With only a 41 point margin, Terry Moberly, an auto production worker from Berea (pop. 14,430), a small town in central Kentucky, claimed first place in the 2009 FLW Fantasy Fishing season and its $1 million grand prize. Moberly was awarded his $1 million grand prize at Pittsburghs…
With only a 41 point margin, Terry Moberly, an auto production worker from Berea (pop. 14,430), a small town in central Kentucky, claimed first place in the 2009 FLW Fantasy Fishing season and its $1 million grand prize. Moberly was awarded his $1 million grand prize at Pittsburghs Mellon Arena during the weigh-in ceremonies on Saturday of the Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol, the world championship of bass fishing, at which tens of thousands of people have enjoyed the tournament and its festivities.
FLW Fantasy Fishing (FantasyFishing.com), an international, online fantasy sports game with players in 123 countries worldwide, awarded Moberly, 46, his grand prize for accumulating 37,172 points over the course of a six-tournament season that began in February 2009. Like fantasy football, Moberly selected bass pros competing in the Walmart FLW Tour, the worlds largest and richest professional bass fishing tournament series.
Moberly narrowly edged out another Kentuckian, Jeff Short, a cabinet-making instructor from Tompkinsville, Ky., located near Bowling Green, Ky. Short, an avid bass angler, was awarded FLW Fantasy Fishings second-place prize, a Ranger Z20 Comanche boat powered with an Evinrude engine, valued at $54,000, for accumulating 37,131 points.
Moberlys big catch comes on top of the $100,000 prize he collected for coming in first place in FLW Fantasy Fishings first tournament, which took place earlier this year in February. Moberly, an avid bass angler, entered that tournament literally hours before the tournament registration closed, at the urging of his two sons, Tyler, a student at Eastern Kentucky University, and his 19-year-old son, Brandon, both of whom fish FLW Outdoors tournaments.
If my sons hadnt urged me to enter that first tournament, I wouldnt be here today, Moberly said. Like many things in life, you have to enter to win. And thank goodness I entered FLW Fantasy Fishing!
With Players Advantage, an online research tool offered by FLW Fantasy Fishing, Moberly selected 10 bass pros before each Walmart FLW Tour tournament. Moberly, like other FLW Fantasy Fishing players, earned points for the bass that his pros caught during six Walmart FLW Tour qualifying tournaments, and bonus points if his bass pros finished in the top 10 of a tournament, or finished in the exact positions Moberly had selected his pros to finish.
This is absolutely unbelievable, said the even-keel Moberly, a production worker at the Tokico USA, a manufacturing plant in Berea that makes automobile shocks and suspensions. After my $100,000 win, I knew I had a good head start. So, with Players Advantage and the help of my sons, we focused and tried consistently to score as many points as possible every tournament.
Moberly credits two particular features available with Players Advantage for helping him reel in his $1 million catch, the Pundits feature, which offers recommendations on Walmart FLW Tour bass pros to pick before each tournament, and the Trends feature, which provides trends information about each bass pro.
Married for 24 years to his sweetheart, Debbie, Moberly says that fishing, along with other outdoors activities such as camping and hunting run deep in his family. Born and raised in Richmond, Ky., Moberly frequently fishes nearby lakes and reservoirs, including Cumberland Lake, from his Ranger bass boat. And while hes fished a few tournaments himself, Moberly and his wife especially enjoy watching their sons compete in fishing tournaments. Tyler competes on a bass fishing team representing Eastern Kentucky University in the National Guard FLW College Fishing Tournament Circuit, and Brandon has competed in the Walmart Bass Fishing League (BFL) Mountain Division Tournament Circuit.
And what will Moberly do with his prize winnings?
With the economy the way it is, this win couldnt have come at a better time, Moberly said. Well be able to comfortably get my son Tyler through college, and I am going to treat myself to a new Z20 Comanche Ranger boat. Beyond that, were going to save the rest.
Irwin L. Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors and the creator of FLW Fantasy Fishing, an international online fantasy fishing game launched in February 2008, presented Moberly with his $1 million check.
When we started FLW Outdoors in 1996, winning $1 million as a fishing pro seemed unbelievable, Jacobs said. FLW Outdoors not only broke that barrier, we became the first fantasy sport to ever offer a guaranteed $1 million grand prize. Thats why awarding our second million dollars is all that more incredible.
One of my goals is to see that professional bass fishing is recognized as a leading spectator sport worldwide, Jacobs added. I believe that by attracting millions of eyeballs to the Walmart FLW Tour through our FLW Outdoors TV program and by bringing in new anglers through FLW Fantasy Fishing, which is played by fans in 123 countries throughout the world, that ultimately, we will introduce millions of people to the enjoyment of bass fishing. Getting people to fish, young and old, parents and kids, represents the future of our sport.
Other Top Five Winners
Coming in third place with 36,723 points was Chris Chappell, a power plant maintenance mechanic from Oologah, Okla., a suburb of Tulsa. Chappell, a Players Advantage user, was in first place in the overall race going into the last FLW Fantasy Fishing tournament of the year. He wins the third place prize, a new 2009 Ranger Reata boat powered with an Evinrude engine, valued at $36,265. While not a very active angler, nor a person who plays fantasy sports, Chappell learned about FLW Fantasy Fishing while on eBay.
I used to laugh at my friends who played fantasy football, now Im the one whos hooked, said Chappell. Ill be back for more in 2010 and Ill be ready with my Players Advantage.
Danny Richardson, a manager with UPS, and a resident of Knoxville, Tenn., came in fourth place with 36,029 points. Richardson drives home in a new 2009 Chevrolet Malibu sedan, valued at $27,000. Richardson is an avid bass angler who has dreamed about one day becoming a professional bass angler. He and his wife Denise, married 30 years, are proud parents of two adult sons, one of whom has special needs.
Andre Daniel, an athletic trainer from Oak Creek, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee, Wis., claimed fifth place with 35,430 points, winning a $25,000 Walmart gift card. Daniels win comes on the heels of winning a $5,000 Walmart gift card for coming in second place in FLW Fantasy Fishings sixth tournament. Daniel is the former athletic trainer for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and also served as an athletic coordinator for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), during the same year the team won the Super Bowl. Hes an avid bass angler who credits watching Bill Dance as a kid on television for getting him into bass fishing.
My wife knows how passionate I am about bass fishing, but even she laughed when I started playing FLW Fantasy Fishing, said Daniel. Now were both having the last laugh. Its been absolutely amazing.
Top FLW Fantasy Fishing Bass Pros
The top five Walmart FLW Tour bass pros for 2009, based on the selection of FLW Fantasy Fishing players through six tournaments, from February to July 2009, were:
1. David Dudley, Team Castrol, Lynchburg, Va.
2. Clark Wendlendt, Team Kelloggs, Leander, Tex.
3. Michael Bennett, Team Febreze, Lincoln, Calif.
4. David Fritts, Team Tums, Lexington, N.C.
5. Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn.
Fantasy fishing makes fantasy sports history
In its second season, FLW Fantasy Fishing has been recognized as a revolutionary twist on fantasy sports. Offering more than $10 million in cash and prizes, FLW Fantasy Fishing was the first fantasy sports game to offer a guaranteed $1 million grand prize. The online game was launched in February 2008 with the first cast of the 2008 Walmart FLW Tour bass fishing tournament series.
FLW Fantasy Fishing is free to play and is open to adults, 18 and older, throughout the world, wherever it is legal to play. Participants log onto FantasyFishing.com and register to enter the game. Players can sign up any time during the season, up until the day before the final tournament of the six-tournament fantasy fishing season.
Prior to each Walmart FLW Tour tournament, FLW Fantasy Fishing participants select a fantasy team of 10 FLW Tour pro bass anglers. Participants earn points for each tournament, based on the performance (placement in the designated tournament) of their fantasy team pro anglers. Participants could win prizes for an individual tournament as well as accumulate points over six designated tournaments to be eligible for a $1 million cash prize, which is awarded to the participant with the highest overall points for the season. Six $100,000 first-place prizes went to the participants who earned the most points for each tournament. A $5 million bonus is eligible to the first player to correctly rank the top seven finishers in an individual tournament. A $3 million bonus is eligible to the player to correctly rank the top five finishers in the Forrest Wood Cup. Participants could subscribe to Player’s Advantage to get the edge when selecting their team by accessing expert advice, inside information and cutting-edge statistical tools.
The Forrest Wood Cup presented by BP and Castrol is the final event in the Walmart FLW Tour. To catch all of the action at the Forrest Wood Cup, watch FLWOutdoors.com, as well as the FLW Outdoors television program, which is broadcast in high definition (HD) on VERSUS, the network that brings anglers the best fishing programming on television featuring the most trusted authorities on the water. The Emmy-nominated FLW Outdoors airs each Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Eastern time.
About FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors, named after Forrest L. Wood, the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, is the largest fishing tournament organization in the world and is offering anglers the chance to win more than $33 million through 231 tournaments in 2009. For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournaments, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000. For more information about FLW Fantasy Fishing and Player’s Advantage, visit FantasyFishing.com.
FLW(R) is a registered trademark of FLW Outdoors, Inc. For a complete list of rules and prizes for FLW Fantasy visit FantasyFishing.com.
