Bowling Is A Sport - Why Argue For It?

I have been involved with bowling for a long time. I can't remember any time where bowling has been given a "proper place" in the sports listings of newspapers or magazines unless it was a specialized publication like "Bowler's Journal" or "Bowling Magazine." I do vaguely remember a short time period where a nationwide magazine had a summary of bowling highlights at the very back of their monthly issues - I can't even recall what the name of it was. (We used to wait for it to show up at the bowling alley when one of the adults would bring their copy in and me and my buddies would scramble to read the bowling highlights from across the country.)

In the mid-1960's, when I worked part-time at the hometown lanes, I was given the assignment to compile and write the recap of the weekly bowling highlights for the local newspaper. I really enjoyed embellishing the articles with my own descriptions rather than merely reporting the scores. Bowlers used to complement me on how they enjoyed reading the weekly summaries because the articles were not just recaps, but stories.

After a few months, the bowling center manager told me the newspaper had requested I not make the articles so lengthy since they only had limited space assigned for bowling news, and they would be editing out portions of my submissions if they felt it would not fit in the edition it was to be reported. Shortly after that, they stopped reporting anything about bowling unless it was something spectacular.

Although I came from a small town tucked away in a corner of Hawaii, I could imagine that my experience is not isolated. I also suppose that's why a large number of articles (bowling proprietors, bowling writers, and bowlers at all levels), continue to lament the non-inclusion of our sport in the mass media. And especially when Poker and Billiards Tournaments are given more television coverage than bowling.

It seems, too, that the international bowlers, in their home countries and regions are given more publicity than our bowlers here in the U.S. Some of them are even considered "national heroes," for their bowling accomplishments. Many of the elite U.S. bowlers are more widely known overseas than here in their home, the U.S.A.

Bowling is growing worldwide, and will more than likely continue to grow and expand as the years go by. The main reason for the growth is that our bowling organizations - the USBC, BPAA, IBPSIA, PBA - continuously send our best bowlers around the world to hold clinics, teach and certify coaches, and be goodwill ambassadors for our sport. A mention must be made here about the promotional efforts of the equipment manufacturers - Brunswick, AMF, Kegel, Murrey - as they also sponsor efforts to promote and foster our sport of bowling around the world.

While I would be very happy to see bowling treated with more respect in my lifetime, I would like to believe it will occur sometime in the future when its popularity rises to the point of further worldwide recognition. Can you imagine when there will be 50+ Million competitive bowlers internationally? Already the World Tenpin Bowling Federation (WTBF) reports that there are over 100 million bowlers around the world of which, 10 million regularly participate in some form of tenpin bowling competition - to me, that is really encouraging for the future of our sport.

To all who continue to lament the shortage of coverage in the media and who continue to try to argue that bowling is indeed a sport, I advise to stop it, and offer the following “Choc-List:”

1) Bowling is a sport. Why continue to argue the point? For everything we do in the world, there are detractors. Just take a look at all the postings on the internet and there is never anything said for which there is a consensus opinion. Regardless of what you say, or how you try to defend it, your arguments can never convince everyone that your point of view is correct.

2) Bowling will never be so popular that everyone will know about it. Even football, basketball, soccer, or any other sport that enjoys publicity has people who do not pay attention to it; and when asked, will respond with, “What is that?” When the famous signer, Ray Charles, passed away in 2004, “everyone” who came into work that morning made a comment about his passing. As the conversation went on through the morning, one of the younger persons asked, “Who is this Ray Charles everyone’s talking about?”

3) Bowling will continue to flourish worldwide. Not only from the promotional efforts by all organizations that depend on the sport; but, by the individual and cooperative groups in different countries around the world. Over the internet, you can get bowling shows from Australia, Japan, England, Finland, Sweden, Taiwan, Korea, and I have not stopped looking yet.

4) Bowling does not, and should not, have to compete for recognition or respect. There was a time, for each of the major professional sports, when they were not widely known but, still maintained their legion of fans, supporters, and participants. Why does bowling have to compete for participants when there are already over 100 million worldwide (and growing)?

We, the participants, know it is a sport and we have the physical pains (and perhaps, injuries) to show for it; we, the participants, regularly go out and compete in our sport to challenge ourselves physically; and we, the participants, know it is a sport. Does it matter what our detractors think?

A Hui Hou! (See You Again!)