Bowling, The Wright Way - June 17, 2003 by Don Wright
Knoxville And More

I can tell you that when Mac Davis wrote the words to his hit song, Oh, Lord it's hard to be humble… he had never bowled in an ABC championship tournament. For I know what humble is.

I just returned from Knoxville and bowled the worst I have ever bowled in an ABC championship. How bad? You'll have to search Bowl.com for that answer, but suffice it to say I stunk the place up. I wish I could blame my poor performance on lane conditions, but I can't. I had a great shot to the pocket and hit it. Unfortunately, I didn't always carry and I left my spare shooting in Texas.

Still I had a great time. I love the ABC tournament and look forward to it each year. Knoxville is a great city and the surrounding area is one of beauty. After bowling as badly as I did I was ready for a vacation and G.G. and I, along with out traveling partners of over twenty years, Dee and Jerry Northrop, set out for Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. While Jerry and I hunted for Dolly Parton, the wives tried diligently to spend all our money. It's one store, shop, mall, and craft village after another.

All in all it was a great time. I guess I need to buy my doubles partner a case of Miller Lite since I failed to give him any support in that event. Oh, well there's always Reno.

There were a few things at the ABC tournament that stuck out in my mind. Paying $2.50 for a bottle of water is a bit extravagant. That's what I paid for a pretzel, also. A bottle of water and a pretzel - five bucks!

Ball check-in takes longer and longer each year. The WIBC has eliminated this procedure. The women record the serial numbers of their bowling balls and those are the only balls they can use. If an honor score is rolled then they check out the ball. If it works for the ladies, why not the men?

I have always bought the team photo and a single shot that is done prior to doubles and singles. It's something I started at my first ABC championship and have continued each year. While looking over the photographs when I got back I couldn't help but notice that the quality of today's photos isn't equal to earlier pictures. Earlier photos were 35 mm and printed on quality paper. Recent photos are digital, printed on poorer quality paper, and lack the sharpness and details of the others. For that poor quality picture you pay about three bucks more than you did for the good ones.

We attended several shows in Pigeon Forge and had a great time. There was a tremendous outpouring of patriotism at all of the shows and each theater requested that all veterans stand and be recognized, and there were many. I can't prove it, but I suspect the vast majority of tourists in that area were senior citizens. At least it appeared that way.

The Veterans Memorial Museum in Pigeon Forge has thousands of exhibits, paintings and memorabilia honoring all branches of service and covering the walls are the names of the men and women who gave their lives in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, September 11 and it continues to grow.

If you missed this tournament, you missed a great one and a wonderful area to visit. I highly recommend this area be added to your vacation list.

Someone please save the PWBA.

The WIBC has stepped forward and has taken on the task for the 2003-04 season, but that seems like a band-aid on a sucking chest wound.

I think the ABC should join the WIBC in support of the PWBA. Imagine if each member of the ABC and WIBC contributed $5 to the PWBA what good it would do.

Every sport worth its salt has an association for men and women and bowling should be no different. The PWBA is a quality group of athletes who perform extremely well and present an image of professionalism in their performance and appearance.

I believe strongly that bowling needs the PBA, PWBA and the Senior Tour to be successful and earn the respect of media. For more on the PWBA go to www.pwba.com.

It didn't take long for the scribes to latch on to the Annika Sorrenstam bandwagon and ask the question and voice their opinions on man vs. woman in bowling. Jim Goodwin of the Dallas based Stars and Strikes has an excellent column on this topic.

I, too, have my opinion on this subject, but that's another column.

See you on the lanes.