Where Have You Gone Rodney Wagley?
Posted by Pete Robbins on Jun 1st 2021
When I saw the pictures of Buddy Gross, who injured his ankle riding a horse just a week before he’s due to compete in the Classic, the first person I thought of was Rodney Wagley. For those of you not old enough to remember, 22 years ago the Classic was held in New Orleans. It ended up being won by current B.A.S.S. media personality Davy Hite, but before the derby some people (perhaps Rodney’s family members?) claimed that Wagley the local was among the tournament favorites.
Wagley made it further along that Gross before getting injured, but not by much. During his first run on the first day of competition, his boat hit something and spun out of control. Some thought he’d hit a gator. Some thought he’d hit a big gar or a log. Others suspected that he just hit the trim button a bit too much. In any event, he was injured, and no doubt a little bit shaken as well, and ended up a disappointing 38th.
I don’t really know much about Wagley. I once had breakfast with him at Toledo Bend when the first day of a tournament there was canceled. My pro partner was friends with him, so we all ended up at the same place for eggs. It was not particularly memorable. His last B.A.S.S. event was the 2001 Tour event on Kissimmee – not the one that Rojas won, but rather the tournament that Timmy Horton won later that year. I also don’t know if the heartache or embarrassment of a poor finish at home is the reason we never heard from him again.
But what would have happened if Wagley had not been hurt, regardless of the reason it happened?
Was he on the fish to beat Davy Hite?
Probably not – after all, Hite beat his nearest competitor, Hall of Famer Denny Brauer, by almost 10 pounds. Only three more pros (veterans Larry Nixon, Gary Klein and Ron Shuffield) were within 15 pounds of Hite. Still, embrace the hypothetical: if Wagley had won, would he still be around today?
This sport, like all of them, chews people up and spits them out. Anglers with far better and longer track records than Rodney Wagley – many of them more recent, too – are more or less forgotten. Buddy Gross, judging by his past results and his demeanor, will have more chances. He may even win this Classic. But I bet he won’t get on any more horses this close to the big dance. The opportunities are too few and too far in between.
