So what will happen at the next meeting?

[ebond]

I have been ignoring the other similarly titled topic for over a month for obvious reasons. Judging by the tremendous number of views, and the tragic suspension of "Mark117" in its wake, it still appears to be a senseless mosh pit.

I believe that current and future TBF members need to focus on how we can improve our organization in the near future and over the long term. Please join TBF of MI or consider joining before commenting. So what will the next meeting hold in store for The Bass Federation of Michigan? 

Eric Bond
TBF Renegade

[Mike Nolan]

Well you seem to be suggesting that anyone that is not a current member of TBF and may be hesitant to re-join, should not express any opinions or concerns regarding the organization!?!?  If that's the case let's make another stipulation; "anyone that is delusional enough  to think that their presence in a state fish-off tournament has value to anyone other than themselves (and should be fully compensated for actual time off work and all travel costs), should not be able to express ANY opinion regarding ANY fishing related topic on ANY Internet site (or listen to Buckethead)".  How's that sound?

[gr@ssmonkey]

I have been ignoring the other similarly titled topic for over a month for obvious reasons. Judging by the tremendous number of views, and the tragic suspension of "Mark117" in its wake, it still appears to be a senseless mosh pit.

I believe that current and future TBF members need to focus on how we can improve our organization in the near future and over the long term. Please join TBF of MI or consider joining before commenting. So what will the next meeting hold in store for The Bass Federation of Michigan? 

Eric Bond
TBF Renegade

maaaaannnn!!! i was enjoying mark117 and his views

[MadWags]

and the rabbit hole spirals deeper.

[djkimmel]

I honestly think almost everyone on the other thread is trying to make the federation better in their own way. In my opinion, a small number of people seem unaware of how the democratic process works. I am pretty confident a large number of people get it. It's nice to see many people willing and able to share their opinions in a mature and respectful manner, trying their best to keep a hot topic from getting out of control.

That's much better than some telling other people they can't have their opinions just because they are or seem different, or for some other equally irrelevant reason. To me, that last kind of attitude is the pathetic one. Simply because it is guaranteed to cost members for any organization.

If people didn't care, they wouldn't bother to comment AND they wouldn't join. There are members out there to be gained. Now it's just a matter of the right people showing they are listening. And learning. Or not...?

[djkimmel]

To me, there's a simple concept at the base of all of this - the price for anyone of coming here and sharing their opinion, is to expect and respect the opinions of others fairly and equally. Because everyone's' opinions are no more or less equal than anyone else's. It can't go only one way - my opinion only and no one else's. That makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person. Anyone who wants to be heard must be willing to give equal time listening to others.

Don't disrespect others. And don't disrespect the site. Very simple.

[motocross269]

I will be interested to see how the Fund raising events are going...Hopefully I will be able to make one or two...

I will be interested to see how the numbers have grown...

I hope I will be able to pick up tickets to the "Stricker" raffle..

I wonder how the conservation project is coming...

How is Brian coming with volunteers and whatever else he needs for the Jr State fish off...

I hope our club members have their FLW membership materials by then..   

I am sure I will think of more as we go...   

[River Rat]

To me, there's a simple concept at the base of all of this - the price for anyone of coming here and sharing their opinion, is to expect and respect the opinions of others fairly and equally. Because everyone's' opinions are no more or less equal than anyone else's. It can't go only one way - my opinion only and no one else's. That makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person. Anyone who wants to be heard must be willing to give equal time listening to others.

Don't disrespect others. And don't disrespect the site. Very simple.

Amen.

I'll be at the mtg but will be listening and hopefully learning first.  I hope to be able to voice a question or concern should I have any.

If I may offer this perspective: Yes, I fish the BFLs and tournaments are important to me (within reason), but my first goal is to find ways to expand the youth programs and even try to find the avenues to start "clubs" in the local downriver communities/schools.

More to come later,
Scott

[motocross269]

To me, there's a simple concept at the base of all of this - the price for anyone of coming here and sharing their opinion, is to expect and respect the opinions of others fairly and equally. Because everyone's' opinions are no more or less equal than anyone else's. It can't go only one way - my opinion only and no one else's. That makes absolutely no sense to any thinking person. Anyone who wants to be heard must be willing to give equal time listening to others.

Don't disrespect others. And don't disrespect the site. Very simple.

Amen.

I'll be at the mtg but will be listening and hopefully learning first.  I hope to be able to voice a question or concern should I have any.

If I may offer this perspective: Yes, I fish the BFLs and tournaments are important to me (within reason), but my first goal is to find ways to expand the youth programs and even try to find the avenues to start "clubs" in the local downriver communities/schools.

More to come later,
Scott

Scott, I went to the last meeting and the board was very receptive to comments by the members that were in attendance..The meeting was well run and 2 way conversation was encouraged...Look forward to meeting you..

Brian

Brian

[ebond]

...their presence in a state fish-off tournament has value to anyone other than themselves (and should be fully compensated for actual time off work and all travel costs), should not be able to express ANY opinion...

...The state team needs roughly $11,000 to cover the costs of lodging, travel fuel, team shirts, and boat fuel and oil...

This total does not include any personal allowance for a week off from work or other miscellaneous expenses...

For now, it does not appear likely that sufficient state team member expenses will be covered by TBF of Michigan...

Mike must have forgotten that the estimate that I mentioned did not include any extra spending money.

Well you seem to be suggesting that anyone that is not a current member of TBF and may be hesitant to re-join, should not express any opinions or concerns regarding the organization...

Sorry, let me rephrase my statement so that Mike does not feel unappreciated...

Please join TBF of MI or consider joining before commenting.

TBF needs more members who can appreciate the honorable traditions of the federation, which include resource conservation, youth activities, and championship tournaments. It's good to see that most of the comments here prove the potential for the continuing improvement of TBF of MI. We welcome new and returning members who are willing to contribute. The next meeting should shed some light on who we can look to for thoughtful and unselfish leadership.

[jerkin]

What happend to Mark117? Did he get the boot here? This TBF thing is touchy business here eh?

[Mike Nolan]

I have a lot of respect for Dan and I know he doesn't want complete mayhem on his board.  Frankly my first instinct was to ignore Mr. Bond's most recent comments because his past comments lead me to believe he is not very reasonable and I doubt I could say anything that would change his way of thinking....but I just couldn't do it!  

Eric, you state; "For now, it does not appear likely that sufficient state team member expenses will be covered by TBF of Michigan...".  Your use of the word; "sufficient" is proof of your delusional thinking.   :-\'As much as some people like to fool themselves into thinking they are professional fishermen because they've won a few local tournaments over years of trying, federation tournaments are for amateur fishermen.  You pay your entry fee and your own expenses to compete in the initial state fish-off.  If you make a state federation team you are given a "reasonable" amount of money based on monies raised by and for the event to go to the divisional.  What is reasonable is based on what the federation can afford to fairly allocate to individual team members.  You should understand going in that you will still most likely have some out-of-pocket expenses to fish a divisional.  For some reason you feel you are entitled to more money than what these federations have determined they will give to team members.  Where do you think your extra desired money should come from?  Should the federations take money out of the general fund?  Should federation members not involved in the divisional do a fund raiser?  Should Obama give you some stimulus money?  I heard you had similar concerns at the last BASS federation Presidents meeting regarding your expenditures for the 2010 divisional in Escanaba.  As you were told there then, you'll get what you get and if you don't feel it is enough don't fish it.  No offense but nobody cares how much it costs you to take off work to fish a divisional and frankly nobody cares whether you even fish the divisional.  Make no mistake; you are participating in fishing tournaments for nobody but yourself.  If you bow out the next guy in line will gladly take your place.  Fishing a divisional is not a fully compensated job in which your services are necessary.  If your money is that tight you better stay on the job.     

[ebond]

I am disappointed that Mike has chosen to continue with an extremely personal and highly unproductive tone in this forum. This does not appear to be an appropriate environment for sharing ideas before our general meeting. Nonetheless, I am confident that a few GLB forum readers can appreciate the benefits of having a discussion here.

Your use of the word; "sufficient" is proof of your delusional thinking...federation tournaments are for amateur fishermen...What is reasonable is based on what the federation can afford to fairly allocate to individual team members. For some reason you feel you are entitled to more money than what these federations have determined they will give to team members.

Sorry, let me rephrase my statement so that Mike does not feel unappreciated, AGAIN...

...The state team needs roughly $11,000 to cover the costs of lodging, travel fuel, team shirts, and boat fuel and oil...

These figures may not be perfect, but they are close to accurate for the purpose of this discussion. Mike is quick to criticize me for wanting to ensure that state team members will not have to pay their own way, but he does not deny the actual cost of the program.

I believe TBF of MI should consider the costs to its members when planning all of their programs, including the state team program. Unfortunately, TBF of MI has a tradition of burdening a small minority of its members with time consuming and costly programs. Belonging to our organization should benefit, rather than burden, our members.

Lets hope that optimistic members like myself will have an opportunity to express our concerns at the meeting without having to endure baseless criticism and blatant disrespect. That is certainly not the case here.

[djkimmel]

What happend to Mark117? Did he get the boot here? This TBF thing is touchy business here eh?

I do not wish to or like to publicly discuss private matters that may or may not exist between myself and specific members of GreatLakesBass.com. I'd prefer others don't either out of respect for the forum and/or the member. It is usually a good policy to not believe everything someone else might tell you either. Thanks.

[ROI Outdoors]

How about discussing getting all of our TBF Clubs together to make one big TBF tournament series - say 4 tournaments a year Detroit River, Muskegon Lake, St. Clair, and then go up north to Wixom or even Charleviox.  If we get 80% of the members to fish these 4 tournaments we could payback 90% and put the 10% into the State Fund.  Add 1 or 2 Youth and Conservation Awareness Charity tournaments were anglers would take a sponsor and younger kid out and we'd be looking at a surplus of funds in my opinion.  To me the State Fish Off is enough to get involved but it would be so much easier to grow membership exponetially if there were events on both sides of the state every year.  I know there is the BFL but they don't even think about coming over to the West Side; there are a ton of guys over here just waiting for the TBF to duplicate what the BFL did back in the mid 90's - it was a Michigan circuit and now it is not so why don't we step up and make it happen?  I don't think FLW would mind to much.

I know there are a lot of tournaments out there guys already fish but I feel that the TBF can and should become the premier bass fishing organization in the state.  We have to start covering all of Michigan, fish 2 on the eastern side and 2 on the western side and it will be the only tournament option that has a classy group of serious competitors with the overall interests of the sport as its priority.  The TBF already sets time aside to focus on Youth Fishing and Conservation so put all the pieces together and we will have the most angler centric deal in the state.  I am new to the TBF so I might be a little overzealous with the optimism; from what I can see it is moving in the right direction.  Once we start to put the politics aside and focus on improving things not for ourselves but for everyone the TBF of Michigan will be hands down the best club, federation, and tournament circuit in Michigan.  I don't think anyone else will do it so why don't we?

[motocross269]

I don't see TBF becoming a full time tournament organization...That is not the way a Federation is designed...A Federation is suppose to be a Group of Clubs that Stage their own tournaments to select the club's team then meet once a year for a State Fish off..

Take a look at the Boater Numbers that the BASS Federation gets for their Classic series..The payout and free handouts for that series is awesome yet they have a hard time getting more than 30 boats...(And  MI BASS has alot more members)

I think if you want to stage a Club Open with ROI as the host club or whatever that is viable..To be honest I don't think this state needs another series especially one that doesn't have regional and national implications......

I can tell you no one in my club would have any interest in fishing another series..Between club tourneys, BFLs, Opens, and state fish offs everyone's schedule is pretty full..I struggled selling them the TBF state fish offs with their already busy schedule...The thought of an opportunity to make it to a National championship like fellow club member "Savage" did this year with BASS is what brought them to TBF..

[Skip Johnson]

I agree with moto on this one Luke, I see your thought and its not a bad one but the federations are not TX trails.

Michigan is so over saturated with trails allready that its  embarrassing to say that I fish any of them except BFL's and the detroit river open becouse those are the only tournaments that draw a decent amount (over 100) of boats and a good diverse field of competitors.
IMO the excessive amount of existing trails and very small clubs is "THE" main reason why Michigan bass fisherman are not a stronger and more united force.

[BryanP]

ebond--Are you suggesting that making the state team is a burden?  If TBF or BASS don't pony up enough money to fund all of your expenditures, might I suggest standing on the street corner holding a sign that reads "WILL FISH FOR MONEY"!

[jerkin]

WOW! I think you all are nuckin futs! What the hell happend to this forum? With the acception of a few you all are a bunch of freaking crybabies IMO. You can close my account Dan i could care less, this place is going to hell in a hand basket anyways. To bad, i used to enjoy this forum. Now just a bunch a people complaining about stupid stuff. Dan suggestion,  stop the bleeding man before this forum dies, cut these dudes off.
Sighing off NOT A BASS PRO,
Deven Bond

[motocross269]

WOW! I think you all are nuckin futs! What the heck happend to this forum? With the acception of a few you all are a bunch of freaking crybabies IMO. You can close my account Dan i could care less, this place is going to heck in a hand basket anyways. To bad, i used to enjoy this forum. Now just a bunch a people complaining about stupid stuff. Dan suggestion,  stop the bleeding man before this forum dies, cut these dudes off.
Sighing off NOT A BASS PRO,
Deven Bond

You've been a member since June 2008 and this is your 29th post and this is what you come up with?  Nice post....Pretty constructive....

Eric, I think you got the Troll you were looking for with the continued version of the last thread....IMHO