More Texas Exes
Posted by Pete Robbins on Nov 4th 2020
Every time the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest rolls around, I get a little bit choked up, and this week is no different. It reminds me of just how old I am, because one of the first professional events that Hanna and I attended together was the 2008 version of the tournament, like this year’s at Lake Fork, albeit not under the stewardship of BASS. Hanna had gone to the 2006 Classic with me, but had peeled off to spend time with a friend, and then again to the 2008 Classic at Hartwell, where she did the same thing. At that year’s TTBC, however, the PAA hired her to help with some administrative duties and she was initiated into the fraternity.
It wasn’t all work. There was a lot of eating, a little bit of beer drinking, and a fair dose of carousing, and while it doesn’t seem that long ago, as I look back through my limited snapshots from that week I’m reminded of how much has changed in just over 12 years. I see pictures of Mark Tyler, Byron Velvick, Guy Eaker, Mark Tucker, Danny Correia, and Derek Remitz, among others. Missing? Guys like Jacob Wheeler weren’t yet on the radar. Jordan Lee was still in high school. VanDam had only won two Classics.
Life moves pretty fast.
Someone’s gonna win a hundred grand this week. Someone’s gonna clinch the AOY title. There’s a pretty good chance someone will catch a 10-pounder. And 12 years from now, they may all be afterthoughts. Enjoy the “good old days,” because they’re gone in a flash, and in this sport you’re only as good as your next cast.
