BallReviews
General Category => PBA => Topic started by: xrayjay on September 29, 2014, 12:44:05 PM
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It's a long read, but if you haven't read it yet, check it out.
Bowling is not dead in the rec family fun side - houses are busy with long lines after leauges. But, more and more league bowlers in the house I bowl at are leaving. One league is so desperate that they offered to waive my weekly fee - paid by someone else. I couldn't accept the offer and couldn't bowl that night either. Also, this league was really hard to get into in the past. I waited 2 years to get into this league. But now anyone can bowl if they make the cap for this scratch league.
Bowling is not dead..but maybe league bowling is slowly going down hill.....
https://www.facebook.com/michael.machuga/posts/10203844485569251
I can't get ahold of Joe to fix the blog section of my website, so here is THE infamous blog I've been brewing and stewing over for the past several months...copy and pasted below. Here you go!
THE TRUTH, just sayin...
#CallingItLikeISeeIt
It’s a stupid game…as is golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, football, etc. But why has the participation of the competitive side of THIS silly game diminished so drastically over the last 30+ years? Why do professional bowling prize funds continue to taper off to practically nothing while other professional sport businesses have sky rocketed? Well, so many of “us†KNOW the answer to that question. Unfortunately that answer seems to have been consistently ignored by ignorant, selfish, unqualified, and/or unknowledgeable folks who have run the organizations, businesses, and associations who control the governing and promoting of this game.
Bowling, like so many other silly games, is a wonderful test of skills. There is nothing I enjoy more than throwing a bowling ball…with creativity, precision, power, control. There is nothing I HATE more than the current state of the sport. It is THE joke of the sporting world. This isn’t just my opinion. Ask around about the current state of bowling, about the Tour, about the level of award scores…..the most common answer I hear, “It’s a joke.†Why? Again, so many of “us†know, but yet, STILL, nothing is being done (with any kind of effectiveness) to save it from its inevitable demise.
There are many that say it is the bowling ball manufacturers’ faults. The balls have gotten too aggressive, they soak up too much oil, create too much friction, flare too much, and hit too hard. If you continually feed a child candy, chances are, they are not going to eat their vegetables. Ball manufacturers make the candy. It is NOT their fault.
There are some that say that it is the bowling alley proprietors fault. They have made league bowling too easy. The scores have gotten too high. Problem? Yes. Fault? No. If you let a dog get away with all its bad habits and behaviors forever, that dog will never run away. But, punish it for bad behavior and reward it for good behavior, you’ll end up with a loyal and well-mannered dog. Spoiling the dog to get it to stay with you is a problem! But, will it “kill†the dog? Probably not - it just makes you a bad dog parent.
I am done holding back. THIS is my opinion:
Ding, ding! Suspend me, I don’t care. I quit caring 3 ½ years ago and now that I am no longer under any contracts and have no reliable income from this sport, I feel it is time to let my friends, family, fans, and followers know EXACTLY how I feel. The fault belongs to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC, formally known as the ABC, WIBC, YABA. They combined due to such drastic declines in membership), the Bowling Proprietors Association of America (BPAA), and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), collectively. They have not done their “jobs†to GOVERN this silly game. Sure, there have been futile efforts to promote “tougher†more competitive avenues of playing, but never a full fledged effort to GOVERN!
Let’s start with the objective of the game, to knock the PINS down. What has the USBC done to govern the pin? Technology has advanced tremendously in ALL sports and the respective governing bodies have made modifications in the specs and allowances of the playing field. What has changed about the PIN? I will tell you. It has been made to be knocked down EASIER! Look at all of the advertisements for newer pins. Higher scoring is almost ALWAYS the focus. And the USBC CONTINUES to put their “USBC Approved†stamp on them. WHY?! Ignorant, selfish, unqualified, and/or unknowledgeable folks. It is THEIR fault.
Let’s move on to the pin decks, the surface that those pins stand on. What has been done to govern the fact that these surfaces have been made
(and advertised) to help the pin fall down easier, to make them bounce more, travel further and faster? The USBC continues to inspect these new “higher scoring†pin decks and continues to approve them without effectively modifying any rules, specs, or limitations. It is THEIR fault.
What about the flat gutter and the kickbacks or side walls? Again, now being made to help the pin bounce more, fly faster, fall down easier. What has been done to modify or update rules, specs, allowances with this modern technology? Whatever has been (if anything at all) hasn’t been the least bit effective…because the scores continue to escalate (which they apparently condone….because not doing anything to change it means it is OK!) all the while participation and sanctioned play continues to decline. This is not a coincidence. It’s called correlation! And this is NOT OK. It is THEIR fault.
Pheew, deep breath. Now let’s think about the playing field for the previous 60 feet, the lane surface itself and the oil applied to these newer surfaces. Again, redundant as it may sound, these too are promoted as “higher scoring.†Here is where there has been much “attention.†There have been efforts (futile and ineffective means of maintaining so-called integrity) to educate people, give bowlers opportunities to compete on a ‘measured’ (hardly ‘governed’) playing field, and attempts to control scoring pace. These efforts have been, for the most part, failures, as Joe Bowlers have been spoiled so badly with the easiness over the past 3+ decades. Very few of those average Joe Bowlers are interested in being punished in these environments…(i.e. USBC sport compliant conditions, PBA oil patterns) and I say punished with a giggle. It’s hardly punishment, as the scoring pace of these environments matched those of the “easy league conditions†which prevailed a few decades ago.
Back to the tool to knock the pins down, the balls. It’s not the manufacturers fault. Yes, they soak up too much oil, create too much friction, and flare too much, resulting in the oil companies desperately trying to make thicker oils that will change less….also resulting in lane men forced to place more oil on the lane. Back in the 60’s and 70’s, a thimble full of oil would sufficiently oil a PAIR of lanes for SEVERAL DAYS. Currently, a test tube full only lasts a few HOURS on a SINGLE lane. Truth is, put whatever “pattern†you want out there, but by the end of practice, good players will destroy the integrity of that “pattern†and “groove it†to their liking. This is out of control, and why? Because the USBC and PBA have not done enough to limit what the manufacturers can and can’t do! These high-tech bowling balls have been a major contributing factor in destroying the integrity of the scoring pace as well as what the game SHOULD be about. But these balls are USBC and PBA approved…so once again, it is THEIR fault!
Before I move on, WHY is the Masters scheduled to take place in…..FEBRUARY…… IN GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN?!?!? REALLY?!?!? WHO wants to go to the TUNDRA in the prime of its coldest, snowiest season?! There are not too many of us making a decent living throwing a bowling ball. Hence, the reason many of us have other jobs. WHY would these kind of folks want to use vacation time to go to GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN in FEBRUARY?! Personally, I just don’t think I love it that much anymore. Sorry.
Now on to the BPAA. I will repeat, it is NOT the proprietors fault. They run a business. They provide a playing field that promotes what the average Joe Bowler wants. They are in the business to make money, not save the game. And the BPAA has not done its part to control this outlandish scoring pace either. Shame on them for not. As a matter of fact if I’m not mistaken, they INSISTED on ALLOWING the lanes to be made easier (sometime in the 80s?). Shame on them and shame on them for destroying the best, most prestigious event in the world, The U.S. Open, an event that was the most demanding and enduring of them all. This is, or once was, the ONLY tournament that I feel adds any validity to a professionals resume’. The rest are kind of just tallies. The US Open always seems to get its own line.
These two organizations as a whole have not been who they should be. They have not done what they should do. The USBC should be focusing on governing the sport and the BPAA should be focusing on membership. Neither of them should be doing each others jobs, but they should be working together, doing what’s best for the game, GOVERNING and PROMOTING! I believe there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. The newer people in charge of these organizations COULD be the ones to make a difference. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
Ahhh, now to the final organization that I would like to “call out,†the PBA. PBA Titles used to mean something to me. 12 game sprints do not deserve the title of PBA Tour Champion. International Events that attract often less than 10 of the worlds best do not deserve the title of PBA Tour Champion. Erie’s Times News Open (a strictly local tournament) holds more prestige to me, as well as the locals, than any “regular PBA Tour event.†We actually bowl MORE than a handful of games! To be honest, I hate the scoring pace of that tournament too, but since OUR locals have been so spoiled over the years, they could not possibly make the tournament conditions difficult. I mean, geez, the people who bowl that tournament just bowl leagues, they are not professionals….why should the most prestigious local event be on anything different than the easy league condition?!?!?!? LOL & SMH (Laugh Out Loud and Shaking My Head)…..back to the PBA Tour. These new formats are a JOKE. The whole Tour is a JOKE. This isn’t just MY opinion, this is the opinion of the majority of the sporting world! Why?!? Its commissioner is another, not just MY opinion, “unqualified†person. He is just a damn journalist. How could a Professional Sport attract sponsorship that is run by a man with such mismatched credentials? I do not dislike Tom Clark, nor do I blame HIM. This is just another example in the long line of bad decisions that have been made by the new (2001) owners of the PBA! The PBA is a business….and it seems that the business model is sculpted around television advertisement. The interests of the players (whom are supposed to be the greatest bowlers in the world) have been neglected, resulting in a very unhappy group of independent contractors who are THE talent of the SHOW. And our fan base has been neglected as well since the Tour only competes in a select few cities that hardly attract an audience. The venues that DO attract great crowds and huge numbers of open field entries are ignored as well. How the HELL could Brunswick Carolier not be the host of a major championship EVERY year on the PBA Tour?!?!?! Bowling is about grass roots and the grass roots are being ignored. The focus is on that damn Sunday show on ESPN. It seems to be the only thing that matters to the business yet the interest in that show continues to decline, paralleled by the declining interest in the businesses supporting it. In the “business world†you have to make decisions. When decisions get made that are consistently detrimental to the stakeholders, people GET FIRED! Presidents, CEO’s and top management as a whole are responsible, fair or not, for the success of their companies….take SOME RESPONSIBILITY owners of the PBA….make some tough decisions. Or, put your business in the hands of people who can and will! Because YOU control MUCH of the sport of Bowling, and Bowling as a sport is dying a slow, miserable death. Fix the game, bring back the “old Tour†and get some people who KNOW “Bowling†AND sports marketing to take control.
Let’s take a look at a couple stats provided by bowl.com. I was born in 1976. The ‘76-’77 season produced 1375 - 300 games by sanctioned league competitors. The 2012-2013 season produced 57,635 by CONSIDERABLY LESS (probably 50% or more) sanctioned bowlers. Unfortunately, bowl.com could not/would not provide me with the numbers of sanctioned bowlers for those years. In ‘76-’77 there were 197 - 800 series. In 2012-2013 there were 21,985. To my knowledge, membership reached its peak of just under 10 million around 1980. Last season (2013-2014) that number was approximately 1.7 million. Award scores up, sanctioned participation down. Correlation, not coincidence.
Provided by David McCarthy, Louisville, KY:
Membership in Louisville reached 23,000 in 1963 (men only) . ..... only 11 averaged over 200 none over 205. Last year 4700, with a huge number of women who bought mens’ sanctions. Greater Louisville Bowling Association dates back to 1895 or 1899. In the first 55 years, there were 18 - 300 games. In the first 75 years there were 81 perfect games. In 1973 we had the first year with 10 perfect games. 300s have stayed between 325 to 375 per year for the last 10 years even with declining lineage. We have 4 or 5 in one league in a night. In 1996 we had 193 perfect games and in 2006 we had 332 (and 109 series of 800 or more). On a related note .... we just lost another center this past Sunday. That leaves us with 8 out of 34 (I think) still operating.
From an article written by Tom Clark in 2002: (quote courtesy of Rodger Meaney)
In 1952, Nagy and only 197 others rolled 300 from an ABC membership of 1.6 million bowlers nationwide. By 1980, when bowling reached its pinnacle with 4.8 million ABC league players, 5,373 perfect games were rolled. Last year, despite ABC membership shrinking to 1.7 million bowlers, there was a staggering 42,163 perfect games.
The sport as a whole is on a downward, out of control spiral and no one seems to be addressing the TRUE CAUSE. That cause IS the scoring pace. Look at kids and video games. I have actually heard people use this (as well as smart phones) as an excuse as to why participation is down. My argument to that is simple. Look at the other sports! They’re doing just fine. Sure, some of them are on a slow decline recently but their numbers were SO high they could afford a small loss. Bowling’s numbers peaked 30some years ago and have been on a steady decline since……..SINCE THE SCORES GOT OUT OF CONTROL! Back to the video game thing. When kids master a video game they lose interest. Once you beat Super Mario Brothers, why play? To see how fast you can beat it again? To see if you can beat it on ONE life? To see if you can beat it without ever warping? Well, I can tell you from personal experience, yes, that is what the kids would do…..but I don’t play Super Mario Brothers anymore………get it? You see the scoring in bowling only allows for 300. Once the mean or median score gets too close to that number, people will lose interest. Wellllll, HELLLLLLOOOOOO! Scoring pace up, award scores up, participation down, sponsorship down. It’s just a simple correlation. I am a college drop out. But, this isn’t brain surgery. TAKE IT AWAY! QUIT SPOILING THEM! DON’T RECOGNIZE THAT GAME ANYMORE! START OVER! THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO SAVE!
Phew, another deep breath.
I will be making a passionate effort in the coming months and possibly, with any kind of remote success, years, to educate people who are interested and who maintain interest, the truths about bowling. I can not deny my love for this silly game. I am smart, talented, versatile, and have a knack for coaching, especially on the fundamental side. I believe that through my moderate but respectful success as a competitor I have developed the ability to instruct and coach proper fundamentals as good as anyone in the world at any level. It requires a basic understanding of physics and knowing how to use the body in such a way to create power, consistency, repeatability, and longevity. These traits are what the game is about and what I believe create the best enjoyment out of it.
My plan is to provide competitive events on a regular basis, i.e. tournaments, short season leagues, sweepers (mini tournaments), organized jackpot games, and a Bowler Of The Year Program, as well as clinics, camps and individual one on one coaching. These events will be headquartered in but not limited to Mike Machuga’s Next Level Pro Shop inside my home center in Erie, Pennsylvania, Rolling Meadow Lanes. We will be competing on a variety of conditions (under MY RULES) with a variety of equipment focusing on helping people understand these playing fields as this is where I feel the previous efforts by the sanctioning bodies have failed. Bowlers have been provided these environments but have not been provided the education.
Who am I kidding, I probably ain’t actually gonna do any of that crap. I’d rather go spend my time at the golf course. Well, maybe I can squeeze it in when it is not golf season….Anyway, wanna learn good fundamentals, hire me. Wanna play bowling the way it SHOULD be played, contact me. Otherwise, peace. I’m out. Hope you enjoyed.
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Did I ever mention how much I hate this guy? He used to be one of my favorite bowlers and then I read these comments...he just seems angry and bitter
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1-A lot of truth in his statements, some I agree with, others not.
2-No one is interested in the truth, only in what they think is right. Truth has become outdated, by most organizations as well as the USBC, as an example.
3-Ideas like shorted seasons, 100 percent handicap based on level of the league and many more that I've heard over the years and no movement from ABC/USBC.
4-it will take a huge effort from many people and organizations to sit down and first agree on what are the problems and chart a course of action.
5-USBC invest in the future.
Bob
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People may "hate" Mr. Machuga for these comments...but that doesn't make them wrong. To this day, the most real answer to the problem's bowling is facing has come from Jeff Richgels (Riggs on this forum) in his 11th Frame.com blog. We need to have the entities that Mr. Machuga spoke about all merge together to focus on the entire sport of bowling. I will leave you to read it here (http://www.11thframe.com/news/article/6442)
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People may "hate" Mr. Machuga for these comments...but that doesn't make them wrong. To this day, the most real answer to the problem's bowling is facing has come from Jeff Richgels (Riggs on this forum) in his 11th Frame.com blog. We need to have the entities that Mr. Machuga spoke about all merge together to focus on the entire sport of bowling. I will leave you to read it here (http://www.11thframe.com/news/article/6442)
I agree. Would be great to see the minds of Riggs and Machuga get together and get this sport back on track. Was Machuga one of my favorite to watch? No. I have much more respect for him after reading this I can say. Takes "oh yeas" to voice ones opinions this way given the spotlight he was once in.
I am one that would continue to participate and promote if the sport did get tougher. I have numerous 300's and 800's. I participate for the competition. Being a smaller person, I could not succeed at basketball, football or baseball. If they made things tougher, it would just push me to stay on top as one of the better bowlers in my area.
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A vote for the Riggs/Machuga ticket is a vote for
Murrica' bowlers! :P
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The horse is already out of the barn on this. All that will come of driving down scores at this point will be the end of league bowling.
If you want proof of what bowlers don't want, start a local PBA league and see how many show up.
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Where I bowl people always complain when the shot is not wide-open if they have to make adjustments they are crying to the manger. They would rather shoot 290 and lose instead of 190 and win true story.
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Milo,
You may be correct in that regards. My point more in reagrds to getting the separate associations working together. That was the heart of Riggs' proposal. And that was at the heart of what I thought Machuga was getting at. Yes, he specifically mentions lowering scores, but if you have to sacrifice one thing to get the partnership, that can be it. Plus if the new combined organization makes small tweaks to the limits of a bowling ball, people might see scores dropping, but it would be in small increments. Maybe 2-3 pins this year, then 2-3 more in another year or two, etc.. If you slowly bring about the change, people will be more accepting, hopefully. Where you are definately right is if we have 200-210 average bowlers all of a sudden averaging 170-180.
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The strange thing I see with this is it seems to effect the higher average bowlers more than the lower average bowlers. At least in my group it's the lower guys who whine.
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I shot a sport shot league 10 years ago and had injured my wrist. I averaged 195 in regular men's league and 175 in sport. Am trying to drum up interest now, but they just want to drink a six pack, stand left, throw right, shoot 650 and go home.
Funny note...I practiced 9 games Saturday, mostly playing with hand positions, etc. Three I shot for score...203 with new ball I just got, 216 clean with old faithful and the kicker is 227 shooting plastic down 4...lol.
I would rather have tough conditions and see who wins, but like what you all see, hardly anyone would show up.
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I've said it before, and I'll say it again.
Bowling as we know it must die for anything else to happen.
You mention putting together a PBA league and see what happens. On the flip side, what happens if there was no more legal blocking of lanes, and machines could only be programmed with certain patterns? Let owners decide what pattern works best for their topography and away we go. No tampering with the rollers or nozzles.
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Doom, I used a PBA league as an example, but any league where the shot is lower scoring will have the same effect. Most of us on this site would probably rather see it take a higher skill level to score, but at least in my area, that's not the case with the typical league bowler.
They want to "stand here, throw there" and maintain their 200 average doing it.
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I subbed in a sport league that contained a bunch of the top local bowlers. No 600s, 3 500s, 20+ 400s, and several well into the 300s.
No one spent money on drinks during the league, no one went into the bar afterwards to celebrate... or even unwind.
Maybe it's expectations of the bowlers. Maybe it's the house's fault, usbc, ball manufacturers...don't know. But at the end of the night, the bowlers didn't have a very good night...House didn't make much...
My mindset was, how can I modify surface, balls to better match up...Most others was how much longer is the season...and when will the next pattern be put out?
Is the the problem of bowling?
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i like the idea of changing things over time. 2-3 pins a year over 10 years would make bowling a lot more credible. eventually id like to see a house pattern be in the range of 3 or 4:1. make it like the nationals team pattern. playable, fairly easy with room for error. emphasize team work in bowling again. and sport bowling be true sport bowling like when it was first introduced 2:1 patterns or less. yes it will take time but if you make the oil a tad harder one year then maybe make the pins flatter or heavier one year. people dont like change but they dont like big change even more.
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I certainly don't agree with everything Machuga has to say in that piece, but I admire his passion, and I understand his exasperation. The game IS slowly dying in a lot of ways, and that is heartbreaking. In my opinion, radical changes need to be enacted in the hopes of reversing course instead of just slowing the bleeding. One would think those moves would have to happen at some point. How many more RIFs can USBC enact before there is nobody left doing the job? How many more bowling centers can close before there is no place left to bowl? It's time for serious bowlers to take some serious actions, including risks, to see if organized bowling can be revitalized and saved.
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How many bowlers do you know that have quit bowling because it is too easy? I'm guessing, not that many.
There is way more to bowling's decline than JUST the scoring pace.
Look what bowling has to compete with these days. Everyone has a 60" HDTV that they can watch Saturday College Game Day on ESPN. TV shows are more epic now than movies and most people have 300 channels to choose from. Movie theaters have gone to stadium seating and HD films to get people to come watch a movie. Organized sports are HUGE, now. My 8 year old daughter practices soccer twice a week plus a game. Soccer was non existent in my area 20 years ago. Now there are huge soccer complexes in every neighboring town. Xbox, Playstation and online gaming are a multi billion dollar industry. Bowling alleys used to be a great social place (still are). Now we have Facebook. These things didn't exist during bowling's prime. And there is SO much more I didn't mention.
Bowling is not broke. Competitive bowling and/or league bowling is having to compete with more things. USBC/BPAA/PBA can't fix that. It starts with the proprietors and other bowlers. If bowling centers don't update to meet todays demand, then more will close. You would not pay to see this summers block buster movie in a theater without HD screens. Why, because technology has changed your wants and needs and what you will pay for. People don't want to take their family in old bowling alleys that still smell like ashtrays and have the same carpet they did in 1970.
Proprietors have to promote leagues. They see the open bowlers everyday. They have to want to convert them to league bowlers. Some houses have chosen to turn their nose up to the league bowlers. Bowler have to promote leagues/tournaments and show the proprietors there is still a need.
You can't go back. Ball companies are not going to stop making high performance balls. Proprietors are not going to stop putting out THS oil patterns for high scores. If you want the sport to grow, get involved. Run for office with you local association. Help organize and/or run tournaments. Promote the game. Don't wait on the USBC/BPAA/PBA. They can't do it.
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I've been back in bowling for nine months after being away from it for 18 years -- I did not visit any bowling alley nor did I bowl a single shot. Before I stopped bowling in the spring of 1996, I was still a newspaper reporter. I remember writing an article about the sharp increase in 300 games bowled (circa 1993-1994) each year -- I think there were, like, more than 18,000 at the time -- and those of us with any knowledge of the game/sport had already began attributing the rise to the new reactive resin bowling balls. But 300 game scores began rising with the introduction of urethane balls in the early 1980s and even more so when bowling on short oil -- when the former ABC mandated in the mid-1980s a maximum distance of 26 feet. I think imposing that short-oil decision alone was the vanguard of bowling's decline. (Example: Bowlers like Earl Anthony sharply curtailed his competitive bowling because he refused to bowl on those conditions.)
I mean, I've seen several video clips this year of people who have shot 300 games, and I have to tell myself most times that I simply need to keep my focus on my game. I'll say this much: Back in the day, all you needed was to watch someone bowl a couple of frames to discern whether that person has game or not. A 300 game meant something back then because it was definitely a combination of skill and some bowling luck to take a perfect game into the 10th frame and finish the deal. There is no question, at least to me, that many of the people I've seen bowl 300 games have very little skill or use what would be generally recognized as proper bowling mechanics, and they couldn't average 125 on a sport compliant/flat shot that's used these days.
I've said this before, the introduction of urethane bowling balls helped bowlers who were struggling 170-average bowlers now bowl close to scratch bowlers, averaging then in the mid-180s. Then with the introduction or reactive resin pieces, those same hacks now became 210-average monsters. Their skills didn't improve, but now they had three boards to an arrow to work with on the lanes and their ball that could barely take out the 5-pin using urethane -- and left the 5-pin for sure using polyester -- was leaving solid 9-pins.
In my return to bowling, I didn't realize just how much the entire scope of the sport/game has declined. But places like this message board and talking to one of the guys, a former touring pro, who has drilled my equipment this year has definitely caught me up on things.
It's really disappointing. It's disappointing to know that the PBA's hanging on by threads even though there is a confirmed 2015 schedule; there's no guarantee of anything beyond next year. It's disappointing to have learned that league membership has dropped by nearly 75 percent from the last time I bowled in a league, which was in 1990. Bowling alleys closed left and right back when I stopped bowling; they were mostly casualties of economic downturns/recessions. The latter remains true, but one must add declining interest(s) as a contributing factor.
It makes me wonder why in the world did I decide on returning? I know why. But that's neither here nor there in this conversation.
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The scoring pace has probably hurt the PBA more than anything. It's hard to watch guys struggle on sport patterns when the casual viewer can watch locals on a THS shoot higher scores. The PBA tried heavier gold pins. They've tried colored oil and explaining the patterns. They've tried arenas and stadiums and everything else.
As a person who loves bowling, I find it difficult to watch. I feel like with the scoring back drop and ball return cover they use, it always looks like they are bowling in the same place no matter where they are. They were very late in going to HD and the camera angles don't compliment the game. I don't need to see a camera from behind the pins.
The problem is, I don't know that there is a fix.
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This dead horse is why I quit bowling competatively. There is no fix until serious bowlers do what Mr. Kanak suggests: "It's time for serious bowlers to take some serious actions, including risks, to see if organized bowling can be revitalized and saved."
The complaining is so out of control that no one can have a sense of accomplishment and no one wants to take responsibility for bowling bad. It's all about the lanes. Someone has a good day and wins a tournament, even on a fair shot, and immediately you hear, "the lanes really favored - insert that type of bowler here - , there was no shot for me out there", regardless of the fact the loser couldn't hit his target or pick up a spare.
Balls, house shots, and scoring pace haven't ruined bowling, Bowlers have ruined bowling by being brainwashed on a daily basis about balls, house shots, and scoring pace.
I'd also add that the previous post about TV, Video games and all the other distractions today is also a very relevant argument.
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Here's what I am wondering..
If the PBA, let alone bowling in general is struggling in the USA, what are the international organizations like the JPBA doing to keep their entities solid and solvent? Because to me, it seems like they are running well (granted, all I'm getting from them is coming from Youtube)..
BL.
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I still think it has to do with the fact that bowling centers have bars in them. The reputation of being smoky and bottle/pitcher laden continues to this day. Combine that with the questionable cleanliness of rental shoes and house balls and families think twice about spending time/money at the bowling center. If you can't get the kids in with their families you won't get them there for youth league.
This has nothing to do with reality, it is all about perception.
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I agree that the camera angles on the TV shows leave a lot to be desired. I am also not
crazy about their decision to show the (blue) oil patterns . It makes most of the patterns look like THS when in fact, they are not. The trick shot segment turned those shows into a carnival-like atmosphere, too.
On the other hand, I like that Randy Pedersen makes an attempt to explain the oil patterns and the equipment used by the participants . I would like to see more time devoted to that than with trick shots, celebrity participants, and other attractions that in my opinion, detract from
(my) desire to see bowling treated as a sport and not a circus attraction.
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I have to disagree with the notion that the higher scoring pace of the resin era didn't cause some people to quit bowling. A recent posting here listed a link to a Robert smith interview on youtube, and he was asked about Machuga's post and many other things regarding the current state of bowling....but Smith talked about his dad...how he was a 185 bowler before the resin area , and after resin came on the scene he was a 215 avg bowler and Rboert says his dad quit because he said he wasn't a 215 avg bowler but a 185 bowler..... So at least in this case(assuming Robert is being honest) we have an incident of a bowler quitting because of the bloated scoring.
Brad
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This dead horse is why I quit bowling competatively. There is no fix until serious bowlers do what Mr. Kanak suggests: "It's time for serious bowlers to take some serious actions, including risks, to see if organized bowling can be revitalized and saved."
The complaining is so out of control that no one can have a sense of accomplishment and no one wants to take responsibility for bowling bad. It's all about the lanes. Someone has a good day and wins a tournament, even on a fair shot, and immediately you hear, "the lanes really favored - insert that type of bowler here - , there was no shot for me out there", regardless of the fact the loser couldn't hit his target or pick up a spare.
Balls, house shots, and scoring pace haven't ruined bowling, Bowlers have ruined bowling by being brainwashed on a daily basis about balls, house shots, and scoring pace.
I'd also add that the previous post about TV, Video games and all the other distractions today is also a very relevant argument.
EXACTLY! +1000! Its just a reflection of society's expectation about sports participation today. Don't try to get better by honing your game, go out and buy a hook in a box. Don't try to educate yourself to know biggest hook doesn't mean biggest scores. Everybody gets a trophy for just showing up. Don't credit somebody else for being better than you, whine and cry instead.
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I second this. The common denominator with a lot of people I've been trying to help recently is that they refuse to get out and practice. It's always a new ball or a new layout or a new fit and constant complaints about how bad they're bowling, but they NEVER practice. Nobody wants to put the time to get better. I just said in another post that I can't believe how many people are suckers for marketing. Nothing will ever make up for lack of practice. Getting out and putting in work just isn't as much fun as buying a new ball or trying some wild new layout. Plus yeah, there's always shows on the DVR to catch up on. Then because they aren't positive they will win a tournament or a league, they find a smaller pond to jump to.
This dead horse is why I quit bowling competatively. There is no fix until serious bowlers do what Mr. Kanak suggests: "It's time for serious bowlers to take some serious actions, including risks, to see if organized bowling can be revitalized and saved."
The complaining is so out of control that no one can have a sense of accomplishment and no one wants to take responsibility for bowling bad. It's all about the lanes. Someone has a good day and wins a tournament, even on a fair shot, and immediately you hear, "the lanes really favored - insert that type of bowler here - , there was no shot for me out there", regardless of the fact the loser couldn't hit his target or pick up a spare.
Balls, house shots, and scoring pace haven't ruined bowling, Bowlers have ruined bowling by being brainwashed on a daily basis about balls, house shots, and scoring pace.
I'd also add that the previous post about TV, Video games and all the other distractions today is also a very relevant argument.
EXACTLY! +1000! Its just a reflection of society's expectation about sports participation today. Don't try to get better by honing your game, go out and buy a hook in a box. Don't try to educate yourself to know biggest hook doesn't mean biggest scores. Everybody gets a trophy for just showing up. Don't credit somebody else for being better than you, whine and cry instead.
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Lack of practice is not the issue. The lack of proper practice is a problem. When I am working on something, damn the score.
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Lack of practice is not the issue. The lack of proper practice is a problem. When I am working on something, damn the score.
Well said.
If the lanes 'favoured X type of bowler', You should figure out how to throw a similar game to X. Whether that means squaring up, creating a second line to the pocket, or whatever, your A-game isn't always going to work.
What's crazy for me is that I was taught that back in my youth bowling days.. Why knowledge like that is lost on people today, I don't know.
BL.
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Things to take into consideration...many in position of 'need' of bowling as either a profession or sales tend to complain abt similar things but in the big scheme of things, when you have a participation of over 60mil annually, how is broken? Granted, certain individuals need more recognition due to them being professional, but fact be, no one is owed anything from bowling. We make what we do from it, plain & simple...and too many believe they are owed a living or recognition.
In other countries, bowling as a profession or sport is held in a different light...there is less competition for sponsors dollars as well...in the US bowling is barely in the top 10.
Bowling is not broken it just may not be what most of us grew up with...
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Ok…let’s look at is this way. What other sports make the conditions “easier†for the amateurs?
Most of the time, it’s just the level of competition. Same size dimensions as the pro’s use. I played adult baseball, and it was a major league size field (we are throwing 75 mph, not 95 mph). Tennis courts are the same size for amateurs. They don’t make the basketball courts smaller or baskets shorter for amateur basketball? Golf courses do vary, so you can choose easy or hard in that sport (either tee boxes or $$$ high end hard course).
But in bowling, someone made an economical decision that higher scores would equate to more money for the owners. So the wall shot came into effect. Bowling is down number wise, we see centers closing in our areas, and when I ask the good commercial league about starting a sport shot, I might get 3 that are interested. 95% of them want to stand left, and throw right, score high, drink beer, feel good about themselves.
Most of the folks on this site are about becoming better bowlers through knowledge and education. We are in the minority. Most of what I am saying has been said before, probably ad nauseum.
I would love to start a sport shot league or plastic ball league this summer. I will try recruiting starting in the new year. Even if it’s just 16 individuals, I would be happy. But it might just be an unrealistic dream in my area.
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No one set out to make the lanes easier it happened over time...it evolved due to economic survival
Golf has varying tees which in some minds are easier for better players moving forward...
Scoring is a moot point in the big scheme of things
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Ok…let’s look at is this way. What other sports make the conditions “easier†for the amateurs?
Most of the time, it’s just the level of competition. Same size dimensions as the pro’s use. I played adult baseball, and it was a major league size field (we are throwing 75 mph, not 95 mph). Tennis courts are the same size for amateurs. They don’t make the basketball courts smaller or baskets shorter for amateur basketball? Golf courses do vary, so you can choose easy or hard in that sport (either tee boxes or $$$ high end hard course).
But in bowling, someone made an economical decision that higher scores would equate to more money for the owners. So the wall shot came into effect. Bowling is down number wise, we see centers closing in our areas, and when I ask the good commercial league about starting a sport shot, I might get 3 that are interested. 95% of them want to stand left, and throw right, score high, drink beer, feel good about themselves.
Most of the folks on this site are about becoming better bowlers through knowledge and education. We are in the minority. Most of what I am saying has been said before, probably ad nauseum.
I would love to start a sport shot league or plastic ball league this summer. I will try recruiting starting in the new year. Even if it’s just 16 individuals, I would be happy. But it might just be an unrealistic dream in my area.
Golf. You get to choose what Tee Box you play from for one. And believe me, your local muni course can cut the holes to be VERY difficult, which is what they do for tournaments when the pros play.
And comparing Basketball, Baseball, Tennis etc to Bowling is just absurd. But if you WANT to, Basketball has shorter goal height for young players, Baseball field dimensions are not the same for little league as they are for the pros.
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just another reason that bowling, except at it's highest levels, is not a sport.
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It's not a sport, the playing is controlled at every level and can the outcome can be manipulated...no so much on who wins but who will not have a chance
It is an athletic competition...but not a sporting event due to lane conditions
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These two organizations as a whole have not been who they should be. They have not done what they should do. The USBC should be focusing on governing the sport and the BPAA should be focusing on membership. Neither of them should be doing each others jobs, but they should be working together, doing what’s best for the game, GOVERNING and PROMOTING! I believe there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. The newer people in charge of these organizations COULD be the ones to make a difference. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
This statement kind of stuck out for me.
You have two organizations looking at things differently. Everything Machuga states above (minus the PBA issues) comes down these two oganizations having two different objectives.
How can the USBC govern a bowling center under the BPAA that buys pins that are easier to knock down, have flatter gutters, better side kicks, and what ever else put in to increase strikes?
What can they do?
Well they could deny any honor score shot in that center. What is that going to do. Every league in that center is going to be non-sanctioned. That's it. USBC would then have less members.
It took Ball Manufacturers several years to get this core to coverstock relationship down. Manufacturer's had no intent of telling the USBC what they were doing. Could the USBC ban all these bowling balls? You think ball manufacturers would stop producing these monster balls. People would have still bought them and formed non sanction leagues.
These two businesses (Ball Manufacturers and BPAA) were like a big freight train coming down the track. USBC couldn't stop them. Customers wanted better carry. They got it. If USBC did anything, the organization would have been done by 1995.
In my opinion all this technology is great (Balls, Lane Conditions, Pins, Pin Decks), but it all comes at a very high price. It costs too much now to bowl.
Right now bowling is out pricing itself. What was once a very affordable sport has become too much money for all of its participants. Bowlers, Bowling Centers, and ProShops.
SO IS THAT 270 GAME REALLY WORTH IT WHEN 30 YEARS AGO IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A 200.
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Regarding sport leagues, many tournaments and leagues are pushing back against those of us who do participate. I bowl full time in one league and it is a sport sanctioned league. Because many tournaments and leagues view sport bowling leagues as another way to sandbag or are too lazy to use the average conversion chart or feel that the chart doesn't fairly adjust avearages, they won't even accept a sport league average. How does this help promote sport bowling? It doesn't!
Last year my sport average was 190. Using the average adjustment chart puts me in the mid 2-teens for a "regular" average. Last summer I bowled in a scratch singles league on a house shot. For almost 60 games I averaged in the mid 2-teens.
Since I don't have a "regular" average, if the tournament or league I sub in doesn't take summer averages, I must bowl scratch. Most times scratch is 220 so that isn't a stretch for me. However, in my sport league we have everything from several regional players to people who legitmately average 130 or 140 on a house shot. For several bowlers, it is their only league. Is the 140 bowler supposed to bowl scratch in a handicap league or tournament? So now that bowler has to not support the tournament or not support the sport league. Instead of working together and everybody winning, somebody loses out.
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I'm a big fan of "Choogs" on the lanes. Love his style, skills, talent. Never met him so don't know him off the lanes but can hear the frustration in his words. Folks get that way when you take away their ability to make a living. I see it in my friend who owns a pro shop (not for much longer). Blaming the different bowling entities may make some folks feel better but it won't save the game that we all love. Bowling is a business and busines is simple really. It's about creating a product people want at a price that make a profit. Take the bowling proprietors out of it. They hold zero blame for anything that happened to bowling. They give the people want they want period. If folks, other than the small minority, on this forum wanted competition and sport leagues then we would go the the proprietors with our list of 75 guys who want a sport league. I had a friend who owned a vending business and everyone complained that they wanted healthy products in the vending machine. He obliged but nobody ate them. He lost money so he put back the candy and chips. Give the people want they want.
You save Bowling from the top down. No other way if there is a way. Make a product that you can sell on TV and at venues that people will go to in person. Allow some betting on the event. Make tough business decisions that not all pros will like but help sell the product. Machuga is right, big changes are needed to create a marketable product and pay these athletes what they are worth. I guarantee you if you can raise the amount of money these athletes are paid people will want to learn what it takes to be a "sport" bowler versus a recreational bowler and then people will create a demand that their bowling proprietors will fill because it is profitable for them.
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I had a great time in our challenge shot summer league. It was a trios league and we all sucked!!! lol. Drank alot of beer to ease the pain. There was a few decent averages in the league. It can help your game! If most bowlers would see how much a league like that can benefit your game it would be a whole new game out there!
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Polish_Hammer, you are correct. I have a good friend who happens to own a bowling center. He has bent over backwards in his efforts to please his bowlers. In the end, he still has to worry about his (and his family's) source of income, too. If he can't pay his bills, then all of us lose out if his center closes. I am not an apologist for big business interests as a rule, but I understand that if his center can better stay afloat
by offering variations to say, traditional league bowling, he would be foolish not to take advantage of them. If he hadn't explored these options, the center would have closed a long time ago.
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Blaming the different bowling entities may make some folks feel better but it won't save the game that we all love. Bowling is a business and busines is simple really. It's about creating a product people want at a price that make a profit. Take the bowling proprietors out of it. They hold zero blame for anything that happened to bowling. They give the people want they want period. If folks, other than the small minority, on this forum wanted competition and sport leagues then we would go the the proprietors with our list of 75 guys who want a sport league.
One of the best responses I've seen on the subject. Nice.