AOY Debate

Saturday marks the beginning of the first B.A.S.S. postseason, with two two-day tournaments featuring the top 12 anglers from the Elite Series regular season. Now is the time for debates and bets on who will win. My picks are:
Skeet Reese. He's been on a mission, fishing as consistently as anyone on the tour, and at a time when it seemed like a lot of anglers were beaten by the tough fishing at Oneida he found a way to take the slimmest of leads in regular season points over KVD. Granted, that lead meant nothing in terms of taking the top post-season spot, since KVD's win at Smith Mountain gave him the #1 spot.
Alton Jones. Aside from Skeet, I think he's the most consistent angler on the tour. KVD is a winning machine, but for my tastes (and, yes, I am probably the only person in the world who thinks this) he takes a few too many risks with his run-and-gun style. That said, my number three pick is . . .
KVD. Hard not to put him in the top three, never mind winning the thing. And I have no idea how either of the fisheries suit his fishing style (though I imagine rivers are not his strong point). Nonetheless, he knows how to win, period.
Randy Howell. He flat-out killed the competition on day one at Oneida, which included a five pound beast from Peter T. He's my pick to make a serious run at the top three next year.
Kelly Jordan. Again, consistency. And he's in the right spot in the standings to stay near the top.
Michael Iaconelli. This guy has been so close to winning tournaments this year that I imagine it's killing him, especially when you consider he was "this close" to winning the Forrest Wood Cup, worth $500,000. Like Skeet, he seems to be on a mission, but he's contending with a seriously tough field and a lower than expected finish to the season.
Tommy Biffle. He won earlier this year, and he's still ina good position to win it all.
Todd Faircloth. Last year's runner up is also in a good spot, but he seems to have flattened out recently.
Gary Klein, Cliff Pace, Mark Menendez, and Gerald Swindle, in that order, are my picks to round out the field.
Funny thing about this post-season is that it seems to be redefining what the "best" and "worst" are. To think that the worst of these 12 anglers is a bad angler is obviously silly, but when viewed in this context it does remind one of just how hard it is to be at the very top of the sport. Likewise, to make to the top 12 is probably so hard that any of the guys finishing 13th to 100 might feel as though he's failed, at least in part. Think of all the anglers who won on the Elite Series this year and who aren't a part of the post-season. And to think that Skeet Reese didn't win a single regular season event but finished at the top of the regular season standings makes the point that one would rather be good than lucky.