UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. — It didn't become official until Saturday's weigh-in at the Bassmaster Elite Series Cayuga Lake tournament was complete.
But it's a done deal now: Kevin VanDam, the most accomplished angler in B.A.S.S. history, didn't qualify to compete in what would have been his 25th Bassmaster Classic in a row.
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| Difficult to believe KVD will miss a Classic. (Photo: BASS) |
That's almost unimaginable because VanDam has been so consistently good for so long.
KVD handled the bad news just like he's handled everything else in his brilliant career -- with class and honesty.
"I can promise you, I hate it right now," he said at the Frontenac Park weigh-in site.
"But I don't care who you are or how good you are, it's going to happen eventually. It's very humbling out here."
This season has been unfathomably humbling for the 46-year-old Kalamazoo, Mich., resident. Only a few years after he burst on the B.A.S.S. scene it was unquestionable that there was a Superman on the circuit and KVD were his initials.
Consider this: In the first eight seasons of the Elite Series, VanDam missed the top 50 cut (and the $10,000 check that goes with it) only four times.
That's cashing-in on 69 of 73 chances. But in 2014, VanDam doubled those sub-top 50 performances – four more in a single season, including the four worst finishes of his Elite Series career.
