Bowling in the Olympics ....WHY NOT????

[Hot_pocket]

Am i the only person who really questions why bowling isn't an Olympic Sport? i mean come on. I definitely feel like its a bit disrespectful to the sport.

[J Anderson]

Am i the only person who really questions why bowling isn't an Olympic Sport? i mean come on. I definitely feel like its a bit disrespectful to the sport.

The problem has several aspects. First is that there is the game of bowling vs. the sport of bowling. The game has gotten somewhat of a negative image. Just count the number of 'Drinking team with a bowling problem' T-shirts. Doesn't help that a significant number of pros don't look athletic.
Secondly, at the top levels, bowling has become centered on the equipment. Bowlers talk about their arsenals. How many bowlers lose, not because they missed a key shot, but because the ball or ball that they were using didn't match up with the lane condition? I think that for the Olympics it would have to like the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Tournament, everyone limited to the same equipment.

[Hot_pocket]

The problem has several aspects. First is that there is the game of bowling vs. the sport of bowling. The game has gotten somewhat of a negative image. Just count the number of 'Drinking team with a bowling problem' T-shirts. Doesn't help that a significant number of pros don't look athletic.
Secondly, at the top levels, bowling has become centered on the equipment. Bowlers talk about their arsenals. How many bowlers lose, not because they missed a key shot, but because the ball or ball that they were using didn't match up with the lane condition? I think that for the Olympics it would have to like the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Tournament, everyone limited to the same equipment.

Ok but in my opinion its not so much the equipment its the bowler give 100 200 avg bowlers a ball drilled with the same layout on the same condition and half will just be having a bad night. I do think that it has some what of a bad notation to it but thats why usbc needs to take the steps to show the light and not the dark. The only thing that does make a difference is the releases that are overseas but not here. They have balls we dont and vise versa

[jimlc2001]

Baseball, softball, football, rugby, and golf aren't in the Olympics either. And I agree with John about the perception that bowlers are not athletes. (Didn't a "professional" wrestler call out the bowling community and get a response from Belmonte?) My guess is if bowling gets added, it would be an amateur competition or under 23 tournament like soccer. I would love to see bowling in the Olympics, but the fact that is is not included doesn't upset me.

[J Anderson]

Baseball, softball, football, rugby, and golf aren't in the Olympics either. And I agree with John about the perception that bowlers are not athletes. (Didn't a "professional" wrestler call out the bowling community and get a response from Belmonte?) My guess is if bowling gets added, it would be an amateur competition or under 23 tournament like soccer. I would love to see bowling in the Olympics, but the fact that is is not included doesn't upset me.

Professional wrestling is not a sport. The WWE saw to that back when it was still the WWF. The owners had it declared to be entertainment so the wrestlers would not be subject to the medical oversight that Boxers are.

[ursus]

It is also not a big money maker for the IOC. Unless the host city builds a bowling specific stadium it is pretty hard to fit a lot of specators into a typical bowling alley and if they did set up a bowling specific stadium with ample seating, once the olympics are over they wouldn't really have a use for it.

[Stamps]

Baseball, softball, football, rugby, and golf aren't in the Olympics either. And I agree with John about the perception that bowlers are not athletes. (Didn't a "professional" wrestler call out the bowling community and get a response from Belmonte?) My guess is if bowling gets added, it would be an amateur competition or under 23 tournament like soccer. I would love to see bowling in the Olympics, but the fact that is is not included doesn't upset me.

These are my feelings exactly. It would be cool to see but I'm not torn up about it.

[TheSheibs]

If trampoline, badminton, and table tennis are Olympic events then so should bowling. I mean come on, badminton? Really? That's a game that I played with my cousins in the summer to stay out of the house while the "adults" talked. It's not a sport, it's a backyard game. Trampoline is just an activity that you can do in your backyard too. If you have these "sports" you might as well include Billards while your at it.

[martinezsam2495]

I agree with Sheibs it's true,
but then again there would be too many problems as someone mentioned above, too much factors you would have to input.

[TheSheibs]

If they can turn a street in Reno into a location for a pro tournament then they could do that anywhere. It doesn't have to be a bowling center that is used. They could build temporary lanes just like they did in London for the shooting events.