"I'd like to see a complete throwback league from like the 50's except that I would allow plastic or rubber but no urethane or reactive. Hopefully the lane machine would be able to oil in a way that would work for plastic. Every bowler would have to dress up for leagues. Nicely embroidered silk (or whatever they wore in the 50's) shirts and dress pants. Yes the shirts would be expensive. There would be fines for swearing and rules for conduct. How much interest would it get? I don't know; I might find myself with a league of one. "
I recall they tried that with Tennis back in the days of Jimmy Connors and Byorn Borg. These guys donned old "county club" gear and competed with wooden rackets. It was a cleaver novelty. If you appreciated the technological advancements of the modern tennis racket, you enjoyed watching the adaptability skills of the players using "dead" equipment, If not, it was just like a haloween party. just a novelty, but it may pull a segment of the population none the less.
I live by three simples rules:
1. Don't ever ask about my business
2. Never discuss business at the table
3. Don't ever side with anyone against the family
I don't think bowling is a dying sport at all, and honestly I'm perfectly okay with bowling not being extremely popular. There is nothing worse than going to the alley on the weekends or during the week night and being told I have to wait 2 hours to get a lane, or to come back tomorrow. I've only been bowling for 4 months or so now and I've met some pretty awesome people.
Originally Posted by Bendial
Glad to have you in the sport! I agree, it's a bummer to want to bowl and not be able to get a lane.
"If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?" - Steven Wright
I'd have to agree with the majority of these posts, in that if the game was made harder it would discourage beginners from getting "hooked"! I'm only in my 3rd season and I can't get enough. I started out at 101 average my first year (straight baller), then bought my first ball (Storm 2Fast) and the rest is history. I now have many balls (not that I need them, but just like to collect so to speak), and right now my average is between 175-180, and have a 700 series and several 600's. If after I bought my first ball and could not get the hang of it (if my average stayed around 130, I know I would have given up. There are many leagues that offer sport shots, or even some house shots are more difficult (at least here in the greater Pittsburgh area). I'm 37, so I got a late start and I enjoy a good challenge, but I still want to do well and I know if I didn't start grabbing a 200 game every once in a while I would have had a hard time coming back.
Not sure I necessarily agree with the premise that bowling is dying. The house where I bowl is the highest grossing Brunswick O&O in the region. Things are always hopping there. There's a strong community of scratch (or near scratch) bowlers (I count myself among them), the place is packed seven nights a week with league, and there's the usual compliment of birthday parties on the weekend. I'm told that the place is full even on most weekdays with parties, corporate outings and school events. So if your bowling center is finding it hard to stay busy, maybe they need to talk to the guys running the place where I bowl.
That said, I want to make a few points about what's been said thus far...
First, on the subject of making the game too easy or harder, I must chime in: I agree with those who say it's a ridiculous idea to make the game harder if your goal is to draw more people into the game. That said, I think the real point is being missed by most of you. It's fine to treat the lanes in such a way that makes it easier to hit the pocket. What's really wrong in the formula is the ball itself. Today's bowling ball is too powerful. You can't put the genie back in the bottle when it comes to how much stronger most players' release is. I see players palm the ball, or rev it up in ways unheard of 30 years ago that would have made Mark Roth look like a stroker. People won't go back. But the ball needs to. With these strong releases, pins are just no match for the modern ball. If you want to make the game harder, don't make it harder to hit the pocket. Just tame the ball so it won't strike on every half-pocket hit. Heavier pins would help. But the real problem is the ball.
Second, I coach kids at the bowl on Saturday mornings. I'm encouraged by the fact that there's quite a few young (really young) guns in our junior program. Some of them are going to be great bowlers some day (they're great now for their age and size). More strong junior programs, both for junior leagues at the bowling centers, as well as bowling programs at high schools, are the answer as far as bringing more young people to the game. This can help make bowling "cool" again, at least to a segment of people. I'm actually quite optimistic about this. There weren't high school bowling teams when I was growing up, but there are now. This is a step in the right direction.
Finally, and this might be the most important step of all, the bowling industry needs to somehow come to an epiphany that it made a huge mistake 30 years ago in shifting its marketing away from bowling being a SPORT to the approach it has used ever since that conveys the message that bowling is RECREATION. This has a domino effect that's not healthy. Mainly, such emphasis means that the BPAA, not the USBC, is the organization that has the political cloud to drive the bus. It stands to reason that the proprietors are the ones pulling all the strings; they're the ones who stand to make (or lose) money as bowling's popularity peaks or wanes. But it is the ABC/USBC that holds THE GAME to the highest standards. Like in golf, where the USGA sets standards for golf clubs and balls (and in some circumstances, has mandated that performance of clubs and balls be rolled back to keep the game from being "too easy"), the USBC needs to flex whatever muscle it has. Problem is, the BPAA stands in the way of such decisions. For while it is the ABC/USBC that truly has the game's integrity it mind, the BPAA has only its on self interest in mind. To hell with the game's integrity, as long as we fill the bowling center with customers. Thirty years ago, you would find TWO shifts of league, seven nights a week in most all bowling centers across the country. Today, bowling centers are lucky if they're filled wall to wall with ONE shift of league each night. And half the leagues they do have are NON-SANCTIONED. So if you really want to be concerned about bowling's future, concern yourself over the health of the USBC going forward. Because the BPAA and its members will do fine. It's the USBC that you might see have to reorganize (again).
It's almost impossible to get a lane around here on the weekends, and even the evenings are pretty busy. I would say most of them are not regulars though.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks