That’s not to say that they don’t enjoy the competition, strategy and an exciting finish, but the tension and drama that comes along with high speed, high stakes racing certainly helps to sell the sport.

Think of a passionate baseball player busting a bat across his knee after striking out. Good sportsmanship? No. But . . .

What about a football player spiking a ball in the end zone. That’s fierce passion and people relate to that.

Tournament bass fishing features independent American (and International) sportsmen who zip across the water at 70-to-80-miles-per-hour attempting to beat competitors to their fish. There’s big money at stake. And pride. Lots of pride.

So why do some in the tournament industry insist on portraying tournament competition in the same light as a Sunday afternoon church picnic? Do they think anybody is going to watch just because there is going to not be drama?

I consider good sports-reporting to be a form of story-telling. It’s literature. And conflict, as they say, is the essence of literature.

With that in mind, what do we make of the rather public flap between Randall Tharp and Matt Herren during the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Norfork Lake last week?

With up-to-the-minute blog posts and Bass Live and other photo and video content, on-water happenings have become hard to hide. Again, why would anyone want to hide the good, the bad, or the ugly? It’s all real. These men are independent contractors and are, as such, responsible for their own actions. Show the action. Make no apologies. We, the fans, want to see and hear it.

If there had been video of Ish Monroe and Keith Poche fighting outside the lock on Lake Toho last year would that not have gone viral way beyond our usual bass tournament audience? “Oh bother, I’m not watching that video because there is too much action,” said no sports fan ever!

Am I wrong?

By the way, if you have not seen the video on Bassmaster.com of Tharp and Herren, check it out. Spoiler alert:  they worked out their differences afterward as true professionals do.