Mike Machuga actually gets what is behind the decline in bowling...

[vdubtx]

Long read, but it is a great one. Had to shorten it, but you can read the post in it's entirety here...LINK (https://www.facebook.com/michael.machuga/posts/10203844485569251)

By Michael Machuga


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.

[Aslan]

uhhh....yeah; it's "too late".

Scratch leagues and sport leagues are few and far between. I'd be willing to bet in the next 10 years we're less likely to see reductions in scoring and MORE likely to see a change to the game that changes the scoring to allow for something greater than 300 (which will be all too commonplace by then).

[Jaescrub]

I like mike a lot. He always acted like he would be fun to hang out and bowl with. He has some very good points in this rant of his. But on the same note I almost feel that it came from him not being able to find a ball
Company to sponsor him after being dropped from DV8. I know storm, Motiv and even track had sent him some equipment to punch up and do reviews on. I watched a lot of this play out on Twitter. He was doing a good job of shopping himself to brands but no one was taking a big bite. At the same time all this was going in he was getting into Golf. I'm cool with him doing what he wants and he has been there done that so I respect his insight. I know he still owns some pro shops so I guess we will see where this leads him.

[dnhoffman]

I thought he made some good points myself. That being said, I think a lack of sponsorship for youth bowling hurts the sport a lot myself.

[ALazySavage]

This is a topic that we can, and have, discuss at length. I'm glad Machuga didn't blame the bowling ball manufacturers or the bowling centers in this situation, because as he is said they are playing with the cards they were dealt. The problems with bowling are laid out in front of us; a weak presence for junior bowling, a lack of standard lane conditions, and very little professional exposure.

In Arizona, junior bowling is essentially limited to two days of the week - Saturday morning is when the mass of junior leagues occur and then you typically have a Wednesday afternoon that is designated as a "home school" league. Saturday morning bowling has to compete with club sports such as soccer, softball, little league baseball, youth basketball, pee wee football, swimming, tennis, etc. Most of these sports have a better organizational presence (club soccer, little league baseball, pee wee football) and they have the advantage of participation at the school location through recess and after school activities. Such organized bowling has more logistical challenges, namely transportation of participants.

The standardization of patterns is the second problem. For as much as I heard about the Red, White, and Blue patterns I have yet to see them take off locally. When bowling in my sport pattern league this summer you saw a lot of bowlers struggle not only because they don't have the physical tools to handle the patterns (Bear, Badger, Wolf) it is because they are so ill-equipped to handle the moves and adjustments necessary to playing these patterns. A lot of these bowlers are so accustomed to their 41 ft. 10-1 ratio of oil they couldn't even tell you how they should start on the pattern, let alone adjust for lane play. As much as I hate to admit this I can't even blame these bowlers for running back to their house pattern, they are so poorly educated on oil patterns that they don’t stand a chance (the challenge is removed and it just becomes a move and pray scenario).

The professional exposure is disappointing as well. Bowling is dealt a tough hand because excellent bowling appears to be extremely repetitive and it can cause a lack of interest by the end. The tour attempted to counter this by exposing the oil pattern, but all they do is show a close up of the oil after a few games are thrown and say do you see the breakdown? More explanation would do wonders for this, don’t just talk about the move; go into more detail about this in relation to the actual ball roll, how to read the ball not just in phases but also through the pins, etc. For as many people in that sport league that claimed to watch bowling on television, the lack of bowlers able to identify a ball that was rolling out, a ball that comes in with too much angle, or a ball with too much ball speed was astonishing.

[Amyers]

Well written article and a some excellent comments. In my opinion the only thing that will save bowling is if the USBC mandates harder patterns for league play. I know some people feel this will drive away people but we are already losing people who feel the game has simply become a carry contest and the achievements mean very little. I personally haven't got to this point yet but I see those who do.

I bowled back in the days of more difficult patterns and urathane balls and have seen the changes. Some will get mad and leave when their 200 average goes to 160 but others will stay and I believe most of those who get mad and leave will return hopefully with a new attitude.

I really don't get the argument for the easier patterns does it really matter if you average 160 or 180 the top is still going to be the top. Too many people see people who average 230 or 240 and think wow why aren't they on the PBA? Truth is most of those guys wouldn't average 200 on the typical tour patterns.

Would you really want to move the three point line to the foul line in basketball so you think you can shoot threes just like a pro but in our sport it's not obvious when someone does that. We tried to get one my fall leagues to adopt a kegel challenge shot for one of our leagues the owner backed out before even putting it up to a league vote. If we want the game to survive were going to have to make serious changes.

[got_a_300]

Too many people see people who average 230 or 240 and think wow why aren't they on the PBA? Truth is most of those guys wouldn't average 200 on the typical tour patterns.


I know a few who average around that 230+ but when they hit a sport shot
or PBA shot they can not even manage to average 180 most of the time it's
around 160-170

I also bowled back in the days with the more difficult patterns and urethane
bowling balls back when if you averaged over 200 it was something really to
be proud about and if you got a 300 game or 800 series back then you really
earned it the hard way back then.

[Aslan]

What I don't understand is they act like higher scores makes more people bowl…yet every time I see the place full of cosmic bowlers they are all throwing alb balls thumbless and scoring in the 50-100 range so wouldn't they score the same, given those circumstances, on a USBC Blue pattern?

[foreverincamo]

I remember when I saw the first reactive resin ball on a PBA televised final. What was strange was the prediction was the new aggressive balls would make the crankers unstoppable, but what happened was the strokers were able to hook the ball more but with control, and they dominated. People complained back then that a ball shouldn't be able to hook by simply throwing it, as it seemed.
The bowling ball manufacturers started producing these balls in earnest, and some pros really struggled. I know one season Pete Weber only made around $40,000 for the year because he couldn't figure out the new balls. He was so used to turning the ball so hard to create his hook that these balls baffled him. There was a learning curve that was hard to keep up with because of the number of new balls being produced.
It is still like that today. Countless balls being released with videos showing each ball out-hooking the other. Now you need 6 to 9 balls to compete in a 5 game sweeper that requires an average of around 240 just to cash . What's the answer to make our sport respectable again? It may be too late for that unless balls are limited by the USBC on what they can do, and even do something with the pins. I've bowled on a lane with pins weighing 5 pounds each, and using just an AMF Black Angle urethane ball. Scoring was tough, but it was challenging.
I apologize for the long-winded rant, but like Mr. Machuga said, the powers that be need to step up and make the changes necessary to make the best scoring done by the most accurate shot makers.

[Shaneshu87]

i think Mike hit every nail on the head, the only thing i'm afraid of is that it is too late.

[mc_runner]

Standardized oil patterns would be a necessary start. Do that, then go from there. Baby steps will save the sport.

[ffemtreed]

While I mostly agree with what he said, I don't see how is views are intended to fix bowling. Does he think if conditions are tougher that bowling is automatically fixed? Yes the house cranker spraying the lanes averaging 250 is a problem, but there are many bigger problems that need to be fixed first. Things like sponsorships and higher payouts for PBA tournaments, some sort of incentive for your average league player to try and improve their game and become better bowlers instead of averaging 160 for the past 15 years. Why aren't many people joining leagues??? Do some surveys and find out and fix it, I know people I talk to say it cost too much, seasons are too long to commit to and league nights take forever.

While higher scoring in house leagues might be hurting the PBA, those high scores aren't really hurting leagues and leagues is where they need to start if they want to revive bowling to its glory days. To build the leagues you need to start young and get the youth interested throughout high school and college.

Just one example, I live in town that has a fairly large university in it and 3 bowling centers within 5 miles of campus but not one of those centers has a league aimed at college students. Even a fun completely recreation league would be a start. Bowling centers need to start sponsoring some high schools and promoting competition between schools. I know it comes down to money and those activities might not be the most profitable but if they want to keep the adult leagues filled up, they need to make an investment somewhere.

I am 35 years old and it pains me to see that 90% of the people in the leagues are older than me. Very few young people in the leagues, as these older members become unable to bowl sooner or later there won't be anyone left. There are not enough younger bowlers to take there place.

[ALazySavage]

Here is the thing with standardized and more difficult lane conditions; there are a few issues that occur when your typical lane conditions are too easy.

The first thing is that it hurts local tournament bowling. If you put out a challenging shot you will create too much of a difference between the house shot and tournament shot, the house bowler may not have a clue what to do and decide that they are not going to spend their money on these events because it is no fun or they are overmatched. On the other hand if you make the condition too easy it becomes a carry competition and your better bowlers may determine it isn’t worth their time.

The second issue relates to the following of the tour. If we are honest, bowling isn’t the most riveting thing to watch for your casual audience; it is based more on repetition and can become stale. If you make a smaller gap between tournament and some league conditions you may increase viewership from those who want to learn some other ways to play the lanes (they did try this with the PBAX leagues, but that was for a small niche group of bowlers).

I know this doesn’t directly address the new membership issue, but it could help keep current bowlers active in the sport and interested in tournament bowling as well.

[Aslan]

Things like sponsorships and higher payouts for PBA tournaments, some sort of incentive for your average league player to try and improve their game and become better bowlers instead of averaging 160 for the past 15 years.
The problem is payouts are related to ratings. If ratings are low, payouts will be low. It's a chicken and an egg issue. You can't generate interest with higher payouts until you have more interest to generate those payouts. Payouts used to be much higher because there were 50% more centers and the leagues filled the centers every weeknight. Pro bowlers were celebrities. Now most people bowl twice a year at a couple birthday parties and bowling is only on TV on an occasional Saturday on ESPN2 during non-college football season or live streaming on the internet.


Why aren't many people joining leagues??? Do some surveys and find out and fix it, I know people I talk to say it cost too much, seasons are too long to commit to and league nights take forever.
Again, chicken meets egg. League bowling requires commitment; financially and time-wise. People don't want to commit to 21-24 weeks and they don't want to pay $21 + $20 in beverages every week. But if you "fix" this by creating more no-tap, unsanctioned garbage leagues...you hurt the USBC...and make the sport a "joke". It's like cosmic and glow bowling. Do they excite young folks to come to the center 1-2 times a month and throwing 6lb balls as hard as they can? Sure. But is that "bowling"? No. Unless bowling is going to switch to a glow-in-the-dark PBA where the ball must go from gutter to gutter before hitting the pins to count...and balls are 6-7lbs...cosmic/glow bowling does NOTHING for the SPORT...it just adds some revenue to the center.

So how do we fix bowling? Get more people involved in leagues and sport bowling. But how do we make that appealing? Shorter seasons and cheaper leagues and easier conditions. Which, of course, ends up ruining the sport.

The bottom line is; people have an infintely increased number of activities now than they did 40 years ago. Whether it's more access to other adult sport leagues...the internet...single-parent households, two income households, less disposable income, the erosion of the middle class...ALL of these are FACTS and ALL have contributed to the decline of league bowling. And there's not much "bowling" can do about it. Mike Machuga is mad because he wants to be a pro bowler that can make a good living bowling and those days are long gone. I feel for him. I feel for the sport. But bowlers arent the only ones hurting. They are just joining a huge segment of the population of ironworkers, autoworkers, steelworkers, and factory workers that also wish they could make a good living but find themselves with less and less disposable income.



To build the leagues you need to start young and get the youth interested throughout high school and college.

Just one example, I live in town that has a fairly large university in it and 3 bowling centers within 5 miles of campus but not one of those centers has a league aimed at college students. Even a fun completely recreation league would be a start. Bowling centers need to start sponsoring some high schools and promoting competition between schools. I know it comes down to money and those activities might not be the most profitable but if they want to keep the adult leagues filled up, they need to make an investment somewhere.

I am 35 years old and it pains me to see that 90% of the people in the leagues are older than me. Very few young people in the leagues, as these older members become unable to bowl sooner or later there won't be anyone left. There are not enough younger bowlers to take there place.

I 100% agree. The sport hasn't done a good job of getting youth involved and hasn't done a good job at it since I can remember. Centers MUST take the lead on this and it's just not profitable enough so they don't do it. But nowadays, kids have SO much to distract them...SO much competition for their time...that to get them into a bowling league...you're gonnna have to partner with schools. You're going to need to have the USBC help centers fund it. The centers are going to have give up prime space/times.

And unfortunately, I think things are going in the wrong direction. Three examples:

1) AMF/Bowlmor/Brunswick "claims" to be committed to leagues...yet everything I've SEEN...enhanced interiors, closing down during the day, increased emphasis on bar/food prices, staff changeover where staff is reduced and the older folks are forced out...all Bowlmor strategies to make bowling alleys into "entertainment centers".

2) The USBC launched a big program to enhance youth bowling. They trained a bunch of new youth coaches (including me). And they recently ran their "kids bowl free" promotion during the summer. Yet while the kids did start bowling in greater numbers...it was just "joke bowling"...not "sport" bowling. Not youth league bowling. And the centers quickly adapated to this perceived hit to their pocketbook by temporarily raising prices on adult bowlers over the summer.

3) I've been trying to joing a league for Fall/Winter. The current center said they may not have room in their Wednesday league because the "...center has told the league person to limit the number of teams on Wednesdays because they are taking up too much of the center..." And now they've cancelled the Friday league...they claim because of lack of interest...but I have a feeling there were 8-10 teams ready to go but the "center" felt Fridays would be more profitable with the young adult casual bowling crowd and wanted the lanes.

Mike is mad at the USBC...and I agree with all of his points. But he overlooked two BIG players in this equation...Bowlmor and the bowling entertainment groups that continue to try and model their centers to appeal to young, hip, casual bowlers at the expense of sport bowling....and the centers themselves (Bowlmor or otherwise) that are looking at short term bar revenue from a big Friday college crowd and not seeing the bigger picture.

[Amyers]

It actually goes even deeper as far as youth bowlers go our centers had hugely successful programs late 80s-90s its the transition of those bowlers once they graduated that was the problem. 12 lane house 5 person teams full every week bowling on two shifts. How many of those bowlers from my age group at left 1 me and I left for 20 years. Mostly due to money somewhat due to time constraints. Now we have one shift 2 person teams and use 8-10 of the lanes. It's really sad to see the lack of interest but we do seem to be growing it some.

The other issue is peoples attitudes and reality. Last week I was bowling with one of the new members on my Sunday night league which is in its third week after his second game I was talking to him and he told me he thought about not coming tonight. Which surprised me because this league is a lot of fun one of the best I'm a part of. I asked him why and he said he had bowled so poorly the week before I had seen him throw last week 130-150 games. I asked him how long he had been bowling he said he bowled for 5 years and then took 3 years off and this was the first he had been back and I told him I though he was doing pretty well for just coming back. He said well not well enough to beat you and I said no of course with handicap if I bowl below average you've got a good chance. He said he wanted to be able to compete with the "Big Boys" I told him I understood that and I was just starting to get to that level myself. So I asked him how often he practiced. He looked at me and said "practice" I said yes how often do you bowl? Just this league was his answer. I just looked at him and told him if you want to bowl just for fun that's fine were glad to have you come in drink a few beers go home that's cool but why do you think you can compete with the top guys if you don't put any work into it? He says what do you do. I told him I bowl 2 leagues practice at least 3 to 4 games twice a week and work with one of the pro-shop guys at least once a month sometimes more. The answer I got I don't have time for that. Enjoy your beer was what I told him.

Really you think your just going to walk in the door pick up a ball and average 200+ what is wrong with people? If you just want to go for fun, camaraderie, an excuse to drink beer, or whatever I'm good with that. you can be my teammate even if I'm desperate. I won't bother you. I just don't understand why people think that they should pick up a ball and just do it and be great.