Hey everyone,
I just finished reading the Brian Voss article, and I must say that he echoes many of the same feelings that I've had for a long time. I'll be first one to admit that today's equipment helps me as much as it helps the next guy. But is that really a good thing? I'm only 24, but I remember what it was like before resin came around. I'm talking about the days when the Ebonite Nitro, Solid Blue Hammer AMF Cobra were the biggest hooking balls you could get your hands on. I remember having to hit my mark on every shot or missing the pocket. Now I use buzzsaws, and, on the THS, I have at least a few boards of area to play with. Have my scores and average gone up? Sure. Has my enjoyment and love for the game gone up? Not really. I love new equipment as much as the next guy, probably more. I love trying all of the new technology and seeing just how much it surpasses what has been put out before. But with that being said, I'm not enjoying how easy it has become to become a "good bowler". I bowl in a scratch league with 18 guys, and 17 of us average 200 or better. Now there are some very good bowlers in that group, but I know that the number would be dramatically smaller if they weren't able to use 6 boards of breathing room on either side of their "mark" to find and smash the pocket. I've decided that I'm tired of it.
Here is what I'm suggesting: I would like to start a league that can attempt to level the playing field a bit. Here are some of my initial thoughts:
Equipment: No particle or resin; urethane, plastic or rubber only (Of the accepted balls, no dynamic cores like the new companies are offering, only old school stuff like white dot and original hammer type stuff) Another possibility would be to just make everyone use the same ball with the same drilling and coverstock prep. Hell, I bet proshops could get a great deal on the ball if we went this way.
Lane Conditions: Stripped before league, then oiled to as close as possible to the standards of the THS from the 70s or 80s.
I know that this sounds kind of strange, but I've always wondered what it would be like to try something like this. I think it would be great to see people actually have to hit a specific damn mark in order to be rewarded with a strike. I'd also like to see it back in the day when you had to master your angle to the pocket in order to carry, rather than just skimming the head pin and blowing everything out on a light hit.
Now I know that this is probably just a dream, as too many people like carrying the high averages and shooting the honor scores to give that up for something like this. I, however, would rather average in the 180s by trying something like this than to carry 200+ on a cake shot that doesn't even require me to think. The bowling world tried to combat this problem with sport leagues and conditions, but, unfortunately, the technology still managed to catch up and make those shots easier than they were supposed to be. I'm just wondering, would any of you consider bowling in something like this if it were offered? What changes would you adapt to the rough format that I have described? I'm sorry if all of this sounds cynical, but when I hear about leagues in which 5 or 6 people shoot 300 each week, isn't it obvious that this has gotten way out of hand?
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Bowling is without a doubt the dumbest, most pointless, most idiotic excuse for a game that has ever been invented. So, what time are we bowling tomorrow?
Edited on 11/18/2003 3:19 PM