Everyone likes easy.
All professional bowlers strive to be successful, win tournaments, claim major titles, and earn big money. All professional bowling fans want to see an environment where pro bowlers are rewarded and recognized for their efforts. Neither comes easy.
There are many reasons why 13-time PBA Tour champion and future PBA Hall of Famer Chris Barnes is widely considered among peers and pro bowling fans as the most talented current player in the Professional Bowlers Association. Barnes is in tip-top physical condition, has a tremendous knowledge of his physical game, an almost encyclopedic grasp of lane conditions, bowling equipment and lane bed characteristics from around the world. Then he starts to practice.
There is only one Chris Barnes.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are many more professionals, amateurs and league players that are not as committed to physical conditioning. Not as knowledgeable when it comes to bowling ball technology, not as dedicated to the pursuit of perfecting a physical game or following a structured practice regimen.
The same parallel could be drawn for the fans of professional bowling.
Relatively few fans take a very active role in actually following the sport of bowling. PBA Member and USBC Hall of Famer Jeff Richgels writes a newsworthy and timely bowling blog as a part of his work for the Capitol Times: http://host.madison.com/sports/recreation/bowling/
Sacramento’s Steve Curless compiles a comprehensive bowling blog:
http://stevesbowlingblog.blogspot.com/
On PBA Facebook, Bruce LeRoy likes, shares or comments on nearly every post, every day. On Xtra Frame, Paul DeRusso, Davey Rosen and Brian Cosgrove Payne watch nearly every tournament.
Xtra Frame’s Jackie Bowling bowls in multiple leagues, attends professional training camps, takes lessons and follows the action on the PBA Tour and Regional scenes when she isn’t working for the Official Video Service of the PBA.
We could use a million Richgels, DeRussos, Curless’, LeRoys, Paynes and Jackie Bowlings. Active fan bases are what propel sports such as the NFL, NASCAR and others to prominence and greatness.
Many bowling “fans” just want to flip the television on Sunday and see that the finals of another Professional Bowlers Association tournament are live on ESPN. That group does not follow the sport on a daily basis; the sport simply needs more fans to take an active role in following the sport for it to grow.
What can bowling fans do to help the PBA Tour grow, help the tournaments expand, increase prize funds and ratings for television? Here are ways you can help beyond just turning on the TV on Sundays.
If you can’t do all 10, start with one. If you already are doing one or two elements, add another and ask your friends to do the same. Together we can push the snowball up the steep hill so that it will eventually roll down by itself as we gain momentum.
1. Follow the PBA Tour like other sports fans support their sports. NFL and NASCAR fans just don’t show up at stadiums and racetracks or turn on the TV without knowing what teams are playing or what is going on.
2. Visit PBA.com once a week for news and updates, visit daily during the tournament season for live scoring, news and updates.
3. Purchase a yearly subscription to Xtra Frame for just $64.99 – the best way to support PBA’s “Bowling Channel” then watch the programming with your bowling friends live or on-demand, learn from the Greatest Bowlers in the World.
4. Get on the PBA E-mail list when you visit PBA.com, read and click the links for more information when you get the e-mails.
5. Become a fan of the PBA on Facebook, “share” posts with your network, “like” posts, follow PBA player pages, post your own bowling experiences or photos. Click on the PBA page and read all the posts once a week, not just when they pop up on your news feed.
6. Follow the PBA on Twitter, follow PBA’s Tom Clark, ESPN’s Rob Stone and Randy Pedersen or follow PBA players. They all talk back.
7. Attend a regional or national PBA tournament, bowl a ProAm.
8. Support PBA’s great sponsors: Track, Hammer, Ebonite, Columbia 300, Brunswick, DV8, Storm, Roto Grip and Etonic by participating in all of these elements for them.
9. Pick up and read a local bowling publication the next time you visit your local bowling center. Subscribe to Bowlers Journal International or Bowling This Month magazines.
10. Talk about the sport you love and enjoy the great sport of bowling with family and friends every chance you get.
Wouldn’t it be nice to just walk off the street, put on some house shoes, buy a new ball and become Chris Barnes? Wouldn’t it be nice if thousands regularly packed bowling centers to watch PBA bowling and millions more tuned in to watch the thrilling conclusions on ESPN?
It ain’t easy, but just like winning on the PBA Tour, won’t it be worth the effort it when it happens?