Bowling, The Wright Way - July 10, 2000 by Don Wright
Will The Internet Turn Sportswriters Into Dinosaurs?

I recently read two columns regarding sportswriters and, although I agreed with many of their assessments, I also disagreed with many.

The first column I read was by American Bowling Congress Hall of Famer and award winning journalist Dick Evans. In his column he wrote about the fact that twenty or thirty years ago there were an "arsenal" of outstanding sportswriters across the country. He stated that "many have retired and a few have died and with their departure came a decline of bowling's popularity."

Evans goes on to name writers he considers the greatest, makes an observation of who he observed get rich, discusses briefly bowling publications and ends his column with "Greater love has no man than he who works for free."

The second column I read was entitled Twilight of the Scribes and was written by Jeff MacGregor in the June 26 issue of Sports Illustrated. MacGregor writes "Sportswriters will soon be dinosaurs, driven to extinction by the Ice Age of the Internet." He starts his column "We are as useless to your future as a neighborhood fire horse."

So, we are all going to fade away because Mr. Gore invented the Internet:

I wrote a letter to Dick Evans and explained that although I enjoyed his column, I felt compelled to make a few comments. Here is the gist of my letter:

"Twenty - thirty years ago bowling was much bigger than it is today. Newspapers were the only means of following the sport. Now with so many newsletters, the Internet, cable and instant access newspapers across the country are struggling for existence. There must be at least 100 writers writing about bowling on the Internet. (Something I am working on determining)

Many of the reporters you list were in bowling "hotbeds." Chicago, New York, Detroit. Today those papers are more interested in basketball, football and baseball. Golf and tennis get coverage, but nothing like the other sports. In Texas, football is a lifestyle. It's a year round sports section production.

You comment about seeing folks get rich. You're right. But I ask you how often do you see your bowling proprietors advertise in local newspapers. They use the bowling media to advertise tournaments, specials, renovations, etc. With your experience in journalism you know a paper makes it's living through advertisement. How many times in your career was one of your columns edited severely to accommodate advertisement?

I agree it is a labor of love. I don't believe writers should be expected to write for nothing. A bowling paper with no writers is a "newsletter." The publisher/editor/owner of the bowling newspaper is making a living through advertisement and contracts with centers. Why shouldn't a writer be compensated?

Off the subject of newspapers a moment, I would like to comment on magazines. Walk into any Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, Hastings, or Barnes and Noble and you will find rows of magazines on golf, tennis, soccer, wrestling, skateboarding and so on. But, try to find one magazine on bowling. All the bowling periodicals are subscription only. Why does everyone in bowling have such a narrow field of vision?

I enjoyed the column. I just think there is a plausible answer to some things."

As far as MacGregor's column is concerned I find his thinking similar to other writer's I know who refuse to get into the computer age. I heard that television would be the end of newspapers. It would bring the demise of the movie theater. I hear writer's insisting that the only way to write is on the "old Royal or R.C. Allen." Yes, you folks will soon be dinosaurs. I don't care how well you write, whom you work for, or how many awards you have won. You'll come, maybe kicking and screaming, but you'll come, or as MacGregor says, "In a Web-wired world of anti-literate chat, of streaming tickers, unmediated global broadband and fiber-optic 411 fed 24/7 in satellite real time, we are museum pieces."

I think MacGregor's primary concern is that the Internet has opened the door to everyone. Suddenly there are more voices, more opinions, and yes, more experts. The bottom line is that writers for recognized publications will always be taken more seriously than the "anti-literate chat," MacGregor refers to.

Remember, people laughed when USA Today was launched. Some said CNN Headline News would never last.

See you on the lanes.