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Author Topic: same old debate, it never dies...  (Read 9115 times)

xrayjay

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same old debate, it never dies...
« on: June 03, 2014, 01:21:51 PM »
bowling: is it a sport or not?

Saw a post on FaceBook about this old debate. And this subject actually happened  2 weeks ago with a couple of bowlers.

IMO, it's a sport and a game. Bowl PBA regionals/tour and non THS tourney's with High $$ involved, it's a sport. Bowl THS league or for fun, it's a game. The END!!

IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WEIGHT!!!

John Daly
"The Frig" Perry
David Wells
Shaun Kemp
Shaq
ButterBean
Akebono and Sumo
Smallwood  :P

All Athletes......

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milorafferty

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #16 on: June 03, 2014, 03:24:35 PM »
It's a sport. Just because some people don't treat it as a sport, doesn't change that fact.

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MI 2 AZ

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #17 on: June 03, 2014, 03:27:43 PM »
Reminds me of some arguments made a few years ago:

Until bowling is recognised as an Olympic sport, it is just a game.

The way some people try to describe bowling as a sport reminds me that the same standards apply to sex.  For most it is recreational, but there are some who are professional and get paid well for it too.

There were some others but those two stood out.

I agree that bowling can be either a sport or a game.  I tend to treat it as a sport for myself - it is something that I take seriously and I usually join any sport leagues that are available for the personal challenge and chance to learn and improve.  I think that those of us on this site take bowling seriously just based on the amount of time invested.  :)

« Last Edit: June 03, 2014, 03:37:05 PM by MI 2 AZ »
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MrNickRo

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #18 on: June 03, 2014, 03:28:22 PM »
Quote from: Impending Doom on June 03, 2014, 02:50:21 PM
When the game of bowling makes the sport of bowling a joke, it's time to look down your nose at it. I apologize if you are offended, but bowling for money in your Monday night league on a THS where the breakpoint is 5 boards or more is not a sport. Athletes play sports. Athletes are finely tuned machines that can make the sport look somewhat easy, where the rest of us hacks couldn't hope to be as good as them on their worst day. They work at the SPORT of bowling while the rest of bowlers look at their little one house Ray Charles open shots as a sport. Well, sorry about your bubble, but it's not. It's a damn game, and I will be the FIRST to say that I am ashamed to have to say that, but it is what it is.

I get it. I bowl for money too on a house shot. I've won lots of money on the house shot. Does that make me an athlete? Does that make anything that I won on a house shot anything more than a carry contest? No. When you can nozzle it all over the lane like kids playing with a hose and still carry, it's not a sport.

Fair enough.  I still disagree.
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avabob

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2014, 03:38:28 PM »
Not sure how you can use the lane pattern to decide whether bowling is a sport or not.  Cosmic and birthday party environment clearly are not.  If bowling on sport patterns is a sport, then any competitive endeavor on a THS is also a sport. 

There is nothing wrong with an occasional house shot in a competitive environment.  It has as much place as a US open pattern does.  Each tests different attributes of a bowlers game.  I have often used this example.  If I can beat you on a sport pattern, but you can beat me on a house shot, who is better?  This is a very relevant example, because I see this situation all the time. 

The determination of whether bowling is a sport or a game has nothing to do with the scoring level in any particular environment
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txbowler

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #20 on: June 03, 2014, 03:53:06 PM »
Impending Doom link=topic=302937.msg2474864#msg2474864 date=1401821794

I disagree. THS leagues are a game. Tougher patterns and sport shots are sport. If I can walk into a center after not bowling for 3 weeks, no warm up, and shoot 750, it's not a sport. You can bowl on most THS drunk as a skunk and still shoot 600, which is "par", right?
===========================================================
200 is no longer PAR.  This isn't 1980 anymore.

Also, I'd bet money the 1-5% of the golf world could take 3 years off and come back and play a municipal course from the white tees and demolish PAR.

That's what most THS is to a golf course.  Why can the top 1-5 % destroy PAR at golf, because they can still PUTT.  A municipal course won't require you to split the fairway.  You aren't playing a US Open course your first time back are you?

Play a tough course without practice and you will struggle.  Play a tough bowling condition with no practice, same result.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2014, 03:55:09 PM by txbowler »
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kidlost2000

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #21 on: June 03, 2014, 03:59:14 PM »
It is both depending on the enviroment.
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…… you can't  add a physics term to a bowling term and expect it to mean something.

xrayjay

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #22 on: June 03, 2014, 04:16:03 PM »
Honestly, after reading these posts, this is a tough one....

From my experiences with several sports I've been involved in, when I wasn't 110% there mentally when playing first base, calling/running the plays, making tackles, bowling, etc...my mental thought was..."it's just a game." Also, I've thought of bowling as a game, to hang out with the boys and such. But, I've worked hard and invested money and time to hopefully get better. Traveled to other states to do tourney's fun or serioius ones. By doing this, I consider bowling as a sport - blood and sweat.

when you commit your physical and mental self into a sport, dedicate time to get better, invest money and time, etc..individually, you can think of it as a sport...Other countries treat bowling as a serious sport. Nationally, the needle is leaning on the "game side'.......(do to the stereo type of the past and present)
« Last Edit: June 03, 2014, 04:19:53 PM by xrayjay »
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Does a round object have sides? I say yes, pizza has triangles..

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Impending Doom

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #23 on: June 03, 2014, 04:47:50 PM »
Listen, I am among the group of people that would love to shut everyone up when it comes to this whole game vs sport thing. I've been looked at as a loon for defending bowling to people ever since I could pick up a ball and throw one. Facts are facts. No one sees the challenge in the sport because it's so easy for anyone to pick up a ball from their local pro shop, and go shoot lights out because of the lane conditions. Bowlers around the world bowl on grind out conditions to get them better. You know what we do here? We complain when they're not easy. "Oh, my fragile ego demands that I walk out of here with at least 600 every night, or else I am going to cry about it."

Listen, this can become a tangent about how lazy we are as a country, and that's a whole other can of worms for the non moderated forum, but fact is, bowling in this country gets no respect because it's easy for the masses. Since there is no distinction for people to be able to say "Oh, this part is a game, this part is a sport." without really getting into the finer details, we're screwed.
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ccrider

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #24 on: June 03, 2014, 04:56:20 PM »
Like cg, it really does not matter.
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amyers2002

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #25 on: June 03, 2014, 06:01:18 PM »
I don't  know I get what doom is saying I guess if I averaged 250 on THS and it was just a matter of who got lucky and tripped a 7 or 9 pin out each game to see who won I might feel the same way. I don't feel that way at my house the bowling alley where I bowl most of the time was built in 1905 it's still wood lanes. I bowl three leagues and I'm pretty sure the highest average is in the 220 range not mine I'm about 180. I took about 20 years off and came back and I'm working my but off to get back up to the highest but to listen to everybody say is a game and if your not averaging 230 you suck kind of gets on my nerves not everywhere is like that. We have people getting 700 series every now and then I think I saw 2 three hundreds last year.

The other side of this if you take a high school player and put them against pros there going to get destroyed pretty much doesn't matter the sport. So are high school sports only a game? The difference between a sport and a game is the effort level not the degree of difficulty or the skill of a group of participants.
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Zanatos1914

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #26 on: June 03, 2014, 06:05:13 PM »
This is my opinion..

Bowling is just a legal form of gambling...
Would anybody bowl if money wasnt involved.... Lets be truthful...
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milorafferty

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #27 on: June 03, 2014, 06:16:31 PM »
Quote from: Zanatos1914 on June 03, 2014, 06:05:13 PM
This is my opinion..

Bowling is just a legal form of gambling...
Would anybody bowl if money wasnt involved.... Lets be truthful...


I would bowl is money wasn't involved. I enjoy bowling. I bowl in something here in Nor Cal called Match Club. Believe me, there is no money in it. It's more of a social thing than anything else.


I play golf for the same reason.
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Mighty Fish

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #28 on: June 03, 2014, 06:34:05 PM »
One place in which bowling is a sport is the USBC Open tournament. Sure, there are more 300s, 700s and 800s bowled in the USBC in recent decades, but most of those "numbers" are posted by true shotmakers.

Even though many high-average players come to the USBC Open with modern-day arsenals, only a few of them have significant success. And year after year, THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT FIELD averages only about 170.
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charlest

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #29 on: June 03, 2014, 07:01:41 PM »
Quote from: Zanatos1914 on June 03, 2014, 06:05:13 PM
This is my opinion..

Bowling is just a legal form of gambling...
Would anybody bowl if money wasnt involved.... Lets be truthful...


Nah! Bowlers are as greedy as everyone else.
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cav

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Re: same old debate, it never dies...
« Reply #30 on: June 03, 2014, 07:56:16 PM »
I guess softball is not a sport since I hit .700 my last season.....
Cav
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