Well since I thought the 1st thread I posted about this topic went rather well, Heres the newsest artical.
TURNING WORDS INTO ACTION
By Brian Voss (2/1/2007)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In my last column, our topic was a general discussion about some things we all could do to help change the sport. I was very pleasantly surprised by the volume of feedback we received on the topic and how so many of you possess the passion and love for the sport that I know we'll need if we want to do our part to help the sport get back on the road to growth.
After reading all of the feedback, I was impressed by the diversity of topics that you felt needed to be addressed in bowling in order to help get us back on the right track. For the most part, I wholeheartedly agreed with your comments and, in some cases, your arguments opened up my eyes to new ways of thinking about some of the problems that we find our sport struggling with today. I was also very impressed by how few of your responses dwelled on the negative and pointed fingers to cast blame on forces either outside of our control or unchangeable ancient history.
The way I often like to look at these problems and how to tackle the formidable task of conquering them is through the analogy of my own bowling career. When I decided I wanted to become a professional, it was well before I had the skill necessary not only to compete with the best in the world, but just to qualify for membership in the PBA! It was a long, hard road of trial and error, failure and defeat, and hour after hour after hour of hard work, practice and learning. In other words, it didn't happen overnight.
As I got better and made improvements, my confidence grew and I set larger and larger goals for myself. Eventually, the goal of making the cut in a tournament became making the top 24. Then making the TV show. Then winning a tournament. Then contending for Player of the Year. As I checked each of these goals off my list, the result was that I had accomplished enough in my career for the experts to graciously include me in the PBA Hall of Fame. I'm sure you get the point, but the accumulation of accomplishing these goals built my confidence and allowed me to gain the momentum I needed in order to help make accomplishing my goals a reality.
That's the biggest lesson I've learned from my bowling career that I plan to carry with me as I begin to focus more and more of my time on giving back to the sport by helping to fix some of the problems that I discussed in my last column and others that people like you are constantly bringing to my attention. My advice to all of you is to take that same approach to the problems you all feel most strongly about and then dig in to do your part to help fix them. You will most certainly run into obstacles along the way, but when you do, I encourage you to be creative in finding ways around, over or through them, and always to remember that the more people you help, the more likely you'll be able to get help when you need it. I could have never gotten where I've gotten today without the help of others.
In my next column, I plan to focus more on topics that are affecting the growth of the "sport" aspect of bowling (versus the "recreational" aspect), so until then, I'd love to hear from you with ideas or input that you feel are the most important issues to address. Keep those letters and e-mails coming! Until then, I encourage all of you with the passion and love for bowling that do not want to see it continue to struggle to turn your ideas and thoughts into action and do something positive to get the sport back on track for growth!
Brian Voss
--------------------
Mike Zadler
Using the best brand in the nation, BRUNSWICK!!!
Below, my stats from previous seasons:
http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?ms=12886&mp=552&s=2005-2006
Winter season averages at Sunset Lanes in Waukegan IL.
Wed. Nite Ave: 196
Thur. Nite Ave: 216
http://www.BrunsNick.com
