First off, lets ALL admit one thing, bowling has changed dramatically over the last 15 years, moreso than it had changed in the previous 100 years, and it was all due to technological advancements of one type or another.
Now, lets ALL admit something else. Whenever change happens, it always benefits one group more than another. The word change itsself means going from one state to another, and that is exactly what bowling has done. It has gone from a game/sport of accuracy and finesse to a game of power and angle.
I, for one, don't like the change. I was really good at the accuracy and finesse game with enough release strength to get the job done and didn't NEED anymore help. I was the first man/person at our house to average over 200 for a full season, did that with a yellow dot, and ended the year at 202. People thought I should go pro, and I could have because I was really good at what the game took at that time.
HOWEVER, change is incessant. It is going to come, whether we like it or not guys. The change that happened in this game/sport took away a lot of my advantage. Think of bowlings advancements like this:
A skilled fisherman can catch a 10lb fish while using 5lb test strength line because he knows how and uses the proper technique to do so. It is a challenge for himself to be able to do so. Bowling equipment used to be equivalent to the 5lb test strength line, and those who worked and developed the proper techniques could get the job done with no need for improved equipment.
Now, however, bowling equipment would equate to 50lb test strength line, and, who can't catch a 10lb fish with 50lb line? Much less NEED for proper techniques, just grab the pole and reel as hard as you can! The equipment available today lets the newer generations of bowlers do just that. Damn the technique and finesse, just go for it all out.
There will ALWAYS be two sides of the argument and, sadly, there is now a whole generation of bowlers out there who NEVER EVEN HEARD OF USING PLASTIC, URETHANE, or RUBBER, except for spare balls. And why should they. I would rather go home and eat my 10lb fish than go hungry and talk about the one that got away because I wanted to "challenge" my skills, wouldn't you?
I'm 48 yrs old. In most every other aspect of my life, I have embraced technological advance. My family had an 18" b&w t.v. for years when I was a kid. Would you rather watch the game on an 18" b&w t.v. or on a 42" plasma with HD?
Would you rather travel on vacation in a 1963 Ford Falcon with 4/60 air conditioning or what you drive now?
Would you rather listen to scratchy 33/45/78 rpm records while at home or be able to listen to crystal clear music anywhere you go, anytime you want?
Technology is here to stay, like it or not ( and I don't like bowlings new tech ), it isn't going away.
I would also like to say to the younger guys, don't be so hostile. The older guys ( like me
) arent trying to take away anything from you, we are just nostalgic for a time when bowling was a much more competitive
sport, when there were many aspects of the game that had to be LEARNED, skills had to be honed and refined, and there was a hierarchy that one strove to become a member of by attaining that elusive 200 average. Remember, it took a lot of the older guys here 10 yrs or longer to achieve a 200 average because we were all fishing for it with 5 lb test line.
We really don't hate on you younger guys, we just wish you could earn a respect for us by having to go through what many of us did, just to get where you got in a couple of seasons, that's all.
At least I THINK that's all.
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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein Good transactions list in my profile
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