What Happened to Trophies, and Bowling for Glory
What happened to Trophies??
What happened to the good old days of bowling for the sport of bowling, not money! Money is the root of all evil, as most of you know.
Those cool trophies that you see in the thrift stores for sale real cheap! Beautiful, some 4 feet high!! HUMMMM beautiful!! I have a weak spot, for some of the more ornate ones, and purchase them for Christmas gifts!!
Why has it gone out of style to have a banquet, and trophies given out instead of cold cash!!
In the long run doesn’t the little you get back actually cost you in the long run, due to HIGHER fees to bowl each week?
The seniors league I was on last year had over 20 teams, and the bowling cost was $7.25, and only .50 cents if you couldn’t bowl for whatever reason!
MONEY leagues around here are about 15.00 on average, that’s for a husband and wife, $120,00 or more a month vs no prize money, but trophies ect… only $58.00 a month! Do the math lol!!
Could it be that part of the reason for low turn outs is the cost of bowling each week? YOU don't get back the money unless your one of the top teams, and even then it doesn't come close to paying for itself.
My wife and me were on a league that had a nice number of teams last year, and we won first place, 5 person teams,,, all we received was $179.45 a piece
That league cost 15 dollars a person.
Give me those good old days.... State fairs, demo derby, and trophy bowling.... hummmmm
Last edited by MICHAEL; 08-22-2013 at 04:26 PM.
My dad has a ton of those glorious bowling trophies you described. The team that won first place in my last league got a dinky plaque that basically just said first prize on it haha. In my league we pay $20 a week but that includes a trip to vegas with alcohol, a charter bus, and a room. Not to mention we have a sweeper at the end in which the top guy last year won $175 i believe. Imo its worth it
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I still bowl in one league that isn't a money league. The money leagues around here are $20 - $30 per week, the Welcome league, formerly known as the Church League, is only $16 per week. For that $16/week you get a banquet at season's end where trophies are handed out 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, High game, high series etc. Of the $16, $11.40 is the lineage.
Why the disappearance of bowling for trophies? Part is due to the fact that many of those leagues were company leagues or industrial leagues where teams were sponsored by company personnel departments. Now that we are no longer persons employed by a company, but 'human resources' to be managed, those leagues have disappeared. Part may be that no one wants to dust trophies, but that doesn't explain why cruise nights, which used to be a bunch of gear heads hanging out in the parking lot at a fast food joint swapping lies about how fast their car was back in the day, have turned into mini car shows complete with dozens of trophies. Lastly, if you give some one a choice between a cheap third place trophy or $50 in cold hard cash, many will go for the cash not thinking about the extra money they'll be parting with for a chance at the cash.
John
I'm with ya. I like cash, don't get me wrong, but I'm bowling against myself and for a better average, nothing else
THEM GOOD OLD DAYS!!! Remember I was not even bowling in them days, before even my time, but I look at movies, and U Tube's about that glorious time in bowling... It wasn't about money,,, it was all about those 6 ft tall decked out First place keepsakes, memorials called TROPHIES!! Just a guy that missed out on the era, and would like to time travel back!!
There are many reasons why things have changed. Juat for an example my Friday senior league has a breakfast banquet that we pay for ourselves. The cost of the banquet is $2000.00. You now need to budget $400-500.00 if you're going to give away trophies. Our Monday leagues does a pot luck combined with the womens league, They bring goodies and we buy about 15 pizzas. I have given away all of my trophies to youth leagues so they can re-plaque them and save money. The only 3 I kept were 2 for winning a major local area tourney and the one the local association gave me for my 800 in 1991 I kept it because it has a clock in it. At least around here most league champions get jackets instead of trophies and it saves the league money to keep costs down, In my friday league we finished 30th and got $1700.00 back as a team (we pay 18.00/wk x 40 teams of 5 but our lineage is only 7.00). My Monday league we pay the same amount,finished 4th and got $800.00. Lineage is $10.25/night we have 14 teams of 4First place was $900.00 +$100 rolloff money. 2nd place $850+$50, 3rd $825.00, from 5th place down it drops 20.00/team
Still love the game but had to quit because of my left leg amptation
High game 299 x 5 High sanctioned series 805 (1989)
Trophy = dust collector.
A TROPHY is a snap SHOT
A Trophy is a snap shot of a wonderful MOMENT in your life.... MONEY is just that ,,,, something you spend,,,, and forget all about! Sorry,,, call me sentimental, now I did it ,,, I am starting to melt.... damn,,, I HATE THAT!! I got to go,,,, ICEMANOriginally Posted by 30 Clean
I'll take the money every time.
I bowl because I love bowling, it's my favorite thing to do, I am very passionate about it and it consumes my thoughts for much of every day, but I don't have any desire for trophies, I don't need trophies, I DO need money, as much as I can get. I want to bowl on the league that has the best competition with the highest potential payout at the end of the season; luckily those two things go hand-in-hand.
I had a bunch of trophies from my YABA days, but I honestly have no idea what happened to them, and that's fine with me. If I still had them they would be stuffed in a box in the closet, all but forgotten anyways.
In the bag: Roto Grip Defiant Soul, Brunswick BVP Nemesis, Motiv 2Cruel
I get where Iceman is coming from......I also love getting trophies or medals. It's a nice reminder every time I walk by them that for that weekend or season or whatever, I was the best or one of the best bowlers on the lanes.
That said, I also like cash prizes just as much. Most tournaments here have both....cash for the top 10-15 places and trophies or medals for the top 3 (or just the winner). The company league I bowl in gives out a trophy to the top three teams of each division, and instead of cash you get an envelope of free bowling game coupons.
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