(female announcer)
This is a production
of WKNO-Memphis.

Production funding for "Sports
Files" is made possible in part

by..

My guest today on "Sports
Files" is world renowned angler,

outdoorsman and
Television host Bill Dance.

♪♪♪

We often toss around the term
"legend" as if it's commonplace.

But in reality,
legendary status,

in any walk of life, is
not easily attainable.

Earlier this summer on "Sports
Files" I was joined by a true

coaching legend
in Gene Stallings.

And you won't get much of
an argument from anyone.

Today I'm joined by a
true legend of the outdoors,

Bill Dance.

In fact, Dance is perhaps the
most recognizable name and face

in the industry.

Time to stroll down memory lane
and reel in the big one with the

man who made the U-T
baseball cap fashionable,

Bill Dance, next
on "Sports Files".

♪♪♪

Well Bill, thank you
so much for joining us.

Good to be here.

We appreciate ya.

When you were a youngster and
you're starting to fish and

you're going the
opposite way of your father,

grandfather and
great-grandfather who were all

doctors, did you ever think
you'd make a career out of it?

You know I always dreamed of
wanting to make a career in

fishing because I
loved the sport so much.

But I never dreamed it
would become a reality.

I never did.

But you know my
wife always told me,

if you set your mind to
something and set goals and work

toward those goals, it's
amazing what you can accomplish.

You know I had..

I had all intentions in
the world to become a doctor

because, you know, my
father was a doctor.

My granddaddy, my
great-granddaddy,

for five generations.

Right down the line.

Yeah, they were.

But I came along and
I changed diretions.

And I saw a real bad
wreck in a motorcycle wreck.

Just about in
that curve of life.

And I looked at it and I
said, "I can not do this."

And my parents didn't
persuade me either way.

And I'm kind of glad that I
went the direction I did.

So you start fishing and you
start competing in things.

You eventually get your first
show in the late '60s here in

Memphis.

What was that moment that you
realized you've gone from just a

competitive angler to
now almost an icon?

And of course you are but when
was that moment when you knew

that, "People are watching me.

"They care what I'm doing."

Well you know
every year, you know,

it just seemed to
get bigger and bigger.

When one door closed,
another one would open.

I never dreamed that it would
get as big as it's actually

gotten.

It's..

You know you're only as good
as the people you work with.

And I've been very, very
blessed over the years.

We've been doing this 46 years.

And it's just grown
and grown and grown,

literally.

I mean it really has.

Besides all the people that help
you out behing the scenes and

you're right.

It takes a lot of people
to put on these shows.

But what would you say
individually your key to success

was as an angler,
as a fisherman.

Just being a very good..

And then also as a businessman.

Well you know the fishing
tournaments that came along back

in the late '60s.

And that's what really
kickstarted Bill Dance's career.

I was extremely lucky
back in those days.

I did extremely well in those
tournaments in the early days.

And I always dreamed of going
to work for a national lure

manufacturer.

And I had, in the late '60s, I
competed in a few of national

bass tournaments.

And as luck would have it,
the first three I competed in,

I finished second
in the first three.

And then I went on
the following year.

I went ot Smith Lake in
Alabama and I won it.

Then I went to
Ross-Barnett down in Jackson,

Mississippi and I won it.

And then I went to
Rayburn, Texas and I won it.

So I won.

I had three seconds and then
in came in boom-boom-boom with

three firsts.

And I had a
tremendous amount of support.

And I had three phone calls with
them in the next two weeks from

three national lure
manufactureres -- One in

Florida, one in Texas and one
of the oldest lure manufacturers

called Head and Tackle Company,
the company that made a lot of

the old standard
baits, the lucky 13.

Just old-timey baits.

And one of the
companies in Texas,

the originator of the plastic
worm company that a lot of

people probably don't remember.

A lot of the old
timers remember.

But plastic.

A company called
Creme Lure Comapany.

Nick Creme was the
originator of the plastic worm.

And 50% of the fish I was
watching back in those days was

probably on the plastic worm.

And Nick and Cosma Creme invited
Diane and I to come to Tyler,

Texas.

And we went down and
spent the weekend with them.

And I accepted a
job to go to work.

He offered me a company
vehicle, double my salary.

And oh, it was just
a dream come true.

Yeah, you've already
accomplished your dream there.

That was just the start of it.

Yeah, it was just
absolutely unbelievable.

So and he wanted me to fish
and take key buyers out and show

them how to use his products.

And to come to Rayburn,
Dakota to lead a bin,

stay down there a week at a time
and show his buyers how to rig

worms.

And they came out with these
worm kits and Texas rig kits and

packages and fish with sports
writers then to continue fishing

in tournaments.

You got the best of both worlds.

Absolutely.

And then the sport
started to explode.

Right.

And then I was
fishing, you know.

And then he was putting
his products in stores.

I was doing store promotions and
seminars and teaching people how

to use their products.

I got to thinking.

I said, "You know if I
can do this for him,

I can do it for myself."

And then we, uh..

Is that when the
idea came for the show?

Well it was a
little bit before then.

And then my buddy and I started
a company called Striking Lure

Company.

And this was back
in the late '60s.

And tried that for a short
period of time and it just

didn't really pan out with..

I was fishing tournaments and
wasn't really devoting the time

to it as much as I could have.

And finally fishing
with the writers,

fishing with the
buyers, fishing tournaments,

getting a lot of
publicity and everything,

And he was trying to run the
business and it was kind of

lop-sided.

And finally I just said, "Look,
we tried it for a year or so."

And just like I said, it
didn't pan out too good.

So anyway I had a call from
another major lure company.

And he said, "Look, we want
you to come to work for us."

And I told my buddy with the
lure company with Striking..

I said, "Look, you just
take it and go with it."

You're moving on.

I'm moving on.

And he did
extrmely well with it.

Oh, good.

And I moved on.

We started a local TV
show right after that.

Well let's jump ahead because
there's so much to get in to.

Foir those people who know Bill
Dance Outdoors but maybe don't

know about a new show.

You're involved in a number of
shows and a new one coming on

Discovery.

Tell everybody where they can
find you in the shows that you

do in a year.

Well we run year-round.

We do our freshwater
series on N-B-C Sports,

You can find us weekdays.

You can find us on the
weekend on N-B-C Sports.

And our saltwater series, we're
on through the week and we're on

the weekend on the
Outdoor Channel.

And starting late December
in the first of the year,

we'll be on Destination America
which is one of Discovery

Channels.

And so we'll be running I
don't know how many times.

We run on that network about
three times a week and then four

or five times a week on N-B-C
Sports and three times a week on

the Outdoor Channel.

So it keeps us..

It keeps ya really busy!

More opportunties to see it.

Does it ever get old?

No, it doesn't.

The have-to situations sometimes
get old when you're bent,

when you're pressured that you
have to get this done and you're

trying to meet deadlines.

Time restraints, right?

But we've got..

Like I say, we've
got great editors.

We've got a lot of
talented people that work real,

real hard.

You can tell.

You can tell by the
finished product.

Alright, let's do
some rapid fire.

Quick answers to
these questions.

Your favorite salt water fishing
hole or place to do salt water

and then your favorite
freshwater place to fish.

Well you know I've
got a lot of them.

People say,
"Where's your favorite?"

Well it's where
ever I can catch fish.

But I love the Florida Keys.

Absolutely.

I just got back from the Keys.

I love the area from
down toward Marathon.

It depends on the particular
specie that I'm fishing for.

I love that area through
there from Marathon down through

Grassy Keys on
down toward Key West.

That area, I love for saltwater.

I love the Destin area.

I'm crazy about the Destin area.

Freshwater?

No, for saltwater?

No, no, no.

For freshwater?

Ah!

I grew up fishing moving
water and I love moving water.

I love the Tennessee River.

I love Pickwick Lake.

Pickwick lake is just
close to us right here.

It's an hour and 45 minutes.

Easy to get to.

Pickwick is a type of lake that
offers 12 months a year fishing.

It's got all three species
of Bass -- the large mouth,

the small mouth, the
Kentucky or Spotted bass.

It's got great catfish.

It's got good crappie fishing.

It's got good.

Like I say, you can
fish summer, fall,

winter or spring.

Cold water, hot
water, muddy water,

clear water.

It's just a great fishery.

Is there a place in all the
years you've fished that you

have not gone to
that you would love to?

Still in your agenda to go to.

Uh, yeah.

There's one place I really
want to go to and try that I've

never.

Snake river.

It's where Evil Knievel
jumped the Snake river.

I'd like to go up
there and fish.

Everybody wants to know.

And of course
you're from Tennessee.

It's obvious.

But the origins of the U-T cap.

Your trademark.

I got the first
U-T caps I ever got,

I got from Doach
Dickey, Doug Dickey.

He sent me two of them.

And I wore that cap.

And the first time I wore
it, I won a tournament.

And then I wore it again, I
won that second tournament.

And the third one, I
won the third tournament.

And then they became just a
trademark and I've worn them

ever since.

You are involved with Bass
Pro because it's one of your

sponsors.

And we saw you at the
groundbreaking of what's going

to be the mega store
where the Pyramid is.

What is the latest
with that, Bill?

And how involved will you be?

Well Johnny and I
have been close friends.

Johnny Marsh is the
founder of Bass Pro Shop.

And I remember when johnny used
to dream and talk about opening

these type stores.

They're on a much smaller scale.

And that dream became a reality.

And now they've just exploded.

And he's got close to 60
of them nation wide now.

But I remember about seven years
ago I met him at Olive Branch.

We got on an airplane.

And we were flying to
Sevierville for a store opening.

And he said, "I got a
big surprise for you."

And I said, "What's
that?' And he said,

"I want you to make
a decision for me."

And I said, "What
kind of decision?"

And Jim Hagle, the president,
they were both sitting across

from me on
Johnny's corporate plane.

He siad, "You need to make a
decision for us before we get

back.

"We're going to
leave Sevierville.

"We're going down to Leads,
Alabama for a ground-breaking.

"Then we're going over to
Pearl, Mississippi for a

ground-breaking before
we get back to Memphis.

"And then you and I are going
to fish the Mississippi for two

days for catfish
as you well know."

And I said, "Yeah, I know that."

He said, "But you need
to make a decision."

And I said,
"What's the decision?"

"Should we take over the Pyramid
and put a Bass Pro Shop?"

Seven years ago,
he asked you this?

Yeah, yeah.

And I said..

I looked at him.

I said, "You're crazy
as a box of rocks."

I said, "I'm not going
to make that decision."

And he siad,
"Well yeah, you are."

And I said, "Oh, I
can't make the decision.

"That's too big of a decision."

He said, "Well think about it."

I thought he was kidding.

And we got there.

And later that night after we
did the opening in Sevierville,

he said, "Have you
made that decision?"

I said, "No, I hadn't made it.

"I'm not going to."

He says, "Yeah, you are."

And the next day he
said, "We need a decision."

And he kept kidding about it.

And finally Hagle, I
mean looks at me and said,

"Bill, I need a decision.

"I'm serious."

And I said, "You are
serious, aren't you?"

He said, "I am very serious."

And I looked.

And I thought.

And then Johnny, he said,
"Look, I'll make it easy on you.

"We're gonna fish
the Mississippi river.

"If we catch a
catfish over 30 pounds,

we're coming to Memphis and
we're going to put a Pyramid in.

"We're gonna put a
Bass Pro at the Pyrmid."

So I said, "A catfish
is going to decide."

That's what he said.

Has anybody ever
heard this story?

Oh, yeah.

So long story,
short -- what happened?

The mayor knows about it.

We brought this up.

It was a big thing.

And so we fished.

And his good friend and my good
friend Jack Emmitt went with us.

And Jack has been
with Johnny forever.

And we went up the river.

We took old James 'Big
Cat' Patterson with us.

And of course James
took us up the river.

You know James knows the
river like an otter knows water.

Right.

And it was a cold day.

It was like 30 degrees.

We anchored the boat.

We got two bites.

And Jack caught
one over 30 pounds.

And Johnny said, "That does it.

"We're coming to Memphis."

And the catfish decided it.

And we've laughed
about that for a long,

long time.

But we unveiled a big picture at
the ground-breaking and unvelied

it with Jack holding
this big 30 pound catfish.

And we told that story
at the ground-breaking.

That's unbelievable.

But the schedule, fall of 2014.

We don't have a lot of time.

You've had a chance to fish
with celebrities galore from

politicians to singers
to actors to sportsmen,

obviously athletes.

What is the one that stands out
of all the celebrities you've

taken out to fish and the one
that you weren't able to do?

The one that he wanted to
do it and I wanted to do it.

And we both tried so hard.

When he could do
it, I couldn't do it.

And was..

Norman Schwarzkopf.

General Schwarzkopf.

He sent me a letter the
day Desert Storm started.

And I've got it.

You saw it on my wall.

Exactly.

And we'll show everybody that.

He wanted to fish with you
and Desert Storm breaks out.

Yeah.

And after that, our schedules
never could get together.

And America lost a
wonderful, wonderful person.

They certainly did.

The one that stands out of
itnerviews or the fishing that

you've done?

It doesn't even
have to be a show.

The one athlete,
the one personality.

Who would it be out of all
the hundreds that you've done.

Oh, there's been..

I had another one set
to do with Billy Graham.

Oh really?

Yeah, Reverend Bill Graham.

And that was another figure that
I really wanted so bad to do a

show with.

And it came close.

Right, but you
didn't get that one done.

The scheduling the
Tennessee River,

Mother Nature
messed us up on that.

But on the ones you've done,
which is the one you remember

the most?

Give me the one interview.

What would it be
that you've done?

I can tell you the ones that
stand out was with each one of

my four children there when they
caught their very first fish.

And then three of my
grandchildren there when they

caught their very first fish.

How many grandchldren you have?

I've got seven.

Fantastic.

But how about a celebrity?

Give me one.

Everybody's waiting
with dated breath here.

Well the one.

The funniest ones were
like with Terry Bradshaw.

You were his best
man in his wedding.

Yeah.

He's been married a
few times though,

right.

Yeah, his second wedding.

[laughter]

Yeah,
his second wedding.

It is unbelievable.

Bill, are you gonna do
this for another 40 years?

Hope to do it forever and
then a little bit more.

Thank you so much.

Always good to be with you.

Same here.

We'll take a break.

We'll come back with
Overtime right after this.

♪♪♪

(male announcer)
Three..

Two..

One..

[buzzer sounds]

The Memphis area
has had its share of success

stories in Professional golf
from Middlecoff to Roberts to

Micheel.

In addition, the area has
produced some of the best

amateur golfers anywhere,
including David Gossett and Tim

Jackson.

One of the top players the last
few years has been University of

Memphis product Matt
Cooper, who earlier this summer,

captured his second
straight Publinks championship.

Recently, I spent
some time with Matt,

to find out more about
his game and his future.

Coop, it's great
to see you again!

Good to see you again!

Definitely in your wheel
house here at Tunica National.

Beautiful golf
course that you work for.

And we'll talk about
that a little bit later on.

But congratulations.

Two straight years
winning the Publinks.

Way to go!

Thank you very much.

It was a lot of fun.

It was a little
different though this year.

Normally it's three rounds.

This one ended up
being 36 holes.

But you ended up getting in
that first round before the rain

stopped play.

Funny story because you had a
great score and then things

changed.

Yeah, the first
round was at Auduban.

And I was like the second
group off that morning.

I played my round no
problem in perfect weather.

Shot 68, two under.

And went out to my parents house
in Germantown and kind of hung

out that day in perfect weather.

I was stopping by Auduban on the
way back home to see how Eli and

some of the guys are doing
and it was pouring down rain.

They were all under
the hut in a delay.

So they kind of waited out the
delay as long as they could.

They ultimately had to make the
decision to wash the first round

out.

They weren't going to be able
to get everybody back out on the

course the next morning, still
go play the second round at

Galloway.

So everybody started clean
36 holes on that Saturday.

That must be tough on the psyche
to try to get yourself ready to

go for 36 after you
just posted a good score.

Yeah, it was.

It was kind of a frustrating
decision because I thought

Auduban was probably the
hardest of the three courses.

And a good round there can kind
of seperate me from the field a

little bit.

But once they made the
decision, I gave Micheal,

who was a part of the
decision, a hard time.

But once that was made, I just
kind of tried to put that out of

my head and just play a start
over on Saturday and play a 36

hole event.

Now obviously it worked as you
win your second streak Publinks.

What does it mean to
you win those titles,

to also fare so well in many of
the state tournaments that take

place as you try to become..

And you already are but
maybe the best following in the

footsteps of the
great Tim Jackson,

the best amateur in the area?

Well it's been cool
because, like I said,

I took a few years off
from competitive golf.

About the last
two or three years,

I've kind of picked it back up.

And the first year or so, the
first two years in the Publinks

in particular, were kind of
tough ways to lose and lost

them.

But to finally come through last
year and close the deal and get

a win and then to back
it up again this year,

it's definitely kind of, it kind
of good to kind of confirms the

hard work I've been putting in.

And to close the
deal was very cool.

As many know, you played at
the University of Memphis,

Germantown High School.

Why do you think you're playing
your best golf right now?

You just turned 34 years of age.

Why is it all coming together?

Yeah, that's a good question.

I get asked that all the time
because I'm definitely playing

the best right now that
I have in my whole life.

I think it's just kind of a just
maturing a little bit on the

golf course, kind of been
working down here at Tunica

National and having a guy to
kind of bounce some ideas off

of.

Former touring pro.

He's a great teacher.

And it's helped me
a lot with my game.

But just kind of
mature on the golf course,

learning to kind of not take
everything so serious and so

hard.

Kind of just my
attitudes gotten a lot better.

And then quite honestly my short
game over the past two or three

years, being down here and
having this practice facility

and maybe senaking off 30
minutes here and there around

lunch or whatever and
just chippin' and puttin'.

That's probably been the number
one reason why I've been playing

so much better.

After you graduated college, you
would normally think anybody who

played collegiate
golf at that level,

Division I level, would be
thinking to turn professional.

That's not the route
you decided to go.

Well it was always in
the back of my mind.

As a kid growing up that's
obviously what any competitive

golfer wants to do.

But you know I played four years
at Memphis and never really had

good enough results
to warrant, you know,

turning pro right
out of college.

I did take about a year and a
half or two years right after

school and tried to travel.

And I played in some big amateur
tournaments and was fortunate

enough to not have to
go to work right away.

But I never got the
results and never really,

you know, convinced myself that
it was worth going turning pro

and going to school
or anything like that.

So I became a working man.

You've had a terrific summer.

First alternate
for the U-S Amatuer.

What are the goals now for
you in your amateur career?

Uh, well definitely to play
in as many U-S-G-A events as

possible.

I was lucky enough to play
in the U-A Amateur last year.

What was that experience like?

It was awesome.

Cherry Hills Country Club out
in Denver with a lot of history.

That was my first U-S-G-A event
ever and really the biggest

tournament I ever played in.

So there were some
nerves involved.

I didn't play a great
round the first day,

played okay the second round of
stroke play and missed making

match play by five or six shots.

But it was a great experience
and kind of to get a taste of

amateur golf at
the highest level.

It was pretty cool.

But the goals there and to
compete in state level events

and state opens
and state amateurs.

Hopefully getting contention and
win some of those and maybe try

to be the Tennessee Player of
the Year and Amateur Player of

the Year.

And keep making the amateur cup
teams at the end of the summer.

All those are
good goals of mine.

As I mentioned, Tim
Jackson, a guy you emulate.

So many terrific
amateur golfers in the area.

Would you be satisfied for
your golf career if I said,

"Listen, you're going to be
the best amateur for a period of

time.

"But you're never going to get a
chance to play professionally."

Are you satisfied with that?

Oh, absolutely.

At this point in
my life, for sure.

Yeah, the pro..

Well you know, you never know
what happens when you turn 50.

You stay in good health
and your game stays sharp,

that's always a possibility.

But no, definitely my goals
these days are all within the

amateur range.

Did you always
know that somewhere,

somehow you were going to
be involved in golf for a

profession?

And tell us a little bit
about your profession at Tunica

National.

Yeah, definitely was something.

I obviosuly got in to at a
fairly early age thought my

grandfather and my
dad and my uncle Jimmy,

big gold family.

So I mean it was always
something that I loved and was

passionate about.

And then yeah, once
I started working,

I got this opporunity to come
down here at Tunica National and

get involved in
the golf business.

And it's been fantastic.

It's been wonderful.

Great for my game
and just great for,

you know, overall just
satisfaction and doing something

you love to do everyday.

Well it's an absolute pleasure
keeping up with what you've been

doing, Matt.

Make sure you continue to let us
know and we'll keep everybody up

to date with what you're
doing in your tournaments,

amateur tournaments,
state tournaments.

And who know what will
happen for the future?

But always great to see that.

Thanks a lot.

I will.

Thanks, Greg.

And that will do it
for this week's show.

Next week it's our S-E-C
Football preview show.

And as we say goodnight, check
out some of the world famous

Bill Dance Bloopers.

Have a great week and
we'll see you next time.

♪♪♪

CLOSED CAPTIONS PROVIDED BY
WKNO - MEMPHIS.