Well it only took 7 years, for new changes in 2013 USBC Open Championship
I wanted to wait until I saw this month's Bowlers Journal International magazine article about what they had to say about the addition to the Bowlers Journal Championships to be included at the National Bowling Stadium. Then I couldn't even start writing an article about the truth just because of the anger I still have towards USBC. Mainly because of how stupid they are and for basically stabbing you in the back when you least expect it.
For some of you that don't know about this tournament and the historic background of this event, the Bowlers Journal Championships otherwise known as the BJ's has been in existence for as long as I've been bowling, which my first year was way back in 1981 in Memphis, Tennessee. The tournament was huge, they would be running squads all day and they would bowl until the early morning too. I remember bowling the BJ's back in 1985 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a year in which the USBC (formerly ABC) said I didn't compete in the tournament. My dad and I took a cab out there since we didn't rent a car because we were staying downtown next to the Convention Center that year. We walked out by the road waiting for the cab to take us back to the hotel when some bowlers stopped and asked us if we needed a ride. Every year for the next 10 years we would see those guys who gave us a ride that day every year we competed at Nationals! If you loved bowling and you wanted to see a new city and get away for a bit, it was the thing to do! After 1994 we didn't see those guys as much because of bowling different dates and the changes that came along with the tournament. But change isn't always bad!
Now fast forward to 2006, where the Open Championships Tournament was held in Corpus Christi. My wife Jane was put in charge of the Bowlers Journal Tournament which USBC ran for Bowlers Journal International but USBC would profit from it. Right after the passing of my father Jane and I sat down at our family bowling center in North Idaho to figure out what we were to do. We had a decision to make, continue to run the family bowling center or stay with USBC and try to make a difference. The difference being trying to enhance the sport of bowling, by adding integrity to the game. You are probably wondering why the BJ tournament has anything to do with promoting integrity to the Open Championships. Jane and I sat down and talked about what should be done. Jane brought up her idea time and time again whenever the tournament managers got together to talk about specific things regarding the Championships. Guess what nothing ever happened! What was this BRILLIANT idea.... Having the Bowlers Journal Tournament run in the same venue with the Open Championships! Remember this was in 2006, right before she was let go because of a budget cut! The year is 2013 and now they are going to try it, I wonder who's taking credit for this bright idea! I know who's idea it was and he isn't a dum-dum.....
Well I didn't want to talk about this topic to make USBC look bad in anyway, it's just kind of funny how these people can throw you aside and think nothing of you. For years and years you bring up changes for Open Championships to restore fairness within the game and your tournament and for a decade they think your nuts or it's impossible. Many of my bowling friends regard me as the next Bill Taylor, I was never as smart as Bill but I think we our much alike. Bill always gave solutions to the problem to fix them but everyone thought he was crazy with what he was saying. With me it's more of pointing out a common sense issue, something USBC don't have much of. I think it's funny that this will be the first year of fresh oil for all squads something I brought up with a solution back in 2004 only to get ignored because the answer was.....(there isn't enough time in the day to do that so there isn't a real solution). Guess what USBC, your using the same exact solution I had in mind (Previous article called Game or Sport). You wouldn't even listen to me or my wife because your frame of mind was, if it's not broke don't fix it. I tried to tell you what the concerns were back then but maybe you thought I was another Bill Taylor in disguise and thought I was nuts.
Should I be honered because the two things I told you to change almost a decade ago was ignored, and now it's going to be instituted in this years Open Championships. I'm so proud that a bunch of dum-dum's would actual listen to me over all these years. No actually it kind of bothers me that your doing it eventhough I think it's the right thing to do, especially for the integrity of the game and it's not because your taking credit for my past ideas.
But I think the intentions of finally doing it now stems from the lack of host cities you said in the past were not out there to bid, (and all of a sudden Mr. Lewis says we have several cities that now want the tournament) to now making us go to Reno so much. Meaning your monetary take in the tournament has taken a complete hit, (Entries are way down) so what about this idea that such and such brought up years ago. Hey that's me..... Now I must be some kind of genius right....Lol
The Showcase Lanes was a great idea for USBC which instituted last year to make more money and to give the bowlers a condition to bowl on that was suppose to be the same condition (But wasn't even close because of the temperature difference between the practice lanes and the Open Championship lanes). I'm sure that won't be a much of a problem if any this year, and some of us bowlers that are not dum-dums know that no two lanes our ever alike. But last year in my opinion was a joke because of the amount of difference between the two lane conditions. It's like why waste my money on this if your ball re-acts in a completely different way. Hopefully this year the tournament bowlers won't have to endure the same problem.
I'm afraid the Bowlers Journal Tournament is only being introduced to the Open Championships venue because of monetary reasons. If the integrity of the game had anything to do with it, it would of been instituted then. USBC would of listened to us, but because many of them were dum-dums back then they elected not to even give us a chance.
Now this years Open Championships Tournament will be conducted on two different patterns, how different will they be. Now bowlers will have to fork over more money to be competitive so they can have some sort of idea what they are bowling on. At least they now have the option. Before that the only bowlers that got to bowl on the pattern were the people who were fortunate enough to have there local bowling centers put the lane pattern out. Then again who knows what you were actually bowling on because lane surfaces and lane oils will make them play completely different.
In 2008 in Albuquerque, was the first time a bowler who was competing in the Open Championships could actually bowl on the same pattern. But the only problem was is you had to go to another bowling center in town to do so. Mike Jasnau the Lane 81 coach at the National bowling Stadium in Reno I noticed was running the team practice in 2009 and did some coaching clinics as well at the Gold Coast in Las Vegas, the same location the Bowlers Journal Tournament was..... I have a feeling this was only done because they heard through the grapevine someone else was going to do this also. A competitor in USBC's eyes Bowling This Month.
You see Bowling this Month a bowling magazine like Bowlers Journal International had run their own tournament for several years in conjunction with the Open Championships Tournament running a tournament known as the BTM. But in 2009 the BTM decided there was a need for another tournament called the 1-2-3. The 1-2-3 is a handicapped tournament bowled on the same condition the Open Championships are competing on that year. So it enticed bowlers who wished to compete on the same lane pattern eventhough it was in a different bowling center and different lane surface. Even the past few years the 1-2-3 has kept this intact, while (I guess you can say) the competitor the BJ Tournament continued to bowl on different lane patterns. Without a doubt the past couple of years the BTM was drawing much more entries than the BJ and maybe that didn't sit to well with them. Actually the amount of entries have declined drastically at the Bowlers Journal Tournament. And I have the approximate numbers too, thanks to Waybackmachine.org a site that allows you to look at sites from the past. I wonder if yours truly from Bowlers Journal International Keith Hamilton, would like this information. I'm sure he knows how bad it is, looking at his decline of subscriptions sold since 2006. Remember that was 2006 the year with all of our solutions, the rebound of increased bowlers the tournament had. Remember about 42 dollars goes to USBC for expense money per entry so it's a pretty big significant hit. Here is the list of entrants below:
Bowlers Journal Tournament Entries
Year 2006 2012
Total Singles Entries 3650 1880
Total Doubles Entries 1970 960
I like the fact that Mr. Hamilton awhile back ago had to praise his thanks to Mr. Baur on the above180.com radio show when he talked about the Bowlers Journal Tournament in conjunction with the Open Championships. I give Mr. Baur credit for talking Keith into joining forces but not bowling on a house condition the first year . The location for the second year in Baton Rouge, we were 23 miles from the convention center, boy that was a smart idea too.....Lol. I just want to let you know that I don't need your thanks for what is to happen this year with your tournament because I'm sure someone pointed it out that it was there own idea. The truth is, it was an idea we come up 7 years ago and it took this long to become a reality. People need to remember that decision making never was USBC strong suit!
I guess back in 2007 working the Bowlers Journal Tournament a year after my wife Jane was let go on that so called budget cut, I decided to have a discussion with the so called competitor Rick Ramsey the tournament director of the BTM. I talked to him regarding some of the ideas I had with the tournament that were by passed in 2006 and again in 2007, regarding the Bowlers Journal Tournament. I told him that maybe he should try that in his tournament. He then proceeded to tell me that they were looking at running another tournament along side the BTM and liked my idea enough I guess to institute the 1-2-3 tournament with the same tournament conditions USBC refused to do. Isn't it funny how this whole truthful story turned out. Maybe Mr. Lewis learned some lessons from this...... He lost several thousand teams by going to the same cities every year (Reno), lost subscriptions for the past several years for Mr. Hamilton at BJI, and his so called competitor the BTM benefited from increased entries while the overall entries plummeted in his tournament without even caring about it for years. Because if he did care he would of listen to us back in 2006.
Instead bowlers will now get the luxury of fresh oil on all squads, the Bowlers Journal Tournament along side the Open Championships in the same venue and the luxury of going to Reno 4 out of 5 years..... I guess 2 out of 3 ain't bad.....
I guess the reason why the Open Championships lane pattern never got pushed through to be the same as the Bowlers Journal Tournament years ago is because some of the mangers didn't like the fact that it was the same pattern. Some of them don't realize that no two lane surfaces play the same, you can get them close with some work unlike last year but it's the same pattern (But now it's ok because USBC needs the extra money). Bowlers that are dum-dums aren't going to know the difference and they are still going to bowl just because you tell them its the same pattern as the Open Championships Tournament. That is where coaching could come into play because Mike Jasnau or 900 Global's Matt Mc Neil could give you that same insight by explaining it to you.
Last year it was hilarious bowling the side tournaments. The BTM and BJ were held in the same bowling center. Rick Ramsey had the Open Championships tournament shot out, it played similar but then again it will never ever be exact. Meanwhile I went down to the BJ and the guy running that tournament is trying to tell me that his pattern is much closer and that I should bowl his tournament while the BTM and Rick's pattern is nowhere close. This might have been USBC's biggest dum-dum employee ever....Lol. I particularly don't like it when you have to lie to potential customers just to get entries because Mr. Ramsey is getting most of them. Geesh!!!!!
I will continue to support the BTM and 1-2-3 tournament all I can, Rick Ramsey and I have become good friends over the years. I'm afraid his tournament will take a hit this year because of the BJ being inside the National Bowling Stadium. I guess USBC decided my idea was good enough after all. It's too bad USBC never took any of Bill Taylor's ideas, then the sport of bowling wouldn't be in such a mess. Because USBC is obviously worried about how much money it can make instead of the integrity in the game. At least they are stealing ideas and trying, hopefully they can fix some of the problems the Sport Bowling program has..... and maybe a slope rating too. Still waiting for the day that will happen! Maybe 7 years from now..... Until next time!!!!!
June 25, 2011
Pointing out more stupidity......not only in Reno
I guess your wondering why I haven't been picking on USBC for all those high scores out there in Reno. I don't think when I post some of my thoughts, that my sole objective is to pick on them. It is more less to point out there stupidity more than anything. I'm only being honest you know.....
The 2011 USBC Open Championship scores may be the highest in the history of the tournament. In the past, there has been some really high scoring Open Championship Tournaments. The first year was 1989, when you saw a big increase of scores mainly because of the new HPL surface that AMF introduced at the tournament. Back then AMF and Brunswick would take turns showcasing there own brand of new equipment and would feature it at the National tournament site. AMF had by far the best synthetic lanes at that time..... it was more durable and was (more scoreable because the surface produced more friction) a no brainer for attractive buyers to put these synthetic lanes into their own centers. That is why in 1989,1991 and 1993 saw a big increase of scores at the National Tournament site. By 1992 most of the bowling ball companies featured their new line of ball called re-active resin..... which would in my opinion ruin the integrity of bowling forever and increase scores even more.
The scores at the National Tournament seem to be even a lot higher the past 5 years. But some people don't understand that there has been some really high scoring years in the past. 1989, saw the scores jump up dramatically like I said earlier. 1991 and 1993 were relatively higher also. 1996 and 2000 the scores saw an increase too. In 2002, the tournament saw a record 64 300 games bowled......
The scores at this years USBC Open Championships Tournament may be the highest of all-time. They may not beat some of the record scores like they have in the past but overall the higher average bowlers are knocking down in general more pins this year. But is increasing the scores better over-all for this tournament. What is USBC's thinking behind this......do they think they can get more bowlers to shoe up. Do they think it will create more press! Will the bowlers be much happier leaving the venue with better bowling scores! The answer is yes.....
I actually have sat back and laughed at some of the bowlers who have spouted off with there comments about USBC and the high scores.....it doesn't matter if it is the Smart Fund, the scores in Reno or other decisions they have made. Some of these bowlers themselves do stupid things also...... like bowl with sandbaggers.....or themselves sandbag to make more money in handicap tournaments.....Hello.... That's wonderful.....I guess they are trying to start their own Smart Fund..... sounds more stupid to me....Lol
Hey people!!!!!! Scores will continue to get higher and there are several reasons why. For you bowlers out there who are dum-dums.....I'll list them for you. 1) Bowling balls... 2) Patterns being posted and practicing on them religiously before you go 3) Kegel and their dropped brush technology......hehehe
I really have to laugh at everyone out in the bowling world......Everyone has been a dum-dum sometime when it comes to the so called sport of bowling. The three reasons I listed above have the same thing in common......they all lack integrity.....Yes that is one answer..... but the answer I'm looking for is Money..... Or greed for money
It isn't all the bowlers fault for this, it started long ago with your governing body allowing first the so called "Cheater Balls" reactive resin.....which resulted in a big financial gain for USBC......Everytime a new bowling ball is made by a company......It is a financial gain for them because they charge the ball companies a fee to approve their equipment......
Patterns being posted.......big reason why the scores have gone up over the years, but what other alternative way do you have. You can't trust a laneman to keep a secret without telling anyone something about the pattern. The only other thing you can do is let everyone know what it is and post it. Either way you go its bad for the sport.... I miss the good old days, just throw the ball and figure things out for yourself, but then again it's a trust issue and it is very difficult to trust anyone involved with this game. Look what it has turned into.....a joke in my opinion......but you have to blame all those over the years who made all those bad decisions....
Now Money......this one has caused so much more harm than good and is the primary reason why the sport of bowling has gone by the way side......Here is a quote that should sum up what is wrong with your governing body....
Desire for money, or greed for money, is a good thing when people play by the rules, and when their desire for money and status results in better ways of doing business and in inventions that help people and that make the world a better place. Desire for money and status is only bad when people do bad things in order to obtain what they desire. And even then, it’s not “greed” that’s really bad, but the person who’s doing the bad things who’s bad.
The goal of a just governing body should not be to punish people for being successful in obtaining money unfairly, but to create rules to ensure that competition for money results in fair competition.
This sums up the sandbaggers around here and how USBC a non profit entity has operated over the years......And if you don't like the high scores in Reno.....don't bowl they are only trying to put money in their pocket......who cares what the bowlers in the organization think.....it doesn't matter....it's greed remember.....Lol
Hey P.S..........Don't forget about all those sandbaggers out there too.....
