Arkansas Sportsman

Ok, ok, ok: VanDam is KVD again

Aside from his considerable fishing skill, Kevin VanDam can also serve up a mean plate of crow.

A few weeks ago, I told Scott Rook of Little Rock that VanDam's time at the top of professional bass fishing was done.

VanDam, the most dominant angler of his generation and maybe the greatest of all time, does not dominate anymore.

He won four Bassmaster Classics in 2001, 2005, 2010 and 2011. Only he and Rick Clunn have won four Classic titles, but VanDam failed to qualify for the Classic in 2014 after 25 consecutive appearances.

In his first eight seasons with BASS, VanDam missed the top 50 only four times. He missed eight times in 2014, including the four worst finishes in his career.

VanDam was a nonfactor on the Bassmaster Elite Series Tour in 2015, as well. In fact, he hadn't won a tournament in five years.

I believed that VanDam lost a little intensity after tying Clunn with his fourth Classic victory. He was still a phenomenal bass angler, but there are a lot of phenomenal bass anglers in the Elite Series. VanDam had simply lost the something extra that made him "KVD."

Tiger Woods is still a fine golfer, I said, but he, too, lost the extra edge that intimidated and unnerved fellow competitors, although for different reasons. When I look at Tiger Woods, I no longer see his confident stride and his condescending scowl and smirk. I see Elin Woods working him over with a 9-iron while his mutilated Escalade idles stranded over a spewing fire hydrant.

Intimidating? Elin maybe, but not Tiger.

VanDam, in my opinion, downshifted after his fourth Classic victory. He had nothing left to prove and was satisfied to enjoy the benefits of being KVD.

Rook, of Little Rock, is one of VanDam's best friends and his longtime travel partner. He knows him better than any of his peers, and he said I was out-of-the-ballpark wrong.

Sponsors demand a lot more of VanDam's time and attention than they do from most other anglers, Rook said. As other anglers are practicing for tournaments, VanDam is working a show here or making some public relations appearance there, or doing a TV show somewhere else. Sometimes, Rook said, VanDam doesn't arrive at a tournament venue until the day before a tournament starts.

Meanwhile, his competitors have been practicing for a week. They are sharp and tuned, while VanDam often starts a tournament cold.

Exactly, I countered. KVD has lost his edge. He's doing the KVD thing. He's rich. He's famous. He is the face of his sport. He doesn't have to win anymore. He just has to show up, sign autographs, keep designing his signature KVD lures, take a few rich sponsors fishing when it's over and drive down the road to the next one.

There's a fine line between superior and superlative, I argued, and VanDam had slipped to the bottom side of that line.

Rook would have none of it.

"Just you wait," Rook said. "He'll be right back where he was."

Rook was right. Kevin VanDam, 48, is KVD again.

He has won two consecutive Elite Series tournaments this year, including last weekend at Cayuga Lake in New York. He also won at Toledo Bend in Texas in May. Those are radically different fisheries requiring radically different styles of fishing, different methods of preparation and different mindsets.

He also had to fish differently each day as conditions changed. Many pros cannot or will not make daily and hourly adjustments.

KVD, who has won 22 Bassmaster tournaments, has won more than $5 million and has finished in the money in 190 of the 233 events he fished. He's finished in the top 20 142 times, and he has 90 top 10 finishes.

Only Clunn, with 103, has more top 10s, but he has also fished in a lot more tournaments.

VanDam can settle for good who's the greatest bass angler of all time with one more Classic victory.

I still say it's Clunn, but KVD has proven me wrong before, and it won't hurt my feelings if he proves me wrong again.

N.I.F.E. Relocated

For those wondering what happened to N.I.F.E. Marine, the business moved to a new location in southwest Little Rock, at 6600 Murray St., in the same building as Donovan Marine.

Gary Hubble, owner of N.I.F.E. Marine, said, "The shop is officially air-conditioned, and we got water and soda pops so customers don't get dehydrated while they're waiting on me to fix their trolling motors."

Sports on 06/30/2016

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