BRING ON THE NFL!
by Johnny Campos

So much for Tuesday night prime-time television shows. Now, bring on the NFL!
After slowly working its way up the ratings charts against network
programming, the Professional Bowlers Association telecasts have now moved
to Sunday afternoons (Eastern and Central times zones). The last hour of
the PBA finals will run into the early games of the almighty National
Football League.

So, just when the shows were beginning to make some headway against stiff
competition, they take on a new challenge. How well was the show doing?
Glad you asked. The new-format PBA shows had an inauspicious start,
generating about as much fan appeal as an NBA game between the Chicago
Bulls and... well, just about anybody. But the ratings have been going up,
along with the scoring pace. In the first three telecasts, the bowlers
averaged a combined 196.8 and the ratings averaged 0.66, or about 575,500
households per telecast. The scoring soared to a 235.5 pace the following
two weeks at a couple of Michigan stops, and ratings followed suit. The
average was an even 1.0 (about 852,000 households per show), including a
season-high 1.16 (986,249 homes) for the Taylor, Mich., stop.

That's not bad, considering the competition. The show was not going up
against any lightweights, by any means. We're not talking about Afghanistan
TV shows, such as This Old Cave (hosted by Bob bin Vila), Husseinfeld, Mad
About Everything, Talibantubbies or Allah McBeal. It was picking up ratings
points against the regular prime-time lineup of the Big 4 networks - Jag,
Three Sisters, etc.

How does that compare with last year's telecasts? Again, glad you asked.
According to Kim Bussman, one of the media managers on the PBA road staff,
ratings compared to the first five shows last year are up 29 percent,
reaching an estimated 39 percent more homes.

Besides the scoring pace, however, one of the keys had to be the return of
one of the game's all-time greats to the Grand Rapids, Mich., telecast:
Pete Weber, who won the tournament to tie his Hall of Fame dad, Dick, in
career titles with 26, and did it in style. Not only did he bring a little
flair to the telecast, wearing sunglasses (ala Ernie Schlegel), but he also
stunned the audience with a near-perfect 299 (4-pin) in the semifinals! How
big was THAT?

I have an answer for that one, too. Oh, sure, the game made a splash on
ESPN's SportsCenter. But that's been done. Besides, ESPN should always show
the highlights from a telecast on its own network. The fact that there is a
link to the PBA Web site (PBA.com) from the ESPN Web site (ESPN.com) made
the coverage by the All-Sports Network even more of a natural.
I didn't realize how big a hit the telecast was until the following
morning, when I was listening to "The Tony Bruno Show," one of the top
shows - if not the top show - on Fox Sports Radio. The host is described on
the Fox web site thusly: "Fast paced and provocative, Bruno is joined by
co-host Andrew Siciliano for biting and controversial commentary on the
day's hottest sports stories."

I was stunned on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 17, when I heard Bruno say,
"Did you see Pete Weber bowling last night? He rolled a 299 on TV! He threw
a perfect 12th ball, and left one pin standing!" As a recent convert to
radio sports-talk shows, I have learned to appreciate how good Bruno and
Siciliano are. If there is a buzz anywhere in the sports world, they will
be talking about it the following day. And Bruno was talking about bowling!
So, naturally, I had to get in touch with him and ask if he was a true fan,
or if he had just caught the end of Pete's game while taking a "lap" around
the cable channels with his clicker.

"I'm not a fanatic, but I do enjoy watching it occasionally on TV," said
Bruno, an award-winning writer who also keeps busy on sports TV. "I caught
the Pete Weber match when I was flipping around. I even saw Danny Wiseman
at the Johnny Petraglia Open. He's helping the sport a lot!"
But do you know much about the sport, Tony? "I'm no expert, but I have seen
my share of the greats over the years, and try to mention the PBA whenever
I get a chance on my show."

That's probably what the PBA had in mind when the powers-that-be said they
were going after non-traditional coverage. It doesn't get any more
non-traditional than Bruno's show, which regularly hosts NFL coaches, top
players and other key sports figures.

So far, I haven't heard of any pro bowlers being mentioned as potential
guests on the show, even though they're being touted as "athletes" in PBA
releases. Maybe the show could get some call-ins from listeners who want to
discuss the intricacies of Sport Bowling or the new bowling ball
technologies. But they will have to go up against NFL fans who call in
religiously to vent about their favorite sport.
The NFL again, huh? Bring it on.