BOWLING'S HUMBLING NATURE
If this is such an easy sport, why do world-class athletes have such a difficult time keeping the ball on the lane? Also: Glenn Allison's next career goal.
by  BJI Staff

Even in an era of hyper scoring, bowling remains a challenging game to learn and a difficult sport to master. This point is brought home whenever world-class athletes from other sports take to the lanes and find it challenging to even keep the ball out of the gutter, let alone get a strike every once in a while. The latest victim of bowling's sometimes-humbling nature: Jonna Mendes. During a recent visit to Whitefish, Montana, Mendes competed in the women's giant slalom at the U.S. Alpine Nationals, and paid a visit to the local bowling center. On the slopes, she traversed the course for a combined time of 2 minutes, 22.05 seconds, good for the championship. On the lanes? That was a different story. "I got two strikes right away," she said. "Then it was one pin, three pins, then maybe two pins. I stunk."


CHARITY EVENT IS A SLAM-DUNK
When Tim Duncan was 14, he lost his mother to breast cancer. Earlier this year, the 7-foot forward/center of the San Antonio Spurs decided that he wanted to help cancer patients and others suffering from potentially fatal afflictions. So he organized the first "Tim Duncan Bowling for Dollars Charity Bowl-a-Thon at AMF Country Lanes in San Antonio. The event, which also featured a silent auction, raised more than $102,000.


STANDING THE TEST OF TIME
It's said that records are made to be broken, and in recent years, bowling records have been falling like flies. The five-bowler team mark, held for nearly 36 years by arguably the greatest team of all time, the Budweisers, now inches upward fairly regularly. Which brings up the question: Is there a bowling record on the books today that could stand the test of time? Nobody thought Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games would ever be broken. Then came Cal Ripken. Nobody thought Babe Ruth's record of 714 career home runs would be broken. Then came Hank Aaron. Ditto for Ty Cobb's career record 4,191 hits (eclipsed by Pete Rose). So, does a bowling record exist, given today's scoring environment, that deserves to rank alongside Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, or Wayne Gretzky's 92-goal season? These are not rhetorical questions; we'd like to hear from you. Send your ideas and comments to Bob Johnson, Luby Publishing, 122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1506, Chicago, IL 60603; fax them to 312-341-1469, or e-mail them to <bobj@bowlersjournal.com>.


MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS
Most sports fans love statistics, and we're no different. In covering bowling's scoring explosion of the late 20th century, we've sometimes struggled to put the numbers in the proper perspective. Earlier this year, Dave Kindred, in a column for The Sporting News, gave us some mathematical assistance. Allow us to paraphrase: During the 1979-80 season, ABC members rolled 5,373 perfect games. Last season, they rolled 39,470. That's an increase of 735%. But it does not factor in the drop in the number of sanctioned ABC members, from 4.8 million to 1.7 million. After playing with his calculator, Kindred determined that a bowler today is 2,075% more likely to roll a 300 game than 20 years ago. OK, that's certainly a more accurate assessment of the situation, but it's still just a number. Then one of our bowling and baseball savvy editors came up with the ultimate, easiest-to-grasp comparison we've heard to date: If home run hitting were increasing at the same pace as 300s, Mark McGwire would have hit much more than 700 home runs during his record-breaking season - or, well over the amount Babe Ruth hit over the course of his entire career.


THE STARS GO BOWLING
The list of Hollywood movie and television stars who enjoy an evening on the lanes now and again continues to grow. To the roster, add Dule Hill, who plays presidential aide Charlie Young on "The West Wing." You know "The West Wing" - that's the show that airs right after "Ed" on Wednesday nights.


PRACTICE OVERRATED?
An event limited to men through most of its existence, the Utah State Championship Tournament, saw a scoring record that had stood since 1975 broken during the 2001 edition at Bonwood Bowl in Salt Lake City. By a woman. Davie Mae Lindquist, a junior on the Weber State Wildcats bowling team, rolled games of 289, 268 and 263 for a singles event record 820 series, breaking the old mark by eight pins. The scoring spree came on the first morning of Daylight Savings Time and - you guessed it - Lindquist forgot to set her clock ahead one hour before retiring the night before. As a result, she arrived at the bowling center just barely in time for the first frame, missing the practice period entirely.


CHARGING FORWARD
How effective is bowling as a vehicle for promoting America's financial institutions? Last month, we told you about an ad campaign embarked upon by VISA and PETsMART.com, which utilizes a picture of a dog pushing a bowling ball down a lane to grab the reader's attention. Now, MasterCard has jumped on the bowling bandwagon, placing a print ad that shows a bowling ball sitting next to a pizza, capitalizing on MasterCard's colors and logo design. The ad text reads: "Debit MasterCard. Just bring it along and your Saturday night plans don't have to include a trip to the ATM."


CARTER AVERAGES 261
No, not Don Carter... Jeff Carter of Springfield, Illinois. And, no, not for a league session or a tournament... but over the course of an entire season. That's right. Carter amassed total pinfall of 18,060 for 69 league games during the just-completed season - a record 261.74 average. Refreshingly, the 31-year-old right-hander accepts little credit for the accomplishment, according to a column by Bill Herald of the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune. Herald quotes Carter thusly: "I'm not really concerned about the average record. I admit that it is due to the conditions. I can live with this because I'm the first person to admit that the scores are way over-inflated. There is nobody on this planet that should be averaging over 230... The sport is broken, and it's finally time to start fixing it."


SOMETHING UP THEIR SLEEVE
Retro bowling shirts are all the rage these days, as evidenced by Cruisin' USA's recent rollout of "Stuckey Bowl" shirts based on NBC's "Ed" (BJI, April 2001, Marketplace). Now, another hit TV show has spawned a similar garment. HBO's "The Sopranos" has a Web site on which visitors may purchase an array of items, including retro tenpin shirts "advertising" Satriale's Meats. Of course, the shirt includes the meat market's slogan: "We grind our own."


NOT WAITING UNTIL TOMORROW
As the 2000 recipients of the Alberta E. Crowe and Chuck Hall Star of Tomorrow awards, Californians Missy Bellinder and Scott Norton now have expectant eyes gazing upon them. And neither seems content to rest on their "Star" laurels. Bellinder, who hopes to pursue a career in communications after college, recently received a $1,000 scholarship from the Bowling Writers Association of America. And Norton, the son of WIBC Hall of Famer Virginia Norton, rolled a 298 game on the ABC Tournament lanes at Reno's National Bowling Stadium.


'I CAN NAME THAT TUNE IN...'
No doubt about it: the stars of the PBA Tour have eclectic musical tastes. The one-on-one format and the arena setting of the recent Battle at Little Creek provided the opportunity to introduce the players in grand style - including musical accompaniment. So what did the various pros select for their entrance music? Everything from classic rock to modern pop, and from metal to world. At opposite ends of the spectrum were Mika Koivuniemi and Rudy Kasimakis, the Finnish star selecting U2's "Beautiful Day," and "Rudy Revs" going with "American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock. Parker Bohn III's selection was somewhat predictable: George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone." More tunes next month.


'MR. 900' EYES 100,000
Glenn Allison, the man who rolled sanctioned league bowling's first 900 series in 1982 (later denied official recognition by the American Bowling Congress), competed in the 50th ABC Tournament of his career in March. One goal down, one to go. "Mr. 900" now has his eye on the 100,000-pin plateau in ABC competition. "I figure I can get there in about five years," says Allison, who turns 71 on the 22nd of this month.


People, Places & Things
Corpus Christi, Texas has been selected to host the 2006 ABC Championships Tournament. Next year, the ABC goes to Billings, followed by Knoxville in 2003, Reno in 2004 and Baton Rouge in 2005.... The BWAA announced Kelly Kulick and Bill Hoffman as its Amateur Bowlers of the Year, and Bob Glass and Linda Kelly as its Senior Bowlers of the Year.... Joan Feinblum and Cheryl Hammitt have been elected to the California Women's Bowling Association Hall of Fame. Induction ceremonies will take place during the 77th annual CWBA Convention, scheduled May 19-20 in Bakersfield.... The CWBA also announced that its 2001 "Star of Tomorrow" recipients would be Kristyn Dyane Lee and Christopher Bella Anadilla.... An exhibit of more than 30 pieces of Currier & Ives trotting art is on display through May at the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in St. Louis. The "Americana" prints portray everyday 19th century life and culture.... Ken Lowman, former publisher of the California Bowling News and a meritorious service member of the Southern California Bowling Hall of Fame, died March 12 following a battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 84. Prior to his second career in publishing, Lowman was a noted musician, performing in Disney movies and scoring more than 100 "Popeye" cartoons.


QUOTE/UNQUOTE

Excerpts from the acceptance speeches given at the ABC Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in Reno:

* Gary Bower: "This is the biggest day of my life, and this is the biggest moment of my life. I just want to thank everyone."

* Mike Aulby: "I couldn't have been inducted at a more perfect time, since I've won two of my three Masters titles here in the National Bowling Stadium."

* Bill Spigner: "This is my fifth Hall of Fame, and this is truly the best of all."

* John Jowdy: "Over the years, I coached many players, including Bill Spigner and Mike Aulby. And let me just say that when you have that kind of talent to work with, they make you look good."