned in a nutshell. Social media is anti-social. The world wide web is pulling the world apart. Crowds are social, a quick handshake pulls us back together.
I found comfort in the chaos.
“…make just one someone happy…”
“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”
– Mother Teresa
I was asked how many hands did I shake and this is how I answered: “A full bottle of Purell worth.”
I shook hands, bumped knuckles, had a baby throw up on me, got hugged, involuntary shoulder rubbed, held a ladies water bottle while she adjusted herself, was called Dan, Darren, Doug, bd, dd and yankee.
Had someone’s hot dog drop on my shoe, had someone spit out their gum into their hand and then attempt to shake my hand with the gummed hand, had a comfort dog’s nose make my crotch uncomfortable, got beaned a couple times with a couple fishing poles, and was asked by some young lady if I would marry her grandmother.
Basically I had a blast.
I found comfort in the Chaos.
“…fame, if you win it…”
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
– Mae West
Trip Weldon, that’s him walking out of the arena, made history here on Friday night when he weighed in the first bass.
Made history by being the longest tenured Tournament Director of the Bassmaster Classic.
I stood with him a moment before he walked up on the stage, we stood on the floor of the arena and just watched it fill up with fans, watched them run for the best seat, watched them stop and stare at all the bright and colorful lights, watched some heads bop to the music, and this is exactly what Trip said to me before he took to the stage…
…nothing.
We are good friends, good enough to understand each other, before Trip made one move forward all he did was look at me, and smile.
I’ve seen that smile before, saw it on Joe Montana when he stepped onto the Super Bowl field of grass, saw it on the symphony conductor right before he stepped from behind the curtain, saw it once when Blue Jays pitcher Al Leiter looked down into his glove on a 3/2 count in the 9th inning.
A small man, a large crowd, small man happy, and in control.
Comfort in the chaos.
“…comes and goes in a minutes…”
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.”
– Christopher Reeve
The low back throat talking announcer begins a crescendo with the anglers name.
The crowd gets on their feet, they are yelling, they are smacking tube things together, they are whistling as the lights swirl, the smoke rises, the curtain pulls back and a shinny truck pulls out a shinny boat.
In the boat is a young man, he is sitting up on the boat seat’s headrest, both arms shoot up into the air reminiscent of the gladiator before the lion’s cage is opened.
Five rows up in a darken section, alone amidst a crowd of family and friends his mother sits, she is watching, she is worrying, she is remembering bringing him home as a baby, remembering his 1st day at school, his first pimple, first date, all seeming done at warp speed.
She is Bradley Roy’s mom.
She is every mom whose child is about to take the stage.
She is waiting for the fish to be weighed but in her heart there is relief…relief that he is off the water and safe.
And safe.
He is a young successful man.
He is still deep within her memories the toddler that held her hands on his first step, even as he steps front and center on the stage.
Comfort in the chaos.
“…where’s the real stuff in life, to cling to…”
“May you live every day of your life.”
– Jonathan Swift
To those of us behind the velvet curtain, to those of us who walk through the smoke, to those of us who look up into the stands, please try to do this, don’t call those in the seats “readers,” or “viewers,” or “consumers,” call them what they really are…fans.
“Readers” and “viewers,” are fickle, they change, change, change on a whim, fans on the other hand stay with you through thick and thin, if you treat them right.
Fans, become family.
To those folks up there this is a big deal, we may do it every day, they do not.
In a myriad of choices in any day, the chose us, be they people in the stands, be they sponsors in the EXPO, be they viewers on TV or those who watch the early morning launch, they have chosen to give us time in their lives.
Time is the only real currency on earth, every moment is precious, any moment they give us is precious.
When you step from behind the curtain, when you sit in the press box, when you look through the big lens on your camera, take a moment to really look at what you see.
No them, no you, simple as that.
Comfort in the chaos.
“…love is the answer…”
“It is never too late to be what you might have been.”
– George Eliot
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
– Mark Twain
To the children in those seats, to our youngest fans I want you to know this, we are holding this sport, holding it for you, holding your place.
We are but the caretakers of the game, and we need to be held to one simple standard, that we pass it down in better shape than when we got it.
That we know it is not our game, not our kingdom, it is our gift to you.
No man, no woman, no child is above the game, that holds true for when it is in our hands, and when it is in yours as well.
It’s called responsibility, and it is you who make sure we stay responsible by coming and sitting in those seats.
I also want you to know something else, every one of those anglers who take to the stage, every one of those guys who, like D3 here who built Jason Aldean’s stage and loves to fish just like you, every one was once just like you.
Every one of us once peered over an edge and wished we were on the other side.
We’ll save you a spot over here, we’re fans of you.
Comfort in the chaos.
“…make just one someone happy…”
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
– Mark Twain
The greatest stage on this planet may be the country we live in, the United States of America.
A free and open stage is not a given, it should be, but it’s not. It is hard fought for and done so by young men and women like these soldiers who carry that flag.
It is red, it is white and it is blue and made of some kind of cloth.
It is the symbol of freedom, freedom to go to whatever arena you would like to, to be a fan of any sport you would like, freedom to cheer and freedom to boo.
It is planted on the moon and floats through the universe.
My father had one in his pocket when he jumped into the waters of Iwo Jima, my best friend had one on his sleeve when he was set on fire in a rice paddy. I understand all the issues, the issues.
When the entire crowd stood, so did I.
I will stand even if the entire crowd sits.
Just so you know.
Comfort in the chaos.
“…and you will be…”
As a writer I spend a lot of time alone in front of a computer, I see the world mainly through a computer screen, and frankly it scare the bejesus out of me.
But then, then I step out into it and get to meet you our fans, you who build and tear down our stuff, you who come to entertain us, you who sponsor us and you who protect us and everything changes.
This is what I find that even with our differences, deep inside we are of course all the same.
The same no matter what race, no matter what sex, no matter old, no matter young, we are the same.
We have within us the air molecules that Jesus Christ breathed, we have within us the building blocks of the universe we live in, we have within us the miracle of love.
This week in the crowd, in the chaos, I found comfort.
No hide behind the keyboard cowards, just plain folks who wanted to say hello.
Plain folks, happy to be here amongst us, plain folks who chose us over a variety of other things and places.
In the chaos of the crowd I found comfort from the fans.
The fans of B.A.S.S.
And this, this my entire week, I dedicate to you.
Like I said up top, no Fans, no db.
BTW…I’m your biggest fan.
See you on the road,
db
“…happy too.”
Make Someone Happy
Jimmy Durante
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
– Dolly Parton