JANUARY 2008 - www.bowlingworld.com 15

Spare Time For Striking Thoughts By: Craig Mathews

Pro Shops: A lot of people ask me what pro shop I recommend and I tell them to go to the ball driller that you trust the most. If you don’t have faith in your ball driller, the ball will not fit – even if it is a perfect match. I was in a bowling center when a guy came in and complained about the per-son who drilled his ball at that center – the thumb pitches were all wrong. And now he wanted his “regular” ball driller to fix it because he knew it would be right. I went into the drilling room and all the guy did was to check the measure-ments. When they turned out to be the same as was written on the drilling sheet, he clean it up so it looked changed and took back up to guy owner and told him, “I fixed it up for you. Sorry it was slightly off, so I replaced the slug at no charge.” The guy went out and bowled a good 600 series. Bottom line: go to who you trust. USBC: People have told me that I hate the USBC because of how a “rake

them over the coals!” I don’t have time nor the desire to hate anything or anybody. I just disagree with what the USBC management has professed to be their idea about the goal of the USBC. USBC HQ people have always wanted the organization to be the elite organi-zation of all sports. Question: How can you be an elite organization if the average bowler can join? So, if you’re aiming at the elite bowlers, then I must ask you, Isn’t that what the PBA is? And, “Why should we want our organization to compete against the PBA for members?” If the USBC forgets their average bowlers (I arbitrarily set the line at below a 200 average for the term “average”) and using their current membership num-bers, the 200+ bowlers would pay $84/year for their card; if they just go after the true elite bowlers (210+ average), the membership card would be an astounding $310/year! And for those Directors that think only about the youth, if they want the youth to foot the bill, their card would only cost a mere $131.10/year. Such a deal! So, is it any wonder why I want the focus of the USBC to remain on their “Bread n Butter” bowlers, the 200 and below average bowlers?

files must be submitted on CD or DVD in a suitable Windows Media Player for-mat. 9. Entries are limited to two per author in each division. 10. Send entries to: US Bowler Writing Competition, 5301 S. 76th St., Green-dale, Wis. 53129. US BOWLER USBC ASSOCIATION MEDIA AWARDS RULES 1. Postmark deadline for entering the 2007 US Bowler USBC Association Me-dia Awards Competition is Jan. 31, 2008. 2. Submissions must have been produced between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2007. 3. This awards competition is open exclusively to USBC local and state asso-ciations, or agents contracted to represent those associations. 4. Entry guidelines for the three award categories are: a. NEWSLETTER--Two complete, original sample issues of newsletters pro-duced by/for your association must be submitted along with an official entry form (found on the Association home page on bowl.com). Newsletters will be judged based upon excellence in content and design. Include the newsletter editor's name. b. WEB SITE--Web sites serving USBC local or state associations only will be judged based upon excellence in content and design. Information must be sub-mitted on an official entry form (found on bowl.com). Include the Web Master's name. c. OVERALL COMMUNICATIONS/PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAM--Associations will be judged based upon a variety of factors (newsletter, web site, placement of news/coverage in local news media outlets, originality and profes-sionalism. Details must be included on the official entry form (found on bowl.com). 5. Entries must include the name of the recipient (individual or organization) for any prize money won, along with a mailing address and social security num-ber, if applicable. Entries will not be returned. 6. Cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 will be awarded to the top three asso-ciations in each category. 7. Entries are limited to one per association in each division. 8. Official entry forms are posted on bowl.com under the "Association" tab. 9. Send entries to: US Bowler USBC Association Media Awards Competition, 5301 S. 76th St., Greendale, Wis. 53129.

(Continued from page 11) BWAA Writing Competition