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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".     

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.

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