North Face I TOTALLY disagree. The whole fun of the Tours is to see Your favorite Bowler/Bowlers in person. To get their Autograph. To party with them. My Wife and I went to a MD. Tournament years ago and partied with the Ladies after Qualifying. It looks like a lot of Young Ladies now and it is nice to see the older ones too. Its just what Bowling might need. The PBA is struggling because noone wants to see cockiness and arrogance. The Ladies do much better with Fans. It will not fold this time.
THIS.It was a crapshoot to be able to sit down and talk with the guys on the PBA, just based on their attitude from how well or poorly they bowled that day. You just didn't know if you could approach them.
The first time the ladies came to Omaha in 1994, not only was I nervous as hell trying to walk over to say hi to the woman I idolized the most on the tour (Dana Miller-Mackie), I couldn't even get the words out of my mouth that I would like her autograph. Not only did she actually come up to me and introduce herself to me because I was so nervous, she walked me over to introduce me to Lisa Wagner, Anne Marie, and Aleta Sill, which I got a good 20 minutes of face time each with them. I supported Dana throughout that tournament that at the end of it, she left me her Rhino RE, which I still have. We've been friends ever since.
The following year, it was Liz Johnson, Sue Jeziorski, Feldman, Jodi Woessner, and Tammy Turner.
All of this comes home to roost, when you've seen and known them long enough that after that day's bowling, they invite you to dinner with all of them, and you get to know them as PEOPLE, not just bowlers on TV.
You can't get that with Xtra Frame.
The main reasons the PWBA folded at time was that they lost two major sponsors: Sam's Town didn't renew their contract, and National Airlines went bankrupt. National was owned by Michael Conway, who was also on the Senior Tour. They sponsored a lot of their tournaments after Sam's Town left, and National struggled hard after 9/11, especially seeing that they were based in Vegas. They folded a year later, with the PWBA folding 9 months after National.
BL.