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Fighting Back: BASS Masters Force Anglers into Busch 3/26/2003 Christian Sportsmen Reject Beer Company Sponsorship
Bass fishing legend Jimmy Houston, host of the ESPN2 show Jimmy Houston Outdoors, will be excluded from this year’s Bass Angler Sportsman Society (BASS) Master’s Classic tournament and the potential to earn the Angler of the Year prize worth $100,000, because he refuses to endorse beer.
Houston, a devoted Christian and deacon at First Southern Baptist Church in Keys, Oklahoma, and other Christian anglers, are losing a shot at those awards because they are refusing to wear a Busch beer emblem on their clothes and place a Busch emblem on their boats.
BASS signed an official sponsorship deal with the Busch company last summer. Under the agreement, anglers who refuse to sport the Busch emblem forfeit many of the points needed to qualify for the annual tournament.
Christopher Murray, BASS spokesman, says the Busch partnership is the first such venture for the tournament, and had helped raise the Angler of the Year prize from $25,000 to $100,000, plus another $100,000 divided among the remaining top nine finishers. BASS was purchased by ESPN in 2001. Disney is the majority owner of the ESPN network.
Houston, the longest veteran of the society’s 182 anglers, has twice won the Angler of the Year award, and has qualified for 15 BASS Master Classics. He has also been inducted into the Fishing Hall of Fame, Hall of Legendary Anglers and Pro Bass Angler Association Hall of Fame.
Houston was also instrumental in forming the Fellowship of Christian Anglers Society (FOCAS).
“I didn’t pray about it,” Houston told The Baptist Press (BP News). “There was nothing to pray about. I didn’t have a decision to make. I knew what I was supposed to do.”
Houston told Jerry Pierce of BP News that a 12-year-old boy he had led to Christ was instrumental in his decision. Houston met the boy following a youth rally at Houston’s home church. After accepting Christ, the boy asked Houston if he would talk to his father about his drinking problem.
“I’ve got grandsons, 13 and 16, and a 5-year-old granddaughter,” Houston said. “But the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard [about the Busch sponsorship] was that little boy.”
Since then, Houston says the Lord has confirmed his decision to say “no” to Busch.
“I had to leave my truck and boat with a Chevrolet dealer in Tallahassee, Florida, for 10 days last month while I flew to Los Angeles,” Houston recounted.
“During that time, he moved my boat into the showroom for everyone to see,” he added. “Can you imagine people seeing the Busch beer decal on my boat and thinking Jimmy Houston is endorsing Busch beer? What message would that send?”
“We respect everybody’s personal beliefs,” Murray told Baptist Press. “Anheuser-Busch has been on the sports landscape a long time as a sponsor and we are trying to increase revenue for our anglers and increase visibility for our sport.”
“Anheuser-Busch will promote anything, no matter how vile or harmful, to make an extra buck,” Joe Glover, president of the Family Policy Network told Culture and Family Report. Glover has launched a campaign at NASCAR races to inform race fans about Anheuser-Busch’s promotion of the homosexual agenda.
“Seeking a profit is a virtuous pursuit,” he added. “But when companies like Anheuser-Busch exploit ‘gay markets’ by winking at the deadly homosexual lifestyle, a quest for profit becomes the wicked end of greed.”
With the Busch sponsorship, the sport has also lost several top anglers.
Joining Houston in his refusal to promote alcohol are Lendell Martin of Nacogdoches, Texas, Paul Hanley of Georgia and Mark Rose of Arkansas.
Martin withdrew his entry fee last fall as soon as he heard of the deal. He is opting instead to earn qualification in the Wal-Mart Forrest L. Wood Tour, the other major bass fishing tournament. Wal-Mart FLW has no alcohol or tobacco sponsorships.
The decision to not don the beer company emblem will also cut Houston and the other anglers out of the 2004 tour, as the society signed an “undisclosed multi-year contract” with the brewer.
Houston says his stand is much like the one taken by NASCAR driver Hank Parker Jr. Parker turned down an endorsement of Seagram’s Ice, a wine product.
“Consequently, he’s without a ride this year,” Houston said. “You can’t say at this price tag I’ll maintain what I believe, but at this price tag I won’t. It boils down to a lack of faith.”
Glover says the courageous stand of these men against the promotion of alcohol is likely a new development for a company that long ago sold itself into the promotion of the unhealthy lifestyle of homosexuality.
“[Anheuser-Busch’s] decision-makers must be baffled to find there are still principled men in the world like Jimmy Houston, who love God and the truth more than money,” he added.
For more information:
Contact BP News online
To contact B.A.S.S./ESPN:bassmail@mindspring.com, or customerservice@bassmaster.com
Phone: (334) 272-9530, FAX (334) 279-7148
Mailed comments may be addressed to:
B.A.S.S.
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