The New You is a Winner
Posted by Pete Robbins on Apr 1st 2021
Last year I turned 50, which apparently is a pretty big milestone, but I didn’t feel all that different the day after my celebration than I did the day before. I might’ve been a little bit happier because of the big birthday cake my wife served, and I might’ve been a little bit fatter because of that same cake, but otherwise I was pretty much the same person.
Until his recent win at Pickwick, Bill Lowen was known among fans, and among his peers as “someone who does it the right way” and also as “one of the best never to win a major tournament.” Although I doubt that the first part of that equation has changed, clearly a big blue trophy tells us otherwise about the latter prong. I don’t think that Bill Lowen is any better with a flipping jig or a swim jig than he was a month ago. His casting probably isn’t any better, nor does his boat ride faster. His wife still probably makes him take out the garbage. The only thing that’s changed is that his bank account has slightly more padding.
Nevertheless, I’d submit that as far as the Elite Series field goes, Bill Lowen is now a different person.
He knows that he can win.
Everyone else knows that he can win.
That changes the dynamic for everyone, as it’s proof positive that Lowen can seal the deal. You have to fear him as a closer. I know they all say that they’re “not fishing against the other anglers, just against the fish,” but the truth is that you have to catch more than everyone else if you want your check to be three figures instead of two. As much as the anglers always claim they want to be admired for their ethics and behavior (and I believe the vast majority truly do), more than anything else they want to be respected and – dare I say it? – feared. They want to be the guy you look at it in the morning and say: “I need to be not just good, but GREAT, to beat him today.”
Of course, it bears noting that Lowen isn’t the only first-time Elite winner this year. Bryan New and Jeff Gustafson also joined the surprisingly small lower-case-e-elite group of Elite Series winners. That’s three more guys everyone knows can slam the door shut, three more competitors who are now known to be a threat at every event. It’s not bragging if you’ve got the hardware and bank account to prove it.
