This is Sports Center bowling Commercial with PDW

[rv driver]

The problem with bowling as a public image is simply this: Sports bars.

Whenever I go into a sports bar, I see basketballs, catcher's mitts, football jerseys, golf clubs, hockey sticks, tennis racquets, skis and Nascar caps. Businesses have their names all over these sports: Rawlings, Nike, Riddell, Wilson, Ping, Scott, Head. Even Nascar has Pep Boys, the Tide car, the Budweiser car, the Cat car, the Mars Bar car, the Texaco car, and any other business that wants to pimp itself out to have its logo slapped on a car door. I see autographed pictures and posters of Michael Jordan, George Brett, Jack Nicklaus, John Elway, Bobby Orr, John McEnroe, Picabo Street, and heck, even Mary Lou Retton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Sean White, Michael Phelps and the Canadian Curling Team. And the pictures of Danica Patrick in a bikini and Richard Petty with Red Man bulging in his cheek. I even sometimes see pool cues and racks.

What I don't see are bowling balls, bowling pins, or any pictures of Earl Anthony, Mark Roth, Mike Durbin, Don Carter, PDW, Norm Duke or Belmo. Golf doesn't need beer advertising; golf has the ultimate snob appeal. Tennis doesn't need help from Anheuser-Busch; they get plenty of backing from Evian. The Cardinals, Suns, Packers, and Maple Leafs have the advantage of identifying with a city. What's bowling got? Brunswick? Which more people associate with billiards than with bowling.

Guaranteed, if more sports bars would slap up a poster of Belmo, Rash, Barnes, and Haugen, bolt a few pins to their walls, and set a few bowling balls on the bar -- if the PBA would get some serious Budweiser, Miller and Coors advertising, instead of Odor-eaters, Liquid Wrench, and Preparation H, the sport would get more recognition as a sport and more people would be drawn to it.

[NewToBowling]

The biggest hurdle is perception of how easy the sport is (we all know it's not easy). People go play on the weekends and string a few strikes and consider them as good or a step below the pros. You don't have that perception in other sports. Nobody playing hoops at the park is thinking to themselves that they can hang with NBA pros. Same with football, hockey, etc.

Even weekend golfers know they would never be able to compete with Phil or Tiger.

Most weekend bowlers think they can hang with PDW and Belmo because they have bowled 300 before.

[zdawg]

Guaranteed, if more sports bars would slap up a poster of Belmo, Rash, Barnes, and Haugen, bolt a few pins to their walls, and set a few bowling balls on the bar -- if the PBA would get some serious Budweiser, Miller and Coors advertising, instead of Odor-eaters, Liquid Wrench, and Preparation H, the sport would get more recognition as a sport and more people would be drawn to it.

Couldn't agree more

[rv driver]

The biggest hurdle is perception of how easy the sport is (we all know it's not easy). People go play on the weekends and string a few strikes and consider them as good or a step below the pros. You don't have that perception in other sports. Nobody playing hoops at the park is thinking to themselves that they can hang with NBA pros. Same with football, hockey, etc.

Even weekend golfers know they would never be able to compete with Phil or Tiger.

Most weekend bowlers think they can hang with PDW and Belmo because they have bowled 300 before.

Yeah, but every sport is "easy" when you're just horsing around. In that regard, I don't think bowling is any different from tennis or golf.

[NewToBowling]

Yeah, but every sport is "easy" when you're just horsing around. In that regard, I don't think bowling is any different from tennis or golf.

Well bowling (like golf) is one of the few sports you don't combat another opponent but rather the lane/course. The main difference between golf and bowling is with golf every course is different. We're talking distance to hole, greens, etc. With bowling you do have different oil patterns but that is not the same level as playing a whole different course.

Golf I believe is inherently more difficult to "master"

[rv driver]

Well bowling (like golf) is one of the few sports you don't combat another opponent but rather the lane/course. The main difference between golf and bowling is with golf every course is different. We're talking distance to hole, greens, etc. With bowling you do have different oil patterns but that is not the same level as playing a whole different course.

Golf I believe is inherently more difficult to "master"

Plus golfers have much smaller balls. I'm not a golfer, so I wouldn't know about the relative difficulties. Bowling uses different balls with different properties, different oil patterns (unless you're just bowling on THS), lane inconsistencies, and the random action of the pins. Plus, with bowling, you're trying to hit a very narrow target area and repeat the shot every time. Golf has no equivalent (until you get on the green). They're just two different sports with different physical demands.

[NewToBowling]

Plus golfers have much smaller balls. I'm not a golfer, so I wouldn't know about the relative difficulties. Bowling uses different balls with different properties, different oil patterns (unless you're just bowling on THS), lane inconsistencies, and the random action of the pins. Plus, with bowling, you're trying to hit a very narrow target area and repeat the shot every time. Golf has no equivalent (until you get on the green). They're just two different sports with different physical demands.

I also don't play golf but lets put it this way. You can get lucky and get 3-4 strikes a game just by winging it and throwing down the lane. If you just "wing" it in golf you'll probably not come close to getting par.

[Aslan]

The biggest hurdle is perception of how easy the sport is (we all know it's not easy). People go play on the weekends and string a few strikes and consider them as good or a step below the pros. You don't have that perception in other sports. Nobody playing hoops at the park is thinking to themselves that they can hang with NBA pros. Same with football, hockey, etc.

Even weekend golfers know they would never be able to compete with Phil or Tiger.

Most weekend bowlers think they can hang with PDW and Belmo because they have bowled 300 before.

Bowling IS inherently easier than the other sports you mentioned.

Obviously it's not easy and people don't really understand lane conditions and such that pro bowlers deal with that house bowlers don't....BUT....most any other sport you can come up with...it is FAR mor difficult to beat a professional than it would be at bowling. FAR more. Not a "little" more.. FAR more.

As to Belmo...again, I think we're doing that whole..."Whoa Ma! Look at that bandwagon!! I need to jump on it!!"

Yes, he's the hottest bowler on the tour right now. He's a shoe in for player of the year. But he simply doesn't have the number of titles that other PBA bowlers do. When I say that, people point to how he's newer...okay...I guess if he continues at the rate he's on...he could be seen as the best of all time eventually. But the key word is "eventually". I think he's a shoe in for the Hall of Fame...eventually. Not NOW....eventually.

The Tiger Woods comparison is a good one. Nobody thought Tiger would be failing to qualify in tournaments. People figured he'd have re-written the record books by now. Because there was a time...he was THAT good. Now he's not. Belmo is amazingly talented...it's that simple. It has little to do with his 2-handed style....because none of the other 2-handers are AS good as he is. Most fail to qualify for nearly every show. Belmo has taken his unique style and perfected it to a point that I honestly don't think any other folks wanting to bowl 2-handed ever could. And THATs the BIG LIE. Too many people are falling for the "maybe if I learn to throw 2-handed...it's an automatic 20+ pins more in carry each game!?" Then...they realize....it aint that easy. You're playing angles the game was never designed for. You're using your back WAY more than 1-handed competition. Spare shooting tends to suffer. Accuracy tends to suffer. But yes...carry increases.

Whats frustrating in dealing with the youngsters...is, we've seen all this before. This isn't new. Mark Roth burst on the scene ripping the cover off the ball...and even the great Earl Anthony said had he not dealt with health issues (and had the technology not changed so much)...he'd have surpassed everyone. We saw the era of the "cranker"...then the "thumbless era"...and now the 2-handed era. We may someday see a backwards era...where bowlers approach the lane in reverse and bend at the waist rather than the knee (I've seen a bowler do this and score quite well). So no...Belmo isn't like "nothing we've ever seen before"...he's just the newest version. And until he catches up to the true greats of the sport (many of whom are still competing for and winning titles)...I'm gonna reserve my praise. Jason Couch is another one that burst on the scene...looked unbeatable...Chris Barnes has long been considered the technically best bowler ever...but neither have transcended from "great" to "Earl/WRW great"...or even Bohn/PDW/Mika/Duke great for that matter. People forget...Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes both have more PBA titles than Belmo does. The water-mark for "greatness" is 30 titles. Belmo has less than half that. Will he make 30? Or will he be more like Tiger Woods??

I will say that the last event may have been the last we here from PDW. I think the symbolic torch was passed...and maybe PDW is going to think long and hard about whether he still wants to try and run the gauntlet or if he wants to follow WRW into the PBA50 and Hall of Fame. PDW has looked great in the WSOB and TOC...he was right there in the hunt a lot of the time. But this is the first time he really looked outmatched and uncomfortable on TV...almost like he wasn't confident in his abilities anymore.

We have to be careful crowning the next Earl Anthony or WRW. I've heard Ronnie Russell, E. J. Tackett, Dom Barrett, Stu Williams, Sean Rash, and Belmo...and thus far all of the first 4 are a sad second to Rash and Belmo. And Rash/Belmo aren't anywhere near Earl or WRW in titles.

[rv driver]

Bowling IS inherently easier than the other sports you mentioned.

Obviously it's not easy and people don't really understand lane conditions and such that pro bowlers deal with that house bowlers don't....BUT....most any other sport you can come up with...it is FAR mor difficult to beat a professional than it would be at bowling. FAR more. Not a "little" more.. FAR more.

As to Belmo...again, I think we're doing that whole..."Whoa Ma! Look at that bandwagon!! I need to jump on it!!"

Yes, he's the hottest bowler on the tour right now. He's a shoe in for player of the year. But he simply doesn't have the number of titles that other PBA bowlers do. When I say that, people point to how he's newer...okay...I guess if he continues at the rate he's on...he could be seen as the best of all time eventually. But the key word is "eventually". I think he's a shoe in for the Hall of Fame...eventually. Not NOW....eventually.

The Tiger Woods comparison is a good one. Nobody thought Tiger would be failing to qualify in tournaments. People figured he'd have re-written the record books by now. Because there was a time...he was THAT good. Now he's not. Belmo is amazingly talented...it's that simple. It has little to do with his 2-handed style....because none of the other 2-handers are AS good as he is. Most fail to qualify for nearly every show. Belmo has taken his unique style and perfected it to a point that I honestly don't think any other folks wanting to bowl 2-handed ever could. And THATs the BIG LIE. Too many people are falling for the "maybe if I learn to throw 2-handed...it's an automatic 20+ pins more in carry each game!?" Then...they realize....it aint that easy. You're playing angles the game was never designed for. You're using your back WAY more than 1-handed competition. Spare shooting tends to suffer. Accuracy tends to suffer. But yes...carry increases.

Whats frustrating in dealing with the youngsters...is, we've seen all this before. This isn't new. Mark Roth burst on the scene ripping the cover off the ball...and even the great Earl Anthony said had he not dealt with health issues (and had the technology not changed so much)...he'd have surpassed everyone. We saw the era of the "cranker"...then the "thumbless era"...and now the 2-handed era. We may someday see a backwards era...where bowlers approach the lane in reverse and bend at the waist rather than the knee (I've seen a bowler do this and score quite well). So no...Belmo isn't like "nothing we've ever seen before"...he's just the newest version. And until he catches up to the true greats of the sport (many of whom are still competing for and winning titles)...I'm gonna reserve my praise. Jason Couch is another one that burst on the scene...looked unbeatable...Chris Barnes has long been considered the technically best bowler ever...but neither have transcended from "great" to "Earl/WRW great"...or even Bohn/PDW/Mika/Duke great for that matter. People forget...Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes both have more PBA titles than Belmo does. The water-mark for "greatness" is 30 titles. Belmo has less than half that. Will he make 30? Or will he be more like Tiger Woods??

I will say that the last event may have been the last we here from PDW. I think the symbolic torch was passed...and maybe PDW is going to think long and hard about whether he still wants to try and run the gauntlet or if he wants to follow WRW into the PBA50 and Hall of Fame. PDW has looked great in the WSOB and TOC...he was right there in the hunt a lot of the time. But this is the first time he really looked outmatched and uncomfortable on TV...almost like he wasn't confident in his abilities anymore.

We have to be careful crowning the next Earl Anthony or WRW. I've heard Ronnie Russell, E. J. Tackett, Dom Barrett, Stu Williams, Sean Rash, and Belmo...and thus far all of the first 4 are a sad second to Rash and Belmo. And Rash/Belmo aren't anywhere near Earl or WRW in titles.

Belmo's good -- but Belmo's also ripping the holy hell out of his back. All that twisting is going to cause BIG problems for him down the line. In spite of the fact that he may be doing specialized training, and doing the nutrition thing, he's only getting older and throwing the ball more. One of these days, he's going to pull a Tiger and really wrench his back and it's going to permanently sideline him -- mark my words. Tiger's not coming back, and neither will Belmo. And I just don't think he'll have amassed the titles. Part of being "great" at bowling is longevity -- being able to do it again and again and again consistently. I just don't think the human body can take that kind of abuse for the kind of time we're talking about.

[NewToBowling]

True he does torque his back.