From: aki <aki@akidamme-233324.worldbank.org>
Subject: Re: Re:
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A772F47D9D012631@akidamme-233324.worldbank.org>
X-Xxdate: Fri, 8 Jan 93 14:06:05 GMT
Organization: The World Bank
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d16
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 14:09:01 GMT

In article <93007.172244MAX@psuvm.psu.edu> Mark K. Miller, MAX@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>Well, I'm glad you got down off that soapbox because I was about ready
>to pull it out from under you!  The whining in this group has become amazing!
>Earlier this week, a once-a-weeker whines about bowlers better than him being
>allowed to enter the same tournament as him and take his $20.  Now a PBA pro
>whines about a "straight" bowler being able to throw a 200 game with a 10
>year old plastic ball when the "true 200" bowlers are struggling between 180
>and 190 with the latest expensive high-tech equipment.  Just in case anyone
>cares, I happened to throw a 250something with a 15 year old AMF Strikeline
>(hard plastic) in July just before it got retired; and it only weighed 14 lbs!
>The weight was why it got retired.


Well two things...(1) you don't read too well, and (2) I was DEFENDING the
fact that bowling is just what you said.  

First off, I was NOT whining, if anything I was _trying_ to state that
there IS too much whining about lane conditions.  If you _read_ my post
you would have seen where I put "real" and "straight" in quotes.  I was only
stating the fact that yes, lane conditions are set up for profit by the houses,
NOT for skill.  I also said that if the lanes were set up for skill, there
would be alot less 200 games not only by the "average" bowler but by
the pros as well.  All the better for me, the tougher the better.  I don't
complain about lane conditions in the houses that I bowl in unless I have
a legit complaint (e.g. illegal oiling, baby powder on the approach, screaming
inconsiderate bowlers in adjacent lanes etc).  Unfortunately, as I said,
if the lanes were tougher, a high percentage of the bread and butter bowlers
would quit or move to an easier house.
BTW, the first 300 I bowled was with a ten year old Manhattan Rubber, and
it was also 14lbs and I was 16 years old. Sheesh, _anyone_ can bowl a 300, 
and yes, _anyone_ can bowl a 250 something.  And as just about every
bowler has seen, even Del can throw a gutter ball on T.V.....

>I think we've all lost track of something; the object of the game is to knock
>over pins.  If they fall down you've done good; if they don't you've done bad!
>It can't be any simpler!  I don't care that a pro bowler can lay down a shot
>within microns of the same place exactly the same way time after time.
>Especially if the result is that it lands in the gutter.  Mr. Ballard?

Mark, _any_ sport, in concept is simple.  Golf, hit the ball into the hole with
the least amount of strokes.  Tennis, hit the ball as hard as you can within
the lines on the other side of the  net and hope the other guy misses.  Hell
look at boxing, all you gotta do is stay conscious!  I think it's unfair that you
bash Ballard for guttering the ball, how do you think he got into the final
round in the first place?  By guttering the ball all of the time?  He made
a mistake, no one said Pro bowlers were perfect, they just make (on an
average) _less_ mistakes.


>I ask those "true 200" bowlers mentioned above struggling with their 185
>game and a ProHook Extreme why didn't they use a plastic ball and throw it
>straight down the lane and get their own 200 if they knew thats what the
>conditions were?  I would think a "true 200" bowler would know when and how
>to adjust.

Why not?  I've seen "true 200" bowlers do just that.  Infact, I used my 
black knight when the lane conditions warrented it.  Maybe, just maybe,
some of these self labled "true 200" bowlers AREN'T 200 bowlers.

OBTW, I've bowled more than one game hitting just one pin (e.g. ten pin or seven
pin), and I could care less what my score was.   When I practice, I'm not
working on my average, I'm working on my technique and/or strengthening my
weaknesses, the average will come as a natural result.

Whew! :-)



*************************************************************
Aki Damme                    "How come the best ball
The World Bank                for me is ALWAYS the
Washington D.C.               one I didn't bring, or the
PBA #2294                     one I don't own?"
*************************************************************
All usual disclaimers about my employer and my wife apply 
*************************************************************
Newsgroups: alt.sport.bowling