BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: spmcgivern on August 18, 2015, 12:29:46 PM
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As usual, there are always posts pertaining to bowlers not getting value for their measly $20. But I have yet to see what people EXPECT for their $20.
What exactly do bowlers want? Do they want rings? Do they want a magazine subscription? Do they want free massages between frames?
What do you want for your $20?
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Does the massage have a "happy ending"? :-)
At this point, I'm satisfied with the average book for tournament verification and rules for the sport.
However, a few years back when I was a new bowler, the patches(then magnets, then key chains, etc) meant a lot to me. I think it gets lost on a lot of the higher average bowlers how much those "trinkets" mean to the beginning bowler.
Of course, I hear a lot of bitching from the higher averages when they can no longer get their yearly 300/800 rings. Personally, I'm happy with not getting another ring I will never wear.
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I agree milo. I really looked forward to my first ring and got a gold 300 ring. Got the ABC Eagle design during the short time they offered it. But I never wear it and to be honest, I don't know where it is.
For me, the $20 is a small price to pay and I feel the $10 USBC "National" gets they do enough for it.
Locally, I am not as sold. I have always felt the local associations are where the real loss of value is. I am not saying the jobs they do are easy or anything like that. But I feel they have antiquated ideas and concepts. Here it seems most are retired WIBC board members who have been on the USBC side since the merger. But that is a whole different can of worms.
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I would be willing to pay more to the National governing body, as long as they use it to further the sport. I like the idea of USBC working to promote the WPBA and would be interested in them doing the same for the PBA.
At the local level, I'm still not sure that where the money goes is beneficial. I've been a local director and thought the entire thing was a waste of time and money. We had a "report" each meeting on what the association had in the bank. We had quite a bit of money invested in mutual funds, but I didn't see any of it being used to further bowling.
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I would be willing to pay more to the National governing body, as long as they use it to further the sport. I like the idea of USBC working to promote the WPBA and would be interested in them doing the same for the PBA.
At the local level, I'm still not sure that where the money goes is beneficial. I've been a local director and thought the entire thing was a waste of time and money. We had a "report" each meeting on what the association had in the bank. We had quite a bit of money invested in mutual funds, but I didn't see any of it being used to further bowling.
+1
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Why not join the local association board and be part of the solution or at least attend the yearly open meeting.
The local association is responsible for certifying the lanes at all houses, scores/awards, running the local senior, mens, and open tournament, and if a Hall of Fame, they usually run and put on the banquet for inductees.
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As usual, there are always posts pertaining to bowlers not getting value for their measly $20. But I have yet to see what people EXPECT for their $20.
What exactly do bowlers want? Do they want rings? Do they want a magazine subscription? Do they want free massages between frames?
What do you want for your $20?
That's what I was going to ask. I mean I was disappointed when I got a 299 and found out I was not going to get the 299 ring to go with my 298 ring and 300 rings, but, like someone else said I never wear them, although I do know where they all are (now).
For that small amount of money I am just glad there is a website where you can go and see your averages and achievements, and look up other people that you know. I don't like change though, and I wish they had kept the awards the same over the years instead of constantly changing them, even if they raised the fee a few bucks.
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Why not join the local association board and be part of the solution or at least attend the yearly open meeting.
The local association is responsible for certifying the lanes at all houses, scores/awards, running the local senior, mens, and open tournament, and if a Hall of Fame, they usually run and put on the banquet for inductees.
Ii went to a League Meeting with the Local Assn along with maybe 3 League Secretaries and it was a waste of time. Noone I knew then believed a word of what the Center Mgr or the Local Assn people.
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"What exactly do bowlers want? "
They want to complain about everything and then expect somebody else to fix it and someone else to pay for it.
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"What exactly do bowlers want? "
They want to complain about everything and then expect somebody else to fix it and someone else to pay for it.
So true. Very few get involved because its easier not to and blame others.
Its easier just to post #savebowling #bowlingmatters
#2lazy2help
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Went to our local association meeting last year. Good ole' boy network. Same folks, no new ideas.
When I asked about a sport shot league, they thought I was crazy. One director asked me "what do I want to shoot 160?" and I said why do you go to Nationals and shoot 160? How about practice on a tougher shot all year? (Didn't want to hear that)
Well, we are having a sport shot trio league this year, and am ready for the meeting tomorrow. I bet we get none of the association members.
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Shouldn't that fall on the center not the Association? Your house proprietor would be the one to talk to in reference to sport condition leagues or practice.
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My main complaint with the local association is the lack of information distribution. I have received notice of association meetings as late as the day of. I guess email is impossible to comprehend and the association website is ridiculous. Our local by-laws, as shown on the website, have not been updated since 2012. Meeting minutes have not been added since 2010. High score information for the association has not been updated since the 2009-2010 season and newsletters have not been either added or done since May 2012.
Perhaps there isn't a need for some of these things. In my opinion, if nothing changes in the by-laws, at least update the file so people know there weren't any changes.
At the state level it is no different. Current events has 6 entries. Two are the same event and the rest are bad links to events from as long ago as 2013.
I realize something can be brought up and I will, but in general, things go along no matter what is done. Even my wife feels I get too worked up about these things. I just feel more is done for the staff of the association than the bowlers themselves.
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What are the staff of the association getting?
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The fact remains that the number of bowlers that don’t bowl in USBC sanctioned tournaments, and are now in-eligible for USBC awards is growing. Small amount of money or not, if you literally get no value for your sanction what’s the point?
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The local associations are responsible for collecting and passing average and honor score information to the national USBC for central collection. It provides us the capability to go to bowl.com and view historical information on all members.
If my association does this competently, I'm happy and I feel my annual dues well spent. Having national tournament such as the Open Championships and the Masters available is icing on the cake. In all, there is real value for the dollar.
I think in general, bowlers expect too much from their local associations. The reality is that house owners decide the conditions we bowl on, and the structure of the leagues we participate in. They make the decisions that are best for their respective businesses -- nobody else. Accept this reality and you'll sleep better at night.
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Shouldn't that fall on the center not the Association? Your house proprietor would be the one to talk to in reference to sport condition leagues or practice.
Shouldn't the association be a promoter of sport shot, not a dissenter?
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The association should promote bowling in general.
Sport shot or otherwise doesn't matter. That is a centers choice.
I guess blame the association, it doesn't matter right
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Kid- I understand where you are coming from, no argument there. I am just complaining that the association is like the 98% of stand left, throw right, shoot 675, drink beer, go home.
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Kid- I understand where you are coming from, no argument there. I am just complaining that the association is like the 98% of stand left, throw right, shoot 675, drink beer, go home.
And?
Do they certify your lanes every year?
Set dates for your local association tournaments?
Run your association tournaments?
Set up and run a HOF Committee?
Have meetings to make sure these things are done?
Just because they are like most league bowlers and not wanting to be pros, or bowl sport patterns doesn't mean they are doing something wrong.
Bowling is many things to many people.
You have to appeal to all of them as a bowling center, but its not always the local associations place to tell a center how to run their business.
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Just to play devil's advocate, shouldn't the local associations be extensions of the national association? At this moment, I don't feel USBC is actively pushing sport bowling but they were definitely the largest advocate of sport bowling a few years ago. It came across to me they were trying to push competitive bowling towards more difficult shots, including leagues. And if that was the case, shouldn't the local associations tried to implement or inform their bowlers of what the national association was trying to accomplish?
I realize the average bowler does not want sport bowling. But to say no one does isn't correct either. And by not supporting sport bowling AT ALL tells those who do want sport bowling that they don't count. The bowlers who want sport bowling pay the same amount to the local association as those that don't.
In reality, USBC as a whole should be pushing the sport of bowling, not the recreational activity that occurs in 95%+ of the leagues in the country. Let BPAA operate the recreational aspect and leave the SPORT of bowling to USBC including lane conditions and the such.
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Just my 2 cents here:
USBC national is doing what it can to allow sport bowling to grow. It has removed the special fees to join (separate membership) and the requirement of leagues to take weekly tapes.
Now it is up the each center to decide if a sport league can be "profitable" to them.
If in city X, the 2-3% of the bowling population who wants sport lane conditions cannot fill a league, why would that business owner offer the experience.
USBC is offering the opportunity for houses to have sport leagues and now include it in the standard membership with no other reporting requirements except to say you will use sport lane conditions of some sort. They will never IMO mandate harder lane conditions to business owners.
If you ran a business, and some sanctioning body told you that you had to run your business a certain way that would initially cost you potentially 20-40% of your current business, I'd assume you'd tell them to go F-O like I would.
"but the integrity of the game..." The owner would say, "the integrity of my bank account"
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Just my 2 cents here:
"but the integrity of the game..." The owner would say, "the integrity of my bank account"
The above defines the reality of USBC league bowling today.
The House Owners rule to roost. There isn't a thing that the USBC (National or Local) can do about it. Accept this, and consequently accept that your local association is limited in the impact they can have on your bowling life.
Evaluate your local association based on what they have control over -- it isn't much.
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Went to our local association meeting last year. Good ole' boy network. Same folks, no new ideas.
When I asked about a sport shot league, they thought I was crazy. One director asked me "what do I want to shoot 160?" and I said why do you go to Nationals and shoot 160? How about practice on a tougher shot all year? (Didn't want to hear that)
Well, we are having a sport shot trio league this year, and am ready for the meeting tomorrow. I bet we get none of the association members.
Thats a shame people are so stuck in Their ways. I personally have not Bowled in a Sport League but would be willing to try it.
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The fact remains that the number of bowlers that don’t bowl in USBC sanctioned tournaments, and are now in-eligible for USBC awards is growing. Small amount of money or not, if you literally get no value for your sanction what’s the point?
What does this mean? You cannot win any USBC award in a USBC sanctioned league, unless you also bowl tournaments?
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I have a question. Are there awards for Sport Leagues?