What Happened?

To Know Where We Are, We Have To Know Where We’ve Been

THE VISION:

In 1958 when Eddie Elias gave birth to the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), he didn’t realize how much a bowling ‘Tour’ would actually change the game.  How could he possibly know?  At that time, most of the top players were on sponsored teams that bowled in leagues, an occasional exhibition or two, and match games.  All he wanted to do was to create an avenue for the better bowlers to have an opportunity to make a living.  He honestly felt that this idea was going to showcase bowling right up ‘there’ with all of the rest of the major sports.  He had seen that golf was on its way with a ‘Tour’, and the possibilities were endless for the bowlers in yet another individual sport.  He would make sure that bowling would be on national television and the whole world would (and could) embrace the sport.  This was a great idea, right?  Well, it worked for a while until the sport became “ill”.

THE COMPARISON:

Prior to the golf ‘Tour’, those top golfers also had team-matches and exhibitions. But, golf is different in many ways.  A lot different.  Why didn’t golf get “ill”?  Why didn’t “this” happen to golf?  It didn’t happen to golf because of “styles” and “conditions”.  There are accepted ways of playing the game of golf, as there are in bowling.  However, the “conditions” are totally different in each game.  The main difference is that golf (for the most part) is played in the “air”, whereas bowling is a game played on a surface; therefore, bowling is a game of “friction”.

THE CHANGE:

Perhaps the BIGGEST change that occurred in bowling (an obvious one) was taking a sport that was “team-oriented” to one that was now singles, in nature.  This was perhaps to be the start of a social adjustment that the bowlers would have to make.  In many ways, it never has.  This “SOCIAL” problem is one that still, to this day, plagues our sport.

Almost immediately upon starting the Tour, bowlers began complaining about one “squad” or another having an advantage.  Sometimes the lane condition would favor those who bowled “early”, and other times it would favor those who bowled “late”.  The administrators listened and felt that if the bowlers would alternate squads from tournament-to-tournament, it would rectify this problem.  This was possibly the first major “band-aid” that was applied to the Tour.

Actually, the sport has two (2) main problems, those being: “Technical” and “Social”.  The “Technical” problems are those which deal with: lane-conditioning, bowling balls, pins, lane surfaces, formats, and those things that you can actually see.  The “Social” problems are the most damaging, as they are the ones that you can’t actually see – like an invisible disease that can and will kill, if gone untreated.

TECHNICAL:

Technical problems occur in all sports.  Rules are often adopted in an attempt to maintain “level” playing fields in all successful sports.  Every sport must maintain a balance to keep the competition fair.  Some examples of this are:  A). Baseball: pitchers cannot throw an altered ball, and aluminum bats are outlawed on the Major League level.  B). Basketball: under the basket (the “key”) has been expanded to keep the BIG man out of “that” area so that size will not be the determining factor of domination, and a 3-point shot has been added to benefit accuracy in an attempt to allow the LITTLE guys an opportunity to compete.  C). Football: ALL rules are reviewed yearly in order to maintain a balance between offense and defense, and the “kicking” game is constantly altered so that kickers (who have improved their technique) will not dominate the action.  D). Hockey: strict rules have recently been adopted against the defensemen to allow the “skill” players to skate more freely in an attempt to create more offense and enhance scoring, and the actual size of the rink has been expanded (more room behind the net) to help create more offense.  I could go on and on about the changes in other sports regarding the technical aspects.

In bowling, there have been tremendous advancements in this “technical” area.  However, the “social” problems have become so great, that often (too often), they become intermingled with each other and complaints about conditions occur when not warranted.  In most cases today, it is almost impossible to know (based on bowler comments) if the lane conditions were fair or not.

SOCIAL:

The real “social” problems with bowling surely began with the inception of the Tour.  Looking back, it is easy to recognize just “how” this could happen.  The Tour consisted of all of the top-players from around the country.  Each PBA Member was undoubtedly the best player in his respective city.  Some of these players were used to bowling in a “dungeon” or “brickyard”.  Those players liked the lanes to be tough and low-scoring.  Other players came from bowling centers that were well maintained and the scoring paces (there) were relatively high.  Some came from houses where the shot was “outside”, while others were used to playing “inside”.  This difference in the mind-set of the players was huge.  As time went by, some players would politic for their particular shot.  At one time, players were applauded for their performances.  Suddenly, (especially in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s) players demanded their “shot”.  The “squad” problem was probably the start of it.  Then it became a “righty-lefty” problem.  Then it became a “straight player-hook ball player” problem.  Then it became a “high score-low score” problem.  Next, it was an “angle” problem with some wanting the shot to be “outside”, while others hoping for an “inside” shot.  Then, the players wanted “multiple” angles.  All of this has gone on far too long.  It’s completely out-of-hand.  A change is needed.  A cure is needed, or the patient will die.

THE FOUNDATION:

The Foundation has been actively (and publicly) pursuing a cure for this disease for a long time.  We have tried every conceivable and reasonable anecdote.  A BIG change is long overdue.  The Foundation “Games” are most likely the answer.  Will it be a new “format”?  Maybe.  Should it be multiple lane conditions?  Possibly.  Should it be more versatility demanded from the players?  Probably.  We need YOUR help.  Stay tuned.