There will be no more awards this season for 299 of any kind and 11 in a row is going away.  I don't know when exactly it changed, but in the 2012-2013 season I had a couple of 299 games.  It made it to bowl.com achievement section under Find a Member as 11 in a row which is no big deal because they can still see what each score of my series is on the achievement section, and I was still able to purchase a 299 ring on keepsakebowling.com.  However, now when you go to keepsakebowling.com, you see 299 rings are now gone because there is no way for them to verify you actually had a 299 game.

To read more about it, go here: http://www.bowl.com/Awards/Awards_Home/2014-2015_High_Score_Awards_FAQ/

Do I understand the new policy in that 11 in a rows do not go to your online record now?

That is correct.

Encouraging bowlers to join Sport and/or PBA Exp. leagues just doesn't work in the big picture. A lot of bowlers talk big about wanting to bowl on challenging conditions, but then they talk smack about the center and threaten to quit after they shoot under 540 three weeks in a row. Most bowlers are hypocrites, ladies and gentlemen. It's sad, but it's true. They don't think that the shot is too easy when they're shooting 700 plus five out of six weeks; it's only too easy when the guys on the pair next to them - who they think are drastically inferior - manage to shoot those numbers as well.

Sport leagues only flourish in areas that have exceptional proprietors and/or exceptional local associations. If the leaders in a certain area can get people to look past their egos and saddle up for a challenge, the Sport leagues thrive. Sadly, it just doesn't go that way in many places. The funny part about that is that the same guys and gals usually end up leading the pack, it's just with averages of 190-200 instead of 220-230. Still, some people only find bowling fun when they can wheel the ball all over the lane and break 250 at least once a night.

When I worked for USBC, I had a couple different ideas for conditions. First, I said let's just go staunch and say that ALL certified leagues had to be on Sport-compliant patterns. I was pretty much laughed out of the room because they felt that frustration would cause bowlers to leave in droves. I then jumped on another person's bandwagon about tiering the membership and awards structure depending upon what types of conditions were being used. If you bowled on patterns that featured an oil ratio of 3:1 or lower, you were eligible for the highest awards package because you were bowling on the most-challenging conditions. If you bowled on patterns with a ratio of 4:1 to 10:1, your awards package was slightly lessened, and if you bowled on anything higher than 10:1, you had the least number of awards possible since you were bowling on the easiest conditions. That idea never got legs either. Lastly, I wondered if we could make all youth leagues bowl on Sport-compliant patterns. The idea there was that if all the kids ever knew and learned on were Sport patters, they would be used to them and want to continue using them when they went to the adult ranks.

In the end, obviously, none of the ideas took hold. The problem is this. USBC is afraid of doing anything drastic that would cause large numbers of bowlers to jump ship because, frankly, if that happens, they may not have enough operating capital to keep the organization running at all; however, staying the course is causing a slow bleed that, if not tied off, will eventually lead to death anyhow. It's an unenviable position to be sure, but let me state once more something that I have stated countless times on here. USBC has been far from perfect; there is no disputing that; however, the organization and the people who run it do truly care for the sport of bowling and want to see it survive and become revitalized. Sadly, a combination of bad public perception, bad economy, low sponsorship, etc. are making it very difficult for the organization to make noticeable progress. Still, for those who complain about the cost of USBC membership, keep something in mind. I recently paid over $700 to have both of my kids enrolled at a local dance studio. That fee gets them one night of lessons per week and one recital at the end. USBC membership cost me $18 (not all of which goes to national by the way) for 33 weeks. Now, do I see a ton of tangible take-aways from my USBC membership? Maybe not, but should I really get rings, patches, plaques, etc. for giving the organization 54.5 cents a week? USBC isn't stupid or terrible for failing to give out awards now; it probably never should've been giving them out in the first place. Let the local associations and/or the individual houses handle that. USBC is a governing body, not a trophy shop. I know it's hard to accept not getting something that you've always gotten in the past, but times change. USBC could afford it when 300/800 were rare, noteworthy feats. We all know that isn't the case anymore. Does your whole center stop and gather around when someone is going for 300/800, or do you only know it happened because of a bit of cheer on ball No. 12 or when they announce it over the PA system?

Lastly, now that I've dragged on for far too long...again, when you want to complain about the game being too easy, keep in mind that nobody is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to use a brand new $200 high-performance bowling ball. If you really wanted a challenge, you'd buy a urethane or plastic ball to use for all shots. Now, I know you'll be at a disadvantage when competing against all of the guys using the high-tech stuff, but that's a different discussion. If you want the game to be challening, if you want to have to hit your mark and throw the ball well to make the ball hit hard, there are options out there that could give you what you want. As such, all bowlers, myself included, have to accept some level of blame when talking about how easy the game has become.

What is easy to one person may not be to another I been hearing this dispute about lane condition since I started bowling in 1977, frankly I do not know any more what is legal. There just too many egos in bowling when an person considers his or her self better than their competition and lose to them something has to be wrong.So Gene is right own with his statement.

As I eluded to, there are no magic buttons to press or perfect solutions to be found. Bowling's problems are many, and I truly believe that even if someone found a way to solve them over time, it would still be highly unlikely that bowling would ever return to the popularity it saw in the "good old days." Membership decline is not all about ABC/USBC's missteps/failings; there are many factors outside of the organization's sphere of influence that have and will continue to steer potential bowlers to other activities. This isn't said in order to excuse USBC for mistakes because there is no doubt mistakes have been made; nevertheless, rather than dwelling on them, the organization (and its members) need to look toward the future and take some bold actions designed at trying to infuse some life back into our slowly-dying sport. Sure, it won't be possible to please everyone, but that doesn't mean we should stand pat doing things we know don't work just to avoid roughling feathers. If nothing else, bold actions may show some people that the organization truly does care about bowling's future because the threads I read seem to indicate many bowlers have their doubts about that. As the wise Andy Dufresne once said, "get busy livin', or get busy dyin!"

I guess that's valid to a point, Eddie, but I have a couple of questions. First, what do you expect out of the dues you pay each year? Again, I paid $18 in total dues this season. I forget how much of that is national, but I think it's around $10. Even if all $18 went to national, that breaks down to 54.5 cents a week in a 33-week league. What are you expecting for that contribution? I bring this up because a lot of bowlers have an axe to grind because ABC/USBC used to do x, y, and z, and now they only do z. Well, operating costs have gone up, and membership continues to go down. Obviously, you can't consistently spend more than you bring in. That's why USBC has laid off nearly half of its labor force over the last 4 years.

Second, what aren't they regulating? Please give me some specific examples of things you want/need to see done that USBC is not doing?

Lastly, when you say get out of the way so that someone else can, to whom are you referring, and are you planning on being a part of that group?

I don't mean to challenge you personally, Eddie. You are echoing points that I've heard others state countless times around here; however, I do think my questions are valid. There are a lot of armchair CEOs around here who claim to have all of the answers, yet here we sit. If you truly have the magic formula to fix competitive bowling, please share it with us before sharing it with USBC. If they ignore your gem of an idea, I will gladly jump on the bandwagon and suppor the USBC-is-the-bowling-antiChrist movement. Until then, I'll have a hard time taking comments like your seriously. Again, nothing personal, just the facts.

You make some good points in there. Let me reply to a few. Here goes:

1. You're correct that there haven't been many obvious changes enacted by USBC to regulate and/or slow down the scoring environment. Most of what they've done in recent years has been to encourage bowlers to take on more challenging conditions (i.e. Sport, PBA Exp., Red, White, Blue, etc.). Sadly, we know that hasn't worked. Some areas (usually ones with great proprietors and strong local associations) have great Sport programs, but others have tried it once or twice only to see it flop big time. USBC could mandate that these conditions be used as I suggested in a previous post, but I think we all know that this step would be met with a ton of resistance. Do any of you remember when USBC considered imposing drilling restrictions? From what I've heard, people nearly marched on the old Greendale facility with flaming torches when that was proposed. As such, I don't think they like to be seen as telling bowlers what they can and can't do in such cases. Also, keep in mind that USBC is just the rules/structure side; it would still be up to the individual centers to actually follow USBC lane-dressing guidelines, and is that something they want to do? I live in a town with two centers, and if one center is known for producing higher scores, that's where most of the bowlers want to go. As such, are proprietors really going to be down for playing their part in limiting scoring? I doubt it.

3. In regard to getting bowling into the schools, I know that was one of USBC's biggest priorities when I was still in the building. Sadly, due to the current crisis in educational funding throughout this country, it's hard to get schools and school boards to add new programs and activities. Hell, most districts are cutting back on their current offerings. As such, getting a foothold in the schools has proven to be a lot more difficult than most people would expect.

Lastly, again, if you have the answers, get involved with your local association so that you are in the fight instead of just talking about it. Put your 35 years of experience to good use. That's not a shot at you; the same can be said about me. I don't like the way my local association is run; however, I haven't stepped up and volunteered to become a part of that association in order to fix it. As such, I accept the situation for what it is, and I don't talk smack about what the people who are in charge are doing. Unless I'm willing to become a part of the solution, I don't feel I have the right to complain about the problems.

That's the message I think more bowlers need to keep in mind. Thousands of bowlers will tell you how awful the USBC is and how it screws everything up, yet none of them are willing to actually get involved in any way, shape, or form to try to fix the problems they've identified. To me, that's just whining, and we've all heard far too much of that!

The discussions need to be had, Eddie. There is no disputing that. I can tell you that those discussions were being had on a very consistent basis when I worked in Arlington. Any issues that USBC fails to fix aren't because they don't realize the problem is there. The folks in that building don't think that everything is fine and dandy the way it is. They realize that changes need to take place; I think they just struggle to figure out (and get support from the members) how to get them all fixed.