The reason curling is an olympic sport and bowling isn't is because they don't have a groove cut into the ice that tracks errant shots to the target in the middle like we have in bowling.

If we invested money inventing an oil free lane condition and everyone used the same ball then bowling would compete on the same conditions and use the same ball and it would come down to skill instead of who has the best stuff or the easiest shot.

Amen!

Yep, I'm good with a broom and wash floors too. Just ask my wife.

I was going to start talking about how the NBA have World Championships and Olympic appearances but Coach Jim does make a good point. Too much variation could be a problem and the reason.

humm never thought of it like that either. good point jim

I found part of this article on bowl.com and then went and read the rest of it. I figured it would go well in this thread.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregoni....xml&coll=7

The one good point is that bowling isn't a spectator sport other than to other bowlers. I also think its because there wouldn't be any biased judging like in so many of the Olympic "sports."

Another part of the reason bowling hasn't been in the Olympics as a medal sport is recently because the PBA pros haven't been allowed to compete in the major international competitions such as the World Championships until very recently. Now that they are, the IOC may revisit putting bowling on the program for the 2016 Games.

quote :
Gymnastics? Sure, it takes a ton of talent, but when you're done with your routine, it goes to the judges. You knock down nine pins, you've knocked down nine pins. No debating that. Is there not an Olympic purity in that?

the website that inferno listed is informative.

Uuummm...yeah... about that. I haven't seen any swimming, gymnastic, or handball tournaments or competions lately, live or on TV. It seems like most of these have to be specified spectators just like us bowlers. I think that the too many variations that can't be controlled to, test the athelete's ability instead of their ability to buy the right equipment.

And on that note, how in the H3LL did handball become an Olympic sport before bowling? That is some certified BS. Unless of course Handball has been around forever, I only heard about it 4-5 years ago.

5 seconds of research. It's been around for a long time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_handball