Magic City Memoir

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Observations and Irritations
October 2006

Somebody call 911 our sport is in a state of Emergency!!

Now that I have you attention, let me start by saying hello from the cluttered desk of one very tired Mortgage Broker. I wanted to get your attention and I hope I did but I am also very serious about the state of the sport. In more the past 2 months there have been 3 separate tournaments that generated very little interest and in turn very little entries.

Here is the crazy, sad, pathetic, irritating and confusing part. On the day of the weekend of the first tournament the Birmingham/Chattanooga Challenge was help on Saturday, and Vestavia Bowl was packed 5-6 bowlers on a lane from lane 7-32. On the following Sunday there was a Doubles Tournament and the big question: Where were the entries; better question, why would you not hold the Doubles Tournament during the Challenge when people were already bowling. You were running 30+ brackets and had people willing to put the money up. The high game pot was paying over $150.00. This was a missed opportunity by the TNBA to blow out the entries and hopefully in the future the doubles tournament can coincide with the Challenge. To paraphrase Field of Dreams “If you hold it they will come.” Iin Birmingham, that is not always the case. Starlight Bowling Club holds a tournament also at Vestavia and guarantees $3,000, and again not very many entries. Finally, the last two weekends there was a Trio Tournament also held by the TNBA and they only had enough entries to pay 3 places (1 in 10)? The only common thread in the each of the tournaments other than being handicap was they were all held at Vestavia. So is that the problem? If it is, why is it? Keith Henderson is and always has been a friend to the bowlers and unlike some bowling centers tries to his best when running a tournament or league to control where the open bowlers are placed. Yes Keith is trying to make all the money he can for his center, but not at jeopardizing credibility and competitiveness of a tournament or league. I was bowling in the trio tournament on Saturday and I saw Keith walk to where there was some open bowlers having a birthday party and he let them know that we were bowling for quite a bit of money. I heard the ladies thank him for letting them know and they would do their best not to interfere. That was above and beyond what some mangers would do. Believe me I know I have been bowling in a tournament before and the center have 40 lanes 8 of them full of tournament bowlers and no other lanes occupied and the center placed them one pair over from the tournament. I asked management why they would do that, I was told they didn’t see a problem with that. Perhaps that’s one reason she isn’t a manager anymore.

So what other reasons could there be? Is it because Kurry Crayton has been bowling over and above most everyone in the center? Is it because there is a really good left-handed shot and right-handed shot? I used the recent tournaments at Vestavia as my first examples but it’s not the only center where the lack of participation is alarming. Riverview held a Scratch Sweeper the day after the Stepladder Member’s Only Tournament and there were very few local entries. In fact the ones from Birmingham were: Kurry, John David Turner, Mike Reeves, Cameron Self, Chris Baker and me (I apologize if I left anyone out). Louie was there but he injured his back and was unable to bowl. Where were the bowlers, the management at Riverview asked me a good question: What is the point of being an All-City Bowler and NOT BOWLING! I agree what is the point? Now granted I know Alan Bearden was exhausted and Chuck Maher was out of town, but you have all these bowlers with 200+ averages and they WILL NOT SUPPORT a local tournament. I really don’t understand.

The Stepladder gave a print out of last years participation and Lightning Strike had over 150 entries, 2 weeks ago there were 83? Why? Is because we have finally started enforcing re-rate rules or is it that our sport as we know is dying? Based on many different factors I believe it is the latter, and everyone holding a USBC card is dressed as the Grim Reaper and Halloween is a still few weeks away. This is not just a local problem it’s everywhere, but we are a perfect example. The PBA has announced it is reducing the prize fund because its losing money and the ratings were down from the previous year. Walter Ray Williams Jr. breaks Earl Anthony’s record in Japan with 42 titles, Kelly Kullick will be the first exempt female bowler in the history of the PBA. This should get same notoriety as Danica Patrick in Indy Car racing but does it? Will it bring our sport back into the mainstream? There is something wrong when you have to have a gimmick such as Cosmic Bowling to get people out to bowl. Will you join a league is we make it a Cosmic League? How about a Cosmic Tournament? I know lets put black lights up and for the PBA and make them use glow in the dark plastic balls on 43 feet of oil. The scores would suck but it sure would be colorful!

Has the sport lost credibility because it’s become too easy? You can now buy a 200 average with a shred of ability and $200.00. I remember years ago when a 300 game was a monumental accomplishment, but now these days it’s a weekly occurrence in most of the bigger leagues. We have a local bowler averaging 247 on one league. It has gotten to the point where people don’t ask were there any big scores. These days you get asked who shot 800? On Wednesday nights there used to be 20-30 brackets, now you are lucky if there are 4-8. The sad thing about that is the league is bigger. Its frustrating, extremely frustrating, but even worse it’s got to be frustrating to bowling center managers. If people aren’t averaging 200+ they get mad and why because they paid $200.00 for that 200 average and they want to feel good about themselves, not that they will ever go to any tournaments, but they can tell all their coworkers they are 200 average bowlers and if they had the time they could bowl just as well as Tommy Jones and Norm Duke. Let me let you in on something those of us who do go to tournaments already know. If Tommy and Norm bowled on the “house shot” we do they would be averaging 250-260. So what can the center managers do? Better question, what the governing body do to bring back the bowlers to the sport. Is it to mandate Sport Bowling and do away with the easy conditions we play on? Is it to restrict the manufacturers to what they use to make a bowling ball? Something has to be done and it has to be done soon or not only will the sport have lost all credibility, the sport will have lost its bowlers.. We have already seen the demise of the LPBT and if something isn’t done and quick we will soon see the demise of the PBA, and League of Ordinary Gentlemen will become the League of Pro Shop Owners. The Mega-Tournament prize funds have dropped the Super Hoinke has dropped dramatically from $100,000 to $30,000 this November. Why? What is happening to our sport? Something has to done and soon or the world of bowling as we know it will cease to exist. The answers are within the bowling community, the answers are within us. Support your local tournaments, support the state tournaments and regional tournaments and thank the people who run them for us, a bad bowling beats a good day at the office and money won is twice as sweet as money earned..

Until next time…If I need to say anything else you obviously missed my point.

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

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