I recently wrote a letter to USBC concerning my opinions on the current state of bowling that I thought I'd share with everyone.  I actually got a response, and just about word for word what I expected, but at least an actual human read my letter and replied.  Here is the letter, their response, and then I'll finish up:

This is an open letter to whom it may concern reflecting my opinions and comments regarding the state of bowling as a whole as well as a widely perceived view on how the USBC is only serving to further destroy the sport so many of us love and have already begun to mourn.  I will however begin by saying that the USBC Open Championships represents everything that is right with the sport of bowling.  The challenge, the venues, the organization, the execution, the resources, etc., every part of "Nationals" is so expertly crafted that even some of the best bowlers in the world make a point to come compete.  That, unfortunately, is where it ends, and could one day be lost as bowling as a whole continues to decline.  It is incredibly irresponsible of USBC to be so out of touch with league bowling, the very foundation of the sport.  I read a published article regarding fresh oil for every squad at the 2013 Open Championships, finally correcting the only problem I believe the event had.  It referenced a quote from someone regarding having one pattern for the team event and a different pattern for singles and doubles, effectively saying that USBC wanted to challenge their bowlers' versatility.  I found it to be one of the most hypocritical statements or comments I have ever come across.  USBC's specifications and limits regarding legal lane conditions are so wide open that thousands of league bowlers who never practice can show up to league once a week, shoot 750 with the only ball they own, and go home without so much as a thought.  These are the same people that post 230+ averages during the league season, only to show up to the Open Championships to shoot 1500 for all events, and go home with their tails between their legs.  The idea that making tighter restrictions on lane conditions would only serve to further drive away bowlers and hurt revenue for center owners is ludicrous, as USBC membership has fallen from approximately 9 million to 1.7 million in a little over a decade, corresponding with ever increasing numbers of "honor scores" and member averages.  When scoring was harder, people spent money practicing, centers were full for early AND late leagues every night of the week.  This has made the future for our youth bowlers dismal, and has driven away the majority of the truly skilled bowlers.  The quality of coaches has declined, combined with the fact that it's impossible to convince a kid they made a bad shot even though they struck.  If youth bowlers are putting up numbers on easy shots, they believe they are good, and become hard to coach.  Then when they start competing in Junior Gold or PBA Experience leagues, they become discouraged fast, and when they are ready to be coached, more often than not, their game has to be completely torn down and rebuilt.  There was a youth in my city recently who shot his "first" 800.  He is not skilled, and not accurate.  He is a no thumb bowler who simply throws a lot of revs and a lot of speed, and on a legal USBC pattern, all he really has to do is keep the ball right of the headpin to strike.  This past summer, he, like a lot of the city high school bowlers, joined our summer PBA Experience league.  He proceeded to shoot 354 for the entire 3 game set the first night of league on the Cheetah pattern, following which he packed up his equipment and never came back.  This is the kind of bowler the USBC is creating.  I used to believe my "accomplishments" were earned and worth something, now I realize they aren't worth any more than the metal the rings are made out of, which is in fact so cheap that they are impossible to resize.  All my work, my effort, what I've learned, it's all meaningless.  I have been a pro shop operator for 7 years now, and I would consider my knowledge, experience, and skill to be very high, yet the process of selecting a ball, watching the bowler, and crafting a layout and surface prep for most USBC sanctioned lane conditions is needless.  I can pick any ball off the wall, "label" drill it, never touch the surface, put holes in it, and whoever I drill it for will be "successful."  People in their 60's and 70's are reaching scores they have never seen before.  It's more surprising to hear that someone has NOT achieved "perfection" now than to hear that they have.  USBC is supposed to be the governing body for sanctioned competition, but all it serves to do is drive people elsewhere for real competition or real challenge.  Bowling is no longer a sport, or even a game, it is a recreation, where people gather in attempts to record obscene numbers or merely occupy them while they drink and socialize.  Any activity that requires zero practice and little effort to achieve "perfection" will eventually cease to exist.  I have put my life into bowling, and in turn it nearly became my life, but no longer.  I am ashamed to be a USBC member, and to be associated with the laughingstock that this recreation of sanctioned bowling has become.  The amount of money and time that has to be put into obtaining "available" coaching certifications, or to attend "available" tournaments or events is staggering, and the opportunity to prepare for these things doesn't exist for most of us.  The USBC is turning a blind, uncaring, ignorant eye to the most important things in bowling, while raising sanction fees at the same time.  Charging me admission to view the destruction of a sport I have put my life into is unacceptable.  For the first time in several years, I will not attend the Open Championships, simply because I have zero opportunities to practice on tougher conditions to prepare in the months leading up to the tournament.  The attitude the USBC has towards the sport is wholly irresponsible.  I can serve my kids cake for supper, but make vegetables available, which do you think they will choose?  Bowling is not on the rise, it continues to fall, and the focus and effort is completely in the wrong direction.  Making coaching and affordable equipment available and teaching a golfer how to putt makes little difference if the greens they play on funnel down towards the hole.  The USBC is singularly to blame for the current state of bowling, and it disgusts me.  Thank you for your time.

The response:
I appreciate your feedback and your membership. Your email illustrates a challenging issue the industry faces. USBC’s role in controlling lane conditions are a controversial subject and one that draws out many strong opinions. While you make a good argument for a mandating lower scoring lane conditions, there are enforcement and compliance challenges on the other side. USBC’s Sport Bowling program attempts to provide an option for those bowlers/centers who want the challenge you seek. I realize this is not a perfect solution as many communities do not have a center that offers Sport Bowling leagues.

 

I respect your passion for the sport and have no doubt your opinions come from a desire to improve bowling. I do want to clarify your implication that USBC has been raising dues. USBC national dues are $10 and have not increased since 2006.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write.

 

Best regards,

Jason Overstreet

USBC Communications


First of all regarding the league dues, a few years ago our dues rose from $15 to $17, apparently our local association raised their fee and blamed it on USBC, so I wasn't very happy about that, I definitely would not have stuck that in my letter if I'd have known.  The point of the letter wasn't to throw USBC under the bus, but this is honestly the way I believe it is.  I knew I would get something back about the challenges of enforcement, but here's the deal.  The USBC let it get out of control years ago when they were more concerned about an ounce of sideweight in a ball than about the ball itself, or about regulating the oil patterns.  The PBA figured this out 15 or more years ago, why didn't the USBC?  So maybe the current people in power at the USBC didn't have anything to do with it, but the organization itself is completely responsible.  Regarding the challenges though, as I said in the letter, I've worked in the bowling industry for 7 years now, I very well understand all the challenges and issues, I'm not just writing the letter crying about things without having a very knowledgeable and objective viewpoint.  Honestly though, they're going to have to do something, and here's the real point of contention.  Center owners will fight tougher conditions because they think they'll lose business.  Well, they have already lost business for years.  A real simple solution here, make conditions tougher for the sanctioned leagues.  If you don't want a tougher shot, don't bowl a sanctioned league.  What does sanctioning really do for you?  Gives you some trinkets, and allows you to use your average in tournaments for potential handicap.  People wouldn't quit bowling if they were told their league wouldn't be sanctioned, they would see it as a way to save fees every year.  Most people don't bowl tournaments anymore.  But of course, this would really hurt the USBC.  So instead of really governing the sport and enforcing the rules, they're content to just let things slip away while they say, "oh, well we offer a bunch of stuff."  Rant off. 

That can always be arranged . . I sent it to Bowler's Journal along with some extra comments, but never heard anything back.  Not that I particularly need to hear anything back, I already know what the response will be.  Maybe I'm too competitive, maybe I've taken it too far . . but competition is the backbone of ANY sport.  The competitive people who really care about the sport are the ones that will put the work into it, to improve it and to keep it alive.  The entire bowling industry is catering to the one group of people that would be gone the quickest if the economy takes another hit. 

I am sure many people have the same concerns about bowling.  But Milo is right, the concept of changing the standard league shot to something more "difficult" squarely lies in the hands of the proprietors.  USBC can/will only provide information to the general bowling public.  USBC and the BPAA are unfortunately on the same team.  I don't see USBC doing anything that goes against what the BPAA sees as a detriment to their bottom line.  Can anyone say for a fact the reason more people bowled league before because of the difficulty in the game?  Can anyone say for a fact more people will come back to bowling if it is more difficult?  These are only assumptions, the same as the one BPAA is making saying easy shots keep the bowlers we have in the game. 

Though I agree with the concept of sending a letter to USBC stating your grievances with the organization, perhaps a different approach would be better.  If I could convince one proprietor to change his/her house shot to 6:1 instead of 10+:1, what would be the result?  Most people think the bowlers who struggle will leave to go to a competitor center.  But what if the local USBC organization convinced as many proprietors as possible that a 6:1 shot is beneficial, what would the reaction be?  I challenge any person who has a legitimate complaint with the USBC to get involved.  Become a member of the local board.  Gather information from all types of bowlers about what they want in the USBC and use that information to make the local association better.  Then take that information to the National USBC and see what happens.  Anyone can speculate what can or will make a positive change in bowling, but results will always speak louder.

Been involved with this for several years now, have put a lot of time and effort and thought into it.  I'm just now trying to get on my local bowling board, because a lot of the people currently on our board are 70+ and only concerned with making sure the seniors get free coffee and more recognition, a lot of deaf ears.  The difficulty, while not the sole reason, is legitimately the majority of the reason.  The higher scoring pace has made everything from league play to tournaments nothing more than a crapshoot, and these are the reasons given every single time I ask someone about why they don't bowl as many leagues or tournaments anymore.  With a scoring pace of 200, handicap works better because the numbers don't fluctuate as much.  It's much easier for a 150 average bowler to shoot 180 than it is for a 230 average bowler to shoot 260.  Higher scores rely much more on carry than shotmaking.  I always hear "well it's 90% of 220, means some 170 guy is going to average 200 for the tournament and I don't have any handicap" or even at scratch tournaments "the shot is so easy that it doesn't matter how I throw the ball, just matters whether I carry or not. 

It has shifted though, because you're right, and the BPAA is right to think they will lose bowlers if the shot gets harder, because they will.  But what kind of bowlers are they keeping or bringing back with tougher shots, and what kind of bowlers are they keeping with easy shots?  The higher level bowlers, the ones that bowl more often, or at the very least care the most will be the ones attracted or kept by tougher shots, it will once again go back to skill, practice, and hard work being rewarded.  I don't think the BPAA or really anyone else remembers when the conditions weren't as easy.  Houses were full every night of the week for early and late leagues, and people actually went out to practice because they needed to.  Now with the easier conditions, people don't need to practice, and if you can walk in drunk and shoot 230 every game, the challenge slowly falls away and people get bored.  Games get boring when you don't have honest competition or when you feel like there's no room left for improvement. 

I've talked to bowlers on nearly a daily basis for the last decade . . and the results they have already gotten in losses in membership and closing of centers has already proven the points I've been pushing for years.  The results are already in. 

Appreciate the response, Scott.  I do agree I most likely went too far in saying I was embarassed to be a USBC member . . but I still maintain that the governing body of the sport shouldn't be afraid of their members.  They should enforce rules, and while they can't ignore the wants of their members, they have an obligation to maintain the integrity of the sport.  I will definitely still support the Open Championships, frustrated over lack of opportunity to prepare or not, because in order for them to build on the concept, it has to be supported.  I believe that keeping it in Reno is much more cost effective and time effective.  So while I agree that it being in Reno more often than not is definitely not helping, I understand their point of view.  I will say I like bowling in the stadium better than a setup at a convention center, but the actual bowling only makes up a couple hours of a several day trip, and Reno is really pretty boring.  Great comments Scott. 

One of the problems that bowling faces, is it is hard to go back.  And it's not just the lane conditions.  What about the balls?  I remember in the early 90's when reactive balls were called cheater balls.  Not the case anymore.  Can you image going back to urathane??? rubber???  No assymmetrical cores? Even if you do, what about all the records that have been established in the new era?

I don't disagree that bowling has taken a wrong turn, I'm just not sure there is a fix that won't run bowlers off.

I live in Little Rock where there used to be 5 or 6 centers and several more in the surrounding suburbs.  Now we have one, with 2 in the surrounding suburbs.

The up and coming generations aren't bowling either.  That could spell the end.   

Yup, yup, yup, and yup . . not much more than that to say.  A decade ago we had 5 centers in town, now we have 2, and they aren't even full for early leagues

The biggest problem bowling faces is that there's not enough people embracing the possibilities of where we can go with the game.  Forget the scores and conditions for a minute.  We have 30+ states with High School bowling programs and for those dozen or so states that are really embracing the programs it's creating a new competitive outlet for those kids who may not be fast enough for the track team, strong enough for the football team, athletic/fit enough to be a cheerleader or on the basketball team, or have the quick enough response time to be a baseball/softball player.

Building a base for the future (35+ years from now) starts with the youth programs of today.  Yes scores are over inflated and conditions are mega walled up, but to the kid who doesn't know any better, they are still finding a love for the game at an early age.  Getting kids involved with a love for the game and getting them to stay involved with it should be the number one priority if we want to grow the sport. 

There's NOTHING that the USBC is going to do to deregulate scoring, NOTHING.  Once we accept it, we need to look at where we can go from here and stop living in the past "glory years" when the world was a much more simple place and getting out of the house for bowling night was one of few recreational options the average person had.  Kids these days have thousands of things to do at their disposal that could take up their time with the advent of smartphones and the internet.  Getting them involved in any way should be considered a win.  How we nurture them while they are here is key. 

After seeing that high school bowler that shot 800 and proceed to shoot 350 in PBA league, let me ask you this:

How many people went over to help or talk to the young man to give him some knowledge, versus the older crowd that took pleasure in watching him suffer and couldn't wait to go tell the story of his demise?

Egos do lie in passive narcissism also, which is another problem that those with the most pull unfortunately do have in this game.  A future starts with the base, and not the governing body responsible for keeping organization.

DP3, a couple of your questions were answered by my original post.  The kid is nearly uncoachable now because he has a 300 and an 800, why does he need help?  His friends all tried to say something, and the rest of us didn't know it had happened until after because the kids bowl at a different end of the league than the adults, and we really had no clue that he wasn't coming back.  We weren't enjoying his demise or suffering, we had a chuckle over it like a "welcome to the big time" type deal, because we all had that moment too, but it's his general attitude that's pushed people away.  That's one of the main points I'm getting at.  My daughter is in high school, have HS kids in the shop constantly.  Yes, they may be excited about bowling, but they're excited about the scores, and when their scores are a lot higher than they should be, it's really impossible to tell them anything.  The scoring pace is making coaching a lot harder than it needs to be.  There's another kid, a two hander who is actually pretty decent, he averages 215ish, and his head is getting huge now too.  He shot an 844 a few months ago, and has a couple 300's.  Now he still has his 600 even days, and he still goes out of town to high school meets and has trouble breaking 600 period.  His ego is further out of control than the other kid's is.  People are more resistant than ever to coaching, either they have a bunch of high scores so they think they know something, or they take the advice of a friend who averages 145 over a professional. 

txbowler, while I agree with your point about the honor scores and averages coming from the top tier of bowlers, there are a lot more people coming into the supposed top tier than there used to be.  Like my example of the kid that shot the 800 and 354, he wouldn't average 175 20 years ago, but he's putting in honor scores.  Several people in my town particularly are 40 pins over where they should be.  There are also a lot of people averaging 170 that are shooting 300's left and right.  Like I said, I've been in the pro shop business for 7 years now, I bowl at every house in town, I've been around and heavily involved with bowling in this town for over a decade now, and there's people shooting honor scores all the time that I've never heard of, guys going 160-300-170. 

You also say the tiers have moved, and they have, but because of the way scoring works in bowling, it's much harder, and much more of a luck factor involved when it comes to 230 or above.  A 300 game is a stone 8 and a ring 10 away from being 258, and another tap away from being in the 230s.  However, a 200 is a double away from simply being 210.  A 200 is a stone 8 and a ring 10 away from being 180.  See what I'm getting at here?  The higher the scoring pace goes, the more luck, carry, and handicap comes into play.  With the tiers lower, it makes handicap leagues more even and balanced, it makes tournaments closer.  With tougher shots, people will bowl more closely to their average more consistently.  A 150 average bowler doesn't have the ability to average 200 for 9 games on a tougher shot, but they do on an easy shot.  With sanctioned shots at the very least not even being regulated, you can have a 150 average from a slightly less easy house go somewhere wide open and easily average 170 or 180 for a tournament.  It's much easier for them to do that than to have a 230 average bowler average 250 for 9 games, that's just honestly not going to happen to anybody but the pros.  You also won't have the handicap bowlers getting slaughtered on a night where the 230 average guy carries an extra couple shots.  There are just too many problems with the current scoring pace.  The USBC at the very least needs to mandate or require a specific pattern be used for sanctioned competition, so it's fair and even across the board, however easy it is.  Whether it's Red, White, or Blue, those are all really easy shots, I'd be much happier if they'd at least require the houses to be consistent.  These are some really good points and a really good discussion, thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it.