Hotwire13 came up with a great suggestion about the bowlers talking about the equipment that they're throwing and why they chose it for the show. I agree that it would be fascinating and informative for bowlers of all skill levels.

What I would prefer, though, is that while they can say which ball it is and the characteristics of the ball, that they, in turn, cannot say any comments such as "First off I want to thank (Brunswick/Ebonite/Track, etc) for the opportunity..." OR "It's great that (Storm/Circle/AMF, etc.) keeps making balls better and better...".

In other words, I don't want to hear a plug for the equipment - just tell me why you chose the ball you're planning to use, why it's drilled the way it's drilled (show the ball and the layout), and what it's supposed to do on this lane condition. That should be plenty of exposure for the manufacturers as it is, so thanking them or propping them up on top of that would be overkill and would be distasteful to me.

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You weren't unlucky when you left that corner pin, so shut up about it already!!

Edited on 11/24/2004 12:44 PM

Edited on 11/24/2004 12:45 PM

I don’t have any problem with them talking up the equipment. They are being paid money by manufacture and should give them a plug.

It’s no different than at the end of a NASCAR race and Jeff Gordon thanking Dupont, Pepsi, Chevy, etc, etc, etc,.

Since the manufactures are giving tens of thousand to the PBA to register their products you would think they could include and analysis of what equipment is being used on the telecast as well.

I don’t understand what entertainment anyone gets from the trash talk. What does it prove? The only think that should be talking is your final score.  

bowling is a technical game...other than golf and nascar, its really the only sport where equipment choices are so important and can have huge amounts of influence on your success.  

by naming the patterns with wild animals and showing a 10 second clip of the oil strip that i could see online any time of the day, they dont do much in informing the fans as to how the lanes are playing.  randy's a great bowler...let him get out on the lanes and throw a few shots with different equipment to show the reactions, and then compare them to the past weeks oil condition to show the difference.  like when they recently bowled on pattern B, and i kept wondering how the guys were able to get the ball to come back from outside 10...tell us...SHOW us...why that is possible even after a half hour of practice on the TV pair, when B is supposed to be unplayable from that deep.  this could be done prior to the show, on a separate pair of lanes, for maybe 3 or 4 minutes worth of shots.  i have noticed that even on pba.com, the organization of both the show and the website could be much more insightful if there was a little more attention to detail.  

i know this sounds crazy, but what about doing something like this under either a blacklight or with a dye placed in the conditioner, so that the oil itself can be seen while the ball is in play...you cant get any better than that when it comes to fully understanding the play of the lanes.
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RED STRIPE

ITS BEER
HOORAY BEER!