BallReviews
General Category => PBA => Topic started by: Pinbuster on February 25, 2013, 06:47:34 AM
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How sad is it that the day after the completion of one of the games biggest majors the only topic is what ball was used?
Not how well someone threw the ball.
Or how well they they played the lanes.
Or how someone got tapped that may have cost them a championship.
Or how someone threw a bad shot in a crucial situation.
Purely what ball was used.
The fixation on equipment and the belief that it makes the bowler is one of the biggest downfalls of the game.
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Ironic that you make your point on a site called ballreviews.com
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I'm not much on the whole 2-hand thing but I will say I gained a ton of respect for Belmo in the clutch. He even had a calm look about him that was noticable from the start, a look of contentness before the game even started that regardless of the outcome he still reached the finals in the USBC masters. That is what i'd at least tell myself. I think that calmness he had, had a direct impact on making those key shots.
Wes had a look at it but he should still keep his head up. He still performed all day long and made a ton of good shots.
I enjoyed the show and especially the last match. Remember, Wes forced Belmo to have to throw those big shots to apply pressure.
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Good matches (except for the one with the Brit).
Loved the shirt Mika had to wear. Barnes outdid himself on the design.
Belmonte seemed very relaxed. Mallott looked like he was hurting.
Never got the impression that this was a major. Yes, they kept on saying that this is a major but it just didn't feel that way. Sorry, but IMO, stepladder finals are boring compared to the team competition.
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Ironic that you make your point on a site called ballreviews.com
That's because fundamentalsreviews.com and laneplayreviews.com don't exist. ;)
I think part of Buster's point, though, is that people wouldn't visit those sites even if they *did* exist.
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Sorry, but IMO, stepladder finals are boring compared to the team competition.
You cannot be serious! watching that pitiful Team crap gave me the best sleep of my life. Watching Baker or bowling in the Baker format is the most boring thing in bowling
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Mainzer,
I take it you have never done much Baker bowling? I have to disagree. When I bowled in college, we had many chances to bowl Baker format games. It was, and still is, a very exciting way to compete. It allows the team as a whole to get behind the one member bowling. It allows them to support the good and bad shots made by teammates and creates an atmosphere where every frame, every ball is very important. We won a tournament where the entire finals was completed using Baker format, and we went out and averaged 250+ as a team during the Baker games we rolled. It was the most exciting finish I can remember during my years bowling in college, even though I was the main reason we didn't average higher. Even when we had the tournament won, we still were trying to get the highest game we could, including shooting a 279 in the final game (thanks to a solid 10-pin in the 5th frame by yours truly, lol). Not sure why you feel it is boring, but if you have ever experienced it, I think you might feel differently.
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I find watching step ladder of a PBA tournament much more interesting & exciting than watching this league on TV. Since the PBA decided to spend more time on the "league" than on the finals for a couple of tournaments, I am kind of annoyed, to say the least.
That said, I find watching college bowling with Baker format, incredibly boring, mostly because i have not idea who they are or what they can do. I just don't know them. I find watching a mixed handicap business league more interesting.
Jorge300, it may interesting and exciting to participate in them. Watching them on TV seems like the "excitement" is all forced and phony. It may not be; it just seems that way. I had excitement participating in high school intramural bowling; so, I can understand how you can enjoy it. Watching it is of zero interest unless you know the players and have a vested interest in who wins.
I have enjoyed watching the PBA league because I know most of the players from watching them on TV and in person. I know their different styles and it's fascinating watching who does what with the condition. (I just hate the fact that the PBA played the "league" against step ladder tournament finals and eliminated the step ladder games and just showed the finals.)
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I have to agree with you charlest. I bowled collegiately and the baker format can be exciting. The regionals we went to was a 2-day event with a total of 64 baker games being the tournament, nothing else. And since you don't have baker type bowling other than these special situations, you never really get a feel for how well or bad you are bowling. I just couldn't ever get into a rhythm.
And as far as excitement goes, the bowlers do seem enthusiastic. The men's side is probably more realistic in terms of perceived excitement. The women's side is another story with their chants and the such. Their outbursts would make the bowling traditionalist cringe as if fingernails are going down a chalkboard. Perhaps it is indicative of the youth. I bowled in college as a 33 year old so my view is different. Everyone standing at the approach with yelling, screaming, ridiculous chants, passing of gas as way to intimidate your opponent just gets to be too much. Plus, my legs and back were killing me after standing and bowling for 8-hours a day.
But as Jorge300 said, as a past competitor, I do find the baker format somewhat enjoyable to watch. But for the PBA, I prefer the stepladder format. Personally, I would rather have multiple pairs going on and finish the bracket format to the end in a traditional format with the winner of the winner's bracket needing to be beat twice by the winner of the loser's bracket. But unfortunately, time just isn't permitting for that format without drastic changes.
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Charlest, spmc,
I will fully admit I may be biased having bowled Baker format games during my college days. I found it to be very exciting and it made every shot even more critical for the bowlers, as there isn't 4 other bowler also bowling that frame to pick up an open. Having bowled in that format, I feel the pressure each bowler is feeling and understand the difficulty there is to make a good shot...and that was with just my college teammates around, not WRW Jr, or Pete Weber, or Norm Duke, etc sitting back there. The pressure on the "new" or "younger" guys or the less well known PBA players must be that much more. To me that is what makes it worthwhile to watch. But if you haven't participated in a lot of Baker format games, it could be hard to watch, I understand that.
But I agree, I am not happy that it comes at the expense of the regular tournament finals. I wish they could break it into 2 shows, and have the PBA League show and the regular tournament show as well. But if they did that, I would probably miss one of them, lol. We don't get the PBA tour on Sunday's here in Canada, we get it Tuesday afternoons. And we didn't get any of the WSOB shows here, because there was other things on the Sports Channel, like curling, lol.
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I like the team play because i get to see 10 different bowlers with ten different styles each match. It's what people like Jorge grew up on and as the demographics of the bowling audience continue to get younger, it will become the norm. It is sad that so many bitch about the PBA and the prize money, and the format, and the announcers, and the audience, and the, and the, and the times infinity. Yet any change they make gets derided by the majority on here. Sorry folks, PBA is evolving to survive. They will move on without you. Perhaps you can get the Senior Tour on television like in the past, if that's the only kind of bowling you'll watch. All I can say is, "Good luck with that happening".
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They see a ball that a player is having success with and it automatically equates to success for them if they have the ball too. Nevermind anything else.
Makes sense...
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The PBA is grasping at straws to attract new viewers while losing the old.
A lose-lose scenario. It is a major stretch of the imagination to say they're evolving. They're disintegrating.
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Says somebody who really isn't in the demographic that they intend to cater to.
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The PBA is grasping at straws to attract new viewers while losing the old.
A lose-lose scenario. It is a major stretch of the imagination to say they're evolving. They're disintegrating.
+1
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Charlest's post summed it up. The PBA is very desperate so they are resorting to desperate measures. They are just flinging any old poop against the wall to see what will stick.
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Sorry, but IMO, stepladder finals are boring compared to the team competition.
You cannot be serious! watching that pitiful Team crap gave me the best sleep of my life. Watching Baker or bowling in the Baker format is the most boring thing in bowling
I disagree completely. I recently watched in person an intercollegiate team (slightly better than H.S. bowlers) shoot a Baker 300. Last game of the competition and the team was way out of the hunt. But it was the best part of the day.
The pressure of finishing that game to me would have trumped anything I have personally experinced in bowling. It is one thing to step up in the 10th for a 300 for yourself. But when 4 other bowlers got you there everyone is counting on you.
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Yeah LGD gotta disagree with you here. Charlest sums it up. The PBA is losing viewers in droves and comes up with something new every year to try to entice viewership. But it never works, and never sticks.
I will agree however that they are aiming for a younger demographic these days. A few of my friends that went out to Jersey were commenting on the fact that the shot they put out cater to the big hand players. And I think this is very evident when 90% of the shows have guys playing inside 3rd arrow.
But, in the end it will lead to their demise. Experienced high end players that used to be the bread and butter are being pushed to the side while they search for the younger audience. And....just like bowling in general....what the powers that be don't grasp is if you take those loyal customers for granted they will walk away or change the channel.
Then, when the audience you are catering to has 85,000 other sources of entertainment and doesn't develop into avid bowlers, or in this case viewers, you end up with nothing.
This is why league membership is down. This is why PBA ratings are down. No leadership....no direction. Just grasping at straws trying desperately to compete.
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I find watching it boring. Bowling in it i go back and fourth with. Maybe i worded my first post a little strongly so i apologize. I bowled a baker team tourney 5 man teams and did not like it, i like being up their bowling all the time. On the other hand, i bowl a three man team tournament and we do our match play in Baker alternate shot...that is a alot of fun cause you get to bowl more often.
I guess i would find two five man teams going head to head in one game match similar to a league setting more interesting.
Sorry again for going a bit nuts on my first post
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Let me address a few posts here:
Mainzer, you have nothing to apoligize for. Your feelinga are your feelings. Some of us disagreed with your thoughts and put down our reasons why. Are we trying to change your mind? I know I'm not, just pointing out a different perspective. As Complete mentioned in talking about the Baker team 300 he witnessed. I just know, when we bowled a tournament, we averaged like 254 as a 5 man Baker team for the finals, including a 279 our last game. I was one who held us back most of those games, including a nice solid 10 pin in the 279 game and know the pressure I felt and the excitement as we were performing.
Charlest, Falcon, et al who think this is just grasping at straws. Well it might be true, this is I think the best attempt yet at trying to bring in the casual bowler to watch the telecasts. Most bowlers are used to seeing a 5 man team. Now they probably aren't used to the Baker format, but it brings it closer to what they see every week in league. I think this is a better than the House Shot tournament, or the Plastic Ball tournament (which as a more than casual bowler, I loved; but not going to appeal to the casual bowlers at all), etc. But the problem is they are sacrficing the actual tournament finals, except for the final match. They need to find a balance so that we can see more of the actual tournament finals along with the team competition. I am not sure what the right answer is to that without expanding the shows even more, which I doubt ESPN or the PBA want to do.
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JOrge300,
I understand your point of view as a Baker format bowler. Believe me, I do.
I have enjoyed the PBA team format because I know these bowlers. I hate, I absolutely detest both men's and women's college Baker format televised games because, one, it seems so phony to me (whether or not it is phony), and, two, I can't relate to any of them. (I mean, who do I root for? how skilled are they? how personable are they? Are they a Jack Jurek or a Pete Weber?)
Then the PBA team format has caused the finals for 2, so far, PBA tournaments to be limited to the one final match. Half the enjoyment was watching the last 4 games of competition between the top 5 qualifiers. Now that is gone. I get to see one game. The excitement is cut by 20% or more.
I'd rather see the PBA TV season extended by the team games AFTER they show the normal tournament step ladder for each tournament. With the current PBA format of 90 minutes of Team and 30 minutes of tournament, I feel I am not seeing the competition I like and have been used to for a long, long time.
If the PBA showed both team and tournament, then they will have something to attract viewers. As it stands now, they're haven't made the Team a permanent thing (they haven't locked in the new viewers yet) , and they're losing viewers who are used to and want to see step ladder finals. That is why I said, it's "neither fish nor fowl", in a manner of speaking.
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Yep i like the Baker format also. But i would rather see the final 2 teams bowling baker format and the 5 man stepladder final. Rather than the 4 baker games and 1 championship game.