THINGS THAT MIGHT Bring Bowling BACK!!

[MICHAEL]

[/[B]B]I remember When tennis was very HOT! One of the things that did it was the Bobby Riggs, Matina (what ever the spelling), game. I sometimes wonder if people like Pete Weber, might not be a plus! Love him or Hate him, he does seem to create attention! What do you think might grab the attention, and bring people back in big numbers again NOW! You know the saying,,, Nice guys finish last!,,,, (that's been my problem my whole life!) Use your imagination and give bowling some ideas on HOW TO BRING the masses back!! (:)

[Florida Bowler]

A tv show that is not about bowling, but where bowling is part of the character's lives, something they do often and have fun doing. Or maybe a show about a bowling league, where the main characters are part of a league.

[The German Shepherd]

How about some winner take all competitions like the Bobby Riggs/Billy Jean King thing some years ago. Maybe a challenge match between PDW and Kelly Kulick or something? Maybe PDW -vs- a lesser female bowler and he has to have some sort of handicap in a winner take all match??

Jay

[TheSheibs]

A tv show that is not about bowling, but where bowling is part of the character's lives, something they do often and have fun doing. Or maybe a show about a bowling league, where the main characters are part of a league.

I like this idea. With all the reality shows out there. This could work if they followed a specific league team through out the season. Follow them at home and there home life as well was work and practice sessions and then finish each episode with showing the team competing on the league. Hmmmmm...might be worth pitching to a network like TruTV.

[ursus]

You can call it Bowling Wars since that seems to be the current trend of reality TV shows

[GeorgiaStroker]

You can call it Bowling Wars since that seems to be the current trend of reality TV shows

Too tame... how about Alley Men?... Deadliest Sport?.. Ice Lane Bowlers?....

[billf]

Bowling needs to look at the other sports it cam most closely emulate like the PGA or Pro tennis. Maybe have it where after the cut of each round the scores are thrown out (isn't that what golf does?). Why is women's tennis so popular? Beautiful women like Maria Sharapova making appearances, showing that athletic women can be pretty. Well bowling has Stephanie Nation, Shannon O'Keefe and others but doesn't showcase them. Even if it was just using them in PBA commercials to start with.
As much as I hate showmanship Weber does bring some of it to the sport and it desperately needs it. The clash last year between Belmo and Rash could have and should have been turned into a money making, attention grabbing rivalry. Instead it was hushed up and glossed over. If I was CEO of the PBA I would have called those two into my office, hashed out the issues and explained that for the good of the sport we, as a group, would now exploit the incident to promote our sport. On the lanes all the athletes are too laid back (appearing) and cookie cutter images of each other. Bowling has NO personality. "Who do you think you are? I am!" was an ignorant statement that didn't even make sense yet it was the most controversial part of the season. Where are all the bad asses? They can't all be playing other sports, can they? Let and encourage the athletes to let some of their real personalities come out during the events. I'm not talking about cussing, drinking or drugs but bowling needs to stop being the sport where all the athletes have a stick up their butts.
I bowled my State tournament this past year with a blue mohawk and goatee. Would the PBA even allow such a thing? I'm not saying they all need to be a little nuts but at least a couple of nuts would really help loosen up the sport. It's the public's perception that we need to change. The PBA tried to take the sport away from the image of the fat, drinking, smoking people who roll balls to the far too straight laced image it now has.

[billf]

I've been trying to find a new job so I can apply for the local high school coach's position. The current contract is up and the board of education, former and current players and parents want a change. I would love to do it and would encourage the kids to be themselves. Yes they have to wear a uniform. I did playing sports too. But I wouldn't make the girls take the streaks out of their hair or the boys and girls remove their piercings. Some of it might not be my taste but it's not my taste that needs satisfied. I was my high school salutatorian played baseball and football. Being a rather large kid the others never gave me crap in high school. I also had hair to my waist, wore only jeans and t-shirts. I would sit just outside the dugout and sharpen my cleats with a file while the other team warmed up (metal spikes were allowed back then). For football I would paint my face and when on defense I would pop an alka-seltzer in my mouth and let it foam while I growled at my opponent. The mental game is part of the game. If we can walk in with dyed hair, mohawks, some jewelry and get into the opponents head, why not? This is some of what the pro's need now to help change the game. Bowling's bad boy has short hair, clean cut look and the public isn't buying it. There is no individuality.

[i2icustom]

If you are going to bowl you might as well look good.
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[billf]

^^^^^spam.......why I won't even think of purchasing from here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MICHAEL]

[QUOTE=billf;45145]I've been trying to find a new job so I can apply for the local high school coach's position. The current contract is up and the board of education, former and current players and parents want a change. I would love to do it and would encourage the kids to be themselves. Yes they have to wear a uniform. I did playing sports too. But I wouldn't make the girls take the streaks out of their hair or the boys and girls remove their piercings. Some of it might not be my taste but it's not my taste that needs satisfied. I was my high school salutatorian played baseball and football. Being a rather large kid the others never gave me crap in high school. I also had hair to my waist, wore only jeans and t-shirts. I would sit just outside the dugout and sharpen my cleats with a file while the other team warmed up (metal spikes were allowed back then). For football I would paint my face and when on defense I would pop an alka-seltzer in my mouth and let it foam while I growled at my opponent. The mental game is part of the game. If we can walk in with dyed hair, mohawks, some jewelry and get into the opponents head, why not? This is some of what the pro's need now to help change the game. Bowling's bad boy has short hair, clean cut look and the public isn't buying it. There is no individuality.[/QUOT

Bill I agree with your thoughts! Its not like bowlers are of royal blood lines, and need to up hold the family name and crest! Its need a shot in the arm of adrenaline!! It needs to re-think its image! I can think of many ideas, and some have been mentioned here!! Bowling is a great sport, it need’s new leadership, with fresh ideas. Let’s face it, bowling is down,,, and not going in the right direction at present time! When that happens, what do you do?? Make Changes!! Be innovative, stimulate the sport in directions that bring the public back! Its not hard to do, but it does demand creativity, imagination, and a goal to make it once again a known, ( That bowling is one hell of a lot of fun)!

[ursus]

Nascar went through the same thing a few years back. They tried to regulate all the personality and redneckness out of the drivers to try and appeal to a larger audience. What happened was they lost touch with their base of supporters and it suffered. They are now trying to let the drivers go a little more and have at it. Bowling might do well to follow the same route.

[TheSheibs]

I agree with what has been said. If you look at the people on the PBA tour. They are all clean shaven, well behaved, good guys. I thinking having a "wild thing" guy on the tour would create some more interest. I think the top people at PBA need to be fired and some fresh young hungry individuals need to be brought in who know how to really market something. Or at least GET BOWLING BACK ON TV. I mean for more than one hour on Sundays. I mean every PBA tournament, USA Team tournament, etc.

[billf]

The PBA doesn't control team USA tournaments or any part of team USA. Given the coverage and attitudes I can see where that gets mixed up though....their twins must run that program.

[The German Shepherd]

In my thinking, the key has to be exposure, and it has to be something that will make people want to care about the outcome. Nationally televised mixed matches seem like a good idea to me and I think that would work especially well with the above ideas regarding individuality...

J

[TheSheibs]

The PBA doesn't control team USA tournaments or any part of team USA. Given the coverage and attitudes I can see where that gets mixed up though....their twins must run that program.

It's not a matter of who controls what tournaments but the fact that it gets televised more than only once on the weekend. Hell, look at poker. It's televised live and then again the next day and throughout the week. If you look at golf, it has it's own network. What is stopping bowling from having their own network or be televised as much as poker? I also. Think the PBA needs to change the rule about the bowler having to dress in a professional manner. They should be allowed to show their own personality. It might help to boost the sport to see a pro on tour wearing Ed Hardy jeans or a FUBAR shirt or so,etching that you don't see all the time. Just changing the color and design of the bowling shirts isn't enough to make it appealing to people today. It's all about marketing it as something cool that people want to watch.