“And even though I know the river is wide…”
Dateline: St. Johns River, Palatka, Fla.
“Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them.”
– John Updike
And so on this, the seventh day of February in the year 2019 the lifelong dreams of many of the new Elites have launched on the St. Johns River from the docks of Palatka, Fla.
I told several of them yesterday, take a moment and look around, drink it all in, the sunrise, the crowd, take a moment to smile, take a moment to realize that, yeah buddy, dreams do come true.
And then snap out of it and fish your ass off.
Welcome to the bigs!
My goal this season is to bring you even closer, bring you inside this sport and to have you see it through the eyes of those seeing it for the first time.
Drill down.
Drill deep.
All the while looking for, trying to figure out which of the new Elites will lift this sport to the next level and carry it on their backs, as did those who got us these last 50 years.
This is going be cool, here we go.
“…I walk down every evening…”
“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.“
– Johann Wolfgang van Goethe
Day one, picture day, I’m watching all those who thought that taking a yearbook photo was way behind them.
Guess what, it ain’t.
Here’s the scene, they are standing in front of a green screen, it’s a technical gizmo that lets us put whatever stuff we want to show behind them, think Star Wars with lures.
They are told to give attitude to the camera. I’m just watching, snapping some pics and when they are done with the headshots I walk up, say “Hey.” and “What’s your name dude?”
“Ed, Ed Loughran from Richmond, Va.…”
“Lets sit and talk.”
“Ok.”
Ed is an attorney, civil, is 48 years old, married to Alison with two kids, Tony, 12 and Katie, 14, and I’m kind of searching as to what to ask, or to be truthful, trying to get a feeling if Ed is cool, or you know, an attorney.
“I came here straight from work, parked my truck and boat right in front of the courthouse so I could make a quick, clean break.”
I’m going cool based on the photo in my head of his bass boat parked in front of the courthouse.
“I grew up inside the beltway (meaning he knows where to park cheap in Washington D.C.) and to be honest went to a pretty fancy private school, but I was, you know, um, let’s be honest I drove a truck there and was really into fishing.” (Meaning none of his fishing shirts had the polo playing label on them.)
I just smile, I went to public school (a couple of them but that’s another story) and all my shirts had a Sears label on the inside because my father sold refrigerators there and got a discount.
“I’ve been fishing since I was 12 and guided during my college years, made the All-American Tournament in 1992, basically been fishing tournaments for 36 years.”
Graduate of the University of Richmond Law School, Wall Street Trader for a while, high stakes stuff.
With those cards on the table I skip all the nice-nice talk about the Washington Redskins and the Nationals and cut to the chase, “You ready for what you are facing?” knowing that a 5-pounder bass in the grass is a pretty darn big merger deal too.
My pen is down, we are eye to eye, waiting for the closing argument from the counselor: “I’m all-in db, all-in. With age and experience you get to understand the strategy involved, so no I’m not one to get spun out when things aren’t going well.”
To be honest the guy seemed kind of quiet, but you know what, if you are going to growl do it in the fight, not from behind the fence.
“I’m a grinder, the ups, the downs, I can grind it out.”
And with that came the fire within the man.
To which I smiled.
“…and I stand on the shore…”
“I have had dreams, and I’ve had nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.”
– Jonas Salk
“Let’s talk, what’s your name?”
“I’m Derek Hudnall from Baton Rouge, La.”
Derek is 38, married to Anya, two kids, Payton, 3, and Braxton, 15.
Here’s the honest truth, he’s 38, but if I was behind the bar I’d check his ID to make sure he was old enough to get snookered.
In the story I wrote last week he is one of the guys who I quoted his answer in a B.A.S.S. questionnaire, here’s that quote:
“I don’t consider myself to be one of the most talented anglers out there, but I can dream just as big as anyone! My main handle on Social Media, #DreamBIG, defines my heart, my passion and my soul. Anything in life can be achieved with hard work and dedication. I do not come from fame, money or book smarts. If your not constantly living out steps to one day achieve your dreams, you’re not dreaming big enough! Our society needs more ambassadors and less politicians.”
In truth I knew who he was before I asked him who he was. I love what he wrote, but I’ve been around the block some in sports and I just had really one question for him based on “dream big.”
And so I sat across the table from this clean-shaven, fresh-faced young man, and from my all wrinkled up scraggly old man face came this, “What happens when the dream big becomes a big nightmare?”
After all I never said I worked at the Hallmark Channel.
“Failure can lead to success you know, I may not be the most talented out here, but I can dream as big as anyone, this is the first step.”
I like this young man a lot, I love what he says, but in honesty I worry some about the thought of “not most talented out here,” and while I admire that frankness I’m going to have to work on understanding that thought.
Here’s why, in what I do, in my professional life, I don’t take prisoners. I have an ice cold killer heart in that I work hard to be the most talented in what I do and have a scorched earth policy against those who I go up against because at the highest level of this business I’m in it is heartless.
I have a middle linebacker attitude to what I do, if you have the football and are coming through the front line, the most talented between us will be the one who gets the yards. I expect the collision, I’m going to take your head off, you are going to want to run through me, that’s how it works, don’t try and tip-toe through.
Dream big young man and hit this sport full speed with all you’ve got.
“…and try to cross to the opposite side…”
And so like myself, the crowd comes this early morning, this first launch with the old and new Elites, to see who are the men in the boats, some of whom they know, some of whom they will get to know.
To the new Elites I say this, win big or lose big but never fear to step into that void. Never fear to take your place.
To the young man in the sunrise, know this, the most success I’ve had in life is when I’m faced with doing stuff I know nothing about.
Because then it is all up to me, which is the only way I want it to be.
If you think I can’t do what I am about to do I will take my place.
Today is the first day of your professional bass fishing career.
Your place is waiting.
Take it.
db
“…so I can finally find out what I’ve been looking for.”
The River of Dreams
Billy Joel
“When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say, ‘Wow, that was an adventure,’ not, ‘Wow, I sure felt safe.’”
-Tom Preston-Werner