A high school bowling program in Rockford, Ill., and the new leadership at the PBA have me switching from a gloom and doom tune to a "happy days are here again" melody.
Most of my concerns on bowling have been centered on the dwindling numbers of the ABC/WIBC membership rolls, phony scoring conditions provided by some proprietors that have relegated our game to purely recreational status, and the overall failure of the entire industry—particularly bowling proprietors—to attempt to rescue the game from the doldrums into which bowling has sunk.
Three gentlemen have given rise to my renewed faith in the bowling game: John Sommers, Ian Hamilton, and Steve Miller.
The first factor that inspired my renewed faith in the game was my experience in Rockford, Ill., on February 24. I was invited to speak at a bowling banquet honoring high school bowlers in the Northern Illinois area.
Several years ago, John Sommers, chairman of the board of the Professional Women's Bowlers Association and proprietor of four bowling centers in Illinois (plus two in the Ohio area) informed me of a flourishing high school bowling program in the Rockford area. Sommers, the ramrod of this program, sold it to high school principals then succeeded in receiving full cooperation from other northern Illinois proprietors, resulting in one of the most organized and successful high school bowling programs in the country.
I wrote several stories related to the huge success achieved by this group. Other bowling programs of this type have existed in New Jersey for over 50 years and in southern Florida for over 30 years. As a matter of fact, Roger Dalkin, executive director of the American Bowling Congress, was a product of the Miami, Fla., high school program. He won the Most Valuable Player Award two years in a row and gained national attention by winning the AMF World Cup Championship in 1971 in Hong Kong. Mrs. Don Carter, the former Paula Sperber, was another product of the southern Florida program. Like Dalkin, she was twice voted the MVP in her area and later succeeded in capturing the U.S.Open/All Star championship in 1971 and again in 1975.
New Jersey may lay claim to the most progressive high school bowling program in the nation. They have long recognized bowling as a high school credit. During the 30s, my good friend Frank Esposito, an ABC/PBA Hall of Fame member and former TV coordinator for the ABC-TV "Pro Bowlers Tour" series, earned a varsity letter in bowling at Hackensack High School in New Jersey. More than anywhere in the country, New Jersey newspapers are lavish in allocating bowling space in the sports sections. They feature scores, pictures, and All-County and All-State teams.
However, the Northern Illinois Proprietors' Association has one-upped not only Florida and New Jersey but have set a precedent for all proprietors to follow. In addition to trophies, plaques, and medals, the Northern Illinois Bowling Proprietors' Association awarded over $40,000—I repeat, over $40,000—in scholarships to students who were chosen on the basis of school marks and bowling ability. Those who may wonder how this unusual amount of money was raised would be wise to contact John Sommers, one of the most astute and progressive proprietors in the country.
The Bowling Proprietors' of America holds its annual convention and trade show in Las Vegas in June. The BPAA program director would be prudent to reserve a spot on the agenda for John Sommers. His expertise on the subject would be a win-win situation.
The second factor that has inspired my renewed confidence in bowling was meeting Ian Hamilton, the new PBA commissioner and Steve Miller, the organization's new president.
For those who are not familiar with Miller's background, he has been credited with transforming Kansas State University from a perennial doormat in the old days of the Big Eight Conference to a top-rated annual contender in Big 12 football and basketball competition. Later, he became a major force in Nike's worldwide role in the athletic field as well as a top negotiator in Olympic dealings for the "swoosh" manufacturer.
Meanwhile, Hamilton has had an outstanding background in sports promotions. Miller and Hamilton, both former Nike execs, are the first to admit they knew nothing about bowling. But, marketing being the science it is, applied to the bowling world, will hopefully turn out to be the ideal arena for these promotion geniuses. In just a few short months, they have accomplished almost unbelievable feats. The most significant, in my opinion, is their influence in securing a sizeable front page story in the January 17 issue of USA Today. The issue also contained another half page of PBA news on the second page.
Folks, I've been around the PBA since it was born and I have never seen stories of this magnitude in any newspaper in the country, with the possible exception of a few covering local PBA events. The Akron Beacon Journal gave incredible coverage to the Firestone Tournament of Champions, simply due to the fact that Firestone headquarters were located in Akron and the "T of C" was the most prestigious event of the year in the greater Akron area.
Tom Clark, golf and tennis editor of USA Today, penned the bowling articles in the national circulation, and, although there has been no follow-up in USA Today, he has inundated his paper's web site with PBA happenings.
Inasmuch as the PBA Tour was at the end of the schedule arranged by the previous administration, it will be interesting to see the coverage bowling will receive when the new schedule is completed.
Miller intends to create a regular bowling season—in the same manner as baseball, football, basketball, and other leading sports—probably starting in September and ending in March.
The new PBA regime is in the process of negotiating a six-year ESPN contract that will air on the same day and same hour throughout the season. Unlike telecasts that have been spotty in time slots and sometimes preempted, PBA Tour viewers can again look forward to scheduled shows as they did in the glory days of the "Pro Bowlers Tour" telecasts on Saturday afternoons.
Although I am not thoroughly informed of plans Miller and Hamilton have in the works, I am confident that they will re-establish the PBA organization as a viable and major force in the sports world. Equally important, I feel secure that the entire bowling industry will ride the coattails of the PBA and eventually restore our sport to its once lofty perch.
John Jowdy, a member of the ABC and PBA Halls of Fame, is a past president of the Bowling Writers Association of America.