Author Topic: Too easy to be a PBA member? (Read 4832 times)

Pinbuster · « **on:** October 02, 2003, 05:33:24 PM »

Is it too easy to become a professional bowler? And when are you truly a professional bowler?

My definition of a professional athlete would be one who primarily makes their living by the sport they are engaged in, particularly during the active season of the sport. By my standards many so called amateurs are really professionals. Many part time regional players would not fall into my definition. They have never gotten a check in a PBA event nor are they likely to. And they will never make a living at it.

In bowling one is only considered a professional if they join the PBA. The requirements for joining PBA, I feel, are far too low in terms of average. I would think the bar today should be at least at 220 maybe higher. I know Iâ€™ll here from bowlers who will claim the bowl in brickyards and no one averages 220 and in a few (very few) cases that might be true. But I would be surprised if most of the successful full time national tour players couldnâ€™t average 220+ on that condition. It is amazing how a good pro can make a condition the normal house bowler cannot hit look easy.

The PBA is going to an all exempt tour next year but up till then what other sport can you compete on itâ€™s major league stage by simply paying a fee? None that Iâ€™m aware of.

I really think the PBA exempt tour is good idea in that you have to earn your way on now. The biggest problem I have with the system as currently defined is that too many players are protected. With only 64 slots available each tournament, 50 are from exempt players, 7 will have special exemptions given by the PBA, and last 7 are for the local regional players and sponsor exemptions. The last seven will never qualify for the next year, so you only have 57 bowlers going for 50 slots open the next year. Those are pretty good odds especially when some of the 7 exempt canâ€™t compete anymore due to injury or age. The exempt number should be around 40 giving more regional qualifiers a chance to move up.

seadrive · « **Reply #1 on:** October 03, 2003, 09:44:41 AM »

I agree with everything you said.

The THB with a 205 average would get slaughtered in the PBA, so why does he qualify for the PBA card? Really, house lane conditions are to the point now that I think you should have to bowl a PBA regional tournament as a pre-condition to membership.

If you can average 200+, maybe even 190+, on a PBA condition, then you deserve to be a member. OTOH, if you find that you're averaging 170, and missing simple spares because you can't throw the ball straight, you know that your game needs work before you qualify for the card.
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seadrive
Cogito ergo bowl

9andaWiggle · « **Reply #2 on:** October 03, 2003, 12:23:15 PM »

Well, I'm not good enough to be a member, so I'll say NO! There should be a box on my ABC card application every year that asks if I would like to be a PBA member. By checking the box and including the dues, I should be allowed to hold a PBA card! LOL.

Seriously though, I don't think avgs. from leagues should be used at all, due to the THS. Set a criteria where an avg. has to be set in specific tournaments held on professional patterns (regionals). After X many games if your avg. is at or above X, or you have placed higher than X in X many tounaments, you are eligible. I think there should also be a clause in there that you must have a "character recommendation" as well (I think there's already one, correct me if I'm wrong).

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9-

Why, WHY won't the last one just fall?? It's WIGGLING for cryin' out loud!!

channel surfer · « **Reply #3 on:** October 03, 2003, 12:46:57 PM »

hmmmm.. I think you should also hold a certian average, but you will also have to take a test. There are PBA members out there that dont even know much about the science of bowling balls.
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9andaWiggle · « **Reply #4 on:** October 03, 2003, 12:52:25 PM »

quote:
There are PBA members out there that dont even know much about the science of bowling balls.

I would venture to say there are football players that could not explain the physics behind what it takes to kick a 50 yard field goal, and golfers that couldn't tell you exactly how that titanium clubhead and graphite shaft help them hit 300 yards, but that doesn't stop them from being the best in their game. As long as a bowler can knock down all 10 pins every frame, why should it matter if they know how the ball is made and what causes it's reaction on the lanes?

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9-

Why, WHY won't the last one just fall?? It's WIGGLING for cryin' out loud!!

scotts33 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 03, 2003, 08:06:23 PM »

As, I remember Brian Voss joined the PBA with a 190 something average. Earned his spurs so to speak bowling in Air Force bases in Alaska and Europe.

Scott

NoNeed4Revs · « **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2003, 09:45:38 PM »

I don't believe that you should have to hold a 220+ average to be regional PBA. If you are really to the level that the PBA seems a viable option, you probably are seeking out the most difficult conditions you can possibly bowl on. All this will do is make people find the biggest wall in their town and bowl a league there before joining.

As far as the all-exempt tour, it's being very shortsighted. The problem is that it promotes a weakening of the amount of talented players that are not currently bowling the national tour. Ponder this...

Say you are trying to qualify out of the western region and you have to take first place in the region to get an exemption onto the national tour. The most you can make as a regional pro is maybe $6000-$8000 a year. This means that besides having to bowl almost every event in the region, you have to hold down some sort of job to support yourself. How big do you think the talent gap will get between the regional guys who have to split their time between an occupation and professional bowling, and the national tour guys who live the sport 24 hours a day and make a living doing it?

The reason this sort of exemption and farm system works in the PGA is that you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in the lower level tours, without even being one of the top players. The golfers who are working to get into the PGA can focus all their energy on golf and not have to worry about supporting themselves, thus raising the talent level across the sport.

In the short run the exempt-only system in the PBA will add prestige and look good, but in the long run it's going to weaken the talent on tour and screw many promising players in the process.

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Proud owner of a 111-111-111 triplicate series. And a Winnie-The-Pooh spare ball.

Platinum Bowler · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2003, 09:50:09 PM »

quote:
hmmmm.. I think you should also hold a certian average, but you will also have to take a test. There are PBA members out there that dont even know much about the science of bowling balls.

Wow, now thats a smart idea........... Not.

______________

From the 909, this was B-Car.

s1nger1 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2003, 10:03:45 PM »

Hmmm do a q-school like golf. Then you have to earn enough money in the regionals to get you card for the tour. You also need to keep the pros that drop down to bowl regionals from trying to stay on this level so this would give a chane for other ppl to get there cards.

Pinbuster · « **Reply #9 on:** October 04, 2003, 09:16:34 AM »

Bowl200 - Do you have your card or were you bowling as a guest amateur? Do you consider yourself a professional bowler? Iâ€™m happy that you enjoy bowling and help out the youth but if you consider yourself a professional quality player I would doubt it. It is not about who supports the game but what level of skill should be achieved to be considered a professional. I feel the bar is set far to low.

Just as in all sports the fans are the ones who support it and without them it will go away.

I couldnâ€™t pay a fee and play a game on a minor league baseball team but I could bowl in a national tour stop.

I wouldnâ€™t want to bowl in a regional pro-am and draw some â€œPRO or PROâ€˜sâ€ who are really nothing but locals with high averages. And why would I pay admission to see mostly the same guys bowl. Few will and that is why the regionalâ€™s are really nothing but giant pot games. Our association has many PBA members who would not be ranked in the top 50 against amateurs in our association, that is not professional material to me.

At even the lowest levels in any other sport the PROâ€™s will still be able to beat virtually all the local hot shots with few problems. But in bowling since largely it is a case of do you want to pay the money for membership, there are many locals who could beat at least 1/3 of the field.

As far as the exempt tour. They will be holding a qualifying tournament that goes over 5 days and 5 lane conditions. As I understand it the top 7 will qualify for the tour. Assuming that it will draw hundreds or entrants it will be a tough way to get out on tour and many a good player who simply had a bad block or bad week will have to pack up and wait a year to try again.

Pinbuster · « **Reply #10 on:** October 04, 2003, 12:30:31 PM »

I agree in that the lack of money to be made keeps many from trying to pursue a professional bowling career. I sure there are other minor sports that the pro pay is so bad that many to amateurs choose not to try as well.

But I donâ€™t believe that is an excuse to allow players who are not really pro caliber to join those ranks and declare themselves proâ€™s.

The fact is a PBA is an organization trying to make money not necessarily trying to identify the best in the sport. So they open there membership to players who cannot really make the grade.

seadrive · « **Reply #11 on:** October 04, 2003, 12:51:33 PM »

Must be raining in Okieland, Bones is busy stirring the pot...

I agree that many a talented bowler never tried his hand at the pro level because of the lack of money. I strongly disagree that we all know "many in our local association" who could compete with the pros.

First of all, there's no way to compare their abilities to pros, since your local hot shots are all bowling 3-4 games a night on a wall. It just ain't the same as bowling 50-60 games over a 3-4 day period on a tough shot.

Secondly, you can't learn to bowl on tournament conditions by bowling on a wall in a league, so to a man, every one of these local phenoms would take a 20-40 pin average hit out on tour.

With more money in the pot, you'll get more talent out there, and better competition, but make no mistake about it; the PBA pros are the best bowlers in the world. The top 100 PBA guys would make mincemeat of Joe 240-average league bowler.
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seadrive
Cogito ergo bowl

Game In a BoxLC · « **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2003, 02:23:51 PM »

good point bones, i always like seeing in the ABC open and stuff when anyone can get in and we can see amateurs make the telecasts, thats really cool its one of my favorite events.
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I finally figured out how to score well on a wall. Heres what you do. Get lined up in practice and then just miss on purpose. Yes miss whatever line you found in practice, if playing 15, hit 14, or 13, or 16. Whatever you do, don't hit 15.

DON DRAPER · « **Reply #13 on:** October 05, 2003, 12:18:34 AM »

sawbones---the pros we see on tv may not be the best bowlers in the land ? what ? you mean if i see walter ray williams, jr., chris barnes, norm duke, brian voss, parker bohn III, etc., on tv they don't represent THE best the world has to offer ? perhaps you meant to say if "john doe" is making his first telecast as a pba member............

by the way, brian voss became a pba member when a 190 average was the minimum requirement. now the minimum is 200. besides, the 190 average he attained was shot on TOUGH lane conditions across europe---far tougher than the average newcomer to the pba saw.

i'm not convinced that many non-professionals would do that well on the pba tour. the abc masters and the bpaa us open are open to amateurs and professionals alike and it's rare for an amateur to win( let alone do well ) at these two tournaments. chris barnes, robert smith, patrick healey, jr., rudy kazimakis, brian kretzer, etc., all struggled for awhile until they learned what it really takes to compete at THE highest level of bowling.

Edited on 10/5/2003 0:35 AM

SrKegler · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2003, 01:15:31 AM »

Iâ€™ll have to agree that the best bowlers are not necessarily bowling on the tour. How many people had ever heard of John Handegard or Gene Stus until they started bowling the senior tour. Commitments just prevented them from bowling professionally earlier. I am sure they are more bowlers out there that just canâ€™t compete because of the limited income potential.

Why worry about average requirements. You guys have all talked before about how easy some houses are, you've also talked about the brickyards that still exist out there. Why should the guy bowling in a brickyard averaging 200 be denied the chance for a card. To a certain degree, averages have very little to do with ability.

Lets just do away with the average requirement, let anyone with the money buy a PBA membership. Under the new exempt tour, they are still going to have to qualify for the tour through the regionals or the open tournaments each year anyhow.
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~~~SrK - Have balls, will travel

Author Topic: Too easy to be a PBA member? (Read 4832 times)

Pinbuster

Too easy to be a PBA member?

seadrive

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

9andaWiggle

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

channel surfer

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9andaWiggle

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scotts33

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

NoNeed4Revs

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

Platinum Bowler

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

s1nger1

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

Pinbuster

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

Pinbuster

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?

seadrive

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Game In a BoxLC

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DON DRAPER

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SrKegler

Re: Too easy to be a PBA member?