HBO SPECIAL REPORT!

I love movies and I love HBO but after watching the February 19, 2003 presentation of Real Sports, I have a new found disrespect for the media. In many of my articles I have compared the New PBA to the World Wrestling Entertainment. I watched the in horror as HBO did the same thing and called it an "act" and then Pete Webber embarrassed himself and his family. I am all for the showmanship and I am certainly for boosting ratings and the interest of our sport. If I did not care I would not take the time I do t owrite my articles, but HBO and Pete Webber made a mockery of himself, his antics, and the bowlers of today.

Let me start by telling a little bit about the show. Real Sports is a show produced by HBO Sports that tells the inside of controversies and human-interest stories. It is hosted by Bryant Gumbel and the reporter on the PBA was Bernard Goldberg. I have copied a synopsis from the HBO web site about the show:

The New PBA

By the mid-1970s, the Professional Bowlers Association was at the peak of its popularity, with a successful network TV contract and millions of viewers every Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, the only place to go was downhill. Archaic in approach and uninspired in vision, the PBA made no effort to attract a new generation of fans. By the late '90s, pro bowling was no longer a blip on the radar screen of the general sports fan. In 2000, three former Microsoft execs endeavored to change that, buying the PBA for $5 million and rolling the old structure into the gutter. Today's PBA has a new logo, a new cable TV contract, and more appealing stars, like Pete Weber, whose brash personality and penchant for trash-talk have made him a cult hero. Correspondent Bernard Goldberg provides a glimpse at the development of the new PBA.

Normally, I watch anything about bowling and if I know it is going to be making fun of the sport, I watch with a great deal of interest to see just how bad the media is trying to make us look. This however looked like it was going to be a serious look at the PBA overcoming its past problems and developing the "Attitude" of the WWE. Basically, I was watching to see how much of what I have said for the past three years showed up on television. The segment started with the scene in the movie "Kingpin" when Ishmael (Randy Quaid) tells Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) "Its kind of intimidating to be in the presence of great athletes." I, like most of America, thought the movie was funny, but this should not have been the intro to a story that was supposed to be focusing on the "New PBA". The segment started with a negative tone, and did not get much better. There were highlights of Pete Webber showing off during a telecast and Danny Wiseman, Robert Smith, Bryan Voss and Walter Ray Williams Jr. They compared the "in your face" attitude to that of the NBA, but said it was mild by comparison. They asked what would be too much? Would one bowler getting angry at another bowler and throwing him down the lanes? They asked the PBA official would it be encouraged? The man said he would never suggest it, but he also said it would not be discouraged. It was the same thing I have said; they want heroes and villains. PDW is the antagonist, as we all know, but no one has stood up to the "Bully" yet. The day Webber screamed "He is not gonna get his first one against me" should have been the day his opponent stood up, got right into his face and said, "I might not beat you today, but next time we go, I am gonna kick your ass!" Now that would have built ratings, but alas the opponent sat there like a stump. Not exactly what the PBA was going for. But I digress, back to our regularly scheduled program, HBO Real Sports.

HBO continued by showing the National Bowling Stadium and showed some of the tournament going on inside. Then they showed the bowlers coming down the red carpet and said, "These guys look like regular insurance salesmen." What HBO did not do was their research, to which I have sent emails pointing out their ignorance. The tournament they were showing was the ABC Masters, not a PBA tournament, and anyone, including insurance salesmen, can bowl if they pay their money. They asked if bowling was a sport and then quoted an ignorant sports writer who said, "Anything you get better at the drunker you get can not be a sport". They did say to most bowlers that is as funny as dropping a ball on the foot, in defense of the bowlers.

HBO then goes back to our poster child for the "New PBA" PDW. Pete says some very dumb things on the air such as "If I did not have bowling, I would probably be picking my nose." When they asked Pete what was too much, he said probably throw a bad shot and then shooting the bird at the pins, which he chose to demonstrate. Pete says he did not go to college and that he didn't even graduate high school. The only thing that Webber said of any substance was that anyone who did not think bowling was a sport to come out and bowl nine games one day and then come back and do it the next day and see if you think it is a sport. Pete Weber could have done a great service to the PBA by saying "Bowling is a sport and we will do whatever it takes to make you watch us, whether it be WWE or NBA Attitude, you just never know what is going to happen. Making yourself look like a complete moron on International TV is not what the PBA had in mind. All of this however fails in comparison to the one on discussion of Mr. Goldberg and Mr. Gumbel regarding the segment. These two respected journalists sat in a studio and said that bowling was mostly made up of blue collar workers and this was class warfare. At that point, I understood why Elvis Presley shot the TV each time Robert Goulet was on it. I could not believe it. First of all they were saying the PBA was trying to change to demographic of its audience, now they say it is class warfare.

I encourage everyone to watch the segment and then go to the HBO Website and send them an email telling them just what you think about it. Irresponsible journalism should not be broadcast and HBO owes an apology to the members of the ABC, WIBC, and the YABA. Bowling is not just the PBA, just as golf is not just the PGA. Bowling is a sport played by millions of people around the world, from many diverse backgrounds, not just blue collar workers as the segment suggested. As I said earlier, I have sent numerous emails to HBO about the inaccuracies in their report, and I have told about just one league that I know of where there are numerous managers, former professional athletes, and astronauts bowling every week. I expect a response from HBO regarding this either on the air or via email. As they say in television…Stay Tuned. I know I will be.

Don is a Birmingham bowler.  If you have any story suggestions, please submit to Don at dchammer@charter.net