Swindle DQ'd

[Black_Bay]

I had Roland Martin do the same thing to me on Minnetonka during the FLW tournament in the marked area between Spray Island and Howards Point. He was going WFO with a fleet of wanna be's in tow as we were heading the other direction. He wasn't more than 30 feet from us either. When money is on the line, boating etiquette goes out the window for some guys.

[Duffman]

I'm not much of a tournament watcher, but with the storm going, it beats B J Outdoors.

So I saw it when it first happened and I was like "are you kidding me!!?". The guy shoots a 20' hole at 60 mph with a nine foot wide boat!! With cameras rolling!!! Unreal.

"That #&*%@ should be DQ'd!!!!" I shouted at the dogs.

Aparently, someone agreed.

[bassNspear]

He wasnt wide open. If you watch it, you can here him crank it open after he moves pass both boats. It was crazy thow. Being the camera man, i think i would be a bit fired up.

[Deitz Dittrich]

People make poor decisions. That was a very poor decision. I am sure he was caught up in the moment.. maybe even thought for a second that he would make less wake?... It doesnt matter. In my opinion, and I like the guy, He should be suspended for a few events for an action like that. I think B.A.S.S. needs to set an example. When you put peoples life in danger, and after seeing the footage, (UNLESS its some sort of optical illusion) He put 2 boats in quite a bit of danger. Then like a 6 game/tournament suspension?

On another note... If you watch, there was no where for him to be able to run on plane. Maybe B.A.S.S. needs to address that with the spectators and camera boats? Just thoughts to ponder!

[Daze Off]

Suspension is probably not a bad idea but losing a legitimate shot at a cool half-million in prize money is pretty severe by itself - he really appeared to be in contention. Myabe that's why he spun a bit out of control with this incident.

Daze Off

[cjac]

Fun stuff to watch regardless. If someone blew by me like that I'd be a bit miffed, and probably have soiled my pants.

The whole weekend reminded me of the video beeflover posted about a year ago, still one of my all-time favorites. Video

Chris

[Bushwacker]

His day two weight would have put him in 12th place going into the final day, so he was definitely in contention if he came up with a huge bag. I do feel for him a little bit because of the fact that he was waved through. Like Trip Weldon said, "would you go through a red light if I waved you through", but in the heat of the moment and basically being in a narrow river channel, I could see how it could happen. You can see him motion if he should go left(around) or down the channel and Randy Howell gives him the go ahead to come through. Howell wasn't the only boat there, but I could see how it would happen. Not a very intelligent move, but I think getting DQ'ed in a Classic in his own state will be punishment for Swindle for the rest of his life. He manned up by admitting he made a judgement error and apologized to his family, fans, and sponsors. Lessoned learned. The way that BASS has been loosing big names to the FLW, makes me think that they should leave the situation as is. G-Man is a great ambassedor for BASS and I think they would miss him if he jumps ship.

[beeflover]

Isn't it amazing all the crying goin on? Never seen so much crying on a sports show. I know Swindle was very tired and teed off but I'm not crying for the guy.

I reported a similar but worse incident at a State Tourney and the guy was only given a verbal warning.

Deitz has a point about spectators not blocking the channel but if they do you have to give them right a way.

I liked Howell's reaction, he says simply he shouldn't a done that and goes back to fishing. He definitely did not seize the opportunity to report Gerald S.

Way to go McWilliams eh? That was a choice spot with the warm water and the current, a nice slack area with rubble and some cover. The Pro's honored his spot even though they all knew about it and many of them could have beat him in there. That's great sportsmanship.

[Double]

While Ike's meltdown DQ and Swindle's knucklehead driving DQ were completely different incidents, a couple of things strike me about how each of these guys handled their DQs. Both disagreed with Trip, and both did not seem to address the entire reason for their DQs. Ike was miffed about being DQ'ed for cursing and trashing his light. The first thing that struck me about this was the American flag that his light was displaying, which got thrown into the drink when he threw his hissy fit. In my opinion, that in and of itself should be grounds for his DQ. I did not hear Ike address this, just [PoorWordUsage]ing and moaning that he got DQ'ed for throwing his light and his foul language.

Swindle seems to think that Randy Howell was the only other boat affected by his stunt. True he may have been the only other competitor in the area, but BASS safety rules are for all people, not just the competitors. Now the footage may have been edited, but it seemed as if Swindle was needling Howell about the incident when he told him of his DQ. I'm sure Howell couldn't have cared less about the fly-by, but again he was not the only one affected. True, he did apologize, but the impression I got from Swindle was that this action was not out of the norm for him. In fact, I believe the term he used was "just another day at the office."

We all make mistakes, some bigger than others. But how people handle their mistakes and whether or not they take accountability matters hugely in my eyes. In my opinion neither Ike nor Swindle owned up to their mistakes, and I have less respect for both of them because of it.

Regards,

Double