Editorial Feedback

[RobLV1]

I have written a new editorial entitled, "A Fork in the Road," on my website. I'd love some feedback. Here's the link: http://modern-bowling.com/Editorials.html

[got_a_300]

Good article Rob it hits the nail on the head as the USBC does need
to get back to where it was back in the day on lane conditions and
how they used to check a pair of lanes after an honor score was shot.

As for the two handed bowling I don't believe it will ever be outlawed
as they need all the bowlers that the USBC can get now days I don't
really like bowling against two handed bowlers. We have a young guy
that bowls that way and I call him the spray can man as he sprays the
ball all over the lanes and kills the shot for everyone.

[jab5325]

Good article, Rob. Even in the last 7-8 years, bowling has changed drastically. Guys with a 1/4, over-the-top delivery who spray the ball all around can now throw a big sweeping hook, coming close to/getting a 300 with today's ball technology and lane conditions. There are sport and PBA experience leagues at a lot of houses, but to me: So many league bowlers can't handle them, they're not as popular, and don't draw interest into the sport.

Overall, I think bowling is at a huge crossroads. To me, in many areas of the country, the sport has never been less popular. It may still be "big" in Vegas or certain other major cities, but bowling (and bowling centers) are vanishing from small town America--which always has been the bread & butter of the sport. Youth leagues are dying, youth interest is falling, and adult league bowlers have fewer and fewer places to throw. The game, while relatively cheap compared to a sport like golf, is also becoming more expensive. At $3.50 per game plus shoe rental, what casual bowler is going to take his/her date out to the lanes on a Friday, like it, and continue doing it enough to turn into a league bowler? Not many, at least not in more rural areas.

As for the 2-handed style, I'm interested to see what comes of it. I love to hate it, but I'm really torn. On one hand, no matter how you throw it.....if you're as consistent as Belmo, it doesn't matter how you do it--you're damn good. On the other hand.....to me, it's not bowling. I don't see a lot of true, 2-handed style in my area, including local tournaments and youth leagues. Despite Belmo's success, I wonder how much it will truly catch on, and if it'll stand the test of time. Bowling in that style is very hard to perfect, and while yes, it's easy to pound the crap out of the deck and get strikes.....few people can master the accuracy required to reach those 225-240 averages. Osku, while having the same style as Belmo, isn't even in the same league. IMO, Osku is just another bowler, while Belmo is the PBA's version of NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson the past few seasons. Regardless, before we anoint Belmo as the next Earl Anthony, let's see if he can stay healthy and keep it up.

[Amyers]

I do agree something needs to change with the oil patterns on both the league level and the PBA level. Both have just become ridiculous. I don't mind watching the bowlers challenged in the Master or the US Open. This happens in golf but during the regular tournaments they play on much more normal conditions and shoot those -30 scores that remind us we are no where near their level. On the league side I really don't understand why bowlers don't insist on more challenging conditions. I'm not at that level but I really don't understand why the better bowlers want their competitions to come down to a carry contest and not a skill contest. I also feel that a lot of less experienced/talented bowlers misunderstand challenge conditions they really level the playing field to some extent. My experiences with PBA pattern and sport shots is I lose about 10 pins a game a whole lot of the high average guys lose 20-30 pins a game. I'll take bowling on more challenging conditions any day and yes my money is where my mouth is I'm bowling a sport shot league right now that honestly is inconvenient for me but I want to support the house hosting it.

[ChuckR]

Good article. I agree with your assessment of the state of bowling. Do you think our Thursday league could ever become a Sports Pattern League?

[RobLV1]

Good article. I agree with your assessment of the state of bowling. Do you think our Thursday league could ever become a Sports Pattern League?

Are you kidding? More than half of the bowlers on Thursdays walk around congratulating themselves on how good they are because of their inflated averages. Last year at the Southern Nevada Masters, there were many of the Thursday bowlers WATCHING. When push comes to shove, they choose to stay on the house shot so that they can continue to feel good about themselves.

[NewToBowling]

Are you kidding? More than half of the bowlers on Thursdays walk around congratulating themselves on how good they are because of their inflated averages. Last year at the Southern Nevada Masters, there were many of the Thursday bowlers WATCHING. When push comes to shove, they choose to stay on the house shot so that they can continue to feel good about themselves.

That's a shame. They don't want to push themselves to be better.

[Aslan]

MY FEEDBACK:

1) League bowlers don't routinely average 230. In 5 leagues on a THS, the highest season average was like 226. League bowlers average way more than they should…but it's more like a 150 bowler averaging 175 or a 175 bowler averaging 200…but most people in the leagues I've been in never even break a 170 average.

2) 100% agree about the USBC. They don't regulate anything anymore. I rolled my first 600 series…not even a keychain. And God forbid I roll a 900 Series…because I doubt either house I bowl in would meet USBC standards. One doesn't oil pre-league and the other has intentionally made the easiest house shot in Orange County to try and attract league bowlers.

3) The part you left out in the paragraph about the PBA is…those players couldn't average 260 on a house shot if equipment standards were more strict. In the entire editorial…you never mentioned the equipment manufacturers and how their technology changes have made the game easier.

The cats out of the bag as far as the equipment…I get that. But I don't think easing up on the pros is the answer. I actually stopped watching bowling in the 90s because I got sick of seeing 299-297 every single match. Before the PBA started making challenging patterns…PBA guys were knocking down the pins barely trying. Not much of a 'sport'. I understand there's a risk to house bowlers if they can't average 198 and decide to play golf instead…I get that…but what if every sport followed bowling's example?

- Beachball sized hoops on 8 foot supports in basketball?
- Allowing pro players to use metal bats and hit off a tee?
- Magnetic golf balls with magnetic holes?
- 70-yard football fields?
- Allowing cars to race the horses in the Kentucky Derby?

Why is bowling so willing to abandon the integrity of the game while sports like baseball spend decades discussing the merit of essentially ONE change that they made to the baseball DECADES ago! And is steroids more of an advantage to baseball players than reactive resin is to bowlers? I could take every drug in the World and couldn't hit a Clayton Kershaw fastball unless he threw it right at my bat while I closed my eyes and wet my pants. Yet give a crappy bowler like me a reactive resin bowling ball and suddenly I can raise my average by at LEAST 20 pins..overnight.

ETA: And to further Rob's point…I average 191 in my easy center and 169 in my hard center. Bowlers shouldn't average 22 pins difference in handicap between centers. Thats absurd. One center wanting to make things harder…one wanting to make things easier…and if I bowl a 900-Series…and the USBC looked at either of those lanes the way they did Glenn Allison's 900…I'd be surprised if that recognized it as official.

[RobLV1]

The really sad thing is that if you bowled a 900 series, the USBC would recognize it because they no longer check the lanes because THEY HAVE NO STANDARDS to check against! The center where you bowl that doesn't oil the lanes prior to league is perfectly within their rights. They don't oil before your league because they are too cheap to oil before your league. The center that puts out an easy shot to attract league bowlers is also perfectly within their rights because the USBC has no standards to meet.

I realize that we in Vegas are incredibly spoiled. There are so many bowling centers here that frequenting the closest one is really not mandatory. If we don't like what a center is doing, we just go somewhere else. The result of this is centers that become known for one kind of bowler: one gets seniors during the day that like their inflated averages, and party dogs at night for recreation leagues, another gets non-bowlers who love to think that they can hook a ball on a very short pattern, and another where the serious bowler flock, day or night. If bowlers start to leave a center because they don't like something, eventually the center has no choice but to fix what the bowlers don't like or go out of business. The problem is that most bowlers don't realize that they have this kind of power.

[jab5325]

I realize that we in Vegas are incredibly spoiled.

You can say that again! Bowling centers are closing right and left around here. There is so little interest in the game, or growing the game, in my area.

[Aslan]

The really sad thing is that if you bowled a 900 series, the USBC would recognize it because they no longer check the lanes because THEY HAVE NO STANDARDS to check against!
Then shouldn't they just finally acknowledge Glenn Allison's series already??


I realize that we in Vegas are incredibly spoiled...If bowlers start to leave a center because they don't like something, eventually the center has no choice but to fix what the bowlers don't like or go out of business. The problem is that most bowlers don't realize that they have this kind of power.
It's not just Vegas, although Vegas IS probably the best place to live as a bowler. But the greater New York area and suburban LA/Anaheim area...there are plenty of centers in close enough proximity that if you don't like one, you could easily move to a new center with minimal additional travel time.

This actually came up last Tuesday. I disappointed my team when I told them that primarily due to my moving to a new apartment...I'd be switching centers and not bowling there anymore. While the move is the biggest motivator (why drive 15 miles to a center when my new apartment balcony overlooks a bowling center?)...I'm also making it well known to them, the pro shop, and probably the league coordinator eventually...that the 2nd biggest factor in the decision is the center's cavalier disdain for league bowlers and their decision to not oil pre-league...which has led to a completely inconsistent lane condition from night to night and lane to lane. Rob will point out that such differences will exist even on freshly oiled lanes...and that's true. But generally speaking, differences from lane to lane are minor. You adjust a couple boards and usually the problem is solved. That's how it is on my Wednesday night league. But when you don't oil pre-league....you are at the mercy of whomever rolled on that pair on that day. How do you think the league night would go for Rob if he showed up at a center one night for league play, they didn't oil since early that morning, and one lane wasn't used all day but the other one...I came in and practiced 15 games on it earlier that day?? Rob would be using his normal ball on one lane...playing a line he usually plays...then on the other lane he'd be out of room on the left using his weakest resin ball. It's just not fair.

My team kinda responded; "Hey, it's a challenge...but I like a challenge and I am going to overcome it." And that's great and I respect the enthusiasm...and I tried that approach as well. But if a center wants to put down a challenging pattern...put down the WTBA Beijing or the PBA Badger or a USBC Masters pattern. I don't care. I'd LOVE that challenge. But it can't be random. I pointed out to them that since I started bowling 1 league a week at that center in September 2013....there hasn't been ONE 300-game. And since they made the decision to not oil pre-league...we've had less than 10 (out of nearly 150 bowlers) that average 190 or higher. Last season, mid season, the owner finally gave in and changed the pattern that they put down to something shorter with less volume...but he still refused to oil pre-league...so it really doesn't matter what the pattern is they put down at 10AM when by 6:00PM it has been altered. I bowled 12 games yesterday during the day. I burned up those lanes between the 6-board and 14-board. I wonder how the Wednesday night team did that had to play on that pair at 6:00PM? They probably had a horrible night trying to figure out why the lanes were "so dry". Or, they could have had the best game of the season...because they are lower rev players playing 2nd arrow and suddenly their equipment was hooking. But it shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be the luck of lane assignment. It is SO hard to figure out my line at that center in practice...that I'm usually still trying out lines/balls in Game 1. There's just not enough time in 15 minutes with 10 bowlers warming up to figure out how the lanes are playing.

And many people think the owner did it to save money on lane oil. Well, while I think that factored in...he actually did it primarily because he has SO MUCH business at that center...that he was losing money turning people away that wanted to bowl the hour before leagues started. That center is very popular with the younger college crowd...but has large leagues...and loves to book parties/events...so it's one of the few centers in the area where there's usually a waiting list to get a lane if you just walk in at night.

So, long story long, I plan to let them know that it factored in to my decision to leave...and hopefully it gets to the owner. I doubt he'll care...with business being so good...but I agree he needs to know. I also wanted to start a sport shot trios league there on Sunday mornings...and when I talked to the pro shop guy about it...he said not to waste my time because it's been proposed before and the center won't tie up lanes on the weekend because they feel they make far more money on birthday parties and corporate/holiday events than on a sport shot league.

And, that center really gets no respect locally. When I tell tournament players it is my home center...they kinda just roll their eyes. It used to have a bad reputation because the lanes were wood and beat up. And even now with the new synthetic lanes...it's just not viewed as a center for competitive bowlers. In all the tournaments I've bowled in...I never saw one person I recognized from my center.

[Mgower]

I was just talking to the PSO at my bowling center about this very topic. Seems like the St. Louis area is known for setting up the lanes a bit easier than the rest of the U.S.

[ellisr63]

Good information... I never knew that the lane conditions were so much different for the pros, nor did i know of the 2 handed bowling style. I have some friends that bowl without their thumb in the hole, and they got me to try it once...it was a failure on my behalf as i dropped the ball. I admire that people are strong enough and coordinated enough to do it, but I will not try it again.