So bowling isn't considered a difficult sport.  OK, I'll concede that players at the league level and below - and even some tournaments - don't need a whole lot of skill to score.  But at the elite level, bowling is just as mentally and physically grueling as any other sport.

The guys at espn.com don't think so.  They rank bowling at #57 on the list of 60 most difficult sports.  That ranking puts it behind badminton, table tennis, and cheerleading.  Not saying those sports aren't tough, just that I don't think bowling is evaluated fairly.

People just don't get this sport.
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Nut
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None are more hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free....

"My Karma Ran Over My Dogma"
Jesus is coming!  Look busy!

Edited on 1/5/2007 2:03 PM

If you've ever played serious table tennis (not ping pong) you would recognize that this survey is a joke.  Serious table tennis is very difficult, requires a lot of skill and you won't see any fat guys smoking cigars and drinking beer playing.  So, maybe, bowling does belong behind TT, but still higher than 57th.
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"I do desire that we may be better strangers."  Willie the Shake, As You Like it(III,ii)
"I'll bet that Jesus would have used HIS turn signal!!"

I just wish there was a way that we as bowlers could go out and compete against other sports enthusiasts/amateurs/whatevers and prove ourselves in the athletic world.

I played collegiate tennis and would probably be able to give a club level tennis player more problems on his court than he could give me on a bowling lane.

I can still throw a football into a garbage can from 30 yards away and can still put some air under a football too (to the tune of 50-55 yards).  I've seen TO bowl, and it ain't too special.

I can't play to the level of those whackos on the table tennis circuit, but my game would be closer to theirs than a 6-game bowling marathon would be.

I may still be able to get around on 80mph heat, but most baseball players couldn't stick with us when we use our Track Heat.

Yes, there are exceptions to the rule.  There are good bowlers out there (Jerome Bettis for one....and I don't think I could even slow him down, never mind tackling that mountain) in other sports, but I don't think they are as well-rounded as we bowlers.
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"Enjoy every sandwich."
--a cancer-ridden Warren Zevon's reply to David Letterman's question of, "What have you learned from life?"

Baccala8872 – There was a show in the 1970’s where superstars of various sports showed up and did like 10 skills and the ones that did the best overall would win.

I don’t remember all the skills, there was weight lifting, golf, swimming, a 50 yard sprint, a 440 sprint,  bicycling, I believe bowling was in for a while, etc. You pick like 8 of the 10 and you couldn’t do your own sport.

Bowling had 2 or 3 entrants over the years (I believe Jim Stefanich was one of them). All finished well down the list.

I could argue on some of the individual skills rankings but in reality I don’t know if I disagree with where they put bowling using the criteria they had. I might have moved bowling up 10 spots at most.

Look at the body types of the people who tend to play the sports at the top. At the top of the list we tend to have guys who have a lot of speed, size, agility, etc. Toward the bottom, we have guys who can do well (not saying that the sports at the bottom are more difficult/easier) are those who tend to be of average athletic nature... average stature... normal joes like you and me.

If more guys in bowling were at least more athletic looking, rather than looking at the stereotypical image of the fat, alcoholic gambler.,.. we'd see bowling up a little higher... but not by much.
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-Jeremy Vitug


Edited on 1/5/2007 2:44 PM

I took a look at the list and see shooting is one step below bowling as a difficult sport. I bowled before competing as a shooter and found it much much easier to bowl.

Just try hitting a target at 50 yards with one hand and your target is about 2 inches in diameter. I shot for 10 years and was no where the shooter I am as a bowler. If you jerk the trigger just a hair you can miss the target completely. Jerk the bowling ball and you might leave a 10 pin.

Shipper

Rather odd that the majority of the listed sports have had some sort of 'performance enhancement' drug invovled.  I'm yet to know of any such thing, unless you suggest beer , to enhance bowling