Local anglers Bird and Coumbs still hurting after Bassmania controversy
Politics and $128,000 = Bad Karma, Kontroversy
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| Two Haliburton anglers thought they had a pretty good shot at the winners cheque of $40,000. Yes, $40 K. The 50 on the cheques was a typo. Mike Reid and Wes Foster took home the bacon after passing a lie detector test? WTF? |
By Terrance Gavan
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
The five stages of grief.
Two local anglers are currently mired in number four.
It may take a while for number five to kick in.
We all, I think, can relate.
Scott Bird and Chris Coumbs, owner of The Wild Outdoors store on Highland Street
It’s Monday night, a full week after the Bassmania Championship Event, held Labour Day weekend (Sept 3-5) in Haliburton on the chain of five lakes.
And grief, stage four, is etched on their faces; you can still hear it resonate in their voices; grief and depression commingling; above and through the background din in the local sports bar.
The question that hangs in the air is cogent, concise and poignant.
What do you do when the tournament you’ve been working a year for is suddenly yanked from your grasp?
You see, this is a small town.
There are reputations at stake.
Rumors abound.
Again, I think most of us can relate.
The topic of conversation rolling and rumbling around the local fishing community last week centered on why Bird and Coumbs had not put their boat in the water.
Why they had not been allowed to fish in a tournament they had clearly earned the right to be in.
Why two of the early favorites and local heroes had been asked to withdraw their boat from the $128,000 Bass Championship.
I called them up and they graciously agreed to meet with the Voice, even though both were clearly uncomfortable with the spotlight.
Both said they didn’t want to point accusatory fingers, just to let Haliburton know, that they did not break any pre-fishing regulations. They did not fish in the month of August, and they did not receive any insider information.
“We didn’t break any rules,” says Bird, who says he’s been around these tourneys long enough to know both the letter and the intent of the rules.
But after a lengthy conversation with Bassmania event director, Andy Pallotta, just after the tournament dinner and tourney rules meeting on Sept 2 they were asked to remove their boat from the Haliburton Bassmani event.
There were allegations put forward regarding Rule 10 (see below). What concerns Bird and Coumbs was the tenor of the conversation. They say it was unprofessional. They were asked to withdraw and they feel they were not accorded a proper airing of the facts.
Both Bird and Coumbs say they were left non-plussed. They asked for an explanation. They offered to take a lie detector test. (Oddly enough, lie detectors, despite their known issues, are used at pro bass events to ensure that the winners have not transgressed any of the stringent rules.) All to no avail.
Rule 10 states: “There shall be no advantageous third party communication on or off the water during the event with competing or non-competing individuals. Doing so may result in disqualification.”
Bird says vehemently that he did not violate the rule. Coumbs concurs.
And here it simply devolves into a he-said, she-said, they-said argument.
For now Bird remains visibly distressed. Stage four.
Not angry. Not remorseful. But hurt.
That’s what happens in the churning wake of crushed dreams.
“I’d just like to tell all the people in the area who were behind us that I appreciate their support,” says Bird. “And I’d like to tell them that we didn’t cheat … why would we? We knew that we had a very good chance to finish well in this tournament. I feel that I was wrongly accused.”
For Coumbs, it remains a question of honor.
“If someone could bring the facts to me and say that we did cheat, I’d like to see them,” says Coumbs.
For both anglers the pangs of the ouster still lie heavy on their minds and in their hearts.
A burden much heavier than the four and five-pound largemouth they had envisioned catching last weekend.
If you’re not a fisherman; if you’ve never had the chance to compete for your home town in a championship tourney; well, it may all seem just a tad confusing.
Both Coumbs and Bird concur on one analogy that might tweak some lonesome memories of loss and depression for some of you non-anglers out there.
“It’s no different than the Leafs playing for the Stanley Cup at home, and then being told that you can’t go on the rink,” says Coumbs.
It’s the one time all night that all three, Coumbs and Scott were able to muster half-hearted smiles.
“I felt really good about our chances, and with us being from here, well that made it so much better,” said Coumbs. “And with our second place finish in the tournament here on July 1st, I felt that we had a very good chance to win it.”
“I won it last year, (the one day tourney in 2009),” says Bird. “We came second this year and I’ve done well in a lot of tournaments. We had a good chance of doing very well.”
And as for the fifth stage?
Acceptance.
Well, that will come in time.
For now, they just want to be square on a couple of points.
They did not withdraw from this tournament voluntarily.
They proclaimed their innocence well into the evening after the rules meeting on Thursday, Sept 2.
And they feel they were unjustly accused of an infraction of Rule 10.
“We’d like everyone to know that we didn’t break the rules,” says Bird. “You will never understand how I feel. I do everything by the rules. It’s my job to do everything by the rules.”
And for everyone who knows Scott Bird – and Chris Coumbs.
That’s a robust and bankable statement.
And an integral part of that tough fifth step.
Both add that they purposely wanted to leave names out of this discussion.
The anger is gone.
But.
The grief remains.
Acceptance – coming.
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