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Author Topic: Give us our respect!!!  (Read 1002 times)

Next Level PS

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Give us our respect!!!
« on: April 22, 2005, 03:43:56 AM »
I'm still waiting for the day ESPN does a Sport Century special on our Bowling heroes like Earl Anthony, Dick Weber, Don Johnson and others. If you think back 15 years ago the people out side of this sport knew all these player were, now all of a sudden they act like these at one time sport heroes never existed. ESPN give these guys their due please!!
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Edited on 4/22/2005 11:37 AM
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Pinbuster

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2005, 11:58:55 AM »
Respect is not given it must be earned.

I’m not sure bowling has earned any.

And the current environment has tarnished and diminished to records of the past.  
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Rev_O

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2005, 12:13:51 PM »
the people he mention HAVE earned the respect!!!! How can you say they have not?
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R.I.P Dick Weber 1929-2005
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Pinbuster

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2005, 12:38:47 PM »
How were they really respected by the masses before?

They may have been respected by the 6 million sanctioned men and women bowlers in their era. But today that population base is under 3 million.

Look at these boards. Most of the kids have no idea what it took to excel in that era. They think these guys must not have been very good to have only average 210 then.

Did athletes in other sports respect them?  I don’t think so. While they were contrived events, when they had the battle of the super stars in the 70’s I don’t believe the bowlers ever won an event.

Were they known as TV personalities? Yes they were because there were only 3 network channels and they were on one of them. But being recognized and respect are different things.

Dick Weber was respected more for being a great person than as a bowler.

We have to take our blinders off and realize that most of the world could not care less about bowling. The PBA viewing numbers show that, they would be tickled to get a million households watching. Bowling is a niche sport/recreation.

It simply dollars and cents, ESPN is not going to attract additional viewers doing a tribute program on bowling stars.
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charlest

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2005, 12:54:56 PM »
quote:
How were they really respected by the masses before?

They may have been respected by the 6 million sanctioned men and women bowlers in their era. But today that population base is under 3 million.

Look at these boards. Most of the kids have no idea what it took to excel in that era. They think these guys must not have been very good to have only average 210 then.

Did athletes in other sports respect them?  I don’t think so. While they were contrived events, when they had the battle of the super stars in the 70’s I don’t believe the bowlers ever won an event.

Were they known as TV personalities? Yes they were because there were only 3 network channels and they were on one of them. But being recognized and respect are different things.

Dick Weber was respected more for being a great person than as a bowler.

We have to take our blinders off and realize that most of the world could not care less about bowling. The PBA viewing numbers show that, they would be tickled to get a million households watching. Bowling is a niche sport/recreation.

It simply dollars and cents, ESPN is not going to attract additional viewers doing a tribute program on bowling stars.


pinbuster,

You and SrKegler are just killing me with your pessimism and negativity. If bowling is that sad and misbegotten now, to you both, better you should not say anything than to think you're playing devil's advocate. Most of the "kids" you put down do repsect our past heroes, whether or not the current PBA, in which they were stars, chooses to ignore them (until they die and hten only briefly) and to push for ONLY the recognition of their current stars.

I started bowling in the early 60s and love this sport and game (depending on how it played, it will be both) now more than ever before. If experienced people like you two don't show it, how can we expect anyone to learn to appreciate it?

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Bowling is and was no different than golf or tennis. The public, who does not know the insides of the sport, ONLY learns who is/are/were the heroes and stars by watching it on TV and see which people are on the TV most often. How do you think Dick Weber and Earl Anthony and others became as well known as they were?  The public individual, on average and in general, is the dullest blade in the draw. They only know what they see, in front of their brain for the last 20 seconds or so. It has to be repeated for Mr. John Q. Public to recognize the stars and heroes of any sport. Maybe with baseball's and basketball's 150 games or so every year, that's why their stars are recognized, whether they be real stars or media-created stars.

Edited on 4/22/2005 7:30 PM
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janderson

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2005, 06:05:22 PM »
Good point Charles, the media controls opinions more than any of us like to admit.     Show basketball only for 1.5 hours on Sundays for only 16 weeks per year and have it compete with the NFL and we'll have as many basketball "stars" as we do billiards or lacrosse stars.
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janderson

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2005, 06:07:04 PM »
Good point Charles, the media controls opinions more than any of us like to admit.     Show basketball only for 1.5 hours on Sundays for only 16 weeks per year and have it compete with the NFL and we'll have as many basketball "stars" as we do billiards or lacrosse stars.

Oh, and would it really hurt for ESPN to do an hour special on bowling stars of the past instead of the 8 hours/day of regurgitated crap reruns on Sports Center?  I'm sorry, make that 20 hours/day, I forgot about ESPN2.

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J.J. "Waterola Kid" Anderson, the bLowling King  : Kill the back row
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T Brockette

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2005, 06:13:44 PM »
Regardless of the fact that bowling is not " commercially accepted " by the
masses, it is still the most participated recreational sport in this country,
and has been for years. I don't know about anyone else, but I was offended
that the sports reporters down here in San Antonio didn't mention Liz
Johnson's feat of becoming the first woman to make a PBA telecast. I feel that
some bowling ball manufacturers could help the cause by actually putting a
well done commercial in a prime time slot. Just a thought.
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Tracy
If you want to play, train your body
If you want to win, train your heart
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pin-chaser

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Re: Give us our respect!!!
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2005, 06:37:42 PM »
Bowling certianly is in a catch-22. The bowling industry sure could get a shot in the arm if it could get some real and consistant press. But how can it get that press when the integrity of the entire sport in going in the wrong direction and we are loosing patronage (here in the US)?

Bowling once garnered media attention on most local and even national levels in the 50's - 60's. I remember the late 70's in southern florida, bowling had weekly write up's for the national and local levels.
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