Don Barone: The Bass Mobile

Our Itinerant Freelance Journalist friend, Don Barone, is not about to let the biggest economic downturn of the century come between him and his ability to lead Bigfoot hunting parties or cover bass fishing tournaments. Check out his stories at http://www.donbaroneoutdoors.com/

(Editor's Note: The presence of a life preserver in the Bass Mobile does not mean that it is amphibious.)

Don Barone : When Recession Bites You In The A$$

Ever since we read his first story over at ESPN we have been what amounts to fans of the work of outdoor journo Don Barone. DB has he is known in the fishing world, recently became a victim of the recession getting sliced from the mainstream media even though he was writing some of the most popular stories on the outdoor net. Don received a FlyfishMagazine.com award for having a "Job that probably did not suck" which appears to have been his undoing. Look out Joan, Brian, Lefty, and Jose. This could be the fishing equivalent of the SI cover curse.

So what does a media guy do when the media he gave his blood, sweat, and tears for tells him to take his jelly donuts and go home? He covers the sport he loves anyway, albeit doing so on his own dime, all the while writing his book "The Hula Girl Diaries" (also published online) and reaching out to his fans to help fund his adventures.

"It was suggested "in jest" by one of my several thousand bosses that. "How cool would it be for you to take a Greyhound bus to….and write about the adventure of getting there to cover the event." I passed.

I have a minivan. With a dashboard Hula Girl named, Leilani, Jill my GPS-speak "Recalculating" bitch-in-a-box and U.S. Government approved luggage: 6 white plastic United States Postal Service mail bins.
I'll be fine.
So far I'm a National Traveling Internet Columnist w/o A Travel Budget for $312.52 plus shipping (Leilani $12.99, GPS-Jill $299.53)."
I "borrowed" my luggage from Ron the mail guy. No db editorial budget line cost there.

So he hit the road and is financing his journey with the sale of dashboard hula girls doing the service of helping freshen the stinky passenger compartments of anglers all over the USA.

The prices:

$5.00 each for Hula Girls Signed by DB

$6.00 for unsigned Hula Girls

$264 for those who's name we dare not speak or it will screw up our content ads (Sea Kitten Lovers)

$9,999 for IRS Employees

Check out Don's website http://www.donbaroneoutdoors.com/ for all the details and help a brother out.

PS. Don's big into covering Bass fishing. It is OK. He does occasionally write about fly fishing. There is hope for him.