“The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.”

Oscar Wilde

102-Place 

He is after all a rookie. 

His first ever professional tournament in “The Bigs.” 

He is a “stick” amongst 103 other “sticks,” and a few of those other sticks have been in this game before he was born. 

I’m not making any excuses, I’m also not surprised. 

He is after all a rookie. 

I’ve talked with him twice, I know this about him, he is smart, he is passionate about the sport, he may be in awe that he is now fishing amongst some of his fishing idols, and I’m told (now a couple of times) he’s cute. 

He is after all, a rookie. 

As in anything perspective matters. 

Matters. 

So, let's put this 102-Place thing in Sports Perspective…NCAA style. 

How about some “sticks” stats in other sports. 

A recent study found that the success rate of 1st round NFL draft picks found about a 53% overall success rate.   

A hair over half…successful. 

So, I dug a little deeper, again the NCAA: 

About 530,000 athletes compete at NCAA schools. 

NCAA Football has 77,204 football players, of those 17,156 are considered “Draft Eligible.”  About 259 actually get drafted. 

Of the 259 the percentage of them who make “Major Pro,” playing in the big leagues, is… 

…1.5%.

Baseball, 38,845 total , Draft Eligible: 8,637…444 got drafted…5.1 percent…some played only in the Minors, some in MLB…I couldn’t find a breakdown of that, gets complicated because players get called up from the Minors, play a few games, go back down…5.1% is the percent the NCAA hangs their hat on. 

No one keeps stats for Professional Tournament Bass Anglers. 

Let me tell you a secret, it is hard to suddenly compete against people you have admired for years. 

I don’t care what kind of a hot shot you are, what kind a stick you are, now you are in “The Bigs,” with the Bigs. 

And the “Bigs,” they be coming after you, if you were a “Big” where you came from, friends let me tell you, now you are chum. 

I was on a dock somewhere and a rookie came up to me and sheepishly asked, “He db can you ask Skeet what I have to do to be better in this.” 

And so, I did, ask Skeet. 

His exact answer for the rookie, this: “Catch more fish.” 

At the time I told him to stop being rude…but you know what…he was right. 

Catch More Fish. 

Hit More Home Runs. 

Score More TD’s. 

Run Faster Than The 2nd Place Runner. 

He is after all, a rookie. 

I will talk with Easton after the next tournament and before The Classic. 

I want to know how he feels. 

I want to know how soon he forgets. 

I guarantee the fish don’t know how he did, nothing in the last tournament matters in the tournament you are standing in. 

I know he can fish. 

I don’t know if he can forget.

If the receiver drops the pass in the endzone you damn well better know that he would get the next pass thrown if I was the QB. 

Oh & One is just the beginning. 

Congrats to Bill Lowen and his family, great folks. 

Easton, NEXT awaits. 

The ball is coming your way my friend. 

Catch it. 

db 

PS:  Some housekeeping:  I will be following Easton throughout the BASS season, I WON’T be doing it via videos though. 

Here’s why:  I look like shit, I sound horrible, I have no patience for video editing, I’m a columnist/writer not some pretty boy who wants to be on TV (Zoom even less). 

So, from here out it will be words and some pics. 

Simple words mostly spelled right. 

Podcast…THAT. 

db