Author Topic: The game is too damn easy!! (Read 2175 times)

Gene J Kanak · « **on:** November 17, 2003, 11:18:52 PM »

Hey everyone,

I just finished reading the Brian Voss article, and I must say that he echoes many of the same feelings that I've had for a long time. I'll be first one to admit that today's equipment helps me as much as it helps the next guy. But is that really a good thing? I'm only 24, but I remember what it was like before resin came around. I'm talking about the days when the Ebonite Nitro, Solid Blue Hammer AMF Cobra were the biggest hooking balls you could get your hands on. I remember having to hit my mark on every shot or missing the pocket. Now I use buzzsaws, and, on the THS, I have at least a few boards of area to play with. Have my scores and average gone up? Sure. Has my enjoyment and love for the game gone up? Not really. I love new equipment as much as the next guy, probably more. I love trying all of the new technology and seeing just how much it surpasses what has been put out before. But with that being said, I'm not enjoying how easy it has become to become a "good bowler". I bowl in a scratch league with 18 guys, and 17 of us average 200 or better. Now there are some very good bowlers in that group, but I know that the number would be dramatically smaller if they weren't able to use 6 boards of breathing room on either side of their "mark" to find and smash the pocket. I've decided that I'm tired of it.
Here is what I'm suggesting: I would like to start a league that can attempt to level the playing field a bit. Here are some of my initial thoughts:

Equipment: No particle or resin; urethane, plastic or rubber only (Of the accepted balls, no dynamic cores like the new companies are offering, only old school stuff like white dot and original hammer type stuff) Another possibility would be to just make everyone use the same ball with the same drilling and coverstock prep. Hell, I bet proshops could get a great deal on the ball if we went this way.

Lane Conditions: Stripped before league, then oiled to as close as possible to the standards of the THS from the 70s or 80s.

I know that this sounds kind of strange, but I've always wondered what it would be like to try something like this. I think it would be great to see people actually have to hit a specific damn mark in order to be rewarded with a strike. I'd also like to see it back in the day when you had to master your angle to the pocket in order to carry, rather than just skimming the head pin and blowing everything out on a light hit.

Now I know that this is probably just a dream, as too many people like carrying the high averages and shooting the honor scores to give that up for something like this. I, however, would rather average in the 180s by trying something like this than to carry 200+ on a cake shot that doesn't even require me to think. The bowling world tried to combat this problem with sport leagues and conditions, but, unfortunately, the technology still managed to catch up and make those shots easier than they were supposed to be. I'm just wondering, would any of you consider bowling in something like this if it were offered? What changes would you adapt to the rough format that I have described? I'm sorry if all of this sounds cynical, but when I hear about leagues in which 5 or 6 people shoot 300 each week, isn't it obvious that this has gotten way out of hand?
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Bowling is without a doubt the dumbest, most pointless, most idiotic excuse for a game that has ever been invented. So, what time are we bowling tomorrow?

Edited on 11/18/2003 3:19 PM

charlest · « **Reply #1 on:** November 18, 2003, 03:07:25 PM »

Gene,

If you're lucky enough to have consistent conditions from week to week (many of us are not) and all the bowlers in your league are averaing over 200, many of your bowlers may be as bored as you are. Poll them and see they'd like such a league with the balls as you propose. Most houses would oil the lanes for a league, if you approach them with enough committed bowlers.

Let them use urethane or plastic, but I'd suggest a specific (or changing oil pattern because most people with decent revs can make a urethane hit as hard as resin. Try a heavy, short, flat oil pattern from 3 to 3.
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"Just because you can do something does not mean you should do it."

rabbit_sla · « **Reply #2 on:** November 18, 2003, 03:09:21 PM »

Here is a thought that I will probably get ridiculed for, but if you go to the pba website they have a good representation of the sport shot and a league shot. My thought is, why couldn't you just do a flat oil pattern out to 38-40 ft. When I say flat I mean each board has the same amount of oil as the next. Wouldn't this kind of shot eliminate the wall? Also, I would think that a longer flat oil pattern would kill the hook monsters of today.

As for me, I would love to try a sport league and see how accurate I really am. This is just my thoughts.
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working on my spare game

9andaWiggle · « **Reply #3 on:** November 18, 2003, 03:41:02 PM »

Rabbit - I personally like the idea of a gutter to gutter oiling, as it forces you to make better shots. However, you would still see the increased pin action, I think, from todays equipment over the old style urethane that was suggested earlier.

As for the league, hell yeah I'd join one, but I think you'd have a better chance of luring bowlers if you were able to scrape up some outside sponsorship and build a strong prize fund. I think after 3 weeks of low scores, the league would probably fold when reality sets in - unless theres enough $$ to keep them coming back.

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9~

RevLefty · « **Reply #4 on:** November 18, 2003, 03:42:22 PM »

dude join a sport league youll find more love for the game it makes you throw perfect shots again. But I do agree with you, I watched a guy throw 300 last thursday that if it werent for the equipment never in a million years would he have thrown one,EVER. It does infuriate me when i think of it and the high end equipment i dont think it helps the great players, I believe it hinders them. These balls are too agressive. I use pretty much nothing but low end equipment and old stuff. I could go on for hours bout this but what is the point, I out!!!!

Steven · « **Reply #5 on:** November 18, 2003, 03:46:01 PM »

Gene -- I keep hearing how easy it is out there, and I just don't get it. If it's all that easy, why aren't leagues dominated by a high number of 230+ average bowlers? You summed up your feels with the following statement:

quote:
I, however, would rather average in the 180s by trying something like this than to carry 200+ on a cake shot that doesn't even require me to think.

Unless I'm mistaken, your high average was 203 last year, but you still don't feel you have room to improve on your current conditions? I'm a house hack, and regardless of how "easy" it might be, there is always room for improvement. Until I somehow manage to finish at 240+ on cake (it's not likely to happen

), I don't feel I'm in a position to make fun of any shot.

Given that most of us are in this position, why are bowlers thumbing their noses at current conditions?
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The Hose · « **Reply #6 on:** November 18, 2003, 03:53:54 PM »

Gene, if you are 24, I'd be surprised to find that you've "grown up" on tough conditions. Sure equipment and oil patterns have allowed us more area, but I scored far better in the late 80's on short oil. Talk about some wall? There were houses I average 220 on any day.

Give me a Black U-dot and short oil and I'd score better then I do today.
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CLIQUE MEMBER

mumzie · « **Reply #7 on:** November 18, 2003, 04:14:44 PM »

Flat oil is all good and well. But I can take a team hand selected for where they like to play on the lane, and open that lane up similar to a wall any day...
Of course, not with plastic, though.

janderson · « **Reply #8 on:** November 18, 2003, 04:19:22 PM »

Good point Mumzie. That's another one of the factors of today's equipment that didn't exist in the 70's. The other side of the same point is that most houses use a completely different conditioner today as well.
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Gene J Kanak · « **Reply #9 on:** November 18, 2003, 04:34:04 PM »

Great posts so far!

Steven,

Your point is well taken. I realize that I was overly dramatic, but my point remains the same. I do not mean to make it sound as if I have today's conditions wrapped around my little finger by any means. Hell, I can still shoot 150 on a THS with a $250 ball if I set my mind to it. My craving for a league and condition that require precision shot making are NOT because I find myself to be too good for the conditions I'm bowling on. But I'm tired of walking into bowling centers and seeing the walls lined with 300s and 800s, shot by 40 different guys, many of whom couldn't shoot 250+, 700 before the days of game in a box gear. Sure, I could get much better than I currently am on the easier types of shots that are out ther. My point is that I get no real satisfaction from doing so. I like shooting a big number as much as the next person, but I've walked out of centers feeling better after bowling 575 on a tough shot than I have after shooting 680 on cake. I just wanted to see how many other people felt that way also, and I think that a league like the one I proposed could be great for those who feel that way.

Hose,

I never actually said that I "grew up" on those conditions. What I said was that I remember what it was like to bowl on them, as I began throwing a hook back when urethane was all that was out there. I'm not saying that nobody shot well back in those days. But in my experience, there were far fewer high averages (210 and above) and 300s-800s back then. Sure, there were still people who did it, but it seems like they were rare, whereas now they are becoming quite common. I'd like to do some research to find out how many 300s-800s were shot before resin as opposed to how many are shot yearly now. I think that the numbers would support my point.
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Bowling is without a doubt the dumbest, most pointless, most idiotic excuse for a game that has ever been invented. So, what time are we bowling tomorrow?

10pin2002 · « **Reply #10 on:** November 18, 2003, 05:49:12 PM »

I just thought of this last week.

Back in the late 70's and early 80's, the time period when the Yellow Dot reigned supreme, Mark Roth was dominating bowling. He was great, people loved to watch him fly pins around, leading tournaments by two or three hundred pins getting strikes no other human being could imagine.

If it wasn't for him, we'd still be throwing U-Dots.

What the Soft Urethane and the Resin did, and what it was developed for, was to give the good, NOT great, bowler the ability to duplicate that kind of ball action, that kind of pin action. Roth and maybe to a lesser extent Marshall Holman and Bob Handley were the ones that made power bowling mainstream. Before they were around, the idea was hit the mark and keep it close. With them then and with most people now, you don't need to even keep it real close sometimes; you hit light and trip the 7, you hit high and trip the 4.

With equipment today, I think a VERY challenging oil pattern would be a reverse christmas-tree: Oil 45 feet down the lane on 5, 38 feet on 20.

Reaction to any of this?

Roll good,
Nate

channel surfer · « **Reply #11 on:** November 18, 2003, 06:54:37 PM »

Untill everyone averages 270+ for 64 games, then thats when the game has become to easy.
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trash heap · « **Reply #12 on:** November 18, 2003, 06:55:16 PM »

Take the Flip Blocks out of the balls. Would that make enough difference? Have the "NO CORE TOUR!".

Gene J Kanak · « **Reply #13 on:** November 18, 2003, 11:04:55 PM »

Hey everyone,

Great responses so far. Just to respond to a few: I know that a league like this is very unlikely, as too many people enjoy carrying the big average and shooting the big scores, even if it is on easy conditions. Secondly, I don't want to outlaw all of the new stuff and go back to the old days. Like I said before, the new equipment helps me as much as anyone. I would, however, be perfectly willing to bowl a sanctioned league like this to see just how good I really am, not how good the ball makes me. Some people have said that people who think like I do need to just get with the times or be left behind. I have no problem getting with the times. I carry an arsenal of six balls for tournaments so that I can try to create the best shot wherever I go. I'm not stupid; I know how to be successful at today's game. That doesn't mean that I've mastered it. Likewise, my claim that the game is too easy is not meant as a slap in the face to high-average bowlers and people who shoot honor scores. Regardless of the conditions, there is always at least some skill involved. I'm just saying that I'd like to bowl in a league, just one league, where I know that I've earned whatever I've gotten. If I average 175, so what, at least I know that it's earned. If you're bowling for money, then scores are what counts; get them however you can. But if you're bowling for the love of the game or to get better, what does spraying the lanes and averaging 200 do for you? I'd be willing to bowl in the league that I'm suggesting, and only that league, allowing my average to go wherever it may. For me, the game is not about my ego.
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Bowling is without a doubt the dumbest, most pointless, most idiotic excuse for a game that has ever been invented. So, what time are we bowling tomorrow?

Author Topic: The game is too damn easy!! (Read 2175 times)

Gene J Kanak

The game is too damn easy!!

charlest

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

rabbit_sla

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

9andaWiggle

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

RevLefty

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

Steven

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

The Hose

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

mumzie

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

janderson

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

Gene J Kanak

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

10pin2002

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

channel surfer

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

trash heap

Re: The game is too damn easy!!

Gene J Kanak

Re: The game is too damn easy!!