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Updated: 10/05/03
AN OPEN LETTER FROM IRWIN JACOBS TO PROFESSIONAL
ANGLERS, FANS
MINNEAPOLIS (Oct. 3, 2003) — I want to convey to anyone who has any
involvement in and/or relationship to professional bass fishing to know
that at no time before, during or immediately after FLW Outdoors made the
decision to change the dates of our FLW Tour Championship from September
8-11 to July 28-31, 2004, did we know the dates we chose would be in direct
conflict with the 2004 Bassmaster Classic.
When the decision was made to move the FLW Tour Championship
to July, when school is out and the families of anglers and fishing fans
could easily attend, the only time available, where all the necessary components
were open, was July 28-31, 2004. This and this alone was the driving factor
in selecting these dates. I keep hearing that FLW Outdoors should have
known the dates chosen would have overlapped with the Classic dates because
it’s been held during the same time for the last decade, even though BASS
had yet to make an announcement. But, when you look at their history, you
see that is not the case – the Classic has started as early as July 20
in 2000 and ended as late as August 14 in 1993.
Anyone who is familiar at all with competitive bass fishing
knows we have worked very hard for the past eight years to successfully
build FLW Outdoors and our tournaments into the largest, most successful
tournament circuits in the world. Anyone who knows anything about our policies
and commitments to all constituents relating to fishing knows that we would
never knowingly cause a problem or conflict for any of them, let alone
our sponsors or the anglers. Although we only have three FLW Outdoors sponsors
that also sponsor BASS, we absolutely would never deliberately put them
in the position of trying to be at both championships at the same time.
In fact, without our sponsors we couldn’t, nor would we attempt to have
any professional bass-fishing tournaments any more than BASS could or would
without their sponsors, or for that matter, any other sporting organization
or event such as NASCAR, professional baseball, basketball, football, etc.
It’s no secret that I got into the fishing-tournament
business eight years ago to support and grow our boat businesses. Why would
I knowingly ever try to do anything that deliberately conflicts with any
of our customers or sponsors, let alone the Federation members who are
owners of more Ranger, Stratos and Champion bass boats than any other organization
in America?
There is no question that BASS is the indisputable founder
of tournament bass fishing. Let’s not forget that Forrest and Nina Wood
and Ranger Boats were the first to step up and be part of BASS when it
began more than 30 years ago, and, without them, BASS would not have become
the organization that it is. Remember, Ranger continued its sponsorship
of BASS up until BASS decided to mix racing bass boats with tournament
fishing. Only then did Ranger say they wouldn’t be involved in any tournaments
that incorporated the potential dangers of racing. Ultimately, BASS and
its constituencies obviously agreed with Ranger since they scrapped the
racing-and-fishing format shortly after Ranger pulled out as a sponsor.
However, no one can deny that competitive bass fishing wouldn’t be where
it is today if it weren’t for FLW Outdoors. Without the founding support
of Forrest and Nina Wood and Ranger Boats, along with the prize money from
FLW Outdoors’ sponsors, competitive bass fishing would not be where it
is today or have grown as fast as it has over the past eight years.
Finally, I want to apologize to anyone who was even remotely
inconvenienced by this recent scheduling controversy. The FLW Outdoors
tournament staff is diligently working with the city of Birmingham and
the state of Alabama to secure an alternate summer date for the FLW Tour
Championship that does not conflict with the Classic. Wal-Mart, FLW Outdoors
and all of our sponsors are totally committed to the growth and success
of competitive fishing as well as creating an enjoyable and fun environment
for the entire family.
Sincerely,
Irwin L. Jacobs
Chairman, FLW Outdoors
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