Luke Clausen

[Bulletproof]

Alright this is my final critique/analysis of the Classic.

Is it just me or did Luke just not seem to be all that excited about winning.?  Maybe this was because of his cool and calm demeanor.

Personally speaking if it was me, well you don't want to know, but I'd be doing some cartwheels and a couple roundoff's and probably have a grin on my face that looks something like this-- 

Everyone celebrates differently, hey?

I guess not a terribly important topic, just another inane idea of mine.  Thanks for bearing with me.  I'll shut up for a while now.

[superjay5]

I'm not sure how I would react, I would say I would be doing cartwheels, but at the same time I might just be shell shocked and be calm?

[Cheetam]

He won $500,000 in his rookie season in the FLW in 2004...so I guess if you win $500,000 twice, it isn't so much fun?

[MBell]

ESPN was certainly not promoting him, I just saw sportscenter and they show him holding up the trophy but the top 5 results cover his face and they zoomed in on the trophy.  I am not familiar with him, but some reaction would have been nice.  Of all the west coast guys who thougt he would be the first.
-Matt

[dhuff]

I would of rather seen Rick Morris win it.  He seemed like he was having way more fun than anyone.  He seemed like he was more excited in second than Luke Clausen was by winning.  I think Morris would of showed tons of emotion.  I don't know to much about him.  But he sure had a good attitude and he did a great job on the last day.

[smbassman]

I thought the reaction to winning was a little strange and turning down the Busch shootout invite was also weird.  I was wondering if he has some strange religion that does not allow celebration or the support of alcohol brands.........  He is probably some sort of perverted, deranged mormon religious cultist from out there in Utah.  Sorry, I realized I was going down one of those internet theory roads and figured I would take it to the end.

Back on track...  His reaction was strange but I must say for guy to have two career wins and they happen to be FLW Championship and the Bassmaster Classic, that is incredible!  And he is only 27!!

[djkimmel]

I think he just has to be confused and maybe the camera bumped him in the head or something. I would probably make Ike look calm (without the swearing) if I won the Classic although my immediate reaction might be to faint.

[djkimmel]

Pretty amazing though - the guy wins the two biggest tournaments you can win and $1,000,000. Maybe he's the $500,000 man?!?

From Ranger Boats:

Monday February 27, 2006

RANGER PRO LUKE CLAUSEN WINS 36TH BASSMASTER CLASSIC

With no previous BASS wins to his credit, Ranger Pro Luke Clausen used one of the sport's biggest stages - an event older than he is - to notch his first win and make his place in bass fishing history. With a three-day total and new Bassmaster Classic record winning weight of 56 pounds, 2 ounces, Clausen captured the 36th Bassmaster Classic on Sunday as the youngest competitor in the field.
MORE >>

[Cy]

I was sitting there on Sunday at the weight in when he was "crowned" the champion and he looked completely unimpressed!!!  I said the same thing to my buddy, he looked almost unhappy.  He hardly even cracked a smile.  I don't understand it.  Shortly after the weight in, we were leaving and his Mon and Dad were in front of us and they were walking to the car like it was any other day.  The only way I could tell it was them was by the flowers that she was carrying.

Cfruel

[blakstr1]

Luke had a smug grin on his face all week, he is a cool but kind of cocky character.  He is a pretty nice guy though, I talked to him before he weighed in Friday and you could see the excitement then, he has a pretty good game face.  The thing is he everyone knew he had the winning bag before the weigh in, I'll explain all of that over on Blake's Excellent Adventures a little later.  As for the Busch Shoot Out, Luke already had schedule conflicts so he opted out of the Shoot Out, had to make a choice and I guess he has to be satisfied with that.  Everybody was on huge fish in practice he was fortunate enough to find the ones that other guys didn't and that he could get too early enough.  Jay Yelas took the Busch sticker off of his Classic boat because of his convictions and I commend him for that.

[Revtro]

Yeah guys, I commend Yelas for sticking to his beliefs whether people believe the same way as him or not.? It's a hard thing to do in today's society.? This isn't what this topic is about, but since blakstr1 brought it up I felt like chiming in since I'm a very religious person.? I may not share all the same views about the whole alcohol thing as Jay Yelas, but I commend anyone who is willing to stand by their convictions no matter what anyone else thinks.? Again, it's a very hard thing to do in today's world because everyone likes to slam us religious folks.? (glad that doesn't happen on these forums too much)? So I highly respect anyone who can stick to their guns like that regardless of whether or not I agree with them.?

Anyway, I'm not trying to start a religious debate (please dont' take it that way!), so back to the topic at hand..? I don't know why Luke didn't seem excited.? And I didn't totally understand his comment about he and Rick Morris not being friends after the weigh in results.? Seems like the emcee didn't quite get that either and Morris had a funny look on his face as well.? Maybe Luke was just shell shocked by the whole experience and didn't know how to act.? Although, as I was reading the last page in Bassmaster today about the bass class for pros, I couldn't help but think that Luke may have benefited from going to that, if he didn't already.

[blakstr1]

I may not share all the same views about the whole alcohol thing as Jay Yelas, but I commend anyone who is willing to stand by their convictions no matter what anyone else thinks.?

If you're going to stand for anything, you have to stand for everything...Jay does no matter what.? Otherwise someone will undoubtedly try to throw out the "hypocrit" tag.

[Revtro]

Not sure if we should start much of a discussion about this on a fishing forum...and I'm not sure I totally understood the comment, but the hypocrite tag is a very subjective thing.  Everybody has a different idea of what constitutes hypocrisy.  So although I consider myself a conservative person, I also realize there needs to be room for interpretations of things other than mine.  This means that someone can differ with me without me necessarily thinking they're a hypocrite.  If mankind could learn to view one another in this fashion, I think it would be much easier to know who's genuine and who's not. 

Again, I might be misunderstanding the quote "If you're gonna stand for anything, you have to stand for everything".  Sorry if I am.  Every person of faith has their own understanding of what constitutes "everything".  Christians like to try to make it more cut and dry than it really is.  That's where much of our intolerance comes from.

I believe Jay Yelas is the real deal.  I think he's a very genuine person from what I've read and heard about him.  So even though I may differ from him on some of the particulars of faith related things, I respect him and don't view him as a hypocrite and I'd venture a guess that he would view me the same. 

Anyway, I don't want to be labeled as the guy who is trying to start religous discussions on a fishing forum.  I'm not.  I was just commenting on something that was already said.  I dont' claim to have all the answers.  So I'll leave my thoughts at that.  I'm totally open to discussing this more via email or PM though if anyone wanted to.

But back to fishing...  Anyone know if Larry Nixon is planning on fishing more B.A.S.S. events this year or is he strictly fishing FLW?  If he's gonna be fishing some of the B.A.S.S. events, then I don't see why they didn't give him some coverage.  Also, I did watch the FLW event on Okeechobe and noticed that they really seemed to be picking on Skeeter when they were blocking out guys' shirts.  Also, it seemed like it was all old coverage when they were blocking out shirts.  I think it woud be awesome if FLW would rise above this kind of stuff.  In that case, B.A.S.S. would end up looking like the dufus'.  I was sorry to see all the fuzzed out shirts in that coverage.  Seems pretty silly and looked very cheesy.

[Cheetam]

Anyone know if Larry Nixon is planning on fishing more B.A.S.S. events this year or is he strictly fishing FLW??

I believe he is done with BASS....11 events in one year was too much for him.

[Hooksetter]

I believe Larry Nixon is only fishing FLW events this year.

[joshimoto son]

Revtro,

I do know what day of the week you work and I am never offended by your posts... and I am writing just to tell you that your last post has inspired me. I guess what I'm telling you is that I'm going to use your idea and write a letter to FLW and Ranger... I know that I am only a drop in the bucket, but like I said, you have inspired me... and I feel compeled to do this. The reason I'm telling you this is because if it does get any attention... I want the credit to go to the right place.

[blakstr1]

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/article.cfm?id=144105

A good article about Luke, describes in more detail who he is and what he's about...a good champion..

[carolina chip]

Maybe this was because of his cool and calm demeanor

This was at the Classic (Friday before):



You are exactly right.... He is a very humble and all around nice guy. Like all other Pros, he is dealing with this Federation/Federation Nation thing too.....

A very nice young man!

Chip