There's an old saying that goes, "You can always tell a Texan, you just can't tell him much." Well, I was told that I might have omitted a few Texans from my research piece of last month.
I got an E-mail from Texan John Jowdy who reminded me that, "I am a TEXAN, have always been a Texan, and, like all real Texan, will always be a Texan."
So my statement on the Mort Luby Sr. Award is obviously incorrect since John won it in 1991.
He also reminded me that Gary Dickinson and Norm Duke are Texans and made quite a name for themselves early on in their careers in Texas.
Once again, John is right. Gary lists his place of birth as Paris, Texas, and Norm as Mount Pleasant, making them Texans by birth.
My error was a common one because I used what is listed, and presumably provided by the individual, to the various media guides, bowling encyclopedia, and Web sites. Dickinson is listed as Edmond, Oklahoma; Duke is listed as Clermont, Florida; and Jowdy is listed as El Cajon, California.
If you ask people where they are from they usually say, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, or whatever city they come from. Ask a Texan where he's from, and he says "Texas." That's usually good enough.
I have a good friend who was born and lived in Texas until his 18th birthday, and he then joined the Army. He has not returned to Texas since that time—over 42 years. We write and stay in touch, and he still maintains he's a Texan.
I guess he is. But he registers his car in Virginia, votes there, owns property and pays taxes there and when you ask him where he's from he says, "Woodbridge, Virginia."
Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins wrote, "Texas is an un-self-conscious place. Nobody here is embarrassed about being who he is."
I guess if a person feels so strongly about being a Texan, and desires to live someplace else, when that person is inducted into a Hall of Fame under their name should read TEXAS. Sort of like Ernie Schlegel did when he said he was from the USA.
As they say in the Texas legislature, "Why they don't do that makes for a lot of uncertainty that's not clear in my mind."
But, I do thank that ol' cowboy in El Cajon for keeping me straight. Thanks, John.
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On a different subject — Bowling in the ballpark! Call me a purist. Call me an old foggy or whatever, but bowling doesn't belong in a ballpark or anywhere else outdoors. We are supposedly working hard to make bowling respectable and accepted as a sport. Why do we turn to gimmicks? Granted, the PBA got about 5,000 butts in the seats, but so what? Having a practice setting in the bullpen and driving the bowler out makes our sport look like some kind of a circus act.
The PBA may want to change the image of bowling, but let's not do it this way. We look foolish and far from professional. Bowling is an indoor sport—live with it.
While I am on the PBA, I have to ask the question, "Why do you mike the bowlers?" It seems like a really good idea to mike the bowlers so the folks watching can hear their comments in good and bad situations. But, Randy Pedersen and Dave Ryan never shut up. Both Brian Voss and Brian Himmler were vocal as was Patrick Allen the week before, but the two talking heads in the booth go on and on like the Energizer Bunny. Geez, guys, take a breath!
I read an article that stated the Indianapolis Star was dropping bowling because it was a recreation and not a sport. I remember Jim Rome, a sports talking head, taking on bowling in a similar manner, and it was a topic of discussion on every Internet message board pertaining to sports. Most of those topics turned nasty and questioned Rome's heritage, but by far they considered bowling a sport.
The action of the Star was a great opportunity for the Bowling Writers Association of America, as the professional body for bowling writers, to weigh in and provide the Star with accurate information to protect the sport of bowling and its scribes.
In a recent column by award-winning columnist Dick Evans, he wrote, "In my opinion, the entire bowling industry is guilty of not spreading the word about the PBA, or for that matter, the attributes of the sport itself."
I couldn't agree more with Evans. But, when papers like the Star and sports editors drop the sport, then the voice of the writers, the BWAA, should stand up, weigh in, and work on behalf of the sport and the scribes.
But, I refer back to what I wrote earlier in this column. Maybe that paper watched that PBA event in a ballpark and didn't see the sport in it.
G.G. and I send a very Merry Christmas from the Wright house to you and yours. Please keep our servicemen and women in your thoughts and prayers.
See you on the lanes.