Last week, the topic of double dipping was brought up on Bass Talk Live. It’s a topic we felt necessary to address in our Minor World Rankings.
If you didn’t hear the show, host Mark Jefferies discussed how he thought “professional anglers,” or those that fish Major-level events, should not be included in the Minors World Ranking when they “double dip” and fish a lower-level event. After all, they are professionals, and they shouldn’t be ranked against non-professionals, just like Albert Pujols’ stats don’t count overall when he is hitting .486 during a rehab stint in triple A.
The rebuttal is that our sport is unique. In baseball, Pujols can’t voluntarily dip down to triple A to pad his stats and make extra money. In our sport, a professional can. Whether this is right is a debate for another day, but for right now it’s simply a reality in our sport.
However, we listened and thought hard about what Jefferies and a few others brought up. After all, we are here for the anglers and the sport. That led us to improve our Minors World Rankings by providing two rankings: one without Major-level anglers, and one with all participants.
Making this improvement was as much about advancing the true rankings as it was to aiding minor-level anglers in their quest to progress to the Majors level.
Now, there will be three tabs for the Minors World Rankings.
The first is All Level Boaters, which is a ranking that includes every angler that fits the criteria, regardless if he or she is a Major or Minor angler. If you notice, the rankings recently updated, and Keith Combs is no longer on the list. This is because a Minor-level event dropped off his stats, and he no longer fits the criteria – a natural progression as anglers move up the ranks and put more focus on Major-level events. Regardless, Ott Defoe has now moved into the top slot.
The second tab, which will be highlighted when you first visit the Minors page, is Minor Level Boaters Only. This ranking excludes any angler who has fished four or more Major-level events in a single season, thus filtering out all Major-level anglers without getting rid of any angler who attempts to fish at the Major level every so often. This new ranking will showcase the up-and-comers working their way toward the Majors, as well as talented anglers who choose to only fish the Minor level. On top of this new ranking is Trevor Fitzgerald with an impressive 86-percent average.
The final tab is the Minor Co-Anglers, which will include all co-anglers that fit the criteria.
You spoke. We listened and agreed. And we hope you enjoy the improved Minors World Rankings.
