I looked forward to watching the recent Johnny Petraglia Open: I grabbed my pencil and paper and pushed back my recliner. I must admit that I enjoyed the bowling and was especially happy to see Doug Kent win. Not that I dislike Rudy Kasimakis, but the Canandaigua, New York area is where I am originally from, and much of my family still resides there. In fact, most of my New York family bowls at Roseland Bowl where Kent once owned and operated the pro shop.
I always watch bowling with a pencil and paper because quite often I get ideas for columns or want to quote a bowler or commentator. This telecast was no exception: There were some things that caused me to make notes and planted the seed for this column.
I have never been a fan of the hollering and yelling that is allowed during match play. I don’t see where it does anything to enhance our sport, and at one time during the Johnny Petraglia Open, I think it disturbed Kent.
While he was on the approach, the center was quiet, but just as he started his first step, the crowd began yelling, and there was a noticeable pause in Kent’s approach. But, that’s not what bothered me.
I often look at the crowd to see if there is anyone I recognize. What I saw was a young man "throwing" gang signs and generally making a nuisance of himself. That’s not the image I want of bowling. If we expect to entice corporate sponsors, it certainly isn’t an image bowling needs.
In a New York Post article, PBA Commissioner Mark Gerberich said, "We’re not violent, our game is free of sexual titillation and innuendo. That puts us, at least according to those who control advertising revenues, at a distinct disadvantage, and if we want to make it, we have to cross the line."
Why?
Why hasn’t Cadillac told the PGA that the Masters at Augusta is boring? Why does the Masters get 56 minutes of television coverage per hour? Why does Volvo continue to sponsor tennis?
These are two sports with no "sexual titillation or innuendo." The difference is that both tennis and golf dealt with image from the very first day and has not sold out at any price.
In that same article, Gerberich said he "was forced to roll the dice in the direction society was headed." That leads me to the next note on my pad.
During the telecast, the announcer said that Kasimakis was a big fan of professional wrestling, and Kasimakis was going to see a match as soon as he was done bowling. It was the second time that I saw wrestling mentioned during a bowling telecast. The other time was a match in which Pete Weber continuously held his hands up in the air making a diamond sign with his fingers. I later learned that this was a sign made by some professional wrestler who has a submission hold called the "Diamond Cutter."
Now, I know absolutely nothing about professional wrestling, but a friend who is a big fan tells me it is the biggest money-making business on the scene. To show me exactly what he was talking about, he took me to a magazine store and proceeded to show me all the magazines and books that are on the market which pertain strictly to wrestling.
I was amazed: One entire row of the magazine rack was devoted to wrestling. One book, which was devoted to the women of wrestling, depicted numerous women in provocative costumes. He then showed me a recent edition of Playboy that he claimed was one of their biggest sellers. The woman on the cover was named Sable, and she was part of the wrestling mania that is extensively covered on television.
Since I was not convinced that wrestling was as big as my friend claimed, he asked me to watch television with him that night. He is from Louisiana, and he tells me that wrestling is on two nights a week for four hours. I watched with him and quite honestly had no idea what wrestling was all about.
First, I couldn’t believe the size of the stadiums and the crowds. Second, I couldn’t believe the amount of profanity and sexual content involved.
The most disturbing thing, however, was who was in the audience: Most of whom I observed were pre-teens. They were acting out some very violent behavior, and many carried signs that had slogans supporting some wrestler.
One wrestler, whose name I forget, comes into the ring and is supposed to be a "pimp." Two scantily clad women follow him, and he uses the term "ho" quite often. The camera panned the audience and many of the pre-teens, accompanied by adults, presumably parents, held up signs reading, "I want one of your hos."
Now personally, I’m no prude, but I don’t want bowling to have wrestling’s image. Give me the image of tennis and golf and see if we can’t lure Cadillac and Volvo to sponsor a true sporting event with values.
When I was a YABA coach, we worked on bowling fundamentals, sportsmanship, character, and discipline. The coaches I know today still teach the same thing. We don’t allow our youth to "cross the line."
It is reprehensible to prostitute our sport to satisfy a few. What has it got us? The television coverage has been cut to one hour, a network dropped bowling after 35 years, bowling is preempted routinely, and all of that came regardless of the hollering and yelling.
The bowlers on the professional tours are athletes. They train hard, are loyal to their sponsors, present a positive appearance, and serve as role models to our youth. The image of the beer-guzzling, cigar-smoking bowler is over. What we have are athletes who are trying week after week to make a living at a very difficult sport.
But no matter how disciplined they are, if we encourage spectators to have a wrestling match mentality, we destroy the bowlers’ integrity and the integrity of the sport.
I don’t want to see the PBA turned into a spectacle of chest-thumping, tank top-wearing hooligans. I don’t want to see the PWBA looked upon as the Sables of professional bowling. They deserve better.
Hold the line; don’t cross it. Stay true to the traditions of the sport, and make it a sport that lives up to its first name: "Professional."
Don Wright is a member of the Bowling Writers Association of America. His web site is available at http://www.vvm.com/~wrightd.