BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: bowling_rebel on July 23, 2022, 05:52:03 PM
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This was posted on Facebook, by Bowlero's new head of league bowling certification. Kind of explaining how everything the USBC has been doing for like over 100 years, they are now going to do instead.
A message from Neil Stremmel, our new PBA League Bowler Certification Director of Rules and Equipment.
For more information visit pba.com/pba-league-bowler-certification
https://www.facebook.com/ProfessionalBowlersAssociation/photos/a.241777764773/10159793816254774/
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The PBA League Bowler Certification Program is a total marketing and branding gimmick. It won't do anything to grow bowling. It serves to benefit Bowlero and only Bowlero.
I personally think this is Bowlero not wanting to pay the USBC fee to certify their 300+ centers for USBC sanctioned events, yet still have some sort of association available for their league bowlers moving forward. It will also be a path for Bowlero to self certify string bowling.
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Always interesting how people interpret things
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It will also be a path for Bowlero to self certify string bowling.
+1. That makes sense.
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I am no fan of the USBC, but I trust bowlers even less.
ANY publicly held company that has stockholders is interested in nothing but the bottom line.
Not the activity, and NOT the participants.
USBC has it’s own problems, but they have no ulterior motives, other than to keep themselves relevant to the sport.
Bowlers has only its own interests in all of this. USBC may not be perfect, but replacing it with some Bowlero gimmick isn’t the answer.
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Only problem with bowling is the bowlers. Not the USBC not PBA and not Bowlero
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Only problem with bowling is the bowlers. Not the USBC not PBA and not Bowlero
In most instances, pretty much true, I figure. ::)
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I am no fan of the USBC, but I trust bowlers even less.
ANY publicly held company that has stockholders is interested in nothing but the bottom line.
Not the activity, and NOT the participants.
USBC has it’s own problems, but they have no ulterior motives, other than to keep themselves relevant to the sport.
Bowlers has only its own interests in all of this. USBC may not be perfect, but replacing it with some Bowlero gimmick isn’t the answer.
I just realized that spell check got me.
That first line should say Bowlero, not bowlers. :o
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I am no fan of the USBC, but I trust bowlers even less.
ANY publicly held company that has stockholders is interested in nothing but the bottom line.
Not the activity, and NOT the participants.
USBC has it’s own problems, but they have no ulterior motives, other than to keep themselves relevant to the sport.
Bowlers has only its own interests in all of this. USBC may not be perfect, but replacing it with some Bowlero gimmick isn’t the answer.
There’s little difference between Bowlero and the USBC. They both run tournaments for profit and both own professional sport organizations (PBA/PWBA). IMHO at this point the USBC is essentially a tournament organization taking a percentage of sanction fees without providing much value to local associations or proprietors.
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I am no fan of the USBC, but I trust bowlers even less.
ANY publicly held company that has stockholders is interested in nothing but the bottom line.
Not the activity, and NOT the participants.
USBC has it’s own problems, but they have no ulterior motives, other than to keep themselves relevant to the sport.
Bowlers has only its own interests in all of this. USBC may not be perfect, but replacing it with some Bowlero gimmick isn’t the answer.
There’s little difference between Bowlero and the USBC. They both run tournaments for profit and both own professional sport organizations (PBA/PWBA). IMHO at this point the USBC is essentially a tournament organization taking a percentage of sanction fees without providing much value to local associations or proprietors.
The USBC is a non-profit organization and reported as such to the IRS. They aren't doing anything for a profit. The sanction fees keep the association running and that's it. Although they have 8 employees being paid over $100K annually, with Chad Murphy getting paid over $400K as of 2020. That's a little excessive.
Bowlero is a publicly traded for-profit corporation that operates to earn money for their shareholders.
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I am no fan of the USBC, but I trust bowlers even less.
ANY publicly held company that has stockholders is interested in nothing but the bottom line.
Not the activity, and NOT the participants.
USBC has it’s own problems, but they have no ulterior motives, other than to keep themselves relevant to the sport.
Bowlers has only its own interests in all of this. USBC may not be perfect, but replacing it with some Bowlero gimmick isn’t the answer.
There’s little difference between Bowlero and the USBC. They both run tournaments for profit and both own professional sport organizations (PBA/PWBA). IMHO at this point the USBC is essentially a tournament organization taking a percentage of sanction fees without providing much value to local associations or proprietors.
The USBC is a non-profit organization and reported as such to the IRS. They aren't doing anything for a profit. The sanction fees keep the association running and that's it. Although they have 8 employees being paid over $100K annually, with Chad Murphy getting paid over $400K as of 2020. That's a little excessive.
Bowlero is a publicly traded for-profit corporation that operates to earn money for their shareholders.
Don’t kid yourself, USBC runs tournaments to make money and why exactly does the governing body of bowling own a professional sports organization? There is no other example of a governing body in any sport owning a professional sports organization. I might be a little less critical if it were transparent how USBC run tournaments and the PWBA were funded, but I think we all know that’s not going to happen as long as Chad is in charge.
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I am no fan of the USBC, but I trust bowlers even less.
ANY publicly held company that has stockholders is interested in nothing but the bottom line.
Not the activity, and NOT the participants.
USBC has it’s own problems, but they have no ulterior motives, other than to keep themselves relevant to the sport.
Bowlers has only its own interests in all of this. USBC may not be perfect, but replacing it with some Bowlero gimmick isn’t the answer.
There’s little difference between Bowlero and the USBC. They both run tournaments for profit and both own professional sport organizations (PBA/PWBA). IMHO at this point the USBC is essentially a tournament organization taking a percentage of sanction fees without providing much value to local associations or proprietors.
The USBC is a non-profit organization and reported as such to the IRS. They aren't doing anything for a profit. The sanction fees keep the association running and that's it. Although they have 8 employees being paid over $100K annually, with Chad Murphy getting paid over $400K as of 2020. That's a little excessive.
Bowlero is a publicly traded for-profit corporation that operates to earn money for their shareholders.
Don’t kid yourself, USBC runs tournaments to make money and why exactly does the governing body of bowling own a professional sports organization? There is no other example of a governing body in any sport owning a professional sports organization. I might be a little less critical if it were transparent how USBC run tournaments and the PWBA were funded, but I think we all know that’s not going to happen as long as Chad is in charge.
Seems to me todays bowlers are confused as too the different bodies and their roles.
The USBC was formed to bring equipment standardization. They were formed independently so too be above approach. Its a good thing but primarly in the 80s they failed and bullied by the BPAA. They forgot they were to protect the sports integrity.
The BPAA is the trade organization for center owners be it if you only owned a few centers like my familiy or 150 like early corporations (which primarily begain to pop up in the 80s) Center owners knew they could better serve to grow the sport as a group and nation wide then as one center, 10 centers or 300 centers (Bull Arrow). Getting bowlers in the door is one persons job and job alone... The center owner and the stakes the highest for them.
The PBA is a glorifed tournament director. With out private property owners they do not exist, same a USBC, BPAA, Storm, Brunswick and blah blah. Center owners are everything all others just profit off their sucess.
Of course a non-profit tries to raise money what ones do not? They need to get back in and physical check centers and about too. If I had F-you money I would donate my millions to them so they tell Bowlero to shut the hell up already.
Bowlero wants to muddy the waters. They have came so close to turning a hundred year old sport into a recreation. They need to look back at the decades to see the BPAA failings.
"lets go bowling" old as coca-cola.
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I can't image any scenario where I would donate a single penny where the grubby, shithead Murphy might benefit.
At this point, I'm for pretty much anything that kicks him to the curb.
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I can't image any scenario where I would donate a single penny where the grubby, shithead Murphy might benefit.
At this point, I'm for pretty much anything that kicks him to the curb.
I get it but not at the cost to the further erosion of our governing body that I presume Bowlero's non-sense will cause.
Bowlero just another corporation and possibly like so many, here today & gone tomorrow. Enough reason just there to not stake the future of 120 year sport on their ignorance or place it under the influence of any corporation. They have done enough damage IMHO.
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Not to get in the middle of this (guess I am now) but some of the arguments I am hearing were the same when Elon Musk established SpaceX and its race to rival NASA. Now it appears SpaceX has passed NASA in many ways.....but we would not have known that if nobody would have given SpaceX a shot. I think we need to see how this plays out for a period of time (Bowlero deal) before we can drop the hammer and say it will erode bowling etc.. Those are assumptions at this point. Could it happen? YES! Will it happen? Don't know. We shall see.
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I can't image any scenario where I would donate a single penny where the grubby, shithead Murphy might benefit.
At this point, I'm for pretty much anything that kicks him to the curb.
+1
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The USBC started out as the governing body of bowling…that’s not what they are today. Look at all the tournaments they run now, it’s non-stop with Open Championships, Women's Championships, Senior Championships, Youth Open Championships, Junior Gold, Pepsi Championships, Masters, Senior Masters, Super Senior Classic, Queens, Senior Queens and all the PWBA events…so how is exactly they are different from any other organization that runs on tournaments to generate revenue.
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How is it any different than the USTA or the USGA for tennis and golf governing those activities and also running multiple tournaments?
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Not to get in the middle of this (guess I am now) but some of the arguments I am hearing were the same when Elon Musk established SpaceX and its race to rival NASA. Now it appears SpaceX has passed NASA in many ways.....but we would not have known that if nobody would have given SpaceX a shot. I think we need to see how this plays out for a period of time (Bowlero deal) before we can drop the hammer and say it will erode bowling etc.. Those are assumptions at this point. Could it happen? YES! Will it happen? Don't know. We shall see.
I would normally agree, especially since no-one knew anything of SpaceX and it had everything to gain and nothing to lose...
.. However with Bowlero, they seriously projected when Tom Shannon went on Bloomberg and declared "no-one really cares about bowling". That give the indication of what they believed about the sport, and what the CEO of the company believed about the facilities he'd be managing in relation to that sport.
He put himself out there when opinions began to form after his comments, and even more so after the actions Bowlero set into motion after those comments were made, so to say to "give them a chance and see what happens" is a stretch, when their actions (eliminating leagues, closing alleys) has already given them track history and a body of work to see what they would do. They have yet still to reconcile their words with their previous actions, and it's still shocking that no-one has called Bowlero out on that.
BL.
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Umm I dont
How is it any different than the USTA or the USGA for tennis and golf governing those activities and also running multiple tournaments?
think How is it any different than the USTA or the USGA for tennis and golf governing those activities and also running multiple tournaments?
Most importantly, neither of the organizations you mentioned own a professional sports organization and run a professional tour for that organization. Beyond that, I don’t think any of those USGA/USTA tournaments are even remotely close to the cattle call tournaments the USBC runs BECAUSE you have to qualify for their tournaments rather than anyone with a membership and an entry fee gets a shot at the title. And pure conjecture on my part because Chad will never reveal the financial details, but I suspect there’s lots of resources put into running tournaments and the PWBA funded by sanction fees which is total BS.
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USTA has a “pro circuit†so young professionals can earn ranking points. And they charge a league fee for every league an individual participates in. My wife plays on 2 or 3 teams a year and probably spends close to $100 on those fees.
Those organizations are very like the USBC, but bowlers are anti USBC so they don’t agree with anything the USBC does.
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I'm not anti-USBC, just anti- Chad Murphy
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I'm not anti-USBC, just anti- Chad Murphy
A Chad Murphy USBC vs A Stremmel PBA LBCP.
What a no brainer. Thank Gawd Stremmel did not make it to the top rung of the ABC or now USBC.
Just another gas bag and will make the Perfect Puppet for Shannon.
Stremmel and his blah blah blah newsletter on what he will do and how he will do it on " things that affect scoring".
Let me see, things that affect scoring (first and foremost). Oh, the typical house shot. Stremmel's ABC should have listened to the late great BT and today peeps would still think an honor score means something. Covers stocks, high flat gutters, warn edge boards and hot phenolic pin decks. All meaningless things compared to contining to allow todays logic based conditioning machines print out 300 games.
Shannon is off to a bad start.
The sport lost 10 of thousands of bowlers in the 80s / 90s when the ABC decided to approve shots that allowed 5 boards of area and to think it has it has not impacted the sports growth is blindness. Giving into whinning joe bowlers has done nothing to grow the sport in the last 40 years and those in agreement will not ring in, their not here, they quit. Who cares Stremmel about you "multiple perfect games" you lump into your "accolades". They are now longer considered "accolades"
And ask Tom to condition his lanes daily a good starting point. I am not fooled or tricked into thinking just conditiong prior to leagues and on league lanes only is in any shape or form proper lane maintence nor putting out a quality product. OMG Bolwero, your a $hit $how on every level.
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I got this in my email from Bowlero and it made me laugh
For experienced bowlers, bowl for two free hours on freshly oiled lanes to see how our lanes play for you! As a valued league bowler, you will learn more about our membership perks, including our new PBA League Bowler Certification program! Come out to bowl, and see why our centers produce so many honor scores!
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USTA has a “pro circuit†so young professionals can earn ranking points. And they charge a league fee for every league an individual participates in. My wife plays on 2 or 3 teams a year and probably spends close to $100 on those fees.
Those organizations are very like the USBC, but bowlers are anti USBC so they don’t agree with anything the USBC does.
So does the USTA “pro circuit†have a prize fund payout?
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Yes
https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/pro-circuit.html
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Hey Bowls 300s,
How much has membership declined while Chad pulled dow 300k a year? Oh and what a genius move to resurrect the PWBA so we can flush more money down the drain funding a tour that’s never going to turn a profit.
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Lol
Yes
https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/pro-circuit.html
[/quoteYes
https://www.usta.com/en/home/pro/pro-tennis-events/pro-circuit.html
I stand corrected the USTA is another example of a governing body running a professional tour.
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Hey Bowls 300s,
How much has membership declined while Chad pulled dow 300k a year? Oh and what a genius move to resurrect the PWBA so we can flush more money down the drain funding a tour that’s never going to turn a profit.
Morpheus,
Why would I not be good with both?
Having a PWBA is fantastic and it grows the sport. How can anyone not be behind that?
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Hey Bowls 300s,
How much has membership declined while Chad pulled dow 300k a year? Oh and what a genius move to resurrect the PWBA so we can flush more money down the drain funding a tour that’s never going to turn a profit.
Morpheus,
Why would I not be good with both?
Having a PWBA is fantastic and it grows the sport. How can anyone not be behind that?
Spoiler alert nothing Chad has done during his tenure has grown membership…
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Hey Bowls 300s,
How much has membership declined while Chad pulled dow 300k a year? Oh and what a genius move to resurrect the PWBA so we can flush more money down the drain funding a tour that’s never going to turn a profit.
Morpheus,
Why would I not be good with both?
Having a PWBA is fantastic and it grows the sport. How can anyone not be behind that?
Spoiler alert nothing Chad has done during his tenure has grown membership…
Kinda spinning. I covered this already, the sport has been on a decline since 1981 so not just a Chad thing.
I am interested in reading specifics as to why bowlers would think corporate self center certification would be better served than that done by our governing body.
How a corporation that has not put out a quality product in their own centers and one whom ran leagues bowlers will do a better job. A company that centers damage balls, go three days with conditioning, horible at converting rec players into USBC members and these just the cliff notes should bite of this task or have the slightess buisness even attempting.
Personally surprised Stremmel even sat down for an interview let alone take the position. Guessing he is not a Bowlero customer. Odd to me, Stremmel as well as anyone having had worked for the ABC should understand their importance, purpose and overall contribution to the long history of this sport. Kidding me Stremmel, you have gone rogue.
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Hey Bowls 300s,
How much has membership declined while Chad pulled dow 300k a year? Oh and what a genius move to resurrect the PWBA so we can flush more money down the drain funding a tour that’s never going to turn a profit.
Morpheus,
Why would I not be good with both?
Having a PWBA is fantastic and it grows the sport. How can anyone not be behind that?
Spoiler alert nothing Chad has done during his tenure has grown membership…
Kinda spinning. I covered this already, the sport has been on a decline since 1981 so not just a Chad thing.
I am interested in reading specifics as to why bowlers would think corporate self center certification would be better served than that done by our governing body.
How a corporation that has not put out a quality product in their own centers and one whom ran leagues bowlers will do a better job. A company that centers damage balls, go three days with conditioning, horible at converting rec players into USBC members and these just the cliff notes should bite of this task or have the slightess buisness even attempting.
Personally surprised Stremmel even sat down for an interview let alone take the position. Guessing he is not a Bowlero customer. Odd to me, Stremmel as well as anyone having had worked for the ABC should understand their importance, purpose and overall contribution to the long history of this sport. Kidding me Stremmel, you have gone rogue.
At least a corporation has at least some vested interest in making their customers happy or customers won’t buy their product. Regardless of how Chad or the USBC performs, he’s gonna get his 300k (which is ridiculous) and USBC gets their cut of sanction fees. It’s also pretty obvious anyone with a dissenting opinion from Chad is fired so the only people left are are yes men. I still have no understanding how a ball rep got hired to run the USBC with zero experience running an organization of that size and complexity.
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Got to looking in to this "LeaguePals" app that PBA/Bowlero is going to roll out to their 180000 league bowlers this fall. Based on reviews of the app at the app stores it is a total nightmare. Glitchy, errors, etc.
Is anyone currently bowling on a league actually using LeaguePals for league maintenance? The demo video at the LeaguePals site talks about how it gets rid of money envelopes, recap sheets, etc. Automated everything. I get why Bowlero would want to go to something like this but it seems certain to cause more problems than it solves. Especially for collecting league dues if some people pay cash and others pay via the app. How in the world is a treasurer going to be able to reconcile the payments each week? Senior bowlers will especially hate this.
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How much is a fair salary for an executive director of a national sanctioning body?
I pay $35 for my golf handicap. Should I be outraged the USGA executive director makes $1.5 million?
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At least a corporation has at least some vested interest in making their customers happy or customers won’t buy their product. Regardless of how Chad or the USBC performs, he’s gonna get his 300k (which is ridiculous) and USBC gets their cut of sanction fees. It’s also pretty obvious anyone with a dissenting opinion from Chad is fired so the only people left are are yes men. I still have no understanding how a ball rep got hired to run the USBC with zero experience running an organization of that size and complexity.
A corporation has their main interest in making their shareholders happy, not making their customers happy. I mean, Bowlero's shareholders were definitely happy when Shannon was closing alleys left, right, and center, and the only people buying their product were those going to their alleys to have a bowling party. They weren't targeting the people they needed the most, which was repeat customers, which come from leagues. That still needs to be reconciled.
As far as Chad goes, I'll agree that things should be better than what he's doing. Not much else to be said on that. But Bowlero has a lot of smelling of anal vapor to do while puckering up to kiss the backside of league and tournament bowlers they pissed off years ago.
BL.
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How much is a fair salary for an executive director of a national sanctioning body?
I pay $35 for my golf handicap. Should I be outraged the USGA executive director makes $1.5 million?
Gee I don’t know, but he wasn’t repping golf clubs for 10 years without a college education before he got the job.
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How in the world is a treasurer going to be able to reconcile the payments each week? Senior bowlers will especially hate this.
The same way every business in the entire world does?
You act like credit cards, cash, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, Cash app, apple pay, Google pay, checks, cashier's checks, wires, debit cards, and gift cards haven't existed for over a decade now.
Yeah, old people will hate it, but the other 90% of the population who stopped carrying cash 20 years ago, will appreciate it. I assume that generation will just continue paying in cash on a weekly basis, it just won't go into an envelope anymore, and they won't notice a difference.
I mean, if we're being realistic, have you seen that generation handle the envelope? They aren't really doing the best with that system either. The amount of white out, scribbles, and correction the secretary has to do is already significant. The vast majority of them leave it blank, just put their money in, and let the secretary fill out the envelope. So it's not really like the current system is doing them any favors.
I have zero faith the app will be streamlined, or intuitive because it will likely be designed by the same generation who can't use it, but that's how America operates. Old white guy makes laws about technology they can't even comprehend.
The sad reality of the world we live in.
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How in the world is a treasurer going to be able to reconcile the payments each week? Senior bowlers will especially hate this.
The same way every business in the entire world does?
You act like credit cards, cash, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, Cash app, apple pay, Google pay, checks, cashier's checks, wires, debit cards, and gift cards haven't existed for over a decade now.
Yeah, old people will hate it, but the other 90% of the population who stopped carrying cash 20 years ago, will appreciate it. I assume that generation will just continue paying in cash on a weekly basis, it just won't go into an envelope anymore, and they won't notice a difference.
I mean, if we're being realistic, have you seen that generation handle the envelope? They aren't really doing the best with that system either. The amount of white out, scribbles, and correction the secretary has to do is already significant. The vast majority of them leave it blank, just put their money in, and let the secretary fill out the envelope. So it's not really like the current system is doing them any favors.
I have zero faith the app will be streamlined, or intuitive because it will likely be designed by the same generation who can't use it, but that's how America operates. Old white guy makes laws about technology they can't even comprehend.
The sad reality of the world we live in.
I bowl league at a Bowlero now. League dues are currently cash only. Absolutely no credit or debit payments permitted.
Now they want to go to a system where some will pay cash and some will pay in an app. The treasurer will get an envelope. Some will have paid cash, some will not. Now the treasurer has to have some way of validating that the people claiming to have paid via the app actually paid. Then when they go to the control desk, the bowling center has to have some way of reconciling how much was paid via the app versus cash to take out the lineage due for the night. A little different dynamic than buying something at the store and using your card.
I'm not acting like electronic payments haven't existed. It's an issue of a business that currently doesn't accept electronic payment for league dues suddenly going to a system of cash or electronic and suddenly expecting league treasurers and center employees to make it work. It will be a total cluster.
Senior bowlers around here are sticklers about their pay envelopes. They don't want to leave anything to chance and risk any kind of clerical error. They are even more picky about their standing sheets. Tell them they need to use an app for standings and they will have a total fit.
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Now they want to go to a system where some will pay cash and some will pay in an app. The treasurer will get an envelope. Some will have paid cash, some will not. Now the treasurer has to have some way of validating that the people claiming to have paid via the app actually paid. Then when they go to the control desk, the bowling center has to have some way of reconciling how much was paid via the app versus cash to take out the lineage due for the night. A little different dynamic than buying something at the store and using your card.
Not really. The store still has to reconcile the cash register with the credit card machine at the end of every night. Just like your secretary will. They'll go through all cash payments and then they'll go through all the digital payments. And it will be the exact same result. Bob is paid, Bill owes a week, Jill is 3 weeks in advance. Whether it came from cash or app, will have zero relevance.
It's literally just going to be a digital equivalent of the envelope. If they aren't completely clueless, the digital system will have en export option, and the secretary's job, if they have any competence in a spreadsheet, will likely make their job 10 times easier.
Pull the digital records, export to excel, sort alphabetically, and then manually enter the cash payments, done. If the app has any sort of modern day tools, it will be a significant quality of life upgrade for all secretaries.
I wouldn't hold my breath, of course, but in theory, if done correctly, this could streamline the entire process.
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How much is a fair salary for an executive director of a national sanctioning body?
I pay $35 for my golf handicap. Should I be outraged the USGA executive director makes $1.5 million?
Good questions.
The income statements for both organizations are online.
USBC income for 2019 was $36,456,858
USGA income for 2020 was $517,714,574
If the Chadster is paid $300K that would mean his salary is .82% of the Annual revenue for USBC.
The stated(here) salary for USGA Executive Director is $1.7M, which is .33% of the Annual revenue.
I think we can agree that the USGA Executive Director is a much more intensive job than the same position at USBC.
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How much is a fair salary for an executive director of a national sanctioning body?
I pay $35 for my golf handicap. Should I be outraged the USGA executive director makes $1.5 million?
Good questions.
The income statements for both organizations are online.
USBC income for 2019 was $36,456,858
USGA income for 2020 was $517,714,574
If the Chadster is paid $300K that would mean his salary is .82% of the Annual revenue for USBC.
The stated(here) salary for USGA Executive Director is $1.7M, which is .33% of the Annual revenue.
I think we can agree that the USGA Executive Director is a much more intensive job than the same position at USBC.
But whatever...
I mean its in no way relevant or reason to not support the USBC.
The Chad stuff is tired and petty in the grand scope.
To choose to not support a USBC sanctioned house, a USBC sanctioned league is choosing to not support this sport or any hope of its future growth.
And what, Bowlero's plans are free? Stremmel and his plans will not come at any cost? oh okay pfft...
We have in place already a research center and certification equipment for everything.
Bowlero needs to get out of the way of the USBC and clean up their own house.
Todays bowlers omg... its such a no brainer this fall to bowl only in sanctioned USBC houses and leagues.
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Now they want to go to a system where some will pay cash and some will pay in an app. The treasurer will get an envelope. Some will have paid cash, some will not. Now the treasurer has to have some way of validating that the people claiming to have paid via the app actually paid. Then when they go to the control desk, the bowling center has to have some way of reconciling how much was paid via the app versus cash to take out the lineage due for the night. A little different dynamic than buying something at the store and using your card.
Not really. The store still has to reconcile the cash register with the credit card machine at the end of every night. Just like your secretary will. They'll go through all cash payments and then they'll go through all the digital payments. And it will be the exact same result. Bob is paid, Bill owes a week, Jill is 3 weeks in advance. Whether it came from cash or app, will have zero relevance.
It's literally just going to be a digital equivalent of the envelope. If they aren't completely clueless, the digital system will have en export option, and the secretary's job, if they have any competence in a spreadsheet, will likely make their job 10 times easier.
Pull the digital records, export to excel, sort alphabetically, and then manually enter the cash payments, done. If the app has any sort of modern day tools, it will be a significant quality of life upgrade for all secretaries.
I wouldn't hold my breath, of course, but in theory, if done correctly, this could streamline the entire process.
If they.are going to allow cash or electronic via the app, there will still need to be pay envelopes. I guess someone could write APP instead of how much cash they paid. Still means the treasurer will need some sort of treasurer's dashboard in the app to validate that they actually paid electronically. The treasurers at our Bowlero have to turn all money in the same night as the league, and then Bowlero provides a receipt and deposits the money in the bank.
The reconciliation at the bowling center level will need to not only show how much, but who and what league they were on. Although, if people pay their league dues via the app on a day other than their league night it will show up in a different day's receipts. Still think this could get really messy.
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But whatever...
I mean its in no way relevant or reason to not support the USBC.
The Chad stuff is tired and petty in the grand scope.
To choose to not support a USBC sanctioned house, a USBC sanctioned league is choosing to not support this sport or any hope of its future growth.
And what, Bowlero's plans are free? Stremmel and his plans will not come at any cost? oh okay pfft...
We have in place already a research center and certification equipment for everything.
Bowlero needs to get out of the way of the USBC and clean up their own house.
Todays bowlers omg... its such a no brainer this fall to bowl only in sanctioned USBC houses and leagues.
The phrase "The buck stops here" applies to anyone at the top of an organization.
The USBC (and earlier the ABC) has been shedding bowlers every year since either 1980 or 1981. In response, the USBC has not made a concerted effort, or even made it part of its core mission, to use USBC resources to expand league membership, which is its right I guess since by its very structure it is a representative organization there to advocate for its members.
Yet, I'm going to borrow from the economic world and say that bowling eventually will reach a "moment of critical negative inertia," which is to say that at some point the membership of the USBC will drop below a point that it can either sustain operations in Arlington, or act as an effective bully pulpit for the league bowlers. What Bowlero is doing is a signal toward that future, as at its current pace, the USBC will be largely irrelevant in about a decade unless membership turns around.
The USBC and ABC before it liked to put membership recruiting off on the centers and the BPAA. Let the centers spend the money, then the USBC/(ABC/WIBC) would swoop in and claim their membership dues once they joined a league. The centers carried all the risk, while the USBC/(ABC/WIBC) reaped the reward after the fact.
That business model is no longer sustainable.
Not only has Chad not come to this realization, or better stated, he has not come up with a plan to reverse it (which will involve spending money, perhaps to recruiting efforts instead of to other USBC pet projects), what was the most high-profile thing the USBC has done in recent years? Banned a bunch of bowling balls because they couldn't (or wouldn't) learn how a durometer needle is negatively affected by polishing compound. In doing so, the damage fell squarely on the shoulders of its constituents and one of its partners, while the organization turned a deaf ear to concerns about the process.
Furthermore, the structure of the USBC is not what it needs to be. The relationship between how the BoD is seated and how the director is held accountable is way too cozy, almost to the point of being incestuous.
I've said this before: I've been the executive director of an organization that was made up primarily of 13 governmental entities, all of which were directly accountable to voters and had taxing authority, in a public/private partnership with about 10 private corporations and nonprofits. In my opinion, the USBC lacks accountability to its membership through a fairly convoluted convention structure and organizational layering. None of it is by accident, and again in my opinion, it's done simply to preserve the existence of the organization above all else.
At some point, someone has to be accountable. Even if the bleed-off in bowlers is not directly the fault of the organization, the lack of accountability to the membership is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on a certain iceberg-slapping boat. There has been no plan, and the USBC is famously noncommunicative with local associations (I was also a president of one for a time) to the point that it has let the narrative get away from it to a degree that even a $1/year dues increase is met with furor from some of the membership because they can't appreciate what those dollars are doing for them.
Bowlero at least has a vision. I don't like parts of it (string pinsetters chief among them) but as a for-profit entity with a BoD required *by law* to represent the financial best interests of its shareholders, Bowlero will at least not stand still. The current CLB program is rough around the edges and suffers from potentially some unrealistic expectations, but at this point the system needs a little more ready-fire-aim to shake it up.
If Bowlero succeeds in dividing the league bowler base between USBC and CLB, it will have done in a matter of 2-3 years what the USBC has had 40-plus years to do and failed to deliver upon. Decide who you want to blame that on, but the guy currently sitting in the big chair has to take his share first.
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Bowlero at least has a vision. I don't like parts of it (string pinsetters chief among them) but as a for-profit entity with a BoD required *by law* to represent the financial best interests of its shareholders,
Yep, its shareholders, not the sport of bowling. What could possibly go wrong? ::)
This might be cool if the PBA were independent and run by the bowlers, but as it is, I'm out.
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Bowlero at least has a vision. I don't like parts of it (string pinsetters chief among them) but as a for-profit entity with a BoD required *by law* to represent the financial best interests of its shareholders,
Yep, its shareholders, not the sport of bowling. What could possibly go wrong? ::)
This might be cool if the PBA were independent and run by the bowlers, but as it is, I'm out.
Well, again ... whether we agree or disagree with this, the USBC has had 40 years to figure out a different plan.
In order to do what's best for the sport (an altruistic endeavor) rather than stakeholders (an economic endeavor), the sport either has to generate the necessary operational money itself, or it has to have a benefactor to close the gap.
If the sport fails to do one or the other, it loses the ability to be the prime mover in the relationship between sport and business, because it cannot be its own advocate absent the funds to make it happen.
We can bemoan this fact, but we can't change that it *is* a fact. This is just Economics 101 coming home to roost. You can't hate Bowlero for doing what a business does. The onus is on the USBC to step up and be a player.
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Yep, its shareholders, not the sport of bowling. What could possibly go wrong? This might be cool if the PBA were independent and run by the bowlers, but as it is, I'm out.
One of the problems I have with shithead(Chad Murphy) is that he isn't treating USBC as a for profit company. I don't think the Bowlero deal is going to be good for bowling, but USBC needs to start thinking about taking care of their customers.
The biggest problem I have with Chad and therefore USBC is where they spend the money. Look around while you are bowling league. Pay attention to who is bowling, I would wager that it's a ratio of somewhere around 70/30 men to women. Also, notice the ages, locally the ages are older. There are a few young(under 40) bowlers, but the bulk of bowlers are 50+ in league I see. I mostly bowl in scratch leagues, so if I notice this trend in those leagues, it's probably even more pronounced in Handicap mixed leagues. USBC should exploit this trend in my opinion. Bring in the older guys and they will may bring in the ladies and younger generation to some extent. Or at least a few of their non bowling friends.
The part that pisses me off is the largest demographic group within USBC(males 50+) have the least number of tournament available to us. Females can bowl the open AND the "Ladies".
The focus(and money) is spent on PWBA, youth and college aspects.
Nope, I'm not bitter, but stay off my lawn anyway.
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Seniors 50+ can bowl the Open, Senior Open, Masters, Senior Masters, etc. They actually have more tournament opportunities at the national, state, and local levels they can bowl in than do the under 50 bowlers...
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Seniors 50+ can bowl the Open, Senior Open, Masters, Senior Masters, etc. They actually have more tournament opportunities at the national, state, and local levels they can bowl in than do the under 50 bowlers...
And the females 50+ can bowl those as well. In addition to any female specific tournaments.
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Yep, its shareholders, not the sport of bowling. What could possibly go wrong? This might be cool if the PBA were independent and run by the bowlers, but as it is, I'm out.
One of the problems I have with shithead(Chad Murphy) is that he isn't treating USBC as a for profit company. I don't think the Bowlero deal is going to be good for bowling, but USBC needs to start thinking about taking care of their customers.
The biggest problem I have with Chad and therefore USBC is where they spend the money. Look around while you are bowling league. Pay attention to who is bowling, I would wager that it's a ratio of somewhere around 70/30 men to women. Also, notice the ages, locally the ages are older. There are a few young(under 40) bowlers, but the bulk of bowlers are 50+ in league I see. I mostly bowl in scratch leagues, so if I notice this trend in those leagues, it's probably even more pronounced in Handicap mixed leagues. USBC should exploit this trend in my opinion. Bring in the older guys and they will may bring in the ladies and younger generation to some extent. Or at least a few of their non bowling friends.
The part that pisses me off is the largest demographic group within USBC(males 50+) have the least number of tournament available to us. Females can bowl the open AND the "Ladies".
The focus(and money) is spent on PWBA, youth and college aspects.
Nope, I'm not bitter, but stay off my lawn anyway.
You bring up an interesting point, the split is 70/30 and mostly older men. Do you spend time trying to close that gap and bring in youth to continue it of do you just focus on what you already have and forget the rest, Remember most of those 50 year olds were a youth bowler at 1 point.