The thing I don't care for about Ike is that the persona he puts forth seems forced. It doesn't suit him. The talking like an inner-city punk while on camera during a tournament and then speaking how you'd expect someone that looks like him to speak during interviews. So my opinion is that he has sort of harnessed the fact that he will remain in the spotlight as long as he continues with the same type of behavior. I don't know, I found myself pulling for him a little during the classic. I think I see through the image thing he's putting forth. You can't deny that he's good. But I was pleased that KVD won it. There's a guy I admire. And, he sounds like me when he talks. Sort of that nazally midwestern thang.
But I do think Ike should maybe give his persona a little tune-up. Not change it, just tweak it a little. Definitley no break dancing. Then again, remember that footage of Skeet Reese dancing on the weigh-in stage? That was pathetic. Very pathetic. Not funny or cute. Pathetic.
KVD, Davie Hite, Shaw Grigsby, Mark Davis, Gary Klein.....Guys like these are all about the sport and the competition. Not about trying to be like a rock star at the same time. I know, I was a rock star type long before I became a bassin' fool. I used to talk music all the time. Now all I talk is bass fishing. But I still jam from time to time.
Anyway, I just might buy that book and read it. Because Ike has done what we haven't been able to do yet, make a good living at bass fishing. Props to Ike.
