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Author Topic: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon  (Read 15468 times)

BrianCRX90

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Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« on: April 25, 2016, 02:43:30 PM »
Not trying to be a pessimist, but 15 years ago in my area bowling was very popular, to an extent still is but some of the trends are very disturbing to me:

The formation of USBC - thought at the time it would be a good idea to merge ABC/WIBC. After 10 years of this since 2005, I do not see the benefit of merging the two bodies. All I see is increase in fees and for what?

The PBA, a sport 10 years ago was my favorite to watch on tv and attend in person is surviving on a thread. I used to record every show but now...who cares? It's not a real tour anymore, nothing is live except for a couple major events and most of the events are in one city then eventually may have it an another city. Kind of hard to take seriously when the events are not live and not having a tour for everyone to see.

Bowling alleys. What year in your area was the last time a bowling alley was built? Entertainment centers like Main Event or Lucky Strike do not count. These places don't usually have leagues. They cater everything from kids to upper class drinking adults. I counted all the bowling alleys in my area and I came up with 1988 was the last time a bowling alley was built, also every time a bowling alley has been closed down nothing has took it's place.

Also, Brunswick selling their company to Bolmore was probably the nail in the coffin. Brunswick was the best thing to happen to bowling in the 1980's putting alleys everywhere, AMF has always sucked then Bolmore did nothing to improve them not they practically have a monopoly on it. Let's not talk about what Bolmore did to my Brunswick bowling alley's bar.
« Last Edit: April 25, 2016, 02:45:30 PM by BrianCRX90 »
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trash heap

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #46 on: April 29, 2016, 11:01:35 AM »
Quote from: avabob on April 29, 2016, 10:16:34 AM
Back in the 70's I carried a yellow dot and a white dot.  On house shots today I might carry 2 balls plus my spare ball.  Don't really need any more.  Tournaments are a different story.  Oil patterns can be anywhere from 30 to 50 feet.  Surfaces are different.  Oils themselves vary a lot.  I wouldn't go to any serious scratch tourney without 4 balls plus a spare ball.  Do I need this many balls.  Who knows.  I do know that I can make at least as good a use of them as does the 18 handicap golfer with 14 clubs in his bag. 

avabob,

4 Balls seems very low count for today's competitive bowler. When I went to Regional PBA  event 10 years ago I saw many guys wheeling in at least 8 balls for a tournament.

What I am trying to get at here is this:

2 Balls 40 years ago versus 8-10 (maybe more) balls now.   

What once was affordable to many people back then is now way out of price for many today.

A bowling arsenal today, is probably very close to a set of high quality Golf Clubs. And the worse part is balls require routine maintenance (more money) and that's to keep them in high quality shape for their short life span.

To me I see competitive bowling just got too expensive. By the time a bowler buys an arsenal, practices to utilize that arsenal (only can practice at bowling center - more money), and then drives around to tournaments to get the cash to support the sport he/she loves doing, there just not enough people willing spend that kind of money and see no chance of return. It really comes down to the sport of bowling out priced itself.

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Pinbuster

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #47 on: April 29, 2016, 11:58:20 AM »
In the 60's and 70's for league you seldom saw anyone with more than 1 ball. Late in the 70's I was like Bob with a yellow dot and a white dot.

The bulk of the tournaments I see around are on fairly easy house shots. If you can move your feet and play different lines 2 or 3 strike balls is plenty.

For tougher/sport shot tournaments they generally will announce the pattern. Given the length and volume you can narrow it down to 3 or 4 balls in my opinion.

To me one of the biggest fallacies foisted on bowling today is that you have to have this huge arsenal of the latest balls to compete. I've won tournaments using 3 or 4 year old balls with 100's of games on them with only an occasional resurfacing.

I generally feel when I see someone come in with 8 balls that I have them beat because they are trying to force the lane into playing the line they like best and they spend the bulk of their time searching for the magic pill that will save them.
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txbowler

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #48 on: April 29, 2016, 11:58:45 AM »
Just a quick reply here.  Please tell me what other sport a non-professional participant can make any money at?  I didn't say profit.

People compare golf a lot.  But unless you have side bets within your group, I don't think your weekend golf outing with your friends, or whoever you get paired up with the the local course is going to pay you anything for your investment in clubs, shoes, bag, balls, tees etc.  Which is a $1000 investment or more.

Bowling is the only sport/game where anyone can enter a tournament or bracket in league.  As we often say, pay your money and shoe up.

So yes, buying and maintaining today's equipment is very costly, however, you have a chance to recoup some of those costs.

Golf - not that I know of
Tennis - not that I know of
baseball/softball - not that I know of
darts - nope


All of the other sports/activities pay trophies or medals unless you got a little side action going.   And of course, there's tons of side action in most competitive leagues I have been around.
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avabob

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #49 on: April 29, 2016, 12:23:29 PM »
Exactly right txbowler.  No way I justify carrying 4-6 balls and updating my arsenal all the time for league and local low paying tourneys.  Over the years when I have gone to high rollers or other major scratch tourneys I usually take 5 balls plus a spare ball.  In addition I often drill up something during the week of qualifying if I think I need a different look
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sdbowler

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #50 on: April 29, 2016, 02:31:52 PM »
Forgive me if I say something that has been said already as I didn't take time to read responses. Bowling I don't think will truly ever RIP. Some aspects of it may but not the entire bowling world. I just got back into bowling this season after a few years away from the sport for myself even though my kids were still bowling. I will use myself as an example and I am sure there are several parents in similar situations. My son is involved in travel baseball and practices/plays almost year round plus bowls and a couple other activities through out the year. My daughter is involved in dance and now is also playing travel softball plus bowling. I am lucky enough that I was able to find a job that I can pretty much work when I want and from home almost all the time while my wife is the store manager where she works and has to work a little of this and little of that and 50+ hours a week. So the family time is not there and people are starting to delete activities for themselves to get their kids involved in things. I was perfectly happy not bowling and allowing my kids to be in all their activities. Now with how well I did this year I do plan on bowling next season but if push came to shove and I had to pick myself to bowl or one of my kids to do their activity I would stop bowling in a heartbeat. With all the different activities for kids and how expensive everything is now I can see why people are either no longer bowling or not bowling as much.
What is helping youth bowling is all the different ways that they can now get scholarships. Both of my kids are already starting to accumulate some scholarship money from different stuff in bowling. I see  youth leagues/competitions to continue to grow due to that. However I don't see as many of those kids coming over into adult leagues even after college as there once was. There is just no incentive for them to continue to bowl.
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milorafferty

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #51 on: April 29, 2016, 02:37:01 PM »
Quote from: sdbowler on April 29, 2016, 02:31:52 PM
Forgive me if I say something that has been said already as I didn't take time to read responses. Bowling I don't think will truly ever RIP. Some aspects of it may but not the entire bowling world. I just got back into bowling this season after a few years away from the sport for myself even though my kids were still bowling. I will use myself as an example and I am sure there are several parents in similar situations. My son is involved in travel baseball and practices/plays almost year round plus bowls and a couple other activities through out the year. My daughter is involved in dance and now is also playing travel softball plus bowling. I am lucky enough that I was able to find a job that I can pretty much work when I want and from home almost all the time while my wife is the store manager where she works and has to work a little of this and little of that and 50+ hours a week. So the family time is not there and people are starting to delete activities for themselves to get their kids involved in things. I was perfectly happy not bowling and allowing my kids to be in all their activities. Now with how well I did this year I do plan on bowling next season but if push came to shove and I had to pick myself to bowl or one of my kids to do their activity I would stop bowling in a heartbeat. With all the different activities for kids and how expensive everything is now I can see why people are either no longer bowling or not bowling as much.
What is helping youth bowling is all the different ways that they can now get scholarships. Both of my kids are already starting to accumulate some scholarship money from different stuff in bowling. I see  youth leagues/competitions to continue to grow due to that. However I don't see as many of those kids coming over into adult leagues even after college as there once was. There is just no incentive for them to continue to bowl.

So you are saying it's USBC's fault then?  ;D
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fredmassie

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #52 on: April 29, 2016, 02:50:34 PM »
I don't think he is pointing fingers , just giving his opinion.
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bigbaby987

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #53 on: April 29, 2016, 02:53:45 PM »
No offense guys, but this is getting off topic.  You have to look at bowling as a viable sport and look outside your personal microcosm to diagnose the problem.  Many people are angry at the USBC.  I personally don't have a problem with them.  Other amateur sports pay for a governing body.  Maybe on a more local level, but they do.  Look at softball, or even Pop Warner football.  There is a governing body and fees are paid to them.  After reading this thread, it is making me conclude that bowlers are a little selfish.  What is the USBC doing for me?  What are they going to do? or Why do we have them?  The regulate and facilitate-period.  They're not your 401K where you're making an investment.  They insure if you go out of state to bowl a tournament, the rules are the same and can be governed if an incident occurs.  We're talking about the decline of bowling.  It's definitely not the USBC.  Those are internal complaints.  Externally, why doesn't the general public get excited about bowling?  Instead of complaining about the USBC, what you doing it promote the sport?  Unless you work at an alley or bowling related business, how many people do you know know who the USBC is?  Probably none.  So quit blaming the USBC for your personal headaches.  If this type of thinking continues, bowling will be dead.  Come on guys. 
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milorafferty

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #54 on: April 29, 2016, 03:12:24 PM »
It was just sarcasm. Of course it's not the USBC's fault. But there is a group here and on other sites that would blame USBC for the Volkswagen emission's issue. But of course, they do nothing themselves to promote bowling. Just bitch about USBC.
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morpheus

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #55 on: April 29, 2016, 03:38:52 PM »
I'm sure this will get flamed but here goes...

The USBC's revenue model makes acquiring and retaining members their business so yeah, I think the decline is on them. If they want more money, do a better job promoting our sport and making local associations more effective so membership starts growing. I mean think about this for a second, you have a bunch of volunteers at the local level giving their time for free and a bunch of people at USBC getting paid based on the hard work of volunteers to recruit and retain membership. I'm not being selfish, I don't want anything from them but if they want a dues increase, then someone needs to show some sack present a plan and be accountable if it fails.
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bigbaby987

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #56 on: April 29, 2016, 04:10:16 PM »
I get what you're saying.  The USBC does have "some" responsibility to bring people in, but it's not their sole responsibility.  Bowling needs innovation;  not changing the game like the stupid world scoring idea.  Baseball is in the same funk.  They find that their demo is getting older and older, and can't seem to convert younger enthusiasts outside of young players.  I believe that it comes down to education and environment.  People learning the actual sport side of bowling from technique to the different oil patterns.  The environment can get a little stuffy, and offsetting.  The PBA League, again, has the excitement to at least get people interested.  Not just sitting around and having to keep the noise level down like it's some type of library in a monastery.  Fun and competitive.  People love those qualities and bowling posses those qualities if bowlers loosen up and others (outsiders) learn more.
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bigbaby987

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #57 on: April 29, 2016, 04:13:12 PM »
Has anyone seen the Storm Stepladder Finals???? :'(  It seemed like there were only 12 people there.  How do you expect bowling to grow with this type of turnout??????  It's pitiful.  Even the pros get no one to show up.  This is a prime example of the possible demise of this sport.  No one is excited!!!!!!!!!  Really sucks. 
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milorafferty

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #58 on: April 29, 2016, 04:34:06 PM »
We as bowlers are the only ones who can grow the sport.

I started bowling about 8 years ago. Prior to that, I have never had a bowling ball in my hand. Why did I start bowling? Because someone where I work wanted to start a league team and ask if I was interested. Since I couldn't golf at night, I thought "Why Not", something to do anyway.

I have since gotten several people either into league bowling or league bowlers to start going to tournaments like the Open who otherwise would never have participated.

The future of the sport and league bowling is in our hands, not just USBC.

Or...we can sit around and bitch about how USBC isn't getting the job done and say F*** them if they want a dues increase while bowling continues to die a slow death.


I guess what I'm saying is, either Shut up or do something about it.
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bigbaby987

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #59 on: April 29, 2016, 04:43:57 PM »
Quote from: milorafferty on April 29, 2016, 04:34:06 PM
We as bowlers are the only ones who can grow the sport.

I started bowling about 8 years ago. Prior to that, I have never had a bowling ball in my hand. Why did I start bowling? Because someone where I work wanted to start a league team and ask if I was interested. Since I couldn't golf at night, I thought "Why Not", something to do anyway.

I have since gotten several people either into league bowling or league bowlers to start going to tournaments like the Open who otherwise would never have participated.

The future of the sport and league bowling is in our hands, not just USBC.

Or...we can sit around and bitch about how USBC isn't getting the job done and say F*** them if they want a dues increase while bowling continues to die a slow death.


I guess what I'm saying is, either Shut up or do something about it.

AMEN!!!
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sdbowler

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Re: Is bowling going to be R.I.P. soon
« Reply #60 on: April 29, 2016, 05:14:04 PM »
Quote from: milorafferty on April 29, 2016, 04:34:06 PM
We as bowlers are the only ones who can grow the sport.

I started bowling about 8 years ago. Prior to that, I have never had a bowling ball in my hand. Why did I start bowling? Because someone where I work wanted to start a league team and ask if I was interested. Since I couldn't golf at night, I thought "Why Not", something to do anyway.

I have since gotten several people either into league bowling or league bowlers to start going to tournaments like the Open who otherwise would never have participated.

The future of the sport and league bowling is in our hands, not just USBC.

Or...we can sit around and bitch about how USBC isn't getting the job done and say F*** them if they want a dues increase while bowling continues to die a slow death.


I guess what I'm saying is, either Shut up or do something about it.

I completely agree with that. Just like any other thing that people complain about those on the outside will never want to be part of it if all they hear is people complaining about what's going on. If you hear of people getting bad service when they went to eat somewhere are you going to want to go there? I bet you won't rush out to try it. Same thing is going on with bowling. People complain about this, that, and well just about everything. Why would new people want to join a league?
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