Stuart and others,it's good to have your interest. I,m lukewarm about the desirability of inclusion in the Olympics --- but I,m an old cynic. Not that I was born one,nor a self made one,experience has made me that way. Still,I'm sure the majority of bowlers would like their sport to have this recognition and of course it would have many advantages,so peoples interest is vital at all levels if it is ever to succeed.
Unfortunately,the world does'nt work on what is fair and reasonable,nor does the IOC [there's that cynic again] - well,at least not much of the time.
The sports mentioned may not appear to have any better claim to Olympic status than Bowling but there are quite a number that have a relationship to events in the ancient Olympics, and others which have the advantage of being an Olympic sport for a long time. e.g Shotput 1906 and Basketball and Handball since 1936.
Though sports are dropped from time to time,in all fairness,it would be difficult to justify saying to some of those sports 'we've accepted you as an Olympic sport for the last 66 or 96 years,but we've just changed our minds - you're out !]
What does puzzle me,and does'nt enhance my faith in the IOC,is some of the more recent inclusions e.g. Badminton in 1992 and Beach Volleyball in 1996. I would love to see the judgement criteria which could admit Beach Volleyball and exclude Bowling.
Up untill,I think it was 1992,at every Olympics there was one or more 'Demonstration Sports'included,which often went on to become a full'Medal Sport', but this was discontinued,as the Olympic movement was finding it more and more difficult to programme in an ever increasing number of sports.
Bowling was a 'Demonstration Sport' in Korea in 1998 and that was probably the time when we came closest to success,and I can readily understand that people felt highly motivated to carry on,and even increase their efforts. [Steve,anyone critisising them for this would obviousely also be just as quick to critisise if they had'nt done it.]
None-the-less,in reality and,and of course,hind sight,it has all been downhill since then.
By the mid 90s,to me it appeared to be a lost cause with the signals I thought I could see coming out of the IOC. I had had some considerable experience at a reasonablely high level with two National and Internatinal Sporting Organisations and my wife had been Australia's representative on another.
With this in mind,in 1996 or 1997,I wrote a letter to the then ATBCs magazine 'Strikeout' [which they chose not to publish] in which I urged that we cease the Olympic pursuit as the signals were clear that we would not succeed at that time and that we should instead get our own house in order along the same lines I have suggested on this forum.
Call it luck,if you like,but maybe you can really see more of the forest from a distance,than you can from it's centre.
Steve,I try not to have hidden meanings in my opinions,and indeed none were intended in my latest gentle contribution. I do think,and I believed I could see that the indications over recent years have grown progressively stronger[from about the early to mid 90s,]that only Bowlings own public acceptance and profile will ever get it into the Olympics and also nullify some of the 'politics'which to an old cynic like me do play their part. I think that now we should accept that message totally , beat a strategic withdrawal , regroup ,reorganise , form some sort of meaningfull amalgamation with both of the Pro Bowling Associations and pursue that goal alone. Don't divide either energy or resources with the pursuit of the Olympic goal,untill we are ready to say 'Look at us now!'
There's nothing the matter with pursuing a goal.There's nothing the matter with failing to reach it. There IS something the matter with not knowing when to stop , or when to change course.
I think that time is upon us.
Then again you could be right , we might take it all too seriously , maybe even ourselves too seriously - but who wants to be a vegitable?
