Kevin VanDam

Elite Series winners ‘07

December 28, 2007
(espnoutdoors.com, December 20, 2007)

We could do something so banal as list these chronologically — that is, after all, the fashion in which we lived ‘em the first time around — but we’d rather recall the 2007 Elite Series in ascending order of incredibility.

11. Kevin VanDam – Southern Challenge
Lake Guntersville / Guntersville, Ala. / April 26–29

This was the least surprising win of the year, even after the threat of storms prompted BASS officials to cancel the first day of the tournament. Short events often favor the underdog — and right until the end, Terry Butcher, who finished in the money only three times in 2007, gave the best pro in the sport a run for his $100,000. But it might as well have been over on Saturday when VanDam, still in fourth place, acknowledged after the weigh-in: “I’m on the winning fish, no doubt.” Those words were like the sound of a hammer on a coffin nail.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/general/news/story?id=3162930