Becoming an Old-Timer

When I entered elementary school, Happy Days was the hot show on TV. I must’ve started watching it around 1975 or 1976, and even though it purported to take place just two decades earlier, that seemed like ancient history. Now, if I look back 20 years, it just doesn’t seem that long ago. Part of that difference is that I have more decades of perspective at nearly 55 than I did at 5. Part of it is also the rate of change in society.

As we enter the 20th season of Bassmaster Elite Series competition, it’s hard for me to fathom that the initial season was really that long ago. On Tuesday I was talking to Mark Menendez about a tournament on the California Delta in 2007 (Aaron won it…he also meowed to a cat on TV) and we both recalled minute details from that week. Later that night I interviewed five-time Classic qualifier and one year Elite wonder Mike Reynolds. The second I heard the sound of his voice, memories of his 2005 win at Clarks Hill flooded back into my memory.

I can remember some of those details because I’m a bit of a savant when it comes to semi-useless information. However I can’t necessarily remember those same bits of minutiae from 2022 or 2023. My nieces and nephews would suggest that’s because when you get old your short term memory fades at a faster rate than your long term memory. I don’t completely buy that. I think the reason that I remember those Bassmaster events from circa 2006 so well is because it was such an amazing time in the sport. ESPN was trying to build it, Kevin the GOAT was approaching his peak, and it felt like we were building toward something. On a purely personal level, it was the dawn of my writing career and I’m fortunate that it came during those fun years.

So my goal for 2025 is not to rue those days gone by, but to celebrate what goes down during the upcoming season. I want to be able to pick up the phone in 20 years and recall a small detail from the Elite on the Pasquotank, or a moment of glory at upcoming Ray Roberts Classic. As things sometimes all start to blend together, I want to catalog and celebrate all the places we’ve been and everywhere else we’ll go in the future.