I would love to know how many people FLW has playing Fantasy Fishing because it would be a true paradigm shift if more people were paying attention to the 1st FLW tournament of the year than there will be paying attention to the BassMaster Classic. There is a realistic possibility that this could be the case. While I think FLW is crazy for offering the Fantasy Fishing game they do, I don't think it is entirely stupid in terms of promoting their brand.
Of coarse here at Bass Pundit I am more of a hardcore Bass Fan than many who are dipping their feet in the FLW Fantasy Fishing game. But just because I am more hardcore does not necessarily mean I buy into all the Classic hype. I enjoy the Classic because it provides more opportunities to keep up with what's going on than your average Elite Series event and I like that. I can't for the life of me understand why ESPN doesn't cover all Elite Series events with the same passion. ESPN owns BASS but they most certainly have not done enough to mainstream tournament bass fishing into the greater sports world. At a minimum they should have daily Elite Series tournament highlights featured on SportsCenter but as far as I am aware they only do this for the Classic.
Many in the bass fishing world regard the Classic as the greatest event in professional bass fishing. I do not. Sure qualifying for the Classic isn't easy, but qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup and the Elite Series are not easy either and the Forrest Wood Cup has a bigger payday. The main reason I do not put as much stock in the Classic as many other bass fans is because it is a limited field event. I just am not as impressed by a tournament win in a field of 51 top anglers as a field of 100 top anglers. I suppose some consider qualifying as a multi event tournament, but I don't look at it that way. The Angler of the Year race is more of a multi event tournament in my mind.
Then you have the whole issue of those who qualify through the Federation, Weekend Series, Opens, and WBT. These paths to the Classic vary a great deal in the degree of difficulty to make it as compared to qualifying through the Elite Series.
With all this said the Classic is fun and so us Bass Fans should just enjoy the show.
For a different perspective on the Classic than mine:
Classic cash
How far can a Classic victory really take an angler's career?
The Kim Bain-Moore Classic
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