I wander how much the sport would improve if it got the media coverage that golf,baseball,basketball,football,highschool sport gets, and it think you all know the sports im talking about. free advertising and promotion. I guess if every sunday evenig we got the pba recap in the news and in the monday morning paper in at least close to head lines a just wander where it would go humm??
and to the other dude look times change sorry its happen to me just like you except or quit.
Dear willard46:
But how do you propose to actually get such media coverage?
Even when ESPN televises a professional bowlers event, do you ever see even a "snippet" of a bowling report on later Sports Centers?
ok look at gollf when tiger woods does anything the headline are full of what he done it don't take that much to get alittle more exposer than only espn. im talk about the 10pm local news. and local reporting 1 time a week . I guess thats up to the press. as to what they want to publish.
I'm a bowling writer, and I know what you're saying.
I believe that I do my part in publicizing all pertinent bowling news in the newspaper I work for, but considering the broad scope of the media (in many areas, at least), bowling just isn't on the "radar screen," so to speak, as a premier subject in most newspaper and television outlets.
I agree that bowling SHOULD get more coverage, but do you have any actual suggestions as to how to achieve that goal?
Willard, bowling could get much better coverage in the newspapers, on the radio and on tv but it has to be developed not just 'wanted' and whine about it. Bowling could be much better corporate support at local and national levels but it has to be earned, not just whine about not having it.
It all pretty much has to happen at local levels, not national levels. To get better coverage at local levels there needs to be developed events for youth and adults that deserve that coverage and start, if there is not one, making them annual and the more numbers in that annual the better coverage you can likely get.
Friendships have to be developed with the sports minded at the newspapers, radio and television so when you ask for coverage it is as a friend not just a someone they don't know. There has to be a willingness to do whatever it takes to get that coverage, not just expect the folks that can give it to show up at the event and cover it themselves. Hand deliver, use the phone or email and it has to be immediate, not the next day Schedule events during the season that can include inviting the men and women you are developing as friends.
I'll give a couple of examples of what worked well for me in Syracuse. I promoted a challenge tournament sponsored by local bowling centers who entered a four member team composed of the Manager/owner, ABC association house rep, WIBC Association house rep, Junior bowling program director; other challenges involved teams from local radio stations, the local tv stations, daily/weekly newspapers, reps from corporations, city vs county political leaders. It was just for fun with trophies. bragging rights and a nice buffet and drinks to follow the bowling where friendships were developed. Having the Republican County Exec captaining the county team vs the democrat mayor captaining the city team insured tv coverage and good coverage from the radio and tv stations and newspapers involved.
We have a long history of running an annual pro-am for charity where many of the folks previously mentioned, plus sports celebrities, show up to bowl teamed with the best men and women bowlers, another fun event that provides an opportunty to develop media friendships.
Once these friendships are developed the next step is to get them involved as media committee members on local associations, meeting only for mutually beneficial reasons.
Local associations should also be developing friendships with local outlets of bowling's corporate sponsors by inviting them to the same events used to develop friendships with the media. Local associatons should also have a committee just for those local corporate supporters and have them meet when there are mutually beneficial reasons to do so; program developed that include the use of corporate support products or services. It is these corporate sponsors who have the potential to spend advertising dollars with the media which makes it easier to get their support
If there was a local network in place all over this land for themselves it would have been oh so easy to get support for national events like the PBA tour, and all the major professional and amateur national events for men, women and youth that deserve it as challenges for the very best and the more numbers there are before annual the easier it will be to get support and for the best to want to participate and want to win; oh so easy to have local bowling shows on tv and on the radio with good newspaper coverage in the sports pages.
When the Super Bowl was at inaugural and single digit annuals it was easy for me to include tickets and transportation to the super bowls in events I promoted but as the single digits got into double digits it got harder and harder as what was not all that popular became a ticket scalpers paradise and my yearly sending ended when the group leader I worked with could not get tickets in advance and paid through the nose to get them at the game for his plane load attending.
On a smaller scale the same thing can happen with local bowling tournaments and has happened in associations who conduct them now as 50th annual, not inaugural, like the Post Standard (formerly Herald Journal) Masters which draws as many as 1100 and more single entrants in a 3-game scratch qualfier, double elimination with tv finals event that gets max coverage from the daily newspaper whose name it bears. Look up the entry totals for the national tournaments from their beginnings to now to see just how long it took to become an instant success.
All the major sports that now receive great coverage did not get it at the start or for many years after their start. It took time and the develpment of friends in the media and among corporate leaders to get where they are today and bowling could have done the same years ago if they had the right top to bottom organization but they don't, far from it and I doubt if there are many local associatons right now who have developed friendships with the media and local corporate supporters of bowling.
There is no way for national alone to get and keep good corporate supporters of bowling, get and keep good media support without all that being in place at local levels but at local levels we have men and women in place who think national can do it all for them and whine when they don't do what they can't do. There is not quick fix, it has to start with getting the right top to bottom organization in place and until that happens bowling will remain in the back seat of a very big bus.
Don Gates
ok look at gollf when tiger woods does anything the headline are full of what he done it don't take that much to get alittle more exposer than only espn. i>>>>m talk about the 10pm local news. and local reporting 1 time a week . I guess thats up to the press. as to what they want to publish.<<<<<<< this is what I wrote
I'm not whining about national level just alittle coverage that could grow into this earned thing and could help a sport stay alive is all I ment or stuck in the mud is were we all stay.
Willard, whining is not a crime and most are not in a position to do much more than that. However, there are many in a position but just won't 'walk the walk'. Bowling is saddled with a deeply flawed top to bottom system occupied by many good men and women who just can't break out of it.
You can't get it done if you have a system at local levels where there are annual poorly attended elections for unoposed officers who serve for decades and do it all but their all leaves lots of 'all, needs ignored. You can't get it done if local association officers, bowling centers and local outlets for corporate supporters of bowling have noone willing to 'walk the walk' and get them together to meet, discuss, jointly finance and implement programs of mutual value.
Willard, right now in your area if you have cable tv with infomercial stations, if you have an all sports radio station that does local programming it is very possible to have a local tv show and local radio show for bowling at very affordable costs. The chances are very good that within your radio, newspaper, tv sports employees there are men and women who bowl and like bowling and could if reached in the right way be persuaded to do far more for bowling in your community than is done now; ditto for other communities throughout this land.
Bowling should right now have much greater support than it has if only the right people had the opportunity to make it happen. All of this talk about young men and women not wanting to contribute their skills to better bowling is so much baloney. It may, however, there are many young men and women itching to be turned loose to put their ideas into play but are not willing to stand for election, attend monthly meetings and get involved in all those other things that local officers did fifty years ago, still do today and have no chance to get those in charge to turn them loose on things they are interested in.
prunenow:Willard, whining is not a crime and most are not in a position to do much more than that.
Dear Don:
IF "whining" is not a crime, then I'd like you to explain why some posters assuse me of whining and then criticize me (sometimes, including name-calling and insulting remarks) to no end, as if what I posted (and the way I posted it) was a crime.
But having said that, I have to say that I FULLY AGREE with virtually everything else you said in your two lengthy responses to willard46.
MightyFish: prunenow:Willard, whining is not a crime and most are not in a position to do much more than that. Dear Don: IF "whining" is not a crime, then I'd like you to explain why some posters assuse me of whining and then criticize me (sometimes, including name-calling and insulting remarks) to no end, as if what I posted (and the way I posted it) was a crime. But having said that, I have to say that I FULLY AGREE with virtually everything else you said in your two lengthy responses to willard46.
whining ISN'T a crime; it's just annoying. people handle being annoyed by "whining" or "trolling" or whatever they call your actions in different ways.
once the police start showing up for crimes of "whining," i think we're all going to be in trouble at some point or another.
Dear guinevere:
You make valid points (about whining).
However, sometimes what I post is construed as "whining" when it really isn't.
For example, I don't blame anyone for being "tired" of my statements about not making my local Hall of Fame. But their reasoning in doing so is actually far off the mark.
People claim that I'm bitter about not making the Hall, AND THAT'S NOT TRUE at all. I mention it ONLY because some people don't realize that Halls of Fame in some (but certainly not ALL) areas are NOTHING BUT GOOD-OLD-BOY CLUBS.
It's always been my contention that why even HAVE a Hall of Fame if it isn't going to result in the most-deserving individuals inducted into it. There are some people in my area's Hall of Fame who have been inducted despite having been suspended by ABC (for such things as improper conduct), and there are several more members that I can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, STOLE MONEY from various leagues -- including THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS from JUNIOR leagues.
So I'm really NOT whining. I'm just pointing out some FACTUAL injustices. And if I really wanted to be in the Hall of Fame, would I have sent a letter to the Hall of Fame president, indicating that I never wanted my name to be considered for induction ever again? Repeating ... I am not bitter ... but I should have the right to comment on my area's "good-old-boys club" without a firestorm of negative replies. [If someone doesn't like what I post, it's real simple to "skip over" my posts and just ignore me].
Media coverage_____LOL. In my opinion, you all forget one basic fact, bowling is a participation sport??, not a spectator sport?? Bowling, over the past few years has spent a small fortune in media events, but who are they trying to sell to, other bowlers. Go on line and check the web cam, how many people are watching the goings on from the stands. I count less than 75. Why would I go through the expense of covering that, I would have a hard time finding sponsors, to cover my expenses for sure. Sure the local media is doing a good job, but that's it. Bowl.com covers it well, but then again, bowlers to bowlers.
1.500 fan's in the stands for the Clash. How many were convention delegates. How much media effort was used to sell it to the general public in the KC area, just curious. IMO, again selling bowling to bowlers. I would be willing to bet more people attended the Rose Bowl, than attended all the past years PBA events combined. Exposure to a fan base is what generates sponsor interest, which makes the media outlets look at the financial rewards of promoting an event. Bowlings fan base, is made up of bowlers, and very little is being done to attract non-bowlers to the game.
The PBA use to have stadium finals, these finals uses to put butts in the seats. The bowlers played to the crowds, the crowds got rowdy, and it was fun to watch. Now they have gone back to the quiet please, PGA type attitude, boring.
Until Bowling makes the effort to market itself to the non-bowling public, and I'm sure some will say they are, I however do not agree. All the hype in the world will not bring in the media coverage to any extent. What would have been good would have been a kind of Jocks vs. Joes type contender. Give one Joe, or Jane bowler a shot at participating in the Clash. Champions from all categories of the game were represented, except the blue-collar Joe Bowler who makes up the bulk of the membership. The list of accomplishments by the entrants was impressive, but where was Joe Smith, high average on the Sunday Nite Mixed League, at Pete's Bowl, in East Overshoe Kansas, is he not a Champion in his own way.
MightyFish: Dear guinevere: You make valid points (about whining). However, sometimes what I post is construed as "whining" when it really isn't. For example, I don't blame anyone for being "tired" of my statements about not making my local Hall of Fame. But their reasoning in doing so is actually far off the mark. People claim that I'm bitter about not making the Hall, AND THAT'S NOT TRUE at all. I mention it ONLY because some people don't realize that Halls of Fame in some (but certainly not ALL) areas are NOTHING BUT GOOD-OLD-BOY CLUBS. It's always been my contention that why even HAVE a Hall of Fame if it isn't going to result in the most-deserving individuals inducted into it. There are some people in my area's Hall of Fame who have been inducted despite having been suspended by ABC (for such things as improper conduct), and there are several more members that I can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, STOLE MONEY from various leagues -- including THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS from JUNIOR leagues. So I'm really NOT whining. I'm just pointing out some FACTUAL injustices. And if I really wanted to be in the Hall of Fame, would I have sent a letter to the Hall of Fame president, indicating that I never wanted my name to be considered for induction ever again? Repeating ... I am not bitter ... but I should have the right to comment on my area's "good-old-boys club" without a firestorm of negative replies. [If someone doesn't like what I post, it's real simple to "skip over" my posts and just ignore me].
i understand what you're saying, and i don't think i've ever accused you of being "a whiner." in fact, unless i'm mistaken (which i very well could be), i had never actually called someone a name in these forums until yesterday when i referred to that one guy whose name i can't remember as "a [sic] crybaby"--except for a couple of instances when i called Doctor Doom (and maybe Brian) "meanypants." i try to keep my name-calling to a minimum because it's just not nice.
that's also why i worded my post the way i did. i didn't say that you have "whined," or "trolled"--i simply meant that those are some of the names that people have for how you post. i'm more of a "to each his own" person, until someone says something that's so completely out of line that it lends itself to a response of some sort. since it's usually pretty hard to rile me up, those instances don't come along too often. every once in awhile, the irish kicks in, though...those are the days i have to be extra careful about my posting style.
sometimes, skipping over posts is not so simple for people. some people are scrappers.
MightyFish: Dear willard46: I'm a bowling writer, and I know what you're saying. I believe that I do my part in publicizing all pertinent bowling news in the newspaper I work for, but considering the broad scope of the media (in many areas, at least), bowling just isn't on the "radar screen," so to speak, as a premier subject in most newspaper and television outlets. I agree that bowling SHOULD get more coverage, but do you have any actual suggestions as to how to achieve that goal?
Fish,
You ask the original poster to come up with suggestions for fixing it, how come you never offer any of your own suggestions for fixing it? Writing in the saratoga, otisville, camp hiawatha times or whatever your local paper is called is great but what about the bigger picture? What's you suggestion?
Digm
Ok
I am going to give you all an example of what I am talking about.
the one thing I am going to say Is you all think of national.
that's not what I mean. national is great but everything starts out small even cancer.
(example)---->I ran a tournament OK the local news paper in the city that cover about 50,000 readers has a Sunday bowling section.
OK its about many bowling scores for the week he does only during the season its about a 1/4 page.
OK I had this tournament and I called him and told him about it. so in his next article he put a small slug in there at the end of my tournament and my name as a contact. location phone no. Ok I had the biggest turnout in that tournament that I ever had do to that post and word of mouth I usually only get about 30 entries but I doubled my entries to over 60 now this is a 18 lane center but it was a free advertising an prove that media coverage locally can make a huge difference.
note: I'm not talking about team USA going to japan for god sakes. a weekly recap on the local sports channel on area tournaments in the Sunday paper is all an heck it may grow. think alittle positive I know the world sucks but its not all doom. I',m sorry if I insulted the writers for not writing the write things a small slug about weekly events coming up league sign up new fun in the area centers a great new star in the area bowling stuff to entice participation.
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