AOY

The B.A.S.S. Postseason provided a lot of drama, as anticipated, but to me what was most revealing was a comment made by Kevin Van Dam, who seemed all but defeated after the first event on the Alabama River. To paraphrase, he said it was a pretty tough task to overcome his bad first day there on a two-day event. Going into the final event on Lake Jordan, it seemed like Skeet Reese had as comfortable a lead as could be imagined in such circumstances--he had to finish in the top three to win the AOY. Yet it seems that he fell victim to exactly the circumstances that KVD described after the Trophy Chase, and it begs the question, was this the best possible format to determine the Angler of the Year? Nearly, in my opinion. The one change that I think could, and probably should be made is to change the two postseason events from two two-day events to two three-day events. KVD's comment says it all--the curve is far too short to recover from, and while such an outlook may seem too "forgiving" it is, in fact, a greater test of skill and endurance. Rick Clunn has some interesting views on the role that luck plays in bass tournaments, and they bear repeating here. In his mind, the longer the format of the tournament, on the scale of 1-4 days, the lesser role luck plays in determining a winner. His logic is sound and straightforward: fish will get more accustomed to lures, anglers have a better chance of figuring out patterns, thereby giving the edge to the guys who have best "figured out" a lake, and as conditions change the anglers are forced to change with them. Given that the two postseason events were not only short in duration but on two different bodies of water one can only assume that luck played a greater role in determining the final standings than some of the final 12 anglers would have liked. As professionals, they will likely not say a thing to complain about the format. Yet as competitors I am willing to bet a little money that if given the chance they would eagerly voice a few opinions and suggestions about the matter.
Consider the latest blog entry from Alton Jones on the Bassmaster web-site. He writes that his immediate feelings after the postseason were that his season was only fair at best, but that he later felt better about how things played out. Of all the anglers in the postseason, he was among those whose final standing changed little--he went from 3rd to 6th. While that's hardly anything to be happy about, it is worth noting that there are six other guys, including one or two who fished very well during the postseason, who would be happy to have ended up where Alton did. This, to me, is as much a testament to skill as it is luck, since Alton clearly didn't fish well enough to win AOY but did fish well enough to finish in the middle of a very talented field. Add to that the fact that both events were only two days long, on two different bodies of water and it makes his achievement all the more impressive, as well as that of the other five anglers who finished ahead of him.
In the end, it seems that the best angler really was the one who won. KVD figured out a way to come back from a tough but short tournament and led each of the two days on Lake Jordan. Perhaps the matter of the other anglers "helping" him defeat Skeet should be addressed too. That might be another topic for another post.