I'll set the stage. Mike was sitting in 5th place in the point standing for the Southern Opens after solid performances in the first two tournaments in the 2009 season. Another solid performance, this time at Santee Cooper in South Carolina he would be dancin in the classic and the elite series.
Mike had spent a week practicing for the tournament earlier in the season and he was pretty confident in some of the things he had going. He didnt get to the lake for the tournament until saturday night which would leave him four days of practice to get dialed in. He is traveling with a local from ohio by the name of Ron Grove and two Michigan guys named Luke Gritter and Kyle Kempker who were staying in an adjoining room to Rons and Mikes.
Sunday morning - Mike wakes up at 5 am, gets dressed and goes outside to see what the weather was like. Looks great he thinks, he goes back inside the hotel and starts to get ready for his first day of practice. 15 minutes later the room lights up as if the sun were up, WTF! He opens the door to find the car parked between his truck and his boat was afire! Panic ensues, he runs back into his room and starts to yell at Ron to "wake the fuck up" (his words) at the same time he is frantically looking for his keys, after all, the mans gotta get home right? He runs back outside and moves his truck out of the line of fire, so to speak. By this time, Ron is dressed and helping, he calmly reminds Mike that his boat is full of gasoline and if they dont move it as well, its going to explode and probably take out half the hotel with it. Ron lines Mike up faster then anyone has ever been lined up (which turns out is not so accurate) and the misallignment leads to one of those adrenaline moments you hear about in mythical tales. Ron picks up the front of the boat and slams it down on the reese hitch ball. By this time his boat is already engulfed with flames, the extension cord is still plugged in but not for long so Mike stomps on the gas. Dragging a firey boat around the hotel which still has the extension cord in tow (also firey) Mike notices that a fiery boat would make a cool Mardi Gras float and I happen to agree but thats neither here nor there. Concurently he is yelling at the hotel manager to get water and call the fire department, his solution? A garden hose! Which does little to nothing, meanwhile, Luke and Kyle are nowhere to be found despite the chaos that has ensued just outside there hotel door.
Before I dive into those two and their side of the story, you have to know that A - these two guys are loads of fun to be around and B - the manager was middle eastern with a heavy accent.
Luke Gritter - "all I know is there was a guy with a taliban accent screaming about fires and explosions outside our door, there was no way I was going outside". His solution? Hide in the bathtub under blankets of course, it was the only reasonable thing to do. He also advocated to Kyle that they should "make a run for it", Kyle declined that idea...
Kyle Kempker- " I was certain a gang war had erupted and I was just trying to wait it out" His solution? Similar to Lukes, hide between the bed and the wall of the hotel, under blankets of course, it was the only reasonable thing to do...
Mike realizes that Luke and Kyle are still in their hotel room and by that time the hotel had also caught fire. Mike beats on the door, yelling and screaming for them to get out, "The place is on fire, get the fuck out!" (the manager is also chiming in with commands of "FIRE" "EXPLOSION" "IT WILL BLOW") This doesnt encourage Kyle and Luke to do much of anything but continue to hide. Mike decides to break the window to Kyle and Lukes room, his weapon of choice, a chair. His run-up goes as planned but as soon as he is getting ready to heave the chair, Luke and Kyle crack the door to find the bedlam. The chairs fate? Fuel for the fire, what else?
Fire department finally shows itself but not before the window to Mikes room has shattered from the extreme heat, the same window that Mike had all his tackle and gear in front of, ruining most of it, just add it to the stack of problems already going down. Mike spends the entire day sunday arranging for a new rig, talking to the insurance company and hoping that he has seen his last boat fire.
Monday - Mike travels from South Carolina to Knoxville Tennessee to get a replacement boat to use for the tournament, this trip takes up the entire monday.
Tuesday - Mike gets to the lake, realizes he left all his safety gear in his charred boat, spends most of the morning collecting up the essentials.
Wedsnday - is meeting day so if your counting, thats a little more then a full day of practice, for the biggest tournament of his life, thats not enough in case you didnt know.
Thursday/Friday - tournament time, 1 fish caught, 118th place, no classic, no elites, just failure. (we all know I know how that feels but at least he has an excuse)
Here is a detailed, scientific diagram of the accident sight...
All in all, I would say lifes not so bad, I live to fish another day and despite my horrific tournament, it could have been worse...
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