The Cornerstone
The Foundation Newsletter
Volume 10, Issue 10 October 2007
"The crisis is upon us, friends. Our sport is in trouble. Many of you, that love the game as we do, will look at the crisis like a friend who is in trouble and needs our help. We must not shrink from the task before us, we should welcome it. It is 'our' generation that has been called to the challenge. If not now, when? If not us, who?"
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Letter from the Editor
Team USA
Over the past couple of years I have really started to watch Team USA more closely. It is probably because I have had some friends try to earn places on the team. As I have watched, I have come to realize that, as in many aspects of bowling, there seems to be political infection that perhaps clouds judgment and prevents the leaders from doing the right or best thing for not only the current team but for the future of the team and the Team USA program.
As you may know, for the 2007 Team USA season, there were some changes made to the Team USA program. First and most notably, instead of having only eight players on the Team, there are now 12 players. The goal behind this was, to my understanding, to be able to cultivate new talent to further the development of the team for the future. In essence, this change was supposed to give some of the newer bowlers an opportunity to “grow into” the team as some of the seasoned veterans begin to retire.
This all sounds well and good but when I look at it; I see this as a problem. Let’s look at the Team USA ladies for example. They only competed in two tournaments this year and one of those tournaments only allowed two representatives. The second and of course most recent was the Women’s World Championships where we sent essentially the same team that fell short of the gold medal two years ago. Where in that equation are the new people getting “opportunities”. Let’s see; they went to training camp in Colorado (which I am sure is a great experience) but that is it. They didn’t even get the opportunity to compete in the Tournament of the Americas because USBC did not send an official delegation to the tournament; a tournament which is in our own country. Knowing that all of the women did not compete at the USBC Women’s Open, wouldn’t this have been an excellent time to allow some of those “newbies” to gain a little international experience?
Of course I am an outsider looking in, but it just really seems that this change was a little counter intuitive not to mention a bit disheartening for those women who want to gain experience to grow into the program but won’t have the opportunity if they never get to bowl.
DORNBERGER ELECTED WTBA PRESIDENT
CONGRESS VOTES TO ALLOW PROS
August 30, 2007. Monterrey, Mexico: - Kevin Dornberger of the United States was elected president of the World Tenpin Bowling Association on Wednesday, while the WTBA also voted to allow professionals to compete in international events, a move that bolsters the sport's bid for inclusion into the Olympic Games.
Dornberger, who is the chief operating officer of the United States Bowling Congress, defeated incumbent WTBA president Heikki Sarso of Finland, 53-34, in a vote by the WTBA Congress as the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Monterrey, Mexico.
"I'm extremely humbled by being selected to take on this heavy responsibility," Dornberger said. "I look forward to moving WTBA into the future and hopefully into the Olympics. Heikki has put in a tremendous amount of work for our organization over the past 4-years and I thank him."
By 2009, two current non-Olympic sports may be selected by the International Olympic Committee for inclusion into the 2016 Summer Olympics. Dornberger said the move by the WTBA Congress on Wednesday to allow professionals in international events strengthens bowling's position to become one of those selections.
"This is an important first step in bowling potentially becoming an Olympic sport," Dornberger said. "The International Olympic Committee has said it wants the best athletes to compete and we have now made that change. There is no guarantee we will be included in the Olympics, but
this will point our sport in the right direction."
The decision allows members of the Professional Bowlers Association to become eligible for all WTBA events, including world and zone championships. It opens the door for players like Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Walter Ray Williams Jr., and Chris Barnes to potentially compete for Team USA along with Mika Koivuniemi for Finland and Amleto Monacelli for Venezuela.
In the other significant vote of the day, the WTBA Congress decided to change the method in which medals are determined at the world and zone championships effective Jan. 1, 2008.
Countries will still compete in six games in singles, doubles, trios and team events. After those six games, the top four in the standings will be seeded into semifinals where No. 1 will face No. 4 and No. 2 will bowl No. 3 in single-game, single-elimination matches. The losers of the semi- finals will each earn a bronze medal while the winners will battle for the gold medal. The loser in the finals will take the silver medal.
The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of 109 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. The WTBA Congress was held in advance of the 2007 WTBA Women's World Championships.
The National Bowling League
Whenever I mention the National Bowling League I get blank stares from most. Yes, there was an NBL, and the dream was to put bowling on the same footing as the other pro sports. It did get off the ground, more than 40-years ago, but not too far. In fact it had a shaky flight all the way in the less than a year it was in existence.
The circuit boasted 10 teams: Kansas City stars; Los Angeles Toros; Ft. Worth Panthers; Dallas Broncos; Omaha Packers; Detroit Thunderbirds; United states Orphans (formerly the San Antonio Cavaliers); New York Gladiators; Twin City Skippers and the Fresno Bombers. All had official team colors and wore uniforms when they bowled.
Each team was required to carry at least seven players on its roster and was allowed a maximum of 9, though changes were frequent. The minimum wage was: $6,000, with no maximum. Some players earned $25,000 for the season and some close to $50,000. Those were big bucks 40-years ago and in line with the salaries paid other professional athletes.
The PBA Tour had already started and the average 1st Place there was less than $3,000. In 1960 Don Carter led the money winning list with $22,525, and in 1961 Dick Weber was best with $26,280. So it was a good deal for top bowlers to opt for a guaranteed salary with no expenses needed to compete, and members of the league also were allowed to bowl in some outside tournaments. The NBL was founded in February of 1960, the “action” started in the fall of 1961 and unfortunately it was all over by the spring of 1962.
There is no single reason why it failed, but there are a number of factors. The idea was probably ahead of its time. The schedule was atrocious. Super stars did not enter the fold. Failure to obtain a national TV contract hurt in two ways, in giving the league the notice and attention it needed and in adding rights money to the league. Though many of the owners were over ambitious and under financed they deserve the highest praise for being pioneers in attempting to fill a possible need. And they put their money into the project. They spent more than $20 million in building revolutionary new bowling stadiums or in converting bowling centers or theatres into bowling arenas.
There weren’t enough fans to pay the bills but there were fans with some events drawing more than 2,000. But, the league didn’t last long enough to create new fans. Few, if any sports leagues ever succeed from the start; as they must build up over time and the NBL didn’t have the luxury of time because of financial losses. You can’t blame some of the top stars for not jumping in; simply because they were doing well and didn’t want to get into an iffy situation. The bowling industry sat on the sidelines mostly, not hindering the league, but not helping it much either.
More than 100 of the best bowlers in the country from more than 20 states did participate and consider it one of their most memorable bowling experiences, and the only time they could bowl for a living and know they could make a good living with their bowling talent.
More than memories last from NBL beginnings. Most of the various point systems utilized in leagues and tournaments are offshoots of the then new and creative scoring. The NBL was just a blip in bowling history, but made the sport just a little bit better, too.
(NOTE: This article written by syndicated columnist, Chuck Pezzano, who is the Dean of the American bowling writers and he is in the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame. The article was edited for space and used with Mr. Pezzano’s permission. Thanks Chuck, another interesting article.)
Life Lessons of Bowling
By: Brandy Padilla
When I was a kid, I used to dream that when I grew up I would be someone famous; maybe an actress or a dancer or a gymnast, perhaps a notable doctor, maybe even an inventor. Never did I ever think, not even in a million years that I would end up as a scientist in bowling. I didn’t even bowl when I was a kid. Sure, I went bowling a couple of times with summer camp and with my Girl Scouts but I never really took it seriously and I never thought of it as a career opportunity. At least not until college; and even then it wasn’t something I thought about until the end of my college career.
I didn’t really get into bowling until I met my (now) husband. He bowled when we first met and would take me bowling occasionally on dates. I never realized how seriously he took it until we went away to college. He tried out for the team and started traveling almost every weekend to tournaments around the country. Even then, I don’t think I really got it. As college started coming to a close, I accepted my position with Kegel. Still knowing relatively little about bowling, I jumped in head first and accepted the challenges to come. Since that time, I have come to learn many life lessons from not only the sport but from people that I have met through my journey.
The first thing I learned is that you never stop learning. I didn’t know much about the sport or about bowling in general when I took my position so I really did have a lot to learn. I didn’t understand the role of lane conditioners, the difficulties of cleaning a lane, the battle between lane conditioner, lane surface and bowling ball, the difference between plastic, urethane and resin or even the differences in the different lane surfaces. Needless to say, my first few months were filled with learning. I spent time absorbing knowledge from everyone I talked to; mechanics, our own tech support staff, pro shop operators, other manufacturers and even bowlers. It was a bit overwhelming in the beginning as it seemed like I had jumped into the proverbial shark tank. Now, I look back and I realize that I am still learning. As I have moved through the various phases of my work, I have learned how the pieces of the bowling puzzle fit together. Everything in bowling is a function of something else; in other words, one piece can’t function without the other pieces; it is all intertwined. This can make things very complicated; which brings me to my next lesson: Things are not always what they seem.
The second lesson may seem a bit obvious but don’t be fooled. The old adage about looks being deceiving holds very true. When you look at bowling in general, it seems very simple; a bowler throws a ball down a lane and knocks some pins down. The machine resets the pins and the ball returns to the bowler where the cycle will restart. That all may seem very simple; but it really is not. When you look at lane patterns, lane surfaces, lane conditioners and cleaners, lane machines, pinsetters, approaches and pins, you can have literally thousands of combinations. Add bowling balls to the mix and the combinations become endless. Now add bowlers and you’ve got a math equation that I’m not sure NASA could decipher. It really is a complex puzzle of variables that must be solved. To make matters more difficult, in many cases, there can be multiple answers.
Bowling really isn’t easy. There are so many things that affect bowling, that it makes bowling difficult. I’ve learned this lesson in many ways. Not only in bowling as a manufacturer, but in bowling as a bowler.
In my work, I have had the opportunity to travel. Most recently, I took some time to go to Las Vegas with the Kegel Junior Elite Teams where they competed in the Junior World Team Challenge. Seeing bowling through the eyes of the junior bowlers is always a learning experience because these “kids” are the future of our sport. From them, I learned many things but one of the most important lessons I learned was this: winning isn’t everything and there is something to be said about good sportsmanship.
I watched these kids bowl with their hearts during this tournament. They made some great shots and cheered and they made some not so great shots and they still cheered. They held each other up through adversity only to fall short in the end and when they fell, they fell hard. It was a roller coaster ride from beginning to end; games were up and down, spares were missed, strikes were a hot commodity and getting them was a daunting task. In the end, some of the kids walked away with their heads bowed in disappointment but the ones who stood out to me held their heads high knowing they had given it everything they had but it just wasn’t their time.
One of our kids came up to me after losing a tough battle and looked over towards the winners and said to me “it isn’t how you win, it’s how you lose”. I thought about those words and realized that being a good winner is just as important as being a good loser. You won’t win everything you bowl so you have to learn to lose with grace. Losing certainly isn’t easy and no, it isn’t fun, but it is a part of every sport. If you can’t be a good loser, you will never be a good winner. This lesson was particularly profound as I watched some teams and how they celebrated their victories. A congratulation to the opposing team; a handshake or high five in the name of good sportsmanship and camaraderie would seem like a simple thing, yet to a “poor” winner something so simple is forgotten or overlooked. The same can be said for a “poor” loser; a polite congratulatory remark to acknowledge a match well played. These seemingly simple things can seem unimportant yet they say so much about who we are.
Watching these kids bowl as a team was unbelievable. They worked so hard to keep each other pumped up and to support each other through the low games. These kids weren’t just individual bowlers, they were a machine working together; they were a team. Then I saw some kids from teams that lost matches; I saw kids storm away, taking off team shirts in disgrace and making disrespectful comments towards their team or other teams. I was taken aback by this. As a team, you win and lose together. If you can’t support your team through success and failure, then you don’t deserve to wear the team colors. If you can’t win and lose with your team, then you don’t deserve to be a part of the team.
Bowling, as is so in life, is measured not only in successes but also in failures. Winning does not come without losing; success does not come without failure. It isn’t the way we celebrate victory that shows who we are but in the way we accept defeat and learn from it.
You won’t be the best every time you compete; losing (failure) is part every sport and it is something that we all must accept. It isn’t easy but it is an opportunity to learn so that next time, we can be better.
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It was another heart breaking year for the women of Team USA as they once again fell mere pins short of a team gold medal at the Women’s World Championships in Monterrey, Mexico.
The WWC began August 31 with Opening Ceremonies at AMF Bol Obispado in Monterrey, Mexico. Official competition kicked off with the first doubles squads on September 1. During the eight days of bowling, more than 40 countries competed in singles, doubles, trios, masters, all-events and five player team on two demanding lane conditions.
After a disappointing 12 pin loss of the team gold medal in Aalborg, Denmark in 2005, the Team USA ladies were determined to make another run at a team gold medal. Nearly the same team represented the USA again in hopes of avenging the narrow loss. Returning members Shannon O’Keefe Shannon Pluhowsky, Lynda Barnes, Diandra Asbaty and Stefanie Nation return to the national stage with new team member Tennelle Milligan.
Beginning with doubles competition, the Team USA ladies were focused on the task at hand and kept their eyes on their goal. Doubles and trios competition were a chance to get comfortable with the surroundings and feel out the two demanding lane patterns. Doubles competition started well as Tennelle Milligan and Lynda Barnes claimed the first medal of the games for the US in doubles. The other US teams; Diandra Asbaty and Shannon O’Keefe and Stefanie Nation and Shannon Pluhowsky finished 9th and 20th respectively.
Competition continued with the trios even where the US once again made a strong showing as the trios team of Lynda Barnes, Shannon O’Keefe and Tennelle Milligan claimed the silver medal. The second US trios team of Stefanie Nation, Diandra Asbaty and Shannon Pluhowsky finished in 16th.
Team competition began on September 4. Bowling on the short pattern first, Team England took the early lead shooting 3,310 including a 300 game by Kirsten Penny. Team USA began with a 3,082 on the short pattern to find themselves in a tie for 10th place and leaving themselves a lot of work to do in the final three game team block.
Heading into the final game of team competition, the US trailed the leaders by nearly 230 pins. The US made furious strides as anchor Lynda Barnes stepped up and threw the final three strikes which forced the Malaysian leaders and anchor Shalin Zulkifli to mark. Zulkifli did mark giving Malaysia a seven pin victory to shut down US hopes of a team gold medal. Team England secured the bonze medal.
"We made a run at it when we were 230 pins down, and I thought we could get there," Team USA's Lynda Barnes said. "We have worked the past two years for this moment, and I feel like we did everything we could to prepare. We won today, but we lost yesterday. Next time around, we just have to win both days. It's a tough field, and you can't give up a day."
Perhaps, in 2009, the ladies of Team USA will finally be able to put some closure to the goal they have twice fallen so short of achieving.
SPORT BOWLING ENJOYS EXCEPTIONAL SEASON
GREENDALE, Wis. - The USBC Sport Bowling program enjoyed explosive growth across the board this past season, due largely to the remarkable popularity of PBA Experience leagues which allow Sport members to compete on the same lane oil patterns as professional bowlers.
Final statistics for the 2006-07 season show impressive participation increases for bowlers, leagues and centers hosting Sport Bowling competition. The number of Sport Bowling members rose 120 percent over the previous season, with 27,921 competing in 2006-07 compared with 12,689 in 2005-06. Sport Bowling leagues were up 134 percent (678 from 289) while centers holding Sport events increased 155 percent (813 from 318).
State comparisons showed that Illinois and Florida led the nation in Sport Bowling members with 1,411 each. Rounding out the list of top-10 states for Sport Bowling participation in 2006-07 were: California (1,250); Indiana (1,218); Michigan (1,214); Texas (1,129); Ohio (1,116); New York (1,087); Pennsylvania (882); and Wisconsin (804). The top-10 states for Sport Bowling leagues in 2006-07 were: FL. (47); CA. (46); Texas (40); New York (39); Indiana and Michigan (36 each); Ohio (34); Illinois and Pennsylvania (29 each); and Wisconsin (24).
A large majority of those Sport Bowling members and leagues participated in the PBA Experience, part of the USBC Sport Bowling program.
In PBA Experience leagues, bowlers compete on the same oil patterns used on the Denny's Professional Bowlers Association Tour. The patterns - named Chameleon, Cheetah, Scorpion, Shark and Viper - offer bowlers a unique challenge and comply with USBC Sport Bowling guidelines, which allow a maximum of three times as much oil on the inside boards versus the outside boards. This oil application typically is described as a ratio, in this case 3:1.
"USBC is extremely pleased with the increased interest in USBC Sport Bowling and its PBA Experience leagues this past season," said Director of USBC Sport Bowling Steve Wunderlich. "Bowlers are realizing how exciting it is to compete in PBA Experience leagues where they bowl on the same oil patterns as pros such as Norm Duke, Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones. As a new bowling season begins, we're looking forward to even more bowlers getting in on the fun and exciting competition of Sport Bowling in 2007-08."
For more information about Sport Bowling and its PBA Experience leagues, visit the Sport Bowling section of bowl.com. The USBC, as the national governing body, ensures the integrity and protects the future of the sport, provides programs and services to nearly three million adult and youth members and enhances the bowling experience.
The USBC Sport Bowling program is an optional membership level allowing bowlers to experience a new competitive challenge, satisfy their competitive nature and improve their bowling skills. Sport Bowling leagues and tournaments are contested on challenging lane conditions that emphasize delivering the ball accurately and consistently, making adjustments, reading lanes and converting spares. Most of today's premier bowling tournaments are contested on Sport Bowling oil patterns.
NEW FACTS ABOUT BOWLING BALL MOVEMENT
GREENDALE, Wis. As part of its overall study of bowling ball motion, the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) has uncovered key technical findings about how modern bowling balls act on a lane. Ultimately, these types of studies can help bowlers select bowling balls that best suit their games.
Recent scientific research by engineers at the USBC testing and research facility has shown that the values relating to radius of gyration - the concept of how easy a bowling ball rotates around an axis - remain approximately the same as bowling balls make their way down a lane.
Another important discovery USBC made is that several factors - including the ball's cover stock material, the shape of the ball's core, the core's angle and the oil pattern on the lane - have no significant effect on axis migration, the way the rotation point of a ball changes as it rolls down the lane. It was found that axis migration is dependent on physics concepts such as the radius of gyration.
These topics have been the subject of several studies within the bowling industry in recent months, but no one has fully evaluated the migratory path of a bowling ball as it rolls down a lane until now, said USBC Technical Director Neil Stremmel.
"As USBC learns and understands more about the motion of today’s modern bowling balls through this type of breakthrough research, it helps connect science and the sport of bowling," Stremmel said.
USBC was able to use some of its most sophisticated technology for these studies, including high speed digital cameras that shoot at 300 frames per second.
USBC plans to follow up on this initial research with several new rounds of testing in this area, Stremmel said.
NOTE: The United States Bowling Congress, as the national governing body, ensures the integrity and protects the future of the sport, provides programs and services to nearly three million adult and youth members and enhances the bowling experience.
The USBC Equipment Specifications and Certification testing facility is the world's premier bowling research center. Within the eight-lane center in a climate-controlled building, team members regulate and standardize bowling equipment by concentrating on pin and product testing, research work, bowling center certifications and lane dressing inspections. The team of engineers, technicians and support staff provides lane-conditioning support for a variety of tournaments and Sport Bowling events.
Bowl with US www.bowl.com
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Membership Report
We have members in all 50 states,
and the District of Columbia
We have members in 49 countries, including the United States:
Argentina Australia Bahrain Belgium Brazil Canada China Columbia Costa Rica Denmark Ecuador Egypt Finland France Germany Great Britain Greece Guam Guatemala Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea Latvia Malaysia Mexico The Netherlands N. Ireland Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand Panama Philippines Puerto Rico Peru Qatar Scotland Singapore Slovenia South Africa Spain Sweden Switzerland Thailand Turkey U.A.E. Ukraine Venezuela
Corporate Sponsors
The problems that exist in our Sport are “industry-wide” problems that must be addressed by the entire Industry. The Foundation does all that they can to help, but we can NOT do it alone.
The Foundation has well over 1000-Members who have joined-in to assist. Some Members (Founding and Charter) have paid to show their support. Some Members (Associates) have just lent their “voice”. ALL of the members are important.
Even though The Foundation has NOT actively solicited bowling-related companies for help, some realize the importance of our “Mission” and have come forward with donations. We recognize the following companies for their loyalty and support to bowling.
KEGEL
KAT Travel
I.B.P.S.I.A.
EBN Services
Storm Bowling
Classic Products
Bobs’ Business, Inc.
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BowlersParadise.com
Virtualtournaments.com
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David Driscoll & Associates
International Bowling Industry Magazine
Stars and Strikes Bowling Newsmagazine
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