Is it just me or is there something very, very wrong with paying out more money in a fantasy play-it-in-your-pajamas game than the players — on the field, actually playing the game — are making? Huh? Yeah, you can actually sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful fantasy game where the fantasy players in their PJs can knock down more than the "real" players on the field have the opportunity to win. Does this happen in fantasy football with the NFL? I don't' think so. Fantasy basketball and the NBA? Doubtful. Fantasy baseball and the MLB? Hey'ull no. Only in bass fishing could we have something this wacky nu-nu.
Of what do I type, you might ask? None other than FLW's Fantasy Fishing. Here's how it breaks down; payback for the 2009 FLW Tour is $7,820,500 while the payback for the 2009 FLW Fantasy Fishing is $10,000,000. Don't get me wrong, I think it is absolutely amazing that FLW Outdoors can dole out that kind of coin for a fantasy "game" (their quotes, not mine). Even though BASS had fantasy fishing before FLW, it kind of pisses me off that BASS let themselves get beat to the punch on the huge paybacks. Who would have thought?
Again, not here to bash anyone or throw bodies under the bus — if they fall down there, oh well. I just thought it was pretty odd that the payback for the fantasy game is more than the payback for the real game. Not just a few dollars more, but a few million dollars more. I wonder what the guys fishing FLW think about that. Have they thought about that? I think it's wrong. Why can't they throw a little of that money to the guys on the field?
I've always looked at fantasy games such as fantasy football, fantasy baseball, fantasy soccer (I've heard soccer is huge in other countries, so I'm sure they have fantasy soccer there), as games for the fun of it. Maybe a friendly little pool of dollars at the office, bragging rights, or some small time prizes. I never looked at it as being some major league, multi-level marketing scheme to sell stuff through. Go figure.
Speaking of fantasy games, my dearly beloved wife finished third overall in BASS Fantasy Fishing and won the BassCat Owners and Friends Group last year.
Before you go there, no, she didn't have any inside scoop from me. Dude, if you think I had some kind of inside line on the action during the Elite Series, don't you think I would have used it for my own team? Duh. I finished way, way down the list. Nope, she spanked all you boys and girls (except 6lb smallmouth and chansaw79), me included, on her own.
For her efforts, she won a really nice Fenwick rod from BASS and a cool trophy and fleece jacket from BassCat. On the wacky nu-nu side of things, if she had finished as well last year in the FLW soiree, she would have won a Chevy Silverado. Hm. I don't even know what to say about that. Can you hear the crickets chirruping?
I could be driving Tony's truck.
For more info on Kevin Short or to contact Kevin, check out his Web site at www.kfshort.com.