TULSA, Okla. — The intrigue overflowed. The scheduled speakers are a study in contrasting personalities: Aaron Martens, nicknamed “The Natural,” who “likes everybody, except terrorists,” and Bob Knight, nicknamed “The General,” who intimidates almost everybody.
The two share this trait: You never know what either man will say in a public forum.
So what’s often a boring evening – any organization’s annual honors banquet – had a discernable buzz at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino where the GEICO Bassmaster Classic “Night of Champions” was held Wednesday.
The two men were brought to one stage by another commonality: A love of the outdoors, fishing in particular.
Knight paid tribute to his longtime friend, Jerry McKinnis, one of the three B.A.S.S. principle owners, referring to him as, “My all-time favorite person.” The head coach of three Indiana University NCAA Championship teams, whose coaching career included 902 Division I victories and multiple national college basketball coach of the year awards, Knight was also the most featured guest on McKinnis’ long-running ESPN show The Fishin’ Hole.
“There’s nothing I take greater pride in than doing more shows with (McKinnis) than anyone else,” Knight said.
That’s quite a statement considering Knight’s accomplishments in college basketball.
Speaking of statements, Knight once penned the following, “When my time on earth is gone, and my activities here are passed, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass!”
Other than a bit – a wee bit – of his usual salty language, the 75-year-old Knight’s comments steered clear of any controversy or intimidation Wednesday night. His coaching role on this night was one of encouragement for the anglers competing this week, noting, “You are the man in charge, the man in charge of your destiny.”
Interestingly, he closed on a note of simplicity, saying, “Basketball isn’t rocket science.” Knight illustrated the point by noting that he told every one of his teams some version of the following before they took the court: “Boys, we’re wearing white tonight. Those sumbitches wearing red, don’t throw it to them.”
Added Knight, “We won over 900 games like that.”
It was a salient point that served as a bridge to the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year. In a video prior to Martens’ introduction, Kevin VanDam noted, “We over-fish things. Aaron simplifies it.”
In 2015 Martens put together arguably the single most dominant season in modern professional bass fishing. In a numerical link to Knight’s three NCAA basketball titles, it was Martens’ third Angler of the Year crown. This was truly a “Night of Champions.”
Martens opened by noting, as usual, he hadn’t prepared a speech. If he had, that might have been the biggest news of the night. Martens is known for a stream-of-consciousness style when a microphone is placed in front of him, and, for that matter, any other time he’s asked a question. And Martens’ stream-of-consciousness is different than yours and mine, hence that comment about liking everybody, but terrorists, made after clinching the AOY title last fall.
“Everybody asked me if I’d thought about the speech,” Martens said Wednesday evening. “You know how busy we all are this week. So (the answer is) not much. I do better when I wing it, just like fishin’.”
Martens opened on a somber note, mentioning that his father had passed away days before the Bassmaster Classic last year and it was “hard to take.” But Martens credited his dad with instilling in him that love of the outdoors, which has been maybe the biggest key to his success in the professional bass fishing world.
Martens’ mother, Carol, was in attendance. It was she and Aaron who learned side-by-side how to compete in bass fishing tournaments. Because she stayed by her husband’s side through an extended illness, Carol’s presence has been missing at B.A.S.S. tournaments over the last few years.
But Carol was there when Aaron won the Elite Series event at Arizona’s Lake Havasu last year. It would be fitting, of course, if Carol were there when Aaron breaks his string of four second-place finishes without a title in the Bassmaster Classic this week.
“I should win this one just because she’s here,” Martens laughed.
Martens concentrated on thanking his family — his wife, Lesley, and their two children, Jordan and Spencer, noting, “The biggest sacrifice in this sport is not spending more time with your family.”
Shortly afterwards, Martens said, “I don’t want to talk too long. I just looked at Todd (Faircloth) and his eyes were rolling.”
So he didn’t talk too long. He followed Lesley’s instructions: Keep it short. Keep it humble.
“I think I’ve had a very event-filled life,” Martens said in closing. “It just keeps stacking up.”
In addition to Martens, the other 2015 honorees Wednesday evening were as follows:
- Trevor Lo, the Carhartt Bassmaster College Classic champion;
- Thomas Martens, the Toyota Bonus Bucks Bassmaster Team champion;
- Albert Collins, the Old Milwaukee BASS Nation champion;
- Brent Ehrler, the Bassmaster Elite Series Rookie of the Year;
- Casey Ashley, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic champion.