Don't forget we are going back to Syracuse. Personally I may live in Texas, but can't wait for that one. Oh and for the BBQ, not really any other reason. I know it will be expensive to travel that far, much like it would be for the guys in the east to go west, but if I am there 3 days I know where I will eat every day.

I run tournaments in Texas. One in a small center with basically just lanes, old school. Attendance has continued to decline in recent years and a big complaint is no full snack bar, still allows smoking, too small of areas for bowlers and spectators, etc. The other a larger center with full amenities and that one is not in prime season, but believe it is and will continue to grow and we even run Kegel patterns for it. Like it our not, in this day you do need all those other perks to get people to travel and spend money. The ladies don't have near the turn out that the USBC Open does and until recently just used bowling centers. They are now in convention centers too.  Once the new center is complete in Vegas we will go on a rotation of Reno, Vegas and others. Those others do seem to be the same places though that bid over and over. I love Baton Rouge, so could go there more often.

Why does a whole league need to be sanctioned?
Let the individual bowlers decide if they want to be.
If bowlers feel its worth it they will join.

+1

2013 Reno  was about 10,200 teams that the number reported.  Since 2007 (16,235 teams) it has drop by 6000 teams.

Once upon a time a lot of the people at ABC were just average people they hired to do a job and those at the top were elected by the delegates from local boards, etc. Don't really think that is true today. Have had the pleasure to meet and bowl against a lot of the employees in recent years. I don't believe a college degree makes you an expert, but there are some solid college degrees floating around Arlington these days. The R&D team is loaded for sure and many of the employees not only have their piece of paper, but were on the college bowling teams as well. I was a delegate to the ABC convention when Andrew Cain won the Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow award and now he is president. With last weeks interim appointment of Chad Murphy to the Executive Director position, we now have a bowler at the top with solid credentials in our industry.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Chad on a bowling level for many years. Bowled against him in the World Team Challenge at Fort Worth, which his team won and went on to win the National Finals event as well. Worked with him when he was with Columbia in San Antonio when he did some sponsorships to my tournaments and provided me support at a minor level and since have crossed paths at the headquarters when I was an athlete delegate a couple years back. He puts someone at the top that is a bowler first and has been a part of manufacturing, BPAA and the USBC for a long time. He is the kind of person we need out there, but he can't do anything without our support.

Always hear a lot of complaints and things like USBC needs to choose a direction, needs to make changes and on and on. Well, they recently have done just that and not too many of us like it much. The choice by what I read is to no longer be an awards program, but to focus on rules and governing of our sport.  First change was majority of awards would be local. Next change in the making is locals won't be inspecting lanes so we they can start to gain control of the integrity side of things. Sound familiar?  Neither of these changes have been well received, but they are part of USBC choosing a new direction. Just have to hope this doesn't back fire like the "System of Bowling" or a few of the other grand plans of the past. We need every bowler, league and tournament to certify.  Every non-sanctioned event I have ever seen has a rule saying they are following USBC (ABC/WIBC) rules, but then complain about those same rules. Makes no sense, either you want to be apart of the solution or a part of the problem. Each bowler has to make these choices. I choose solution and have reached out to Chad and USBC with my support and offered to volunteer where needed.

Joe Cool,
    Are you serioulsy this stupid? C'mon, this is an act right? You really can't be this much of a dullard can you? How about answering just one of the questions I asked, instead of spouting off nonsense. But, to humor you, I will respond to a few of your idiotic meanderings....
1) Does the tournament need 48 lanes - well no, you are partially correct, but if you go with less than 48 lanes then the tournament will not be completed by early July, it would be late July or longer depending on how many lanes you do have. People already complain how long it takes for checks to arrive now, think about the complaints if the tournament runs through July 31st, or August 15th, or longer every year. Not a realistic example, the 48 lanes minimum is a neccessity, whether you think so or not.
2) No booths - I asked you how you would like to make up the lost revenue from missing the booths, your response....."the booths aren't a neccisity". Wow, really, that answers that question doesn't it.....not. EPIC FAIL. Again, if we remove the booths and the rent/revenue they generate, how should that be made up, lower prize funds or higher entry fees? Your choice. Will you actually answer this time?
3) Not in a convention center - so you really think a local establishment would throw out all open bowling, and all of it's leagues for 7-8 months of a year? Really?!? You think any center could survive this? How many bowlers would never set foot in that center again? How much revenue would be lost in the years following the tournament? So while it's nice to whine about that it doesn't have to be in a convention center, on planet Earth, in the real world, that isn't a viable option. No center would do this, none. No center would hurt it's local base like this just to hold this tournament. So again, a convention center is the only realistic option. Which again brings up the questions I asked earlier, which you conveniently didn't answer in spewing your garbage response, or in other words EPIC FAIL.
4) No area for "fans" - while I know it doesn't happen as much as it used to, but there are still people who make Nationals a family vacation. They have wives, husbands, children etc there with them that want to watch them bowl. So having an area for "fans" is a necessity, unless you want to further reduce the number of teams/bowlers that come year after year. The average bowler who goes to this tournament, isn't going to win an Eagle, they are going to enjoy time with friends and family. Why would you want to alienate them further? So again, realistically, this is another EPIC FAIL.
 
Mr C, which I am now certain stands for clueless, does this show you who is reading and who isn't? Your entire rant is nothing but one huge steaming pile of EPIC FAIL. These things may not be necessities to YOU, but either you have no plans to offset the reduced revenue of losing things or your "answers" are so far removed from reality they would only come true in some bizarro universe. And just to add one more thing to this, the Bowler's Journal Championships had a record number of entries last year....but you want to just throw it away as something not needed. Did you read that....a RECORD number of entries. So obviously there are a lot of bowlers who felt it was a necessity. Again, nothing but an EPIC FAIL. If you want to be realistic we can debate this further. Otherwise just don't respond because it isn't fair to the rest of the readers of this topic. Your so-called answers are so far out there i'm suprised one of them wasn't to use anti-gravity devices so we can suspend bowlers and lanes in the air above the lanes on the ground so we get twice as many bowlers particpating at one time, and you can charge extra for those that want the anti-gravity experience. That is as realistic as any of your other solutions offered.

Nationals is supposed to be the national tournament.  That's it.  It's not supposed to be a fund raiser for USBC.  It's to determine a national champion.  End of story.  So factually speaking, I am 100% correct in my assessment of the situation.  All the name calling from you doesn't change that.  Name calling is the last resort from people that have nothing backing them.  Good job.

You don't need to offset revenue because the tournament isn't about revenue.  The BJ tournament has nothing to do with the national tournament.  None of it has anything to do with deciding the national championship.  Everything you said is so wrong, I'm not even going to bother to address it point by point. 

By Joe Cool's strict dictionary definition of a National Championship, yes he is correct.

You could hold it in a 16 lane center in some small rural center in the northeast somewhere that allows smoking still.

And I would predict that the less than 1000 teams that showed up for it would all be some of the very best in the country.  Yes, you'd win an eagle.  I hope that was your goal.  Not much money when only 1000 teams entered.

Just like the world series of poker Main Event could be held in any old smokey casino poker room with tables.

But it should be, and is a special experience.

If you have ever gone to a PGA event, you see booths from all the major vendors offering their latest technology.

Bowlers enjoy the same at their national championship.  You can talk to the some of the best in the industry.  There have been days where Steve Kloempken was at the Storm booth, or Mo Pinel was hanging around the Morich booth.  Where else would the average bowler have the chance to have their game analyzed and a ball recommended for them for the tournament conditions by the most knowledgeable staff the ball companies have to offer?

Yes, Joe Cool, the national championship would exist without all of that, but not one many bowlers would want to participate in.