Bowling Philosophy-September 2013

Pete Weber, Photo by Storm Products.

"Intellectual Property"
By Thomas Scherrer

    If you're an ardent fan of the sport of bowling, I strongly recommend reading Jeff Richgels' blog for personal consumption with this disclaimer from me: Jeff Richgels is a superior writer compared to me when it comes to bowling.  Forget the bowling comparisons-it's a figurative wet t-shirt contest where I'm an Olsen twin and Richgels is Christina Hendricks, but trust me, Richgels knows the inner and outer workings of the sport.  Some of it is an acquisition of years of bowling, cultivating friendships, and pure logic.  The bowling hotbed that is Wisconsin gives its top players a greater stance regarding bowling issues both locally and regionally, as well as national issues regarding the PBA and the USBC.  They speak, you best listen first, then formulate either a supportive narrative or a critique.

     Imagine this for a moment: imagine Richgels supporting a stance of an iconic player's take regarding the recent turnouts of what we can term a dual regional in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  This dual regional consisted of a PBA Regional event and a PBA50 Regional, with a special Baker tournament for the qualifiers.  Imagine if a well-respected bowler and sponsor decided to drum up the dual regional by adding money to the prize fund, because, after all, if you know bowling and especially bowlers, they openly gripe about how bowling tournaments are not profitable.  Now imagine that for the standard regional event, there were 28 bowlers and for the senior event there were 38 entrants, with a combined 48 PBA members attending.  Imagine that???  Forty-eight??? Is that bad???  It's not good!!!  Factor all this in, could you even imagine a scenario where there was a competing team tournament in the Midwest region occurring the same weekend, therefore taking away some PBA members?  Imagine that iconic player's stance?  Would it be dismissive of fellow members or of the competing tournament to run up against the Professional Bowlers Association?  Would it be both?  Would it be a diatribe with the CAPS LOCK on?

     Imagine no longer because it did happen and Pete Weber offered the retort (you can guess which stance he took, right?).  Without repeating everything on Richgels' blog so you can, you know, read some of his stuff and bow to his remarkable bowling career, let's get to some key points Weber was making on his Facebook page.  Weber was "disappointed by YOU" (PBA members) and staked that PBA members "1st PRIORITY should be to the PBA.  If you are not going to support the PBA, then why are you members?  Is it to be a part of something great?  Or is it just to say you have a PBA card?  Who do you think you are...?  I am!!!"  Okay, I made the last part up, but you got the gist of what Weber was getting at.

     In Weber, you have a PBA member since he was 1979.  This is truly the embodiment of the PBA. Weber has been a member for 34 years.  He has given 2/3rds of his life to this organization that oversees the elite bowling talent in the world.  Weber has earned just under $3.7 million in his career, with 37 titles and has a share of the modern PBA record for majors with 10.  He has gone through all the changes bowling has had to offer, from lane surfaces, bowling balls, formats, regimes, television and its purpose for the PBA, and lane oil becoming an intricate part of the game.  He has been suspended by the PBA on several occasions for basically being an ass to himself, fans, media, and officials alike, yet never left the PBA.  Maybe because there was no other place to go-after all, is not like Weber was a professional wrestler in the old territory days where if say, Weber wrote out his welcome in the old-WWWF, he could have gone to some regional outfit like Mid-South or World Class.  Maybe because there was nothing else for Weber to do.  He is after all, the son of the late Dick Weber-bowling was simply in his DNA, with no way of it being extracted Dom Cobb-style out of his blood.  Maybe...the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but I digress.

     Back to Richgels...himself a PBA member (like Weber), as well as a member of Storm Bowling (also like Weber), and a USBC Hall of Famer (again, similar to Weber) agreed with the sentiments of Weber during the end of his blog saying that "If PBA members want good tournaments with sponsors, they must support them...This is about the choices of the bowlers and it happens numerous weekends with numerous Regionals and other tournaments".

     Yes, choices.  That very choice most bowlers are usually placed into.  What to bowl...where to bowl...lather, rinse, repeat.  Allow me to play the contrarian here and argue that in today's world of bowling, if you carry a PBA card you are known as a person in support of the organization and its movement toward growing the sport of bowling...and not what you ought to be: an independent contractor working in a commission sales based sport, meaning your talent and subsequent performance is what allows you to make a living.  You, the bowling individual are the one backing yourself and investing your money back into the sport to bowl, virtually free of sponsorship, backers, or bowling ball companies...well, unless you're Australian.  Again, choices.  Yes, being a PBA member is a badge of honor amongst many in the industry: a sign that you are willing to make the sacrifice and the dedication to supporting the sport at its highest and most visible level.  While that might have been the case 20 years ago, hell, even 10 years ago...the ability to get noticed in bowling without the PBA is higher now than it has since the days of team bowling.  As much as I respect both Richgels and Weber for their bowling accomplishments as PBA members, I look at them as bowlers first, PBA members second and that is why as much as Weber 's venom might be justifiable, a bowler's first priority, no matter if he or she carries a card from the PBA, is to put themselves in the best position to succeed, both short and long term.

     Such as perhaps being prepared for the proliferation of a full-blown PBA League in the near future?

     Which leads us to the competing tournament, rather the competing team tournament held in Springfield, Illinois.  Former PBA champion Jeff Carter and Land of Lincoln Tournaments hosted the second Mary Teubner Memorial Team Tournament on the weekend of September 6th-8th (Friday-Sunday).  The tournament has been a massive fundraiser for the BOWLSTRONG fund, honoring the late Teubner as Carter discussed recently on Above180.com.  A closer look at the team event does feature several noticeable names such as PBA stars Tommy Jones and Bill O'Neill, as well as lesser known, yet recognizable names such as Jesse Buss, John Szcerbinski, Anthony LaCaze, and Steve Harman.  Not to mention former Tournament of Champions winner George Branham III also bowling on a team finishing high in the standings.  The point is that this tournament has become a big deal for pros to attend and be part of a legitimately good cause in the bowling community.  This was also a tournament Weber himself participated in last year, adding further credibility to what Carter-ironically a person Weber has a good relationship, and similar to both Weber and Richgels, are Storm staff members-is attempting to accomplish.  One could reasonably argue that Weber is simply defending the PBA and its events by making a candid statement about what a member of the PBA ought to do.  One could also argue that Weber should keep quiet, citing his participation in last year's fundraising event as an example that he is simply picking his spot to lash out at the membership of local PBA players for not attending a PBA Regional...with added money, no less on the same weekend Carter's event-also ironically sponsored by Storm Bowling.

     Weber found it disrespectful; Richgels found it strange, given the extra money...the question that should be asked from all this is why?  Perhaps this simplest of answers is that in this fecundity of bowlers obtaining ball contracts that money from a sponsor is not as important as sponsorship from a bowling ball company to attract bowlers.  Perhaps a further explanation is needed: if you were a quality bowler, regardless of being an amateur or PBA member, and you were without a ball contact, which tournament are you more likely to attend?  The PBA Regional that has a few extra dollars tossed into its prize fund or the team tournament-perhaps a preview of what professional bowling might become-with the banner being sponsored by what many consider the preeminent bowling company in the world?  Again, this comes down to what a bowler really is at the current time: an independent contractor with free will to bowl in whatever they so choose.  It also stands to reason that in today's era of bowling, you are dependent not just on your talent but what brand it says on your shirt.  I've been using Storm as an example, given the names involved, which is coincidental, but this goes for the other major bowling ball companies-Ebonite and Brunswick to name the more prominent companies.

     A few days ago while this was all going down, I was being texted by my friend Eric Frost regarding bowling balls and why Storm is the best ball company in the sport and ostensibly, why the others are running behind?  Frosty got into the whole symmetrical/asymmetrical core debate saying due to measures that were implemented 20 years ago with symmetrical cores and being accurate, that drilling an asymmetrical core with symmetrical measures makes the degree of difficulty as to making it work right is extremely difficult.  All valid and cogent, but that premise works for lesser bowlers.  Elite, tournament players are usually consulting ball drillers who are held in the highest esteem with in the industry.  Let's use logic (and defy brand names) for a moment and say that if Matt O'Grady was looking into a layout for a specific ball and had both Lee Sandt and Mo Pinel at his disposal; he'll certainly consult Sandt, but he'd be foolish if he didn't consult Pinel.  So, if any top tier player has a new piece in their hands and it was asymmetrical, they will find a trustworthy suggestion on layouts.  Your local league bowler probably will have a harder time.

     As I listened to Frosty's take, I simply asked him that if he felt with the absurdity of many people obtaining ball contracts that it might actually hurt the sport, with my argument being that instead of the bowlers being the main draw it is actually the bowling ball companies that are truly the stars of bowling.  When he responded, he countered that without them, there would be no bowling from a competitive standpoint.  He based it off of product registration/exclusion and the simple branding of major events, such as the recent USBC Queens presented by Storm for example.  As a simple matter of fact, he's completely right...and that is completely sad.

     And that is one of the many reasons the sport of bowling is searching for answers as to how to reclaim some of its lost luster.  Instead of it being about the talent, it is about how fast the talent can get to the truck to remain relevant-this despite being the very best at what they do.  Sadly, Mr. Baer's attempt to sponsor a PBA Regional tournament is a friendly reminder that we live in a far more corporate and global society.  After all, the New England Bowlers Association (NEBA) had to scramble for another bowling ball company to be a sponsor for their tournaments this season, after Ebonite International withdrew their sponsorship from only, you know, the longest monthly scratch bowling tournament in the United States.  Even Ebonite looked at NEBA's half-century run of bowling and pulled out because they didn't deem it profitable anymore.  Period (Brunswick and its sister companies, DV8 and Radical eventually signed on for the current season).  And that is the issue at stake: profitability.  Storm saw profitability, exposure, and-malevolent or not-a sense of duty to help sponsor one of its own in Jeff Carter and the Mary Teubner Memorial Team Tournament.  The PBA simply hosted a competing regional with some extra cash added to it.  Isolation, apathy, and desperation.

     In closing, Richgels left his readers pondering this thought during the recap on the Council Bluffs bunch regional event: "it's a shame-and hard to understand-how a tournament can put up $13,000 in sponsorship money for a weekend of competition and not draw a big field".  He went on to finish that blog by saying hopefully the ban restricting what type of bowling shoes can be worn during PBA Regional and PBA50 events would help bolster entries.  You might be wondering what shoes the PBA were allowing only for their events.  The obvious first brand was Dexter; the other was made by Dexter, yet are branded by another name: Storm. Or, "The Bowler's Company".

     Hard to understand for a Hall of Fame bowler?  Imagine what the common bowler must think.




     For those with a love and knowledge for the Sport of Bowling...this IS Bowling Philosophy.  Namaste.

©2013 8th Floor Poet


     

Bowling Philosophy-July 2012

The Real Worst Day in Bowling
By Thomas Scherrer

My brethren that I have spoken with in the aftermath of the 2012 US Women's Open final in Reno was one of common agreement: not the worst thing I've ever seen...not as bad as everyone made it out to be...stuff happens-deal with it.  And you know what? I agree.  The reason?  I have seen worse.  I have seen greater farces in bowling televised history.  I hated to blog right after such a controversial event because the more controversy, the more likely one is to bandy themselves in a knee-jerk reaction that may come back to bite them in the ass.  With that being said, I waited, waited, and waited some more and after the warming, what rose from the ashes was this: many called it a farce.  One notable example came from noted reader Steve's Bowling Blog.


Appropriate responses by two of the finalists-Shannon O'Keefe and Stefanie Nation-followed saying that it was a privilege to bowl.  Privileges aside, what the 5 women did on that blustery evening in Reno was handle it very, very well.  They saw the dust accumulation as well as feel the gusts on wind and knew that they were truly in for a brand new ballgame, and shockingly it seems to most, they acted accordingly.  Changing up from reactive resin to polyester bowling balls in an attempt to at least temper what they were seeing, the ladies held their own again Mother Nature and, perhaps, poor decision making by the BPAA.  So what?  We've seen dumber concepts by organizations in their attempt to promote their sporting event, so did some gusts and sand devalue what I saw?  Nope.  Anyone who has ever bowled...say...the Petersen Classic in Chicago would tell you so.  Yet, thousands of people bowl it.  There is $20,000 to the winner and most of the time, averaging 190 will get you to the big pay window.  Of course, the only stated objection is that anyone who bowls "The Pete" knows exactly what they are getting themselves in for.  Duly noted.  But two questions remain that would have been excellent to have seen that night.  First, how would the guys have done given the exact same circumstance and second, how would a left-handed bowler handled it?  


My responses: first, the guys would have handled is miserably.  Why?  Because us men are idiots.  We are macho, pigheaded, stubborn, and above all else, macho again.  All the guys would have stood way left, flung it right, and hoped that resin would be the trick.  Would that have worked?  I'm guessing no because of the wind mostly.  Any gust would have pushed the ball to the left immediately and created even more overall hook, further providing mayhem for the XY gender.  The ladies conceded that resin wasn't working with the environment and went to polyester as a means to at least save themselves from missing the headpin left.  Secondly, for a left handed bowler, I would have argued either way but given the fact that they knew the wind was pushing everything left and the sand was creating early friction, they might have checked down to more skid-snappy equipment or may have gone in the other direction with heavily sanded equipment to counteract the wind pushing the ball away from the pocket.  Sadly, we did not get to see the likes of a Shannon Pluhowsky bowl because, after all, nobody wants to see a lady with short cropped hair, no makeup or earrings, or a hint of a smile who happens to be the second best female player on the planet and gives you a world class performance every time she bowls without saying much at all.  (Crap...that was supposed to be edited by the USBC or BPAA for quality assurance, lucky for me, they forgot to proofread that last line).


Now...as for convoluted arguments that have bearing, I'll make this short and simple.  The worst telecast of all time was certainly not the 2012 US Women's Open or the 2011 US Women's Open (the one where Kelly Kulick leads by 500 pins, then has to bowl at Cowboys Stadium only to lose to Leanne Hulsenberg who made shooting a 10 look like Bobby Parnell in the late innings of a Met game.  Let's agree and say the bowling gods gave her this one back), or any PBA telecast from the late 1980's.  For those with any semblance of history, the late 80's telecasts were low scoring due to the affect the brand new TV lights had on oil patterns.  Go back and watch the '88 Showboat and witness Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli.  One of the great pure power players of all time and one of the 3 greatest athletes to ever bowl, resorted to a straight ball and relied on high pincount and spares to win the tournament.  A true testament to his legendary career.

If you know me well, I'm going someplace dark.  I'm going someplace desolate.  I'm going someplace some relive as historic.  April 6, 1996.  Erie, Pennsylvania.  The Day Bowling Died.  If you have ever watched the arena finals of the 1996 Flagship Open, you witnessed either the single greatest bowling performance in history or the single greatest debauchery of bowling in history.  On the telecast, Erie native Bob Learn Jr. fired the 10th televised perfect game in PBA history over the man who shot the 9th in HOFer Johnny Petraglia (worth noting, Rags shot his perfecto in the 1994 PBA National Championship-a major).  Petraglia shot 279 in defeat.  Learn would then go on to beat his next 3 challengers (John Mazza, Parker Bohn III, and Randy Pedersen) with games of 270, 280, and a clinching 279.  Mazza shot 268 and lost.  Bohn lost 280-279, but was royally screwed with Learn whiffed a 10 pin due to fan distraction.  In a sport where you are usually surrounded by one of the loudest noises in all of sports, which is bowling balls hitting pins, the "distraction rule" is bogus (go ask Cara Honeychurch about noise in a tournament) and allowed Learn to sneak out a win.  It should be noted that Learn did strike out in the 10th against Bohn to take the match, but had the missed 10 pin stood up, he would have lost.  Let's just say Bohn was robbed by home cooking to really lather up the Bob Learn Fan Club.  Pedersen only shot 257, which was only 17 pins higher than his 42 game average but whatever, Pedersen was a hack as a bowler.  Wait, he's a Hall of Famer?  Mazza was one of the more underrated players of the 90's?  Bohn and Petraglia are only two of the 5 greatest lefties ever?  Is Learn also a Hall of Famer.  The answers are yes, yes, yes, and not just no...hell, no.  

For the day, the 5 bowlers averaged 276.50 while Learn averaged 282.25.  His 3 game series of 850 and 4 game series of 1,129 on TV broke the previous records of 812 and 1,070, set by Jim Stefanich and David Ozio (two more HOFers), which brings us to this endnote for me: I watched the '96 Flagship Open on tape.  I watched one man defeat 3 Hall of Fame players and break the records of 2 more.  Learn has 5 titles and a US Open on his resume.  He is a well-respected USBC Certified Coach and was the runner-up to Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the 1996 Player of the Year race, so his peers deemed that one day and his season worthy of bowling's highest annual honor (or it might be that some players wanted to stick it to that ninny, Walter Ray which should be reason #138 why we need to blow up the POY award).  This is by no means a dump on Learn's career, but he was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, got a favorable decision in the middle of a game, bowled on unquestionably, the softest PBA condition ever laid out on television, and for worse, established the worst possible paradigm for bowling that the sport is still paying for over 16 years later.  

Since the Flagship Open was considered a big time PBA event in 1996, I'm pretty sure a lot of bowling center managers and proprietors were tuning in and bore witness to the outrageous scoring pace of the PBA stars and the light went off: maybe we can do this to attract higher scores and more bowlers.  So let it be written and let it be done, as it says in the Old Testament.  All we see now are outrageous scores and unrealistic averages being put up year in and year out, but we've also seen more bowlers leave as a result of it.  While we cannot fully blame what happened that fateful day to today's bowling environment, the seeds may have been planted that day for the road we have traveled on.  Coupled with the past generation of the PBA being dropped by ABC, failing on CBS, surviving on ESPN, thriving on Tuesday nights, struggling on Sunday afternoons, taped shows, cutesy highlight packages, dwindling membership, lackluster prize funds, and an overall lack of national exposure or respect, we do have a starting point.  Was the 2012 Women's US Open the worst telecast in bowling history?  Not even close.  In fact, check back with me in another 15 years.  It might have been the greatest telecast in bowling history.

For those with a love and knowledge for the Sport of Bowling...this IS Bowling Philosophy.  Namaste.