I'm not convinced that the PBA put this tournament out as a stunt. I know that there are arguments for and against. But one guy, namely Jeff Carter, must be thrilled as it gave him the exemption that he needed to continue next year. He was dangerously close to the exemption cut line, which mean Tour Trials or TQR's. Stunt or serious tournament, he was bowling for his job.

GP made a great point. If Wes skipped any other tournament, we aren't typing about it right now...

To a certain extent, you're right. However, it's not really a valid comparison because golf has never come up with an equivalent to the typical house shot (thank goodness for that). I suppose you could start building golf courses with funnel contoured greens, and fairways that all slope toward the middle but that costs quite a bit more than just walling up your bowling lanes. Also, golf has a greater depth and breadth of skills that must be mastered to play at a high level. Imagine having to master more than one fundamental arm swing for bowling analagous to driving, approach shots, chipping, and putting.

Having said that, lets re-visit your analogy. Put Joe "League Bowler" on the US Open pattern with a polyester spare ball and let him throw a series. Now, move Joe over to a fresh pair and give him a modern performance ball and a spare ball for comparison's sake. Will his series be higher with the modern ball? I just don't think so.

+1.

I also DO think that if you put took Joe Golfer's 460cc driver away from him, on a wife open public course, and made him use a persimmon, he'd shoot 9-18 strokes higher per round. A 275 yard slice, when there are no trees around, is still better than a 50 yard shank. You can even move the weights around to tune your shot shape - hey, just like bowling!

Nor are we talking about the other bowlers that sat out that week: Norm Duke for example.



Erin

Or Doug Kent.

Also a very good point. The defense there was that "he always take some time off in this part of the year..."

One of my bowling buddies is on the anti-Wes train and was adamant that he should have bowled because he is an entertainer. My response had several points, but one was also a question that no one but Storm/Roto and Wes can answer. What kind of monetary incentives are there for him if he wins Player of the Year? Here's a guy in the hunt for that. Yes, he said it was bad timing, even at the beginning of the year, and if his season was tanked, maybe he bowls, but it's not. He's there now.

Duke... same thing. What about Doug Kent? Rhino?

I don't remember hearing any of the others, namely duke, kent or rhino complaining about the tournament, that's the only reason Wilbon jumped on him in the first place.

Couldn't have said it any better Gp.

I missed the part where Wes complained about the Plastic Ball tourney, aside from last week's show where he called out Wilbon.

jStevensMD,

I really do not have a problem with arrogance so to speak. I think you need some degree of it to be successful. I have met some bowlers who have arrogance that I have no problem with. It is because even though they may be arrogant they respect their fellow bowlers. It is the guys who act like they are better than everyone else, make every excuse when they are not doing well, and never give anyone else who does well credit that I have an issue with. You are right that many times because the most arrogant ones seem to be younger power players, that group in general tends to get a bad rap. As you can see by your own assessment however as you labeled a lot of older bowlers as stubborn and not wanting to move so judging a book by its cover does happen sometimes. I judge by the person, not the age group or style of play.

The way I look at it is in league bowling there is a kind of chain. You have those guys averaging 160 who on occasion are going to hand it to the 180 average guys. There are the 180 average guys who are going to hand it to the 200 average guys on occasion, there are the 200… well you get my point. I would never disrespect a lower average bowler than myself because they beat me (unless the person was just a complete jerk). It is those few guys who feel they are above it all that really get to me. It is common sportsmanship to shake hands and congratulate the winning team and some of these prima donnas cannot even be man enough to do that.

One thing a lot of these guys fail to recognize or accept is that a lot of us bowlers are at a HUGE disadvantage. I will use myself as an example. I am pretty much content to bowl one league mainly for fun. I do not care to spend a lot of money on all the latest equipment and lessons. I have one bowling ball, I bowl 3 games a week (in my league), and practice once in a blue moon. Now here comes some young arrogant guy who has a physical advantage, bowls in 3 leagues, practices all the time, and has 4 bowling balls at their disposal. I certainly would hope he is a better bowler than me because if not something is definitely wrong. Without knowing someone’s back ground (how many times they bowl, the equipment they have, do they take lessons, how long have they bowled) it is hard to know exactly how skilled a bowler they are. An average alone is not really a good indicator of how good someone is.

I guess I am just trying to say to these guys who think they are above it all you need to realize that being a good sport sure beats having everyone think you are a jerk and you may want to reconsider your attitude because most of us would never give you any respect to you like we would give to a high average bowler who is humble and gives us the respect any person deserves.