If your're gonna start strong you gotta stay strong til the end. Skeet did not and it cost him. I do not agree with this format, but everyone was subject to them from start to finish and the best angler won according to these rules. Yes, it sucks for Skeet, but he did not get it done.

Yes there are regular season winners, conference winners, and championships. The NFL set the format and the teams and team owners agree to play by those rules. If they do not like it they can go play in Canada. Maybe Skeet should take up Walley or Red fishing, I believe they still have the same old format, but I am pretty sure the payout is not even close.

Correction on "Skeet won the regular season, just not the post season" Skeet did not win anything, except two tournaments and the respect of many fans and anglers for having a great season. There is no regular season winner or post season winner, only AOY that is comprised of both regular and post season results. Pretty simple, does not seem that hard to grasp to me either.

It blows my mind also. I just don't see how anyone can look at how the format works and awards points and then defend it as a legitimate way to crown the AOY. The AOY is for the Angler that was the most consistent on different lakes around the country in different seasons.

And somehow defend the fact that these two additional tournaments should carry more weight and not only that, but before we go into those two tournaments we should take points away from the leaders. I don't get it at all....

Clunn is right, it's a mockery of the most difficult title to attain in Bass Fishing since I was a boy. It stood the test of time ever since I can remember.

We keep comparing it to other sports, which it can't be post season is not the same, their are no playoffs. But IMO this is like saying, Home Runs count for double points in the last 2 weeks of the regular season. Stupid...

Nascar points system sucks, so why would they follow them?

All tournaments need to be scored evenly and then total winner will be the one with the most points.

The only reason they are doing this is to try to make more money for themselves. Not for the good of the sport. They are trying to make drama for TV, as well creating a higher value for the tournaments late in the season. They get paid big bucks for every tournament they put on.
And now if these last couple of tournaments will decide the championship then those stops on the trail become premium events. Premium events will allow them to charge more to the local areas to bring those tournaments there. It�s all about the Benjamin�s! and not for the good of the sport.

"The current format doesnt give any angler a advantage."

This is the point everyone sane is trying to make.Skeet based on his historical performance in all of the "fullfield"events deserved a huge advantage over everyone else in the playoffs.To lose 300 or so points to a guy who qualified last by finishing 7 spots behind him is a crazy way to award an seasons champion.

they forget the concept of the phrase "angler of the YEAR"....

The same rules apply for everyone.....I know there are alot of Ike lover's on here. What if he had done what Kevin did? Would everyone be ragging on him as well?

Not sayin that everyone is ragging on KVD, it's more about the system and format, but still...

All very true. Could not agree more with everyone on what should be. But here in the real world not everything is rainbows and sunshine. Tough decisions must be made and it can cause some problems until it is worked out. Understood Skeet getting upset last year about the AOY award, but now it is just ridiculous. He knew what he needed to do. Whether he liked the format or not he decide to fish with BASS again. There were no surprises, no change of points from what was planned from the beginning, every angler knew what they would need to do in the regular season to qualify for the top 12 and what they would need to do to win the AOY. But for BASS and FLW to survive they must make smart business decisions. These decisions in the end are what are best for the anglers, because it generates money. Money they would not be able to compete for if it were not for BASS and FLW.

Well, now that ESPN has sold B.A.S.S. we will see if there are any changes in competition and formats. I think Jerry McKinnis will add a breath of fresh air to B.A.S.S. and it will soon be run from a Tournament Fisherman's prosepective.

he is right

Look at this a different way. If these last 2 events were full field events with the normal point structure. Reese finished 10th out of 12 at Jordan. That is like finishing 77th in the 93 boat field (the Elite field this year). 77th in a normal event gets you 121 points. KVD finished 3rd, gets you 290 points. Add those totals to the end of the regular season, Reese leads KVD 2,237 to 2,115. Last event, KVD wins, leads 2 days, 310 total points. Reese finishes 6th out of 12, translates to 46th in a full field event, worth 183 points. KVD wins AOY with 2,425 pints to Reese's 2,420 points.

Before all the post season haters jump on me, I know Reese probably fishes differently if these are full event fields. But I am just showing that with the way the post season results played out, KVD really dominated these 2 events and Reese was terrible. KVD scored 90 points in the last 2 events to Reeses 44. The 2nd best point total in those 2 events was Butcher with 68. Reese's total was 9th out of the 12 anglers. If Reese just finishes with the 12 angler average point total of 56 points in those 2 events, he wins AOY. This has nothing to do with the format, but more to do with Reese just not getting the job done and KVD taking advantage of that.

Who do you blame when you lose but feel you should have won? The system, the guy/team that beats you? The Mavs had the best record in the NBA a few years ago, the team with the 8th best record beat them in the 1st round of the playoffs. Do you blame the NBA for setting up a bad match up for the Mavs? Do you blame G-State for pulling out the win?

The system was set up at the beginning of the year. Your job, as the player, is to figure out how to win under that system. Plain and simple, Reese failed under the system for the 2nd straight year. KVD took advantage of that for the 2nd straight year. You don't blame the system or your opponent. One of the best seasons ever, fine, who cares. Reese took home over $300,000 for that best season ever. He was rewarded. But he didn't win the title, didn't desearve it. The Mavs didn't deserve to be called NBA champions, Reese doesn't deserve to be called AOY this year. Maybe next year.

Maybe keep things as they are, but only the end of season points leader gets to know in advance what bodies of water the "post season" in on. In essence the end of season points leader is the only angler to get pre-tourney info. - kinda like home field advantage in a way.

I guess my point is that there are 10,000 ways to declare a points champion. In the last Club I was in we had 3 different titles that we gave out. A Mr. Bass for points gained in tournaments. A MatchPlay title that was a head to head double elimination bracket style. I implemented that in 1995 in the Club to keep things interesting. And a Calcutta where it is based on fish weight in a different set of tournaments. It doesn't matter what the rules are for each one of them, it only matters that there are rules before the action starts and everyone is playing under the same set of rules.

That Club's Matchplay for example, I was knocked out of it one year after finishing 2nd and 3rd in consecutive events. I just happened to be paired against the winner and 2nd place finisher in those events. Those 2 didn't do anything else all season, but they knocked me out of the competition, while others who hadn't fished at all moved on. I just shook their hands, said nice job and moved on. I didn't say the rules were unfair, or that I should move on because I would have beat them at any other event that year. I won Mr. Bass that year, didn't come close in MatchPlay. The rules were different, different results. But the rules were in place at the beginning of the year for both. Everyone was on the same page and knew what they were.

I think it's more of a name problem than a format problem.

I really don't see a problem with the way it is now. During the course of the season everyone competes to be in the top 12 and be eligible to fish in the last two tournaments. It then becomes a two tournament series to determine who is the best of the best. Once again it proved that KVD was the best of the year..............