Neither BASS nor ESPN is talking, but there are people in the know who insist the sale is coming. BassFan.com reports that longtime TV fishing hostJerry McKinnis could be the buyer, with Birmingham Barons owner and former TIME Inc. CEO Don Logan of Birmingham being involved on the Bassmaster Magazine end. Neither McKinnis nor Logan is talking, either.

The possible sale is really no big surprise. BASS was purchased by ESPN to be a moneymaker. By all accounts, it hasn't been.

ESPN purchased BASS believing the network could do for professional bass fishing what it did for NASCAR when it began broadcasting racing in the 1970s. It accomplished that. ESPN brought both NASCAR and professional bass fishing exposure and credibility they never could have received otherwise.

Unfortunately, ESPN never understood the BASS nation and what it takes to make a bunch of good ol' boys passionate. No BASS owner has understood that since Ray Scott sold his baby in 1985.

It's difficult for pencil pushers to understand passion. It's difficult to punch passion into a calculator and make it come out in dollar signs. Very few people understand how passion can lead to money.