I recently returned from New York and the big press conference at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel announcing the launch of our humble little fantasy-fishing game. I always love going back to that town, what with the buildings and the bustle and all the people. If only I had more time to enjoy it.
Anyway, just perusing some of the immediate press reaction to FLW Fantasy Fishing, and one thing seems to stand out: For the most part, they like it.
We’ve got Ann Zimmerman of the Wall Street Journal saying, “Call it hook dreams,” and CNBC putting fantasy fishing on its list of stock “pops” this week. Brian Lynn at Outdoor Life says:
“Without a doubt, this is the fantasy fishing game to play. It blows the BASS Fantasy Fishing game out of the water with its depth, game play, ease of registration and prize package … along with perhaps taking what may turn out to be a huge step to winning the hearts, minds and imaginations of future bass anglers.”
Some of the best commentary on the announcement comes from the niche-market press, though. Check out this take from Eric Rhey of PC Magazine:
“1. Present at the event was Forrest Wood, founder of Ranger Boats and the FLW tournaments (`FLW’ stands for Forrest L. Wood). A native of Flippin, Arkansas, the 75-year-old Wood looks and talks like a cross between a Texas sheriff and Lyndon B. Johnson. At the start of the event, the coat-check lady at the Waldorf asked Wood to check his white ten-gallon cowboy hat. He didn’t say a word; he just looked at her and walked away. I thought he was going to draw his Peacemaker and give that lady a reckonin’. Never ask a cowboy to check his hat at the door.
2. I asked another Arkansas native, pro angler Tyrone Phillips, if he uses live bait, and if so, what kind. He looked at me as if I just put his dog in a wood chipper. Pro anglers don’t use bait – they use lures. The only exceptions, listed in the FLW rules, are something called a `pork trailer’ and Berkley Gulps (non-live bait made from natural ingredients). Using live bait is a wussy vacation-fishermen move, like chumming the water for sharks.”
That statement alone suitably sums up the type of gap we’re facing in trying to bring a larger audience to tournament fishing, and what we’re going to have to do to bridge that gap.
Still, the gap runs both ways. Wood himself – easily the highlight speaker of the event – touched on this when he related an anecdote about the time Ranger Boats’ Keith Daffron (his grandson) once asked Wood if he had received an e-mail he’d sent him. Wood’s response: “Well, no. Next time call and let me know when you’re gonna send me one of those.”
The funniest press reaction, though, came from Chris Mottram of The Sporting News, if only because it was so predictable. His headline? “Fantasy Sports Have Officially Gone Too Far.” He then indulges in some easy sarcastic one-liners in an effort to discredit the very idea of fantasy fishing and, by implication, tournament fishing itself.
That’s great. His skepticism is understandable since it’s coming from someone who’s presumably not only outside the fishing sphere, but who’s also likely highly invested in the world of other, higher-profile sports by virtue of where he works. That’s not a knock on The Sporting News, by any means; I read that publication, myself. But sometimes it’s just tough to see the Forrest for the trees.
He misses the point, though. Fantasy sports, as a phenomenon, had already jumped the shark long before FLW Fantasy Fishing came around. There’s fantasy gambling, fantasy NASCAR, fantasy everything these days. In fact, I heard just this week from a friend of mine who said that she plays fantasy “Dancing with the Stars.” And even if those things didn’t exist, if you think sitting around all day on a weekend afternoon watching TV and rooting for the make-believe football squad in your computer is a more valuable use of your time than picking a few pro anglers to win a tournament, then perhaps you need to cut back on your Sunday Ticket time a little bit. Ask your wife or girlfriend about that one.
But the point is, it doesn’t matter. People love fantasy sports, and they want to play. With tournament fishing already an established force, it’s only natural that fantasy fishing would soon follow.
The best response to the naysayers came from a reader comment posted below Mottram’s own column. Sporting News reader “CarolinaCrawdad” said: “So what if they have a Fantasy Fishing League? For a shot at a million bucks, I’d join a Fantasy Nose Pickin’ League for gosh sakes!”
As a fantasy-fishing and fantasy-football nut, I couldn’t have said it better myself.