I play for the ring. 

I play for the hardware to be put on the shelf. 

I play to beat everybody else. 

And the next season, I’ll do it all over again.  Same way. 

If that attitude offends, so what. 

That’s just how it is. 

I play for the ring. 

Make no mistake, It is for the “Big Game” win that they all play the game. 

For the greats 2nd place, once all the “PR” stuff is done, once all the soundbites are said and noted, once all the camera lights are turned off, 2nd place is a loss. 

Big Game Guys: 

Jack Nicklaus 18 Major Wins. 

Richard Petty 7 Daytona 500 wins. 

KVD & Clunn 4 Classic Wins 

And maybe the best Big Game Guy…Michael Jordan…numbers matter here’s his: 

Regular Season points per game average: 30.12

Playoff points per game average: 33.45 

Know this, you don’t make and play in the Big Game for the pretty girls and champaign… 

…you play in the Big Game TO WIN. 

If you are not playing to be in and win the Big Game… 

…stay home.  You already lost. 

Welcome to the BIGS.

Here we go…Easton Fothergill:

Pressure. 

When pressure is involved one of two things will happen, it will either destroy you, or it will make you. 

You choose. 

Rise to it. 

Or. 

Fall from it. 

Let's be clear here about what is going on: 

Easton is a rookie. 

I have shoes older than he is. 

He is now competing against the anglers he grew up idolizing. 

As a pro he has fished only two regular season tournaments, and he kind of sucked at them, which should be expected.  First time on the track as a rookie, stay out of the way and learn. 

You ain’t nothing yet until you make yourself something. 

Win the Bassmaster Classic. 

Have your name hang from the rafters. 

The boy, Easton, he now something. 

The boy, Easton, he now a Champion. 

If your name isn’t hanging from those rafters. 

Don’t judge.

Easton Unfiltered

As Said:

“The first 2 events I was not in the right mindset, I need to perform well constantly.  I really lost that mindset.” 

“It was mostly nerves at that level, I look around me and it was mostly nerves, all my fishing idols are around me, hard to make correct adjustments when you have those nerves.” 

“At the Classic I was finally able to block that out and put in my head that I do belong here.” 

“I just have to continue that mindset going forward.”

Professional Bass fishing is not a team sport. 

It is one man, or one woman vs weather, equipment, cash outlay, travel, cheap hotels, spare rooms, drive-thru breakfast/lunch/dinner, homesick, and finally vs a fish. 

Versus a FISH. 

The game does not allow for a timeout, the game does not have any coaches, the game all rests on the person standing on the front deck. 

Advanced equipment helps find the fish. 

Advanced equipment does not make the fish bite. 

Professional Bass fishing is a numbers game of pounds and ounces. 

Catch fish, make the cut, make money, do it all over again a few hundred miles away. 

To win in this game you need more than the right equipment, don’t let anyone fool you, to win in this game you really need the “right stuff,” within. 

And to me the right stuff is simply…confidence. 

The Right Stuff is to believe in the stuff that makes you, you. 

The next challenge for Easton is not in the water. 

The next challenge for Easton, is Easton. 

I believe the boy is three-quarters there in this game, not all the way there yet, but close. 

I know he has the intelligence, I know he has the swagger what I don’t know though is does he have the confidence within. 

Does he have the ability to pull himself back into control when he loses control. 

Does he have the ability to separate “idols,” from “competitors.” 

We’ll see. 

But there is this, his eyes. 

I’ve seen the look in his eyes before. 

Trust me on this, people tell me he “is cute,” or he “is smart,” or some such things. 

His eyes though, from my experience tell me… 

…Champion. 

Cheer for those with fire aglow… 

…within. 

db