TOSSED

[Nebe]

here is my thoughts- I am totally anti-competitive fishing these days, but If you have a guy who is a hard core poacher and he is fishing for team striper, who is to say that the hard core poacher isnt letting other members of his team weigh in any of the larger fish under their names?

For example, lets say he had 3 dead 45 lbers on ice.. who is to say that he didnt allow fellow members to borrow one to weigh......

I am not saying that they did this, but come on... somehow I doubt a poacher of this magnitude would not think of cheating...

If it were me and I ran the tournament, I would not boot the whole %$%$%$%$ing team, but I would have them all do a polygraph test to disprove any cheating.

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Nebe

here is my thoughts- I am totally anti-competitive fishing these days, but If you have a guy who is a hard core poacher and he is fishing for team striper, who is to say that the hard core poacher isnt letting other members of his team weigh in any of the larger fish under their names?

For example, lets say he had 3 dead 45 lbers on ice.. who is to say that he didnt allow fellow members to borrow one to weigh......

I am not saying that they did this, but come on... somehow I doubt a poacher of this magnitude would not think of cheating...

If it were me and I ran the tournament, I would not boot the whole %$%$%$%$ing team, but I would have them all do a polygraph test to disprove any cheating.

I am thinking this too. Who's to say he didn't catch all the fish and had 'conveniently' shared his fish with the team. To me the entire team's weigh in is suspect.

[BigFish]

You can't throw a blanket over the entire team for the actions of one! I believe if the others knew what he was doing they would have expelled him themselves? Guilty by association? I do not believe you can lump the other members in with that jack ass! I feel bad for the rest of the team but I think Mike P. is right on....they should not side with him by resigning from the competition......it would show that they might possibly have had knowledge of what was going on......however they may be of the belief that their teams accomplishment is somehow tainted and would not want to cast a pall over the integrity of the Striper Cup!

[BigFish]

I have said in the past that these competitions should exclude commercially licensed fishermen as they have a decided advantage over the recreational fishermen. It should be held to a strict recreational fishermen only tournament.....I believe it would weed out a good amount of the BS!

[FishTwoO]

Originally Posted by BigFish

I have said in the past that these competitions should exclude commercially licensed fishermen as they have a decided advantage over the recreational fishermen. It should be held to a strict recreational fishermen only tournament.....I believe it would weed out a good amount of the BS!

I agree.But the guys poaching and selling to resteraunts don't have commercial licenses.However a recreational angler only tourney would eliminate most of the BS, not all.
I wonder if the IRS is going to be in on this case?

[BigFish]

Agreed Fishtwo0....definitely not all the BS for sure. Where there is a will to deceive there is a way!

[Redsoxticket]

Bradshaw's weighted fish of 51 lbs. is disqualified therefore leaving only 9 top fish for the team. There should be no 11th place fish to replace the one that is lost.

[BigFish]

I am sure OTW will move the next biggest fish into the top 10...they have the weigh slips!

[Mike P]

Don't forget that Luds withdrew a 40+ fish last year because he realized that he hadn't been entered for 24 hours before catching it.

Slip and I were the guys who called his attention to the rule.

I think this is my last year for this thing. Too much finger pointing and rumors. Tip your cap to OTW for a nice try, but nothing's changed in the last 40 years. Jealousy and greed just are too ingrained in the human spirit

It's like the MV Derby--an off-Islander wins back to back, and he has to be cheating

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I guess now is when I confess that the part about solidarity was fabrication on my part to add melodrama and increase hits on my favorite website. Catch em up.

So now this thread was a troll ??

Originally Posted by Redsoxticket

Bradshaw's weighted fish of 51 lbs. is disqualified therefore leaving only 9 top fish for the team. There should be no 11th place fish to replace the one that is lost.

Then you are penalizing the team, which to my knowledge has nothing concrete against it, for the actions of one guy. It is were more than one...

Originally Posted by Mike P

Don't forget that Luds withdrew a 40+ fish last year because he realized that he hadn't been entered for 24 hours before catching it.

Slip and I were the guys who called his attention to the rule.

I think this is my last year for this thing. Too much finger pointing and rumors. Tip your cap to OTW for a nice try, but nothing's changed in the last 40 years. Jealousy and greed just are too ingrained in the human spirit

It's like the MV Derby--an off-Islander wins back to back, and he has to be cheating

And that error was resolved early and easily (and nothing against the law either)...

Does take out some of the fun of fishing the tourney

[jim sylvester]

interesting

[Sea Dangles]

No, it wasn't a troll. The part about the letter and subsequent DQ was information for the masses I thought would be appreciated. The solidarity part was meant as a joke. Like going potty in the cup I guess. As far as the tournament being close;I doubt it as a member of our team hung a corker from shore on the last day of the competition that wil place him in our top 5 for points.Finally, for the sake of clarity,let me reiterate that nobody on Team Striper condones poaching and I am certain there was none committed to give the team an advantage in this stupid tournament. That being said, "Where is my key."

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

No, it wasn't a troll. The part about the letter and subsequent DQ was information for the masses I thought would be appreciated. The solidarity part was meant as a joke. Like going potty in the cup I guess. As far as the tournament being close;I doubt it as a member of our team hung a corker from shore on the last day of the competition that wil place him in our top 5 for points.Finally, for the sake of clarity,let me reiterate that nobody on Team Striper condones poaching and I am certain there was none committed to give the team an advantage in this stupid tournament. That being said, "Where is my key."

Chris - Thanks for clearing that up. Wasn't sure where the story began and ended.

Even without a large shore fish at the end, S-B would not have near enough points.

[bloocrab]

I've put teams together before, not for fishing tourneys but for other sport activities. In putting those teams together, each individual is chosen based on his honesty first, talent 2nd. To me, to win dishonestly, is NOT winning...period. I believe a team-mate is a reflection of the team and the team a reflection of it's members. I believe Team Striper SHOULD remove itself completely based on their poor decision in picking their players or allowing people to join.

To compare this to Professional football is wrong. They (Football) will do whatever it takes to win, be it honestly or NOT. In comparing this to PRO football, ...it's like saying you would do whatever it takes to win, including dishonest measures as has been and continues to happen in football. If that is the case, than so be it, but don't try to sell it differently. It is ....what it is.

If I were putting a football team together, I would not add an intentionally DIRTY styled player to my team. Regardless of how talented he was, I want to walk off that field PROUD of my victory, not clouded with thoughts that perhaps we won dishonestly. This is not an individual tourney, it's a TEAM tourney. IMO - his dishonesty would out weigh any of his talent. My team may not win the Bowl, but where-ever we got,...we got there honestly. You reflect what you surround yourself with. If one really doesn't care what people think.........than one should not post about it at all.
Just my Opinion - If he was caught during the first few weeks of the tourney, sure...disqualify HIM.
Being caught doing what he did after the tourney even though it's not tourney related....???....The team should disqualify itself to save face, as well as try to ensure OTW that the team is LEGIT regardless of what happened with one of it's members after the fact.




Short, but true story - I had a REALLY big guy on my Deck Hockey team, I wasn't sure of his character but knew of his intimidation factor from previous seasons when he was on the opposing teams. He was a guy that a forward didn't want to go into the corner with. In Hockey, intimidation is BIG, so he was added to the roster as a defenseman. Turns out he was an incredible HACK. He would intentionally hack the opposing players, I'm not talking about tapping shin guards here, I'm talking about taking guys out. He'd get penalized, but his intimidation also affected the referees, so he was putting a hurtin' on quite a few people....now hockey is hockey, it's NOT for sissy's...but he was abusing what I consider should be tolerated. He would also cross-check when he felt he could get away with it. So one day during one of our practices, I lost it. I ran up to him, and started whacking him with my stick....he looked at me like.....WTF are you doing as he fell to the ground ??? I told him, HOW DO YOU LIKE IT??? In the box we had the conversation, I will not tolerate DIRTY measures nor dishonesty on my team. If that's the way you want to play, go somewhere else. This isn't about winning the Stanley Cup and possibly millions $$$, it's about a bunch of guys who enjoy the sport, and even more when the competitive aspect is added to it.

Luckily, he thought I was n#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g futz, and didn't turn me into a pretzel....

[Rappin Mikey]

If U reely fast they always call U da cheetah!!

[BassDawg]

funny stuff, Mikey!

[Raider Ronnie]

All this bull%$%$%$%$ for a stupid CUP !!!

[JohnR]

Based on what is known, I think OTW did the right thing with disqualifying Brandon. Team Striper would still win because they have the points.

I'm a bit torn on the "solidarity" of the team withdrawing from the cup and I guess I'll wait until I hear why.

[Sea Dangles]

I ,again say test anyone who has a key to the truck. The winning team gets nothing. The anglers of the year get nothing. There were widespread rumors of last years winners passing fish. Another where a shore caught angler scored a cow on a boat.Too much hippy spinach will get the best of your imagination sometimes. One thing I am certain of is that none of the anglers on Team Striper needs anyone else's fish to weigh in.These aren't the type who fish to get their pictures in magazines or websites.Guys on Team Striper were fishing in the original Schaefer with some members being multiple winners.I would guess they have caught more fifties than other teams have caught thirties. Most are comm's or have charter businesses.The only comparison I can think of would be pros vs. amateurs. I can say this with certainty as I have fished with most of the high hookers from each team. This is no disrespect to anyone on the board so please don't take it personally.My suggestion is to win or lose with class. Leave the sour grapes for losers.

[striperman36]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I One thing I am certain of is that none of the anglers on Team Striper needs anyone else's fish to weigh in. Most are comm's or have charter businesses.

Thank you for the clarification again this tournament is open to anyone.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I ,again say test anyone who has a key to the truck. The winning team gets nothing. The anglers of the year get nothing. There were widespread rumors of last years winners passing fish. Another where a shore caught angler scored a cow on a boat.

Are you suggesting that members of Team S-B were passing fish? Or catching from a boat? Or are your "rumors" for others?

I remember hearing a rumor or two last year but not about our team. I recall hearing other rumors last year from disgruntled anglers from other teams about how those fishing in the shore division were losers and did not deserve any point system to level the playing field between boat and shore (forget about camping out on the reefs and ledges while commercially taking a lot of fish).

Sadly, you hear a lot of rumors and the fact that tournaments, like this one, foster people to create and start rumors is very disappointing.

I heard several "rumors" from different groups this year that were disappointing. Should I propagate those rumors? Run 'em up the flagpole at OTW? Start (continue) crap that can't be verified?

I know I have no reason to believe that S-B had any improperly reported fish. Not something I go for.

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

This is no disrespect to anyone on the board so please don't take it personally.My suggestion is to win or lose with class. Leave the sour grapes for losers.

Agreed

Level the playing field - lie detector everyone!

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

I ,again say test anyone who has a key to the truck. The winning team gets nothing. The anglers of the year get nothing. There were widespread rumors of last years winners passing fish. Another where a shore caught angler scored a cow on a boat.Too much hippy spinach will get the best of your imagination sometimes. One thing I am certain of is that none of the anglers on Team Striper needs anyone else's fish to weigh in. Most are comm's or have charter businesses.The only comparison I can think of would be pros vs. amateurs. I can say this with certainty as I have fished with most of the high hookers from each team. This is no disrespect to anyone on the board so please don't take it personally.

Chris,

I agree with most of what you're saying here. Pro versus amateurs is a legit comparison. Pros to me are guys who do it for a living. Everyone else is an amateur. It’s just like golf. I don't suspect anyone on Team Striper needs any aid in the catching dept. I'd prefer to compete against pros myself as the accomplishment of beating a pro would mean much more to me, even if the odds are against. The 1980 Olympic hockey team comes to mind…

As for last year’s winners passing fish, I never heard of it or witnessed it. It sounds like an attempt at scorched earth to me or possibly an “everyone else does it so we do too” excuse. I wouldn’t have a problem if the people with truck keys were tested, either.

With either case, it doesn’t explain away the 42 fish in the guy’s possession and subsequent expulsion from the tourney. Bottom line here is OTW had to act in the best interest of the 2,000 plus contestants in addition to the tourney sponsors.
Mr. Bradshaw will have his judgment day and the system will determine his guilt or innocence in the end.

As for the team dropping out of the tourney, no way. There’s some deserving anglers on your squad. In the end, only you guys will really know if the accomplishment was legit or not. Dropping out is like kicking sand in the face of the honest guys.

[FishTwoO]

Polygraphing the whole team sounds like a good idea,but probably would be a major headache and expense.Maybe they'll do a Marion Jones.