Sport Bowling is the current concept devised by ABC/WIBC to try to instill a degree of integrity the game and restore some sensibility to the escalating scores and repress uncontrollable averages that have made a shambles of the sport. Perhaps the term "sport" is a very loose, lax, and permissive description for what bowling in leagues has become: a recreation.
I can't help wonder what Frank Baker, the late executive secretary of the ABC, would have thought or done about the most asinine scoring madness one could ever imagine. We have five individual 900 series, team scoring records that have put the legendary Budweiser's 50-year-old record to shame, and an individual average of nearly 257 that didn't even last a year—shattered by an almost impossible 261 for a full season!
Perhaps Sport Bowling may or may not be all that it has been built up to be. The true Sport Bowling concept was installed a few years ago in several cities—Dayton, Detroit, Las Vegas, and Milwaukee, home of ABC/WIBC. I made a comprehensive study of these leagues for a year and wrote a lengthy article regarding the discrepancies in league averages for all the cities that featured Sport Bowling conditions.
In Milwaukee, ABC officials, including Executive-Secretary Roger Dalkin and Assistant Executive Director Jack Mordini, both participated in the Flat Earth league. Dalkin, an accomplished bowler in his own right, averaged approximately 25 to 30 pins less on the Sport Bowling condition than he did on regular league conditions. As a matter of fact, all bowlers in the Flat Earth league experienced the same reduction in averages compared to regular league conditions.
The averages for Dayton, Detroit, and Las Vegas revealed essentially the same difference in scoring between Sport Bowling leagues and regular leagues-between 20 to 30 pins less.
Before proceeding further, as a bowling coach and purist, I want to make one point very clear: I do not harbor ill feelings regarding high scores—that is, if they are accomplished without the aid of lane maintenance procedures. However, I have no respect for scores that do not place a premium on quality shots. I cannot appreciate scoring conditions that merely require delivering the ball to a certain zone and watching it follow a wall into the pocket.
I admire proper bowling execution. Watching players such as Norm Duke, Parker Bohn III, Brian Voss, Dave Husted, Chris Barnes, and numerous other PBA stars is an absolute thrill, regardless of whether they strike or not. The mere sight of their approaches, armswings, releases, and follow-throughs is what bowling is all about. And they do it on undoctored conditions, shot after shot.
I'm not completely aware of the type of bowling conditions PBA players are faced with. However, one thing is sure: They are not blocked. On the other hand, I have some serious doubts regarding the "Sport Bowling" conditions on which the lady pros have been bowling.
I have researched the PWBA records of 2000 compared to those of 2001 and have found that the women's averages on the supposed current sport condition only vary one to three pins from the averages last year when they were on regular conditions.
The basic parameters for sport condition as stated by the Sport Bowling Manual are:
With all due respect to ABC/WIBC, who are responsible for the manual, I believe the wide range of allowances for sport league conditions permits too many variations. Any excessive buildup of oil in the center of the lane, even at a 2:1 ratio, can produce an easier condition and thereby affects the credibility of the term "Sport Condition."
Because I support the concept of Sport Bowling so wholeheartedly, I'm going to take a wait-and-see attitude.
ABC and PBA Hall of Famer John Jowdy is a past president of the Bowling Writers Association of America.