Do You Bowl?
- Thread starter EagleGuy
- Start date
Zunardo
Well-known member
I was into it back in the day. Went to two bowling camps with Don Johnson, that was a lot of fun.
As a little kid I loved watching my father bowl, that's how I got started. Was in leagues over 30 years. Mrs Z was a bowler also, but we haven't gone since our last league maybe 15 years ago. Bags are collecting dust in the basement.
Could never crank the ball like a lot of guys did, and I never tried a reactive resin model. I did have an Ebonite Nitro Blue urethane with grips that suited me every well, was averaging 195 my last year.
As a little kid I loved watching my father bowl, that's how I got started. Was in leagues over 30 years. Mrs Z was a bowler also, but we haven't gone since our last league maybe 15 years ago. Bags are collecting dust in the basement.
Could never crank the ball like a lot of guys did, and I never tried a reactive resin model. I did have an Ebonite Nitro Blue urethane with grips that suited me every well, was averaging 195 my last year.
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irish_buffalo
Well-known member
Two bowling alleys in town closed roughly 10-15 years ago. Used to be packed with leagues most nights.
9 million participants in 1980 to 1.5 million as of 2019 and that number has certainly dropped more due to the pandemic.
Same thing happened with mens/womens/co-ed adult slow pitch softball. Used to have leagues everywhere and jam packed. All largely gone today.
No time? Priorities? Social media? Competing is fun but these sports were very much a social event.
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9 million participants in 1980 to 1.5 million as of 2019 and that number has certainly dropped more due to the pandemic.
Same thing happened with mens/womens/co-ed adult slow pitch softball. Used to have leagues everywhere and jam packed. All largely gone today.
No time? Priorities? Social media? Competing is fun but these sports were very much a social event.
Thavoice
Well-known member
Doesnt that conflict with your pickleball league?
Zunardo
Well-known member
Sociologists and psychologists could have a field day with why this is.
Societal changes in lifestyles and increasingly varied and virtual entertainment options would be up there, I guess. That's quite a drop in participation. For small businesses, maybe not so much social impact. But I worked at the post office, there 1000 of us in Columbus in our building alone. I got to know many of them thru softball and volleyball leagues, which no longer exist. I know they still have one bowling league, but there used be four leagues. I'd think there's less sense of workplace cohesiveness than used to be.
I've seen 4 houses within 15 mins of my house close in the last 20 years, that's depressing to see. And I didn't know that downtown Columbus had quite a few smaller bowling alleys in the 50's. My father listed all the places he bowled at when he was a GI in the Air Force back then.
Read somewhere that bowling centers need to upgrade and change in order to stay viable in today's world. Former PBA member Wayne Webb bought a center in Columbus some years ago, re-named it and renovated it, and it seems to be doing well. And a few of the older centers I bowled at have taken out a third or half of the lanes in their building and converted the space to more dining and arcade options, a la Pins Mechanical.
eastisbest
Well-known member
People will play, if they can control robots that do the bowling.
Thavoice
Well-known member
We still have a very nice bowlling all in CowTown USA. A couple local schools bowling teams practice there and usually do quite well on the state level.Sociologists and psychologists could have a field day with why this is.
Societal changes in lifestyles and increasingly varied and virtual entertainment options would be up there, I guess. That's quite a drop in participation. For small businesses, maybe not so much social impact. But I worked at the post office, there 1000 of us in Columbus in our building alone. I got to know many of them thru softball and volleyball leagues, which no longer exist. I know they still have one bowling league, but there used be four leagues. I'd think there's less sense of workplace cohesiveness than used to be.
I've seen 4 houses within 15 mins of my house close in the last 20 years, that's depressing to see. And I didn't know that downtown Columbus had quite a few smaller bowling alleys in the 50's. My father listed all the places he bowled at when he was a GI in the Air Force back then.
Read somewhere that bowling centers need to upgrade and change in order to stay viable in today's world. Former PBA member Wayne Webb bought a center in Columbus some years ago, re-named it and renovated it, and it seems to be doing well. And a few of the older centers I bowled at have taken out a third or half of the lanes in their building and converted the space to more dining and arcade options, a la Pins Mechanical.
They still seem to do great business, bowling and restauarant-wise and family owned for decades. STill remember walking there for PHys Ed in school many moons ago!
Thavoice
Well-known member
I used to golf 1-2 times a year. Local place had night golf that was pretty cool.
Did hit a hole in one about 20 years ago.
E-P-I-C!
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
Blame the dumb phone. How many people of instead of going out or going to someone's house instead facetime.
Growing up Amish we were not permitted in such venues of self indulgence.
Then a friend told me about a film called Kingpin, which included an Amish lad tempted to live the hard life. After being inspired by that documentary, I tried my hand at it a few years back but never did as well as the guys on the movie. So not been in 3-4 years.
Then a friend told me about a film called Kingpin, which included an Amish lad tempted to live the hard life. After being inspired by that documentary, I tried my hand at it a few years back but never did as well as the guys on the movie. So not been in 3-4 years.
irish_buffalo
Well-known member
I think you hit the nail on the head. The last thing younger people want is to walk into an old Bowling Alley and smell stale smoke, 70's decor, hot dogs that have been on the heater for what seems like a decade, Milwaukees Best on tap, and a novelty machine in the men's room.Sociologists and psychologists could have a field day with why this is.
Societal changes in lifestyles and increasingly varied and virtual entertainment options would be up there, I guess. That's quite a drop in participation. For small businesses, maybe not so much social impact. But I worked at the post office, there 1000 of us in Columbus in our building alone. I got to know many of them thru softball and volleyball leagues, which no longer exist. I know they still have one bowling league, but there used be four leagues. I'd think there's less sense of workplace cohesiveness than used to be.
I've seen 4 houses within 15 mins of my house close in the last 20 years, that's depressing to see. And I didn't know that downtown Columbus had quite a few smaller bowling alleys in the 50's. My father listed all the places he bowled at when he was a GI in the Air Force back then.
Read somewhere that bowling centers need to upgrade and change in order to stay viable in today's world. Former PBA member Wayne Webb bought a center in Columbus some years ago, re-named it and renovated it, and it seems to be doing well. And a few of the older centers I bowled at have taken out a third or half of the lanes in their building and converted the space to more dining and arcade options, a la Pins Mechanical.
Modernize it JUST LIKE Pins in Cbus. Pins is packed on a nightly basis but they went the duck pin route, ping pong, bags, and other games with some great craft beer in a cool environment.
irish_buffalo
Well-known member
Not bowling but my men's softball team from back in the day, which was comprised of ex-college baseball and football players, came across this Amish team in a tournament. We laughed at first, they laughed last.
irish_buffalo
Well-known member
Ish. They didn’t smoke. Dinked and dunked us to death though. Lol?????
Stirred not Shaken
Well-known member
What you are describing is not even a bowling alley but an entertainment center.
irish_buffalo
Well-known member
Pretty much. Have you been to Pins? Packed. I'm unsure the conventional bowling alley survives moving forward. I'd guess that in my neck of the woods (Toledo), where bowling was traditionally very popular, 80% of bowling alley's closed over the past 20 years. Just a guess.
Mr. Slippery
Well-known member
Sad as it may seem, the public smoking ban was a major blow for activities such as bowling and bingo.
Also, bowling seemed a very blue collar event when I was growing up. Many of those jobs are gone, as are many of the recreational league teams that people participated in through their employer, place of worship, or other organizations (ex. various fraternal orders). A few major employers like Hoover and Timken even had their own recreational parks for company picnics, rec. league softball games, etc.
I've looked through countless pages of newspaper microfilm, and it's incredible how much space in the sports section used to be dedicated to bowling league results or just regular bowling outings, rec. league softball, Class A baseball, and rec. golf leagues.
My grandpa had a large collection of bowling trophies, mostly from his days of bowling for the team sponsored by his department at the steel mill where he worked.
The smoking issue was a two edged sword for bowling alleys. I walked away from years of league bowling because I just couldn’t stand the smoke anymore. After the smoking ban many, many people walked away. It took me two decades to return to league bowling after I dropped the habit. Smoking hurt bowling both ways.
Zunardo
Well-known member
I'm trying to remember the timeline on the first smoking ban - not sure if that was just Columbus or statewide. Since the law mentioned "public places", my house lanes created a mandatory membership fee, something like two or three dollars, so they could call it a private club and keep smoking. I think other lanes and bars did the same. Not sure how long that lasted.
Yes, I remember being in my 20's and bowling with my father in a men's league with several blue-collar teams. I never smoked, and I never paid attention to it while there, but would notice later how my hair and clothes smelled of cig smoke.
Thavoice
Well-known member
How cool. Like father...like son.My very first trophy was from bowling. I was 8, it said "I beat Mom".
14Red
Well-known member
Boy, so much to unpack here.
You talk to anyone in the upper reaches of healthcare and they cringe at the overall state of American health. Obesity is huge, no pun intended. 40-50 years ago we had a society that not only worked alot of manual labor jobs, but also farmed. Most of that's been turned in for laptops and cell phones. Heck, so many work from home now that they don't even walk to the office anymore.
There are so many more ways to socialize today. Bowling/ Golf/ sports leagues used to be a way no only to socialize, but get some exercise. Yes, there are some of the gym nuts who work out 5 times a week, but that is more of an individual thing and people go, put headphones in and drift off into their own muscle world.
It may take decades to get enough data, but we may have picked the wrong way to go with smoking. How much has weight increased with the laws against smoking? What's worse for your health, being 50-100 lbs overweight or smoking?
One of the biggest complaints I hear from the few people who do bowl is how expensive it is now.
Oh and to answer the original question, yes, I bowled in a league for 3 years when I was a kid. Once I could play school sports, Saturday morning bowling was done.
You talk to anyone in the upper reaches of healthcare and they cringe at the overall state of American health. Obesity is huge, no pun intended. 40-50 years ago we had a society that not only worked alot of manual labor jobs, but also farmed. Most of that's been turned in for laptops and cell phones. Heck, so many work from home now that they don't even walk to the office anymore.
There are so many more ways to socialize today. Bowling/ Golf/ sports leagues used to be a way no only to socialize, but get some exercise. Yes, there are some of the gym nuts who work out 5 times a week, but that is more of an individual thing and people go, put headphones in and drift off into their own muscle world.
It may take decades to get enough data, but we may have picked the wrong way to go with smoking. How much has weight increased with the laws against smoking? What's worse for your health, being 50-100 lbs overweight or smoking?
One of the biggest complaints I hear from the few people who do bowl is how expensive it is now.
Oh and to answer the original question, yes, I bowled in a league for 3 years when I was a kid. Once I could play school sports, Saturday morning bowling was done.
Mr. Slippery
Well-known member
IIRC, Columbus voters approved an indoor public smoking ban in 2004. A statewide ban for indoor public places was approved by voters a couple years later.
14Red
Well-known member
Once there was a shred of evidence second hand smoke was bad for people, it was over. I don't smoke, never have, but smokers are treated like second class citizens in most places. To me it wasn't a big deal, even in restaurants where they had smoking and non-smoking sections. The real dilemma came when you were waiting on a table, and you asked for non-smoking but the only tables that were availble was the smoking section . Do I want to eat faster and smell smoke, or wait and not smell smoke?
soccerdad72
Well-known member
Depending on the restaurant, a "non-smoking" section was often a joke anyways. If you're in a place with 15 tables, is it going to matter if 10 of them are in a non-smoking section?