db’s first Bassmaster Classic

Thatâs me, sometime in February 2008, just hung up with the several hundred bosses at B.A.S.S. who told me I had to cover the Bassmaster Classic, that is the look of, âWhat is a Bassmaster Classic?â

This is the honest to God first photo I took in this thing called the Bassmaster Classicâ¦an auditorium full of people going crazyâ¦

â¦and then it stopped, and it was suddenly quietâ¦

â¦and when I turned to look at what everyone was watching an emotional video was playing overhead, a salute to those who stand between us and harmâs way. I took this photo then put the camera down, just watched and let the whole gig sink in, watched as an entire auditorium took to their feet with hands over their hearts or wiping a tear off their cheeksâ¦this photo was the exact moment I knew I had stepped into a new arena in my life both physically and mentally.

To be honest for half the show I thought this kidâs name was KVDâ¦turns out it wasnât.

And then, this thing called the Bassmaster Classic beganâ¦

â¦and this dude walks out and takes center stage, and I mean takes the stage. I had met him briefly in an elevator in the hotel and between the first and 15th floor he told me how he came up with the idea for B.A.S.S. laying in his underwear on a hotel bed watching a basketball game. As the elevator doors opened and I stepped out this was the one and maybe only question Iâve ever asked Ray Scottâ¦”Dude, boxers or briefs?” The elevator doors shut and I could hear him laughing all the way up a couple floors.

This photo is where I learned of the Family Bass, thatâs Tim Tuckerâs wife and children on stage, Tim was a renowned longtime writer for B.A.S.S. who died in a car accident a few months before this Classic. I only met Tim one time at a B.A.S.S. event I was sent to on Lake Champlain, I sat at a picnic table with him for maybe 15-20 minutes, he asked me about working at ESPN, I asked him about working at B.A.S.S., I said it was okay, he said he loved it. I often wish we could have worked together, it would have been a blast. I hope his family is doing well, I hope Tim is watching and not thinking I messed it up much. R.I.P. Tim Tucker, you are missed.

As Iâm leaning on something backstage suddenly I feel heat on my back and when I turn around this is what I see, a small man walk up on stage and stand for a moment to soak it in. Turns out the dude is Trip Weldon, Tournament Directorâ¦didnât know him then or what a Tournament Director didâ¦I do nowâ¦and I have much respect and love for the man in the spotlight, now one of my best buds on the tour, many laughs and many dinners together with him and Chuck Harbin the Assistant Tournament Director.

Then all bejesus breaks loose, a curtain opens, lights and music goes off and in come the fancy boats with anglers in them and the crowd goes crazy. This photo is blurry because it frankly scared the pants off me, no one warned me what was going to happenâ¦turns out itâs Kevin Short, the dude I named K-Pink, if you follow me you know all about me and this dude. Probably one of my closest friends in life now, one of those little brother things youâd like to give an atomic wedgy to sometimes, hugs other times. K-Pink and K2 (his wife) are a huge factor in this writing inside the outside stuffâ¦

â¦as well as this guy, Skeet Reese. A few Classics after this he became a Classic Champion but long before that he became another best friend, on his dime we started Tackle The Storm Foundation and he soon will launch a national fundraising event for the foundationâ¦I didnât know any of that when I took this picture, he was just second out after Kevin and I got more in focus, both through the lens and what this thing called B.A.S.S. would ultimately mean to me.

Backstage of their biggest stage moments after weighing in for the biggest prize of all, these dudes still took time before meeting with the media to shake hands and sign stuff for fans. Trust me, Iâve been there, that doesnât happen in the tunnel of The Super Bowl.

Boom another surprise, the lights go down, it is dark, it is quiet and suddenly one light comes on and from out of it walks the real KVDâ¦Kevin Van Damâ¦and the joint irrupts. I had no idea basically who he was or what he had accomplished so we came to know each other over the years without the KVD or db thing getting in the way, gained respect for each other as guys, then as angler and writer, and I think that was huge, we talk a lot, are great friends and will be for life, it came not through fishing or celebrity stuff, but just two dudes who now consider each other as family.

Boom lights down, light and smoke up on fullâ¦

â¦and this man walks out of the smoke, Charlie Hartley, and the place goes nuts. I remember watching him backstage get mobbed for interviews, maybe a dozen reporters all yelling questions at him which he answered patiently one at a time and when it was done he turned around and saw me standing there and said âHey,â then this, âYou okay you need me to get you anything or help you out around here?â At that point, Charlie had no idea who I was, I certainly didnât know who he was but at that moment I gained huge respect for him, something I have to this dayâ¦and the dude is in this Classic as well. Charlie my friend, best of luck, a cold pop on me in Houston.

Suddenly the lights get turned off, frankly I was a little freaked but then they came back up and within minutes these guys were sitting on stage. Iâve been to many Championships and Game 7âs and even if I didnât know exactly what was going on I knew these six guys were the last anglers standing and one of them was going to be a Championâ¦

â¦and it turned out to be this guy, Alton Jonesâ¦

â¦and in a very cool moment the previous Bassmaster Classic Champion, Boyd Duckett, brought out the Classic iron and handed it to the new Champâ¦something I think every sport should do, first I saw it happen and I loved itâ¦

â¦and then the sky opened up right above me and I was within feet as now buddy Alton raised the trophy and added to his name because from this moment on we all started calling him, âBassmaster Classic Champion Alton Jonesâ¦

â¦and then it was over, my Classic Ver 1.0â¦done.

That was nine years ago, a moment in time that would change my life, and if you think by that moment in time I would be a jaded sportswriter about all of itâ¦that in the scheme of all the big time events that Iâve been to, this one would just fade awayâ¦check this outâ¦8 years later, thousands of miles, seven other Classics, probably a hundred or so events, that this my first Classic would just be a faint memoryâ¦just check out what to this day sits on the ledge above my home office deskâ¦a framed photo of Alton Jones holding up the first Classic trophy I ever saw. Yeah, that Classic and all the other ones that follow mean something to me, itâs the peak of what we do, itâs the biggest stage in this gig, the one I look to the most because when I step on that Classic floor to do my job, like the anglers Iâm there to blow the roof off the place. Come to Houstonâ¦and watch, youâll never forget it either.