European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse By Nancy Shulins associated press every evening in Jacksonville Fla. Around 7, Iru a dog. Rumbling and clashing that Havel Illert inc convention Center far 11v4 hour suddenly cease. For 15 minutes there s silence then she Organ swells. Spectators cheer Gold curtains snap open and 200 bowlers their laces flushed Wilh Pride and embarrassment March up the Center aisle ranked by 20 gleaming Bowling alleys. Us strike thai we Don i use Alley anymore. And hey1 gel your mind of Ollie Gutter. Take it irom the american Bowling Congress Gutter is Oul. Channel is in. Ask Joe Boater and you get a different opinion a Gutter s a re says Joe. Better known As 33-year old Rick Haemmerlie of Indianapolis. Chosen at random to represent everywhere he was crowned feb. 13, opening Day of the 85lh annual Abc tournament thai ended in Jacksonville toward the end of May question How Tong does it Lake 38,000 bowlers irom 50 states and nine foreign countries Bowling 18 hours a Day seven Days a week to bowl 341,430 games thereby toppling 58 million pins answer 103 Days which is about 102 longer than it lakes to realize thai Bowling is experiencing an identity crisis. Gutter or Channel recreation or sport Ralph a Ramdon or Ralph Lauren Don t to fooled by the plastic Bowler in a seashell. The Beer Frame Kay chains and other Doo dads for Sale at the tournament. Out on the lanes Bowling s taking the High Road no smoking. No shorts. Noc Larless shirts. No drinking. No hot dogs. You a Here to bowl net to Eal what s Gollen into Bowling where d All that High tech equipment come from a Black rubber Ball in a zippered bag was Good enough or Ralph Khamden. Today it s three four live balls. Rubber Bate. Urethane bails. Polyester balls in purple Blue yellow Lor heaven s Sake. Carried in Are you ready for this. Norton Battery healed insulated temperature controlled Bowling bags. Behold the modern Bowling pin laminated on the Bowling s split personality outside holes on the inside. The slightest tap and it s to the Moon Alice consider the Lane spread a Little Oil on today s urethane coated surfaces and it s bang zoom to the pocket Alicel nah t Don t says Joe Bowler. If you re nol Hilling your shot you just buy another b6h. I carry live of the files five Aren t always enough. In his first official act Joe Bowler opened the tournament with a Gutler Ball. Whal do you want from a Guy forced to bowl in front of 2,334 people while wearing a Robe and a Crown Bowling s split personality begins to make sense when you consider that there s Bowling the sport and then there s Bowling the game Bowling the sport is math physics and sophisticated terms like coefficient of friction and kinetic Energy Bowling the game is nachos. Chili dogs and simple terms like Miller and unlike the sport the game has no image problem. It could t care less an attitude thai irks the sport no end. Let the sport compile Alt those demographics about How Young Bright affluent its 68 million participants Are. Let it lie awake nights worrying about the impression it makes. The game has belter things to do like order another cheeseburger. Tha american Bowling Congress gatekeeper of the sport and recipient of s10 million in dues from 3.4 Mitten league bowlers stresses skill complexity Pride and Ira Dilion. The National Bowling Council the Industry s advertising Arm and am and Brunswick its largest manufacturers stress Leisure recreation and fun fun fun. Eddie Wise a 9-year-old who pushed his Bowling Ball two handed to a near perfect 299, was immortalized in the Early 80s in a Brunswick and promoting easy to topple pins. In the same Era the Young american Bowling Alliance put an orangutan on the cover of its Magazine and the National Bowling Council enthusiastically promoted a real people segment featuring a Bowling pig fun for All Ages anyone can Playl you Don t have to be Good. You Don t have to be a grown up. You Don t even have to be human Bowling s critics say it s going to the dogs us Kingpins say it s going to the olympics. What s a Well game like Bowling doing in a mess like this it did t get there overnight. The ancient egyptians were bowlers it s been traced Back to 5200 by germans bowled in the 6lh Century Martin Luther in the 16th in those Days the game was called nine pins Lawn Bowling in England where Henry Voll banned it As a form of vicious no respect even then. Lawn Bowling and Skittles a dutch game got a warm Welcome in the new world where tavern owners embraced hem As a Way to Boos Beer sates. It did t take Long for gambling charges to resurface. Prim and proper Connecticut banned nine pins in the late 1830s. That might have been the end of thai had not some enterprising soul evidence Points to one Jonathan cos of Madison Conn. Circumvented the Law by adding a 10th pin. Bowling was legalized in 1841. Like other German immigrants bowing headed West in the 19th Century. It settled in the Midwest Stio Bowling s stronghold with. Michigan no 1. Bowling generally thrives wherever Blue Collar and shift workers Are Lound. If you work from 7 to 5, you Don l have time for Daylight sports like Golf or Tennis. Bowling is Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday june 19,1988
