So it's been several months since my last post, and while I feel some guilt for letting it go that long, I keep coming back to the fact that I said in my last post that I'd post again when someone bugged me about it. Here we are, three and a half months past that utterance, and nobody has said a word! Not even Dad! No, this phoenix has not risen from the ashes in a mere response to a work imperative. Tonight there is real, organic inspiration rocketing from my fingertips.
To what do I owe this sudden burst of creative energy? The recently-completed 48th Annual Apple Capital Handicap Singles Tournament.
A while ago, I agreed to take on a new role here at Northside: that of Tournament Director. The primary responsibility of the job is to administer the center's flagship tournament, which has run every January since 1965. Historically, the tournament has employed a handicapped scoring format and the house shot for an oil pattern. As happens with many things I come into contact with around here, I knew from the start that I wanted to give the event some sort of new twist to try & shake things up a bit.
The astute observer will ask why I would want to change a formula that had seemingly worked fine the past 47 years. My first response to such an inquiry would be that in fact, the status quo has become increasingly untenable over the past 15-20 years. In its heyday back in the 1980's and 90's, the tournament had a guaranteed first prize of $2,000 and regularly drew 300+ entries. By contrast, we had 78 entries in 2012 and guaranteed just $500 for first place. Much of this decline can be written off to a general decrease in bowling participation over the same time period, but a more easily examined piece of the puzzle is score inflation. According to a 2002
article in USA Today, there were 192 sanctioned 300 games rolled in 1952 from 1.6 million ABC members. In 2001, the article states, ABC membership stood at a similar 1.7 million members, but 300 games had grown to a whopping 42,163! These numbers back up my strong opinion that strikes have become too easy to bowl due to rapidly developing ball technology and the wimpy house oil patterns used by centers like mine to inflate bowler egos and, consequently, our revenues.
It might be appropriate to pause here and mention that the scores of this bowler have not seen any inflation. Zero. More on this another time.
Getting to my point on the Apple Capital business, co-director Kelly Chapman and I decided to address score inflation by choosing a significantly more difficult
USBC Team USA oil pattern for this year's tournament. We wanted to spur entries by keeping scores low & competitive, similar to the US Open in golf. We were largely successful in this endeavor, as the
final results indicate, and I'm pleased with the 15% increase in total entries for this year.
If you clicked that
results link, look again. Check your screen for smudges, then look again.
That's right. Patrick Rodgers, my hard-computing Thursday Night Men's League teammate, won the whole thing with a 693 hdcp set. $600 first prize. Two conclusions to my discussion here: 1) Anyone could have won this thing, and anyone did. 2) I think the team needs bowling shirts, Patrick.
Did I not just chronicle Patrick's rise to respectability in my previous post? Pretty good, eh? Am I more
Nostradamus or
Miss Cleo do you think?
On that charming note I think it's time I bid you adieu.... I told you I was inspired :)
Until next time,
Billy G
