Mike Iaconelli's big mouth helps fishing

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Mike Iaconelli's "big mouth" helps fishing

Sunday, January 08, 2006

The Dec. 5 issue of Sports Illustrated carried a fascinating article about Mike Iaconelli, the pompadour-wearing Yankee who won the 2003 Bassmaster Classic and has lots of good ol' boys muttering under their breath. If you haven't read the article, you should.

Even if you don't care anything about professional bass fishing, you've probably caught Iaconelli's act on ESPN. He's the young lad with the perfectly gelled hair who screams like a banshee each time he catches a bass of any size.

Iaconelli, who is despised by many of the older bass pros, can best be described as a cross between MTV and World Wrestling Entertainment. As one who has followed professional fishing for decades, I personally find Iaconelli's pandering to the TV cameras phony and contrived.

"I qualify the above attack on Iaconelli with the admission that the most likely reason for my disgust is that I am 50. Like many my age, I'm sick of the entire MTV generation and its boisterous, impolite attitude".

It's my belief that if you're paid millions of dollars to play linebacker in the NFL, you don't strut around when you stop a running back for no gain. That's your job. If you are paid millions to catch fish, well, don't act like an idiot when you catch a two-pounder. That's your job, for gosh sakes. It's all a matter of class, but class is lost on much of the younger generation.

I'm sure Iaconelli would have the look of a chicken watching a card trick if the late Paul Bryant were alive today to lay a hand on his shoulder and explain that when he catches a fish before the TV cameras, he needs to act as if he's been there before.

Like Iaconelli or not, there's no denying that he's one of the darlings of the pro bass tour who has been smart enough to carve out his niche. Gerald Swindle is also one of the darlings. The Warrior resident is as funny as any comedian I have ever seen and he leaves fans rolling in the aisles every tournament, but I don't know if Swindle has brought any new fans to the sport. Iaconelli has.

If someone had told me five years ago that a fisherman would come along who would draw the MTV kids away from their TVs and video games and get them interested in fishing, I would have laughed. The New Jersey native has also drawn the unlikely crowd of 20-something women to the sport. Not many former Classic champs have been viewed as sex symbols by that crowd.

As bad as it hurts, I must admit Iaconelli is good for the sport. With his crowd comes the opportunity to draw new sponsorship into the sport and that means more money for the fishermen. I'm sure a number of the 30-somethings on the bass pro tour are torn between the dislike of Iaconelli by the icons of the sport and the realization of what he may mean to their future.

The key element missing from professional bass fishing has always been the loudmouth everyone loves to hate. Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon have done wonders for NASCAR. If you can't watch Swindle or Kevin VanDam win a tournament, maybe you can at least see Iaconelli lose.

You also can't dismiss the fact that it's not Rick Clunn, Mark Davis or Takahiro Omori appearing in clips on ESPN or having stories written about them in Sports Illustrated.