Is It Just Me ?

[Wal B]

Well, all I know is if Total Bowling goes then Aussie bowling will have virtually 'no voice' at all!
And my fellow bowlers, that would be devestating for our sport.

Please hang in there guys .. we need you!

 

[jimcross]

Yes, Easy Tiger - remember all that, and the regular 'posters' of that time. ( BFCC And the sports series etc ). Not all good - the dry lanes at Redcliffe, for the 3rd consecutive year for me, just about saw me leave for good,...but...what's a little hiccup here and there?

Androooo, if you can, can you be a bit more specific about
"When the person that gave the allowance left the business, funds were no longer available, as they said they could do the job better and cheaper.... We all know how that worked out, then TBA basically assumed the position"....

I'm intrigued. If you can't that's OK, can understand.
Jim

 

[Jase]

AMF used to support this site with sponsorship, it was a major sponsor of this site...Funds were used by the sponsors of this site to help run the site with live scores, video recording and up-loading and interviews...Up-keep of the site and the running and hosting costs...any excess money then used to go back into sponsoring tournaments and complete series and some times even state teams were sponsored by total bowling...ALL FUNDS went back to the sport of tenpin bowling...

When they withdrew there support they with drew there sponsorship...Hence the opportunity to travel and do live scores as well...Yes TBA decided to take control of the live scores with AMF (at this time, both CEO's decided they thought this was best for the sport) but i don't think its they had it as up to date as what we had it, when we were in the centres and had scores up at the end of each block for all interstate families to see... All Major and ranked events were covered by TB...Don't forget we were the founder of live scoring for these events...

If we go back to see why TB lost the support of AMF and sponsors alike, well that was easy...it was because some forum members on here decided to voice their opinions about them for every little thing they thought AMF were doing wrong...Admin and Moderators of this site could only do so much at the time, but no, the select few still decided to voice there disappointment on here time and time again... with not just AMF's doing but anything they didn't agree with...Well guess what that's when AMF said enough was enough...It wasn't just happening here but also on FB...But they couldn't stop what was being said on FB so they used us (TB) as an example and pulled all sponsorship and association with us...

Androoo is doing a great job with the up-keep but as you all know i still pay the bill for hosting and that comes out of my own pocket and has always been the case...I don't bowl any more but still managed to keep this site open for all to use, but you are all starting to use FB to promote anything these days...This site has always been free to use and the guys that were or are admin do it for love...Its all voluntary an people seem to forget that when they ring me at work because they can't log in or want a post removed...or for any small crisis...

Its really up to the individual to decided what they want this site for and how it should best work for the sport...I am happy to keep it running but unless YOU THE BOWLER gets more involved or get more of your friends involved then i cannot see why it should...


Like i said alot of people use other forms or electronic media sites to interact...

But yes everything has a price and everything is for sale...

 

[jimcross]

Thanks Jase - Good to have that up-front and clear. Yes, this site did all of that ( scoring etc ) much better. Pity AMF got thin-skinned instead of answering critisisms, indeed using them as a vehicle for their own promotion. Censorship is not a way to success, I'm afraid. In any event- certainly not your fault.
I think facebook is a disaster in many areas, and to sacrifice a specialist like this for a general site like facebook, is a great error. But it is an error by the users ( or should that be losers ? ) That means, of course, that our fate is in our own hands! Wasn't it always ?

 

[Graham]

TotalBowling started almost 11 years ago now, started off live scores of bowling events in the country with the 2001 Koolfoam at Mt Gravatt.

We had live scores, photos and videos (pre youtube - looking back now they were pretty crap but they were ground breaking and innovative for their time).

TotalBowling was started as a hobby and passion and being supported by the likes of Steve Jones (who I met over dinner and a couple of reds in Brisbane one night if my memory serves me correctly), Roy Menachemson (who was unbelievable support and inspired me on many occasions) and Peter Finlayson (the then AMF CEO). Those people saw a future in TotalBowling and supported me fantastically over the years I was involved. TotalBowling allowed me to meet many fabulous people who I still keep in touch with today. I contributed stories and photos to AMF What's The Score magazine and had my stories and photos published on bowling digital. Many bowlers i met were nice to me and very supportive even if i wanted to take their photo at 8am. I got the opportunity to meet many great bowlers, some of them world champions and pro bowlers who always had time for me. I even told a 17 year old Belmo he should go to the US for the PBA. Pretty sure he laughed at me. What a great judge i was

Towards the end, my interest in bowling dropped off. I suppose I got sick of beating my head against the wall, and it seems to happen to a lot of smart people who are involved with bowling for a short time and then disappear. But why are these people coming in, getting the life sucked out of them and then leave to put their ideas and talents to other uses ?

I think someone earlier hit the nail on the head - there's only so many times you can ask the question "why isn't bowling taken seriously?" or similar. Instead of asking why, why not do something about it ? You need to get off your asses and be prepared to do the hard yards - don't expect it to be handed to you. Someone mentioned earlier about the Brisbane tournaments - the AMF Brisbane scratch tournament series went from 10 bowlers in a tournament to 70 in a single year. From memory we got 90 to an event, not seen in years. This didn't happen by accident. We kept the entry fee low, format was simple (10 games straight up no finals). Bowlers were happy to pay the $60 to play and get tournament experience. Why does every tournament need to cost mega bucks with a top heavy prize fund? Its a simple format - if you want a tournament in your centre, talk to the manager of your centre, set a date and advertise it here. Dont rely on others and whinge that there is no tournaments - do it yourself!!!

I've spoken to Drooo the golfer this arvo about a few other things mentioned about the layout - stay tuned.

Graham

 

[Wal B]

I sure dont like the way this is sounding. If you bowlers out there want Total Bowling to continue come on board and tell Andrew and his crew how very special this site has become to Tenpin Bowling in Australia and how much we appreciate their efforts to keep it going.

Think for a minute. Where will we get news on tournaments, how will we place entries etc if it's not available and please dont say the TBA website!!

 

[jayboybriz]

I know u dont want to be critical but i think AMF have a big responsibility here. I constantly ask the question "why is there no AMF centre tournaments in QLD? They have a market share they need to play the game too

 

[jimcross]

I sure dont like the way this is sounding. If you bowlers out there want Total Bowling to continue come on board and tell Andrew and his crew how very special this site has become to Tenpin Bowling in Australia and how much we appreciate their efforts to keep it going.

Think for a minute. Where will we get news on tournaments, how will we place entries etc if it's not available and please dont say the TBA website!!

Hey, whoa there !! With the exception of one only post by Nev25, I can't see one post critical of this Total Bowling site. And that's how it should be. Can I suggest that you read the posts again?

 

[nev25]

Androoo please don't take it personally
But IMO we are losing bowlers to golf so I and many others see golf as the opposition
Wheres Tonx btw I assume still playing golf??
One of the leagues I bowl in the gents used to talk about balls and tournament and lanes etc
Now its Nine irons and Niblicks

So we get on this site for inspiration and new etc and see one of our moderators advertising golf products HHHMM

Don't take it out on me I'm just the silly one of the mob to bring it to your attention

As for the site
Maybe it the immaturity of the members after all the hot topic a few years ago was wetheryou scrunch or fold toilet paper????

 

[Fitzy]

Personally I lost interest over a year ago because of all of the trolls that were prevalent back then. Hopefully they are gone but I doubt it.

 

[Casual Observer]

Not a case of me being happy about the site dying at all. I have nothing against the site, just the stupidity of some of the posts which is why I comment.

TB has never been the only place tourneys should be posted and now maybe people have realized that and they can be advertised properly as they should have been all along. Maybe now the majority of the bowling community will have a say instead of the few who use TB.

 

[Casual Observer]

Personally I lost interest over a year ago because of all of the trolls that were prevalent back then. Hopefully they are gone but I doubt it.

yep, you never got involved in any of it.

 

[Michael Little]

Not a case of me being happy about the site dying at all. I have nothing against the site, just the stupidity of some of the posts which is why I comment.

TB has never been the only place tourneys should be posted and now maybe people have realized that and they can be advertised properly as they should have been all along. Maybe now the majority of the bowling community will have a say instead of the few who use TB.

You are quite right, there have been a reasonable level of stupid posts from a variety of people, some shit stirring, some with no clue and some well meaning but just off base. It happens though, that is what makes up the population of the human race. And why in forums/sites like this, there are generally different categories where people should be posting things, but it never works that way.

Tournaments will probably always be posted here, and no, it isn't the only place, the TBA website is getting better, what sucks though still is the lack of communication and willingness from the industry as a whole to support a tournament base, how often have tournament promoters found a lack of willingness to assist from other centres when trying to promote a tournament. Certainly no big picture stuff there going on.

And I believe another reason for a slow down of traffic to this site, or others, is that the industry is still disjointed, you won't find TBA ppl posting here, from previous houndings, other industry ppl feel as though being a public forum is open slather for any idiot to post rubbish, so why bother, hundreds of people who can potentially post here, tend to put more stuff on other sites like Facebook etc. You will probably find a high percentage of people looking but not commenting too. You will also find most topics tend to get rehashed over time without any real injection of fresh perspectives.

Without taking away from the mods, who do what they can when they can, maybe try and find a way to update the site a little more, with some of Toon's ideas, get things going again and start creating a bit of interest etc.

 

[Casual Observer]

once upon a time people used to know when tourneys were on because centres were informed and bowlers had access to the information. Many tournament directors now feel that simply posting on here is enough. It isn't.

As for the industry not cooperating, why should they? At most this site has 6000-7000 people viewing it while there are many tens of thousands of people bowling.

 

[rychenroller]

As for the industry not cooperating, why should they? At most this site has 6000-7000 people viewing it while there are many tens of thousands of people bowling.

Because how is 90% of information exchanged these days? If not here then the TBA website. If not there then random discussions on facebook or other social networking. In theory bowlers should have better access to information because its so easy to get. Its the decline of bowling in general, not just a particular website.

 

[Michael Little]

once upon a time people used to know when tourneys were on because centres were informed and bowlers had access to the information. Many tournament directors now feel that simply posting on here is enough. It isn't.

As for the industry not cooperating, why should they? At most this site has 6000-7000 people viewing it while there are many tens of thousands of people bowling.

Centres were informed previously because the lines of communication were telephone or postage, now todays information can be gained at the click of a button, so yes, posting a tournament here is usually good enough, if it isn't here, it will also be on the TBA website. Some tournaments still provide a hard copy to send around to other Centres, but here is what I am getting at in the cooperation/cross promotion, how many of those centres actually bother to post it anywhere but some obscure wall down the ass end of the centre where nobody really looks at it?

And why 'shouldn't' the industry cooperate? It has really worked well, the multitude of different factions, stakeholders and industry leaders, all pulling in their own personal directions, the sport has really taken off and it just can't keep up with the pace of its exponential growth. I think it is finally dawning on some again to be looking at the big picture. Time, money and a collective effort is what is needed.

And this site can have a gazillion people or 2 people viewing it, but if it delivers information to a section of the bowling world, who have no other avenue to obtain that information or knowledge, has it not done its job? Certainly no more or less than a conversation on FB, a committee or bowling group getting together at the local bowl or another forum site, the TBA website etc etc. All are different avenues for information sharing, knowledges bases and all serve some purpose/play some part in contributing to the sport. I believe some responsibly falls on us as users to utilise these things a little better. Information is always valuable to someone.

 

[Casual Observer]

Open your eyes. Tb is not an official site and until it becomes one it will never get the good tourney support you need.
Yes it has passed on info and that is good but at the end of the day it is just another site.

We wont get back to the "good old days" and everyone knows that but until you let everyone know about tourneys instead of just assuming the minority on here will pass on info then you will get nowhere. Been saying it for ages and you have been getting nowhere for ages.

TB is dead, move on and use up to date paths to spread the word.

 

[jimcross]

Open your eyes. Tb is not an official site and until it becomes one it will never get the good tourney support you need.
Yes it has passed on info and that is good but at the end of the day it is just another site.

We wont get back to the "good old days" and everyone knows that but until you let everyone know about tourneys instead of just assuming the minority on here will pass on info then you will get nowhere. Been saying it for ages and you have been getting nowhere for ages.

TB is dead, move on and use up to date paths to spread the word.

I have a suggestion. Change your name to 'In Depth Observer', and try again. I'm sure the new perspective will do wonders. You may even get to have some pleasant thoughts - smell flowers - and all those sorts of joyous things.
Here's laughing with ( at ) you,
Jim

 

[Michael Little]

Open your eyes. Tb is not an official site and until it becomes one it will never get the good tourney support you need.
Yes it has passed on info and that is good but at the end of the day it is just another site.

We wont get back to the "good old days" and everyone knows that but until you let everyone know about tourneys instead of just assuming the minority on here will pass on info then you will get nowhere. Been saying it for ages and you have been getting nowhere for ages.

TB is dead, move on and use up to date paths to spread the word.

Nobody ever said TB was the one and only official site, it is just another avenue that tournament organisers can list their tournaments on, most tournament organisers do send out mail, email and other forms of correspondence to promote the tournaments they run, dependant on tournament size, but some just prefer to list here and on the TBA website, their choice really, is it best practice? Probably not.

There were no good old days, just a different era, different economics, different choices in life and bowling never went with the times in the right direction, but my point is that if industry stakeholders keep doing what they have been and only looking after number 1 and screwing everyone else, soon enough the sport will be totally run into the ground and we will be left with 100% bowling birthday parties.

So aside from listing on TB, registering and listing on TBA, emailing other centres, faxing and posting to other centres, taking tournament flyers to the tournaments held prior, what other worthwhile avenues should tournament promoters use to push their tournaments?

 

[Wal B]

This site gives all bowlers the opportunity to find out what's happening in our sport, a location to place entries, product info etc etc.
We also have the chance to express our opinions on what we see as the good and not so good aspects of bowlings present and future.

I, for one, check out the comments every day (at least once) and would really miss the site if it were gone.

And, Casual Observer, where would you get the chance to voice your rather negative comments if the site closes!!