Technology has made bowling too easy...what do you think?

[tigerfan0810]

This is not a knock on bowling. Just an observation from someone who was fairly educated about the sport at the time. Obviously, that time has passed me by but I'm curious to get some educated information from a population that is still involved in the sport.

Background info: I was a junior bowler in the mid-80's. The top balls were Columbia 300 yellow, blue and white dots. I even had a Roto - Grip which was more of a hard rubber compsoite type ball. We all thought those balls at the time were hooking out of the house. Today, those balls are a joke. Then Columbia came out with the Hammer.........it's probably a spare ball at best by today's standards. I remember watching an old lady on some Sunday night league shooting a 280 or something by just thumping the ball out onto the lane with 3 revolutions at best and mixing the pins up. Ithought even back then....that's ridiculous. Back then...oil patterns didn't have names............the only name we were concerned with was who was working and would they be there to actually show up to use the machine?

Back the the Tennessean or maybe the Nashville Banner would publish an All City Team. Back then, even the best averages in the whole city adults and Juniors was high 90's or low 200's. And that was at least in two different houses. A lot of bowlers from rundown houses such as West-Inglewood- or Franklin always complained about not being on those teams because the sidewalls were dead and no one could carry a 10 pin. Cumberland was always tough because the shot was so far inside and no one liked playing that deep. I'd look at the league sheets on the walls when i would go over there and their house Avg's were so much lower than Strike and Spare or Madison or Tusculum...Plaza was a good house. I forgot to mention that Donelson stunk too...sorry. Hendersonville was too far for me to drive to back then Remember.............Hermitage isn't born just yet.

Point is........I can go to Strike and Spare (#3) on Charlotte with my family - pick out a house ball- throw it down and in -right off the first arrow and it walks to the hole. My family thinks I'm Mark Roth's illegitimate son (look him up). Family actually has no idea who he is either. I should have said Walter Ray Williams. House AVg's are in the 240's? Shooting 600 used to mean something.

Questions-- Where does the sport go from here? Do you think golf equipment will have the average golfer shooting 10-12 under par for 18 holes? Then what does bowling do? I hope for the sake of kids (remember...I used to be one of them) that they get scholarships and everything else that comes their way but at the rate things are going....that same little old lady i saw 25 years ago just shot 800 ...and she's legally dead.