Stop the insanity..and save our sport from extinction.

[wchester]

Back in the days before urethane and resin, when I was a young pup in the early 1960's. a 200 average bowler was a rare sight indeed!

In the late 1960's, using a Manhattan Rubber bowling ball, I somehow lucked into a world's record three game series score for junior bowlers with 299-279-269 for 847. At the time my average had just surpassed the 200 level which at the time was still recognized as very good but no longer great.

Starting in the 1970's with the introduction of the Columbia yellow Dot bleeder, the 300 games and 800's series came at an alarming rate. it was no longer Unusual for a top bowler to average 220 + for a league season.

Still using a Yellow Dot bleeder into the early 1980's I posted book averages of 237, 235, and even had a 246 average during the shorter summer league season...

I'm not alone in these accomplishments..there were literally hundreds of bowlers throughout the US with likewise lofty averages.

1981 brought about the introduction on the world's first urethane bowling ball, the AMF Angle and a new generation of bowlers discovered the joys of higher scoring. Suddenly that weak ten was turned into a strike and by now the lifetime 180 averagers had suddenly gotten "better" and now booked a 200 + average.

Fast forward to 1990 and the very first reactive resin ball is introduced, the Nu-Line X-Caliber. Mark McDowell journeyman pro bowler wowed his four opponents and literally had the entire lane in his televised victory. The long sought after 900 series is accomplished five different times and thousands of bowlers throughout the States are regularly shooting "honor" scores of 300 and 800. the lifetime 170 average bowlers are now booking over 200.

The record for high average is now 261 for a full season...that's a 783 series each and every week just to keep your average from dropping.
Last season in California, the Steve Cook Classic League set a new standard in high scoring. The entire 48 man field averaged a collective 220 + with over 30 300 games and countless 800's.

Yet bowling continues to lose participants year after year...When are we going to wake up and see that the problem cannot be remedied by making the lanes easier to score upon....

As Chicken Little says..."The sky is falling, the sky is falling"

SOMEONE PLEASE LISTEN BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE !!!!!!

 

[quasi2k]

I think technology should have stopped with urethane. The only reason houses are putting out a "heavy" shot is to protect the lanes. Particle balls do damage to the lanes, and the only way to protect them is to put down a thicker layer of oil. This then causes a vicious cycle. The new technology in bowling, while increasing scores has taken some of the skill out of the game. No longer is hitting a small target consistently required to score, but hitting an area of up to several feet. Can you say carry fest?

I'd like to see the game go back to at least some semblance of skill. I'd love to re-tool my arsenal to be all urethane or plastic. Can't afford it at the moment, but at least I'd be happier knowing my score comes from skill, not technology. Especially when last week's league conditions made 3 piece reactives look like hook monsters. Thank goodness I still had my white dot.

 

[boybrowny]

to true...

Wayne,

cant agree with you more - scores today dont reflect the ability of the bowler - I held a 234 league average (110+ games) in 2000 - I HAD TO BOWL A 702 SERIES JUST TO MAKE AVERAGE !!!. But I am not a 234 average bowler. WHen in some centres you have to throw a 240+ average to make the top 10 - you know there is something seriously wrong.

On the other hand, as a bowling center proprietor, I am sure you would acknowledge that few bowlers are actually dedicated enough to become good - BUT they still want high scores every time they throw a game.

I believe that the modern ventures to make scores high on low skill levels is a result of what the public are demanding.

On the other hand, if there were a sufficient swell of bowlers who want hard conditions - then center managers would start to provide them.

THis is no doubt what inspired Kegel.net and their push for a sport condition. I particularly like the tournaments they have restricting bowlers to plastic and urethane balls.

Bowlers like Jason Couch are winning tournaments like this with averages of around 200.

Even he said that after averaging 200 neat on a sport condition with a plastic ball - going out to a pro tournament the following week was easy in comparrison.

Perhaps the TBA should be encouraging bowlers to develop skill - perhaps offering double ratings points for tournaments where a tough condition is laid and balls are restricted to two piece plastic and urethane...

Remember though, to you and I bowling is a sport that we want to get better at - and we are prepared to work at our game - for the vast majority of people who pick up a ball it is a social event and they want to throw a couple of strikes in front of their mates and perhaps impress a few on-lookers (and a lot of them want to get pissed while they do it!!!).

Will be interesting to see what others have to say ...

BROWNY

 

[unmarked]

I have been peddling this same mentality for quite some time now. These high tech kids with their high tech balls, bowling on easy conditions and throwing 'massive averages' of 200 plus. I just cant see how bowlers have improved that much. These days with a highly reactive ball you only have to hit the headpin and your three qauters of the way there. Personally I play with a Columbia Rage, which is quite worn now.

You only have to take for example a younger bowler using urethane equipment that gets upgraded to resin gear. Instantly there average jumps by 10, 15 , maybe 20 pins. There ability in the game has not increased. Just the hitting power of the ball. Then they bowl on easy conditions, and I wont name any centres.

I beleive just because a bowler has a high average, that doesnt make them a good bowler. Whats to say Joe Bloggs bowling at the next centre down the road hasnt discovered resin yet, but can throw 99 out of 100 balls over exactly the same target.

Id love to set these high tech kids up with urethane balls, standard bowling shoes, on conditions of 10 or more years ago , and see who really has talent.

In no way am I saying that im a champion bowler or an expert in bowling. My point is that , like any sport, bowling has been made significantly easier by advances in technology. It is sending scores skyrocketing, and making the game so predictable.

 

[Dj bruv on da mix]

Yes some very good points raised here, but the simple fact is like in the rest of the world its called the future, weather you like it or not, you simply dont have a choice, there are many examples of this one being car racing, cars in the 60's probally got upto 150ks max...now any where upto say 350ks and with technology they are probaly a lot easier to drive than 40 years ago. There are many factors to y this sport is dropping in numbers, examples.....To Expensive, not enough time, people working longer hours, people working two jobs, and most poeple are choosing to play sport's where they can maybe make as a career, which defianlty wont happen with bowling until it gains the support of the corporate and general public.
Im sure you get my drift here, lets get with the times!!!

Mark Foster

 

[patrick]

ok well this is going to be probably a pretty stupid idea, but here goes anyway.....

why not have the best of both worlds?
designate different patterns/equipment (restrict equipment i mean) for different tournaments and rotate them around the circuit? (running the tournament twice with different patterns/equip would be an extreme)
i mean, have tournaments with open house equipment, 3 piece, pro-active, whatever.. and more christmas tree sort of patterns. and have tournaments with some sort of restrictions and patterns etc.

the concept would take a lot of pushing (and refining) but maybe people might come round and agree with it.

i dont know.. someone can run with it if they want... it was just a thought i had :?

 

[jimcross]

Wayne,
I too could'nt agree more. In 1962/3,when,sadly,I was'nt a young pup[I was about 30] I managed a low 200 average,with whatever was the standard AMF black rubber ball,with which they introduced bowling to Aust.
I did'nt bowl for over 30 years,from then [1995],and with all the new you beaut technology,I can't do that now. Well,I did once,2or 3 years ago.
I bowl more high games now, my once only high game in the 60s was 278,with only a few other games over 250. I've bowled handfulls of over 278s since '95,but I did'nt bowl any 130s or 140s in the 60s
But i'm in the minority - I don't get much advantage out of the new balls-my 'programmed in' old style of bowling action and particularly old style ball release gives me the same amount of 'area'that I always had.. and that's none.. I hit the target or I don't.A full board out is a complete disaster. If I hit an area as big as some I have watched [with every one a strike] I'd range from the 7 to the 10 pin. The only difference for me is the better carry.
There's no other ball game that I can think of that allows for so much inaccuracy from participants rated or ranked anywhere even near the top level of their sport........Regardless of advances of technology.

But.I'm doing what everyone is doing ----Somebody,[was it Mark Twain?] said "Everybody talks about the weather,but nobody does anything about it." and that's what we're all doing, AGAIN.

But,did I see a glimmer of light in boybrownie's post?

"TOURNAMENTS RESTRICTING BOWLERS TO PLASTIC OR URETHANE BALLS??????" HOW ABOUT JUST PLASTIC? Not going to cost very much for anyone to drill up a ball ------- you'll only need one, and for those who move the ball a long way , don't worry,you should still be able to...you should have seen how many boards Eric Jang could cover with a plastic ball in the early 60s.You just have to be accurate as well.

Please ? Somebody? Everyone? Run one and see how it goes?

Finally bboy, Despite all the Hi-Tec advances you quote and ,indeed, all the many others,few if any Sports Controlling Bodies have allowed the open slather that Bowling has in the way of balls and bowling aids generally.
We can make all the excuses we like ,but it is not good for Bowling,any more than it would have been for other sports which have'nt allowed it. Golf ball manufacturers could produce a ball right now,that would allow any 20 to 27 average golfer to outdrive Tiger Woods or John Daley,and probably straighter too ---but ---they're not allowed to do it. You'd have to redesign the courses to start with --- which,if you think about it is what we're trying to do with lane conditions eg 'Sports Conditions'

In reality,probably nothing will ever be done about it,but there is no way that it is good for the sport.

 

[jimcross]

bboy,

I just looked at your post again ----- Race cars in the 60s doing 150ks max? I had a road car made in 1960 which would do around 230ks with 6 people in it , with the back seat passengers enjoying a drink out of the built-in bar. It's really not that long ago.

 

[BELMO]

here it is boys and girls

Leauge conditions....... Don't worry about them!
I say this cause it really doesnt matter if ur holding a 260 leauge ave or a 150 these people bowl their league to enjoy.... With the many leauge bowlers we have around the country only a 150 MAX will bowl major tournaments, from the majors is where we pick our best to represent our country, now i have 1st hand knowledge at how leauge bowlers want good conditions, i work at my fathers bowl so i see it everyday, and i can honrestly say there are some bowlers at home who could cut for a major and who place high in that tournament but they choose to leave the game a fun thing they do on a monday night moring or arvo! What they do want to see is big games, and who doesnt.... as a owner of the bowl my dad has to lay a fair and easy shot to keep these bowlers happy, there is nothing more annoying than 10 annoying and whinning league bowlers wanting more oil, less oil or better carry! Plus some of these bowlers have been with us for more than a decade, so we give them what they want!
Now when u think about that what we need to improve on is TOURNAMENT SHOTS, after bowling on many conditions around the world it doesnt matter what ball u have in ur hand, old or new if u miss ur gone... You cant blame ball comapnies for making high quality balls, they are a business making money and US the consumers are the ones who are buying there gear! So not point blaming a comapny for giving what the majority of the world wants!
Balls aorund the world will continue to get better, more hook, more carry what we have to do is establkish harder comditions.....
SO all in all leave the leauge bowlers AVERAGES alone cause who cares if a local shoots 800 every week on his local ditch, if we make the bowlers use skill, give lil area we will see who is a 200 average bowler or not...................lets get harder conditions for OUR eleite so when we travel for AUST we know what to expect and know how hard this game really can be!


LaaaaaaaaaTer

 

[Graham]

But isnt the whole idea that league is where we learn to bowl, therefore if we are learning to bowl on ditches where we have 10 boards to hit outr body wil become accustomed to aiming at 10 boards. When it comes time to hit 1 board then our bodies are not accustomed to it and it is something foreign. There are the exceptions to the rule, but generally this is the case.

Though what Belmo says is right about keeping customers happy. There are a heck of a lot of bowlers out there that have absolutely ZERO ambition to represent their state let alone their country. It is something they do once a week. Rock up to league, pull their 2 balls out of their bag, put it on the rack, shoot 960 for 4 games, pack up & go home, leaving the gear in the car boot all week only to return the next week to do it all again.

Now is it a bad thing for the proprietor to do ? Keeping the customers happy is what it is all about. Does this mean that the bowlers who want to test themselves on a tough league condition every week should go and do that in a "sports" league ? But at the end of a hard day at work who wants to go and crucify themselves on an off night by shooting 120's, only increasing the anxiety and aggravation. And where would a sports league be held, and would the numbers be enough to keep it going ? Is it worthwhile bowling in a league with 10 people ?

It really is a never ending cycle. I think what it comes down to is that you cant keep everyone happy all of the time. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

[bfcc]

hi all , i have been reading this post with interest and there has been some interesting comments.i look at it this way everyone wants to compare golf and bowling well lets do the same here , a weekend golfer playing off 18 shots 90 around his local course and enjoys his weekend game now take that local golfer put out at the next pga event were the course is setup for the pro's will he still shot 90?? now look at it from the pro's view imagine what sort of score a pga pro could post around your local course , the last pro-am i played at woodford the course was setup as hard as they could and the winning pro score was 62 10 under par and they needed to shot 66 to make any money, and these guys are local pro's not playing on any major tour.

the future for bowling is sport conditions with a kegel machine in every state now i think every major event should be bowled on a sport pattern set by kegel. there are plently of different patterns so you could set a different pattern for every event.

after running the sport series here at caboolture we have seen that equipment doesn't count for anything on the tough conditions it all comes back to the skill level of the bowler. at this stage we have 3 people over the card for the series and i can tell you that they have earned alot of respect from the other bowlers in the series.

i only hope sport bowling goes ahead in this country and the game can get back to where the elite bowlers are given the respect they deserve.

 

[jimcross]

Yes, it's a silly subject,because everybody's a bit right and a bit wrong!
Belmo's right about keeping your bowlers happy,and Graham's right about "if they learn wrong,how are they to learn right ,when and if they want to?" And if that transition's too hard,they'll likely give up,and where's the future then?
I don't agree that the ball manufactururs should be given a free hand,just because they're 'in business' So are manufacturers of other sporting equipment,and no other 'world sport' gives as much latitude to their equipment makers as Bowling does --- But, we can't do anything about that.
League and casual bowlers would be just as happy with 170 and 180 averages PROVIDED they were comparative with those they bowled with and with other top bowlers they knew about, so, if little by little,because of discussions like this ---- WHICH ARE GOING ON ALL OVER THE BOWLING WORLD, lane conditions get slowly but surely tightened up,we may eventually see a return to some sense.

Bowling proprietors,I know the problems,I've been one. I've also owned a golf course and a variety of other businesses. You can't just focus on the next league or what will happen tomorrow, you have always to raise your eyes a bit,and take some control over the longer view,and the longer term future of whatever industry you happen to be in,and in some instances,and this is one of them,being completely 'customer driven' will,in due course drive the customers all right --- it will drive them away.

If lane conditions minimise the effect or difference a ball will make,in other words conditions which demand accuracy, then your bowlers need to spend less on balls to keep up,and surely nobody will tell me that cost is not a major factor to both bowlers and proprietors?

 

[strop]

Pathetic people.........writing's been on the wall for a long time......reactives as I have always said has destroyed the game. Lane technology will never keep up with ball technology and why should it.!!!! Won't be long you won't even have to actually bowl the ball down just let it go and it will home in on the pocket by itself.
Fun maybe but no skill required.
Reactives have made alot of people look good........unfortunately!!!!
the young don't know any different only the the olders one's do..!! I when I bowled will always feel much better after the day's over knowing I actually had to bowl the ball down ...not just let it go.
But I suppose it what they say ..."sign of the times"....deal with it they say.......don't have to...retired........I'm glad I was part of the 70's,80's early 90's when trying to win wasn't about just bowling a ball !!! and the talent had great depth and travelling was fun!

 

[patrick]

fair go..

the young don't know any different only the the olders one's do..!!

well thats a nice old stereotype.. believe it or not, some of us do know AND respect the history of what it was like in the 'old days'. just cause im young doesnt mean i dont know any different.. i was/am taught by the 'old school' folk.
thats my personal whinge out of the way...

and the talent had great depth and travelling was fun!

tell me people like jarrod lean and belmo and the likes dont have any 'great depth'? maybe the skill is there still but is harder to see/recognize due to the equipment or whatever people want to blame. (and i agree alot of people (maybe even myself) have been made to look good because remote control balls, or bumper bowling for adults ) ....

ps. i dont know about adults, but it is (well was, now i spose now im out) always fun travelling in juniors!

 

[philby]

Interesting topic. So its easier to score now than it was 20 30 years ago. Maybe we overlook the fact that the young bowlers of today have at there disposal equipment and training techniques that 30 years ago were not even thought of. E.G. the national training camp. Its a level playing field out there. The equipment is available to all, the conditions within a centre are very close across the house (unless its a A.M.F. house lol) And in tourneys you get to bowl on most pairs. so is the problem high scores or dented egos. If you compare golf now to 20 years ago you will find that technoligy has caught up there as well. Can you imagine the pros of 30 yrs ago driving a ball 300 metres not likely. The guys today are scoring higher because they are better at it. Sure the conditions some of the time is easier and the reactive balls more forgiving but at the end of the day you still have to throw the thing. If you watched the junior and youth bowlers of today more closely you will realize that they are very talented athletes. They train hard and long to score high. And i can tell you now if i was to bowl league every week and was scoring 130 every game because the conditions where made tougher i wouldnt be back either. Some of us dont have the skill to ave 210 but that shouldnt mean we cant have some success.

I say make the tourneys tougher but leave league alone without league bowling we dont get the juniors coming through that are our future tounement bowlers

 

[RobbieB]

Apologies in advance for the length of this post, but...

Sports evolve. Advances in technology change the way sports are played, even sports like running and swimming. Take running for instance, since it's already been mentioned in this thread. Thanks to the vastly better training facilities, the athletes today are stronger, faster and technically better than in say the 60's. If you took one of the elite sprinters of today and warped him or her back to the 60's, even running in the shoes of that era, they would be competitive at worst and probably dominant. This is because the bar is continually being raised in terms of physical prowess.

What about bowling? Allie Brandt shot 886 in what, 1932? with a 2-hole rubber ball on shellac. That record held, thanks in no small part to the ABC, for over 60 years. Shellac, which basically required accuracy and speed control, gave way to lacquer. Lacquer needed oiling - a more powerful shot could be an advantage, as long as it was not at a great loss of accuracy. Some bowlers of the shellac era never adapted to lacquer, and grumbled about how it used to be. The sport evolved further - first plastic coated and laminated pins and polyester balls, then double voided pins and urethane lane coatings. At each step, some complained about the effect on the sport - the perceived softening of the scoring environment. These higher friction balls and coatings allowed more backend, and the crankers came to prominence. Bowlers like Roth and Holman who were both accurate and could rip the ball were up there with strokers like Anthony. There was still a reasonable balance between power and accuracy. Lanes could still be, and were, walled up, but the conditioning guidelines and limitations of the equipment still kept scoring in check, by todays standards. Urethane balls arrived, and the game went through - and pretty much survived - another revolution.
Come in dynamic cores, resin balls and complete surrender by the governing bodies on lane conditions. Honour scores went through the roof, and are still climbing. At the same time, there are less and less sanctioned bowlers each year.
So, what's the problem? It's just another stage in the evolution of this great sport, right?
20-30 years ago, the difference between a 180 and a 200 average bowler was immense. To average 200 you needed to be very accurate with a reasonably strong ball or be fairly accurate and rip the cover off. Now, there is no balance between power and accuracy. Many house shots allow five board areas, and power is available from the pro shop at $400 a pop. Practise is a foreign concept even for many tournament bowlers. Even all of this would not be a problem except for one thing - a strike is as good as it gets. The sport has an upper limit on scoring, and the higher the scores go, the closer together are the elite and the next level. If I can hit 5 boards at 16 revs, and Joe Bowler hits 3 boards at 16 revs, then Joe should nail me. If the lanes give us both 7 boards to hit, it's a crap shoot. Even worse, if my deep pockets mean I have the latest 6 ball arsenal and Joe has the battered rock he's been throwing for 3 years, it's bye-bye Joe most days.
Anyone who thinks bowlers in general are that much better these days is off with the fairies. The balls are part of it (especially the range available, which has made adjusting your shot a thing of the past), but the single biggest factor is the lane condition ditches served up so that, to quote one bizarre statement in this thread, "Some of us dont have the skill to ave 210 but that shouldnt mean we cant have some success." It's supposed to be a SPORT for gods sake.
Hercules, there is a vast difference between being told what it was like and living through it. You want to know what it was like, ask your friendly centre to lay down 40' of flat oil and go bowl with a white dot on it. Then imagine getting half that much backend, on lacquer. Does wonders for your game.
One last thought, for those who think league shots should be a free-for-all. The level of knowledge of the average league bowler is abysmal. They don't know they are averaging their 170-190-210 on a ditch that gives them 30 start. Then they see or hear about bowlers winning national stops with 2-teen averages, and a lot of them must think "hey, these guys aint that good". They see 240 averages, and get told "yeah, but how easy was that shot". The scoring explosion has diminished the respect of the bowlers for the ability of the elite, and that is possibly the worse thing that can happen to any sport.
There is a difference between bowling well and scoring well. In golf, you can see the hazards - an easy course is an easy course. Golfers don't shoot 75 on a pitch-n-putt and imagine they could do the same at Augusta. In bowling all you see are the scores.
We can't go back. Resin is here to stay, and that in itself need not be a bad thing. But we need to get rid of the ditches, and have centres and conditions rated for a 'par' score. Bring on the sports conditions.

Now, back to our modern runner/swimmer going back to the 70's. Could today's top level of bowlers hit one board and carry with rubber on lacquer? If you don't think that's a fair question because the game has changed too much, try this one - how would Mark Roth, Earl Anthony, Steve Mackie, Batson or John Sullivan go, now, in their prime, with todays' balls?
The conditions dictate the skill level needed. Are we really that much better now, or is it the lanes?

Rob.

 

[strop]

Two quotes..........."The conditions dictate the skill level needed. Are we really that much better now, or is it the lanes? " and " Anyone who thinks bowlers in general are that much better these days is off with the fairies."
Interesting.............Bolwers have never had it so easy in all there life as for today.....with the equipment..........conditions do dictate.....but when your given a 39 board bowling ball to play with ...who cares about the condition.
On also that point unfortunately lane conditions haven't kept up with technology compared to the speed the reactive bowling ball have come.
Unfortunatley times have changed and time moves on..........for good or bad...who know's!!!!
Certainly can't get any worse....surely...
There are alot of good young bowlers around today......who will make bowling there future
There are alot of league bowlers out there with new equipment thinking how easy it is to bowl 200+ who if given a none reactive may do the same or not!!!
Who really cares anyway......do you?

 

[Tiger Bottomley]

Interesting, But

I always find this an interesting subject.

My only concern with the advances in technology with our sport as opposed to advances in others is that ours is one of a very few sports that actually has a ceiling on the maximum number (or in golf minimum) that can be acheived.

Until a 100m runner can perform the task in 0.01 sec then the number can be improved. Until a golfer completes a round in 18 then any score can be improved.

How to fix our dilemma. I believe the answer is simple. As for people saying the balls are ruining the game because they create extra room is basically an absurd statement. I put one at the foul line and it just sat there I still need to do the right things to create that room. Even back in plastic days we still had patterns where there was lots of room. I remember bowling many junior events with blue dots and all you needed to do was look at the gutter and keep it inside and you made the pocket. Whats changed?

The reality is the only things Resin balls allow you to do is carry better which increases the scores.

The solution is another increase in minimum pin weight. It would obviously have to be progressive due to costs but it would correct the advantage the new balls give.

I believe that the balls have improved, the oiling quality and technology has improved but the other variable the pins have stayed stagnent. Correct this and were back to where we started many years ago.

 

[AdrianS]

Heres my idea for stopping the 'vicious circle' of stronger ball/more oil/another stronger ball/even more oil etc.... The rules say a minimum of 5 units of oil on the lane. How 'bout we up that minimum to 10 and make a maximum(yes MAXIMUM!)) 40(maybe 50 units) anywhere on the lane. Active epuipment would trash this shot in the track area in no time obviously so bye bye to the active ball surface. These things are damaging the lanes like the 30-50 hardness soaker balls from the tour in the 70's, they got banned, so can these(some of the low load ones might be OK, you'd have to set a limit on particle density in the shell somehow). With a maximum of 40 units you would have a 4:1 ratio at most from the middle to the outside of the lane. If you want to make the lane a little tighter like some of the shots now, just oil to 45 feet. Matching the ball to the condition would still be important just like it is now. We would just need stuff no stronger than the good midrange stuff now or the strong stuff of 3 -6 yrs ago(when the technology had gone as far as it should have) and remember theres no rule against breaking out some urethane either(throw a black SUMO and tell me that isn't still one hell of a ball) And another rule that could come in is one suggested in the US a few yrs ago. Limit all drillings to having the grip centre within 2 inches of the centre of gravity and eliminate balance holes(and throw the static weight rules out while you're at it too!)

 

[Dozza]

Bowlers need to act as athletes.


I appreciate everyones point of view that the technical aspect of bowling is seriously altering the game but I also have a point of view.
After recently attending the ECCC as a spectator (and mother of a jnr player) I was left feeling lost watching players representing their states visiting the bar and drinking alcohol after each event. This happened amongst not only the adults but also the youth. Now I've been reading the forum for a while and people complain about lack of sponsorship and the fact that the general public treat bowling purely as a recreation. Now I see why. I dearly hope that my son NEVER takes on any of these habits while he bowls because this is NOT how athletes behave. You may be having a chuckle while you read this but some kids may never be good at any other sport but for bowling and they deserve the right to be treated seriously. Ok ECCC has traditions but just because this substance is legal doesn't make it right. My point is that alcohol should not be consumed by athletes while playing. When bowlers begin to act like athletes then they may also be treated as athletes.
This is just how I see it so if you need to respond make it positive please.