Grove is ‘OK’ by me

Hey, Iâm in Grove, Okla., for the Elite gig on Grand Lake, and I thought Iâd show you what Iâve been doing here the last couple of days (and prove to my several thousand bosses Iâm actually doing stuff). So buckle up and letâs goâ¦

First up, a trip down to the launch ramp to see whoâs around, and so um hereâs the launch ramp in case youâve never seen one beforeâ¦

â¦and itâs a busy place, good thing I looked up and saw Sara Tharp pulling Randall out of the water, but trust me on this, these ladies are pros at putting in and taking the guys out of the water. In fact, they are so good at it that several have volunteered to teach me how to back up the travel trailer my wife and I are going to be cruising around in next year (trust me I have no idea how Iâm going to figure that part of RVing out).

The sun is starting to set and getting a bit cloudy out there on Grand Lake so I hear someone yell out to me and turn around to see my buddy, Boyd Duckett. I yell back, âHowâs practice goingâ¦â and he yells something back about it being tough, or tricky, or something lots of shoulder shrugging, but I smile anyway and say, âUh huh,â because Iâve been around these guys long enough to know that during practice theyâll tell me it stinks and then on tournament day will be standing on stage with a 400-pound sack of fish. I tell Boyd not to worry that it will get better while really knowing it probably already is and that none of the anglers want to admit it especially to a reporter.

Next out, Jonathon VanDam, and since our last Elite gig he has added a new passenger in that truck, his young son Jonathon Jr. born pretty much right after the last regular season event. Baby and mom, Arika, are doing fine and we can now formally welcome the youngest VanDam to the tour.

As the sun starts setting for real Mark Menendez pulls in for the day andâ¦

â¦a few minutes behind him on of the last guys I see coming off the lake, the winner of our first Elite event this year, Takahiro Omori. The dude has already won an event this year and is one of the last guys in during practice, got to love that.

So Iâm here in Grove, nice little town of 6,800 or so folks, the hometown of a dude Iâve been a fan of for a long time, Darryl Starbird, one of the coolest Hot Rod and Custom Car builders in America, see for yourself. Google âPredictaâ or âLil Coffin,â and Iâmâ¦

â¦starting to feel comfortable in town here, nice old âstang there and then I spotâ¦

â¦this, oh yeah, feeling real comfortable here. (Iâm a car guy like you are a fishing guy or gal.)

This Grove is an all-American town of many backgrounds, creeds and heritage, oneâ¦

â¦that also remembers those men and women who make it all possible, cool move Grove, I salute your efforts. You know what though, why have a New England guy, me, tell you about Oklahoma, so to get the facts in black and whiteâ¦

â¦I went to talk to those Elite anglers who live here in Oklahoma, those who call it home and who know it much better than I ever would. First up, Tommy Biffle, one of my best buds out here, this is his off-the-water face, who told me:

âIn Oklahoma we remember our past and those who contributed to it, for years the small town I live in had a sign out that read âHome of Tommy Biffleâ¦â butâ¦

â¦we also look to the future, we look to build on our past and bring that with us as we move forward.â

By the way, this is the game face of Biffle, what the anglers see on the water, a second after showing it to me both of us broke up and when he laughs his whole face laughs but not on game day.

This is good buddy Jason Christie goofing on me by bending down so that I would be almost eye level with him, almost. âdb, first thing is what you see is what you get here in Oklahoma, we donât put on airs, weâre down home folks here whoâ¦

â¦care about each other and wish them well, weâre polite, caring, helpful, give you the shirt off our backs, will drive for miles to help each other out, just good folks with good manners.â

Hereâs Jason not doing a db slouch with good his good buddy and on-the-road roommate, Bassmaster Classic winner and fellow Oklahoman, Edwin Evers: âItâs a great life here, plenty to do with culture andâ¦

ââ¦a great entrepreneurial spirit, out here in these small towns, some, not here, but some nothing more than a wide spot in the road where itâs a long ways between towns, weâve got to make it our own. Lots of mom and pop places owned and run by your neighbors, by your family, many times youâre not dealing with a big box located owned by some big business thousands of miles away, but by a person youâve grown up with, someone you know.â

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Elite angler James Elam, also a native of Oklahoma talked about the diversity of the area, not only in the folks who live here but:

âThe beauty of the place, Iâve fished lakes all over the state and they are just beautiful, we have the plains, we have lakes, we have river and five mountain ranges in this state, whatever you want, weâve got it here for you, I just love it.â

Oklahoma is very special to me, two of my best friends, Elite angler and Bassmaster Classic Champion, Ken Cook, and Elite fan Uncle Buff (Mike Armor) are laid to rest here, that for me makes this land sacred soil that will always have a place in my heart whether we fish here or not.

Over the past several years I have been here many times and like the Elite dudes said, Iâve always been treated respectfully, made to feel like home, and have seen first hand the beauty of the state. For the record Oklahoma is more than just OK to me, itâs much, much more than OK, trust me.
– db.