The Best E-mail I've Received To Date

butch

Subj: What Does Bowling Need?

Date: 99-04-24 23:36:03 EDT

From: twelvexman@aol.com (TwelveXMan)

To: actionbowl@aol.com

Instead of going forward, bowling is going backwards, any suggestions???

I guess the horse isn't dead yet...let's beat it some more, shall we?

For starters...there is not nearly enough appreciation for high scores because too many people can attain them. There are too many of us who bowl 3 or 6 games a week on conditions that allow us to average 210 or 220. Do you really think that we can truly appreciate the same scores when we see the pros shoot them? Of course not! To say that the pros are doing it on much more demanding conditions is the absolute truth... but what does it really mean

to the average bowler? Why should the same score mean one thing on tour and another at home? After all, it's supposed to be the same sport...isn't it?

300s and 800s are no longer sacred. I see people post messages here lamenting the fact that they only have one or two, while their buddies have a dozen...these used to be once-in-a-lifetime goals! The fact that we actually have a ring for a 900 series is enough to make me sick. I never thought I'd see one in my lifetime...and I never wanted to, either.

Why is it that I can walk into a bowling center and average 220 for six games of practice...after not having picked up a ball for over three months? I am NOT that good. I don't deserve those scores...yet, they are being handed to me, because the powers that be at the bowling centers are afraid that if they don't stroke my ego, I will go somewhere else to bowl. Well, guess what? It backfired.

I don't really have any idea how good I am. If a 220 average was as difficult to acheive at home as it is on tour, perhaps I would feel differently. I remember a time when people would stop bowling and cheer if someone bowled a 269. Would someone please tell me what was so bad about that? Today, most people don't even care if you shoot a score like that.

More importantly, though, when I do it... I don't even care anymore. Twenty years ago (when I had to work for a 185 average) I never felt that way. Maybe it's because there was still a bowling horizon back then?

Where is it written that the status of bowling as a sport is determined by how many people do it? The main factor that makes any activity a sport is the level of challenge it provides. We have spent too much time abusing technology (Hello, Brunswick, Columbia, Ebonite, Track, AMF, Storm, et al, are you paying attention?) to make bowling a safe and comfortable activity for millions and millions of wonderful people who don't deserve high

averages. In the process, someone has made a lot of money...and bowling the sport is worse off for it!

Sir, I apologize for the length of this post. You asked for suggestions and all I have to offer is a whole lot of complaining. You say that bowling is going

"backwards"...well, maybe that might not be a totally bad thing.

How about a return to the ball technology and lane conditions of yesterday, which weren't as disgustingly forgiving as they are today? Sure, a lot of people would drop like flies. At least we would know that those who remained are the true bowlers...the people who are in it because they love it, not because it gives them an ego boost.

That's all I have to offer. But, hey, I'm not breaking any new ground here. Many others before me have essentially said the same things...and nobody really wants to hear them. So, go ahead, line up one by one and tell me how foolish I am for feeling the way I do. And while you're at it, please hold the door for me while I grab my equipment and walk away from this nonsense.

To: butch@allsalesrus.com

Subject: GREAT ACTION BOWLERS AND PROMOTERS

YOU CANT FORGET THE ACTION ON LONG ISLAND AT GREEN ACRES BOWL AND LATER AT

DEER PARK BOWL, WHEN " DOLLAR BILL "DALY WOULD PROMOTE MATCHES WITH HIS STABLE

OF JEFF KIDDER, HANK BERHBOM, IRA "THE WHALE" KATZ, MIKE KILGANNON, AND KEVIN  SASS.

HOW ABOUT TOUR WEEK AT GARDEN CITY BOWL AND MARK BRENNER GIVING OUT ACTION

MAPS TO THE ACTION AT BELLEROSE LANES OR PEQUA BOWL.

RSTEPPE479@AOL.COM

Hi Butch, do you remember the late Dick Battista? He was the first

professional athlete with a heart transplant. Do you remember a guy who

went under the name of O.K.? I think his name was oscar Kittle, but I'm

not sure. Anyway, I haven't read anything about him on your website and I

know he was a big action shooter who would walk into a strange house and

challenge anybody. Thanks for the website , it's great - RONNIE