Super Bowl | Bowling | Blog | Appleton WI

Women’s Open can be a boon to bowling

Posted by bpipkin in General on August 12th, 2010

The big bowling news of the summer has been the announcement that the United States Women’s Open of 2011 will be conducted at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

It will be staged at the end of June in conjunction with Bowl Expo. The annual gathering of bowling aficionados is the center of various meetings, elections and award presentations for the sponsoring Bowling Proprietors Association of America.

Annually, Bowl Expo draws up to 10,000 attendees from the bowling industry and nearly 1,000 exhibitors who sell the latest in bowling, from scoring pencils to automatic scorers to multimillion-dollar bowling center installations.

The U.S. Open disclosure was a surprising but welcome development, because the United States Bowling Congress, the previous tournament sponsor, had decided it would not lend its name in 2011. Now, Ebonite International has stepped up to fill the sponsorship gap.

Women’s pro bowling and competitions for the higher average female shooters in the world have been tossed, turned and shoved under the nearest bus on many occasions since the women’s national pro tour was disbanded in 2003 because of financial problems. The women’s tour had been around since 1960, and top-notch women’s tournaments rank with the largest numbers in sports participation.

No details for the 2011 tournament have been revealed, except that it will be open to all youth and female sanctioned bowlers. Assuming no plans have been set, the powers that be have plenty of time to study the history of the tournament and its years of success.

The women’s and men’s U.S. Opens achieved their greatest success when competitive spots in the tournament were earned on the basis of local eliminations conducted by bowling proprietor groups or interested bowling centers that set up the events. Bowlers paid a modest entry fee on the local level and, if they qualified, got to move to the national with all expenses, entry fees, travel, lodging and incidentals paid for by the money generated at the local tournaments.

The Open deserves a lifetime spot on bowling’s national schedule. It can be done with the cooperation of proprietors and the field can be assured as one of the best with invited titlists and successful qualifiers at one of the most prestigious venues in the world.

The tournament should be one of bowling’s priorities, and the work to guarantee success should be well underway.

BRIEFS: Tom Smith, 53, of Wilmington, Del., averaged 242 for his nine games, highlighted by a 238-209 triumph over Rich Pizzutti of Mahwah, to win the Senior Challenge tourney at Lodi Lanes and the $1,000 first prize. Pizzutti, a super senior at 72, earned $550 for second. Next stop for the 50-plus gang is Sunday at Holiday Lanes in Oakland.

The International Bowling Hall of Fame received two big boosts recently. A donated custom motorcycle brought an auction price of $75,000 and the estate of the late John Powell Jr., bowler/proprietor, announced a $100,000 grant.

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Responsible Drivers Under Attack-Be Aware

Posted by superbowlsluggers in General on August 10th, 2010

As a frequent bowler and one of our friends, we appreciate that you have made league bowling and Super Bowl a part of your lives. And we feel it is our obligation to keep you informed about things that would significantly change your league bowling experience.

There are always laws and regulations that change or affect how we run Super Bowl, and it is extremely rare that we share our thoughts on those new laws. However, there is a growing movement that we feel is important enough to share with you – one that would eliminate the possibility of having a beer, a glass of wine or a mixed drink while bowling, going out for dinner, or spending time with friends.

Over the past 20 years, America has waged a war against drunk driving. These efforts have paid off: Drunk driving fatalities have plummeted, and in 2005 alcohol contributed to only 7 percent of all traffic accidents.

Due to the success of campaigns aimed at drunk driving, responsible citizens have responded. Today, fatal crashes are rarely caused by casual social drinkers, but by hardcore alcoholics. In fact, national statistics indicated that a blood alcohol content of 0.17 (more than twice the legal limit) is the most frequently recorded level among drinking drivers involved in fatal crashes.

Despite these successes, many advocates believe that the current laws do not go far enough. Rather than focus on those offenders who drive with high blood alcohol content or who repeatedly drive drunk even after being convicted, they believe all drinking before driving should be illegal.

These anti-alcohol advocates think one drink is one drink too many before getting behind the wheel. And they have turned to technology as a way of achieving their goal.

The technology goes by a few names: ignition interlocks, alcohol interlock, in-car breathalyzers. But they all work as in-car Alcohol Detection Devices (ADDs). An ADD will prevent an engine from starting if the driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) is over a pre-set threshold.

The technology isn’t new; it was created in the late 1980s for the cars of criminals who repeatedly drove with high BAC levels. But in recent years, anti-alcohol groups have put together a strategy of expanding the use of this technology. They want to gradually make ADDs so commonplace that each car will come equipped with such a device.

Currently, ADDs are able to detect alcohol at levels as low as 0.02 blood alcohol concentration, and the technology is constantly improving. If they become mandatory equipment in all cars, they will be set far below the legal limit of 0.08 —most likely at 0.03-0.04. At those low levels, drinking even one beer before driving could trigger the device for many people.

The strategy of the anti-alcohol advocates who are pushing for an increased use of ADDs centers on changing the public’s opinion.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is working closely with government traffic safety agencies and is leading the charge to promote the universal acceptance of ADDs. MADD’s “Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving” follows the same template successfully applied by the first prohibition movement way back in the 1920s. Today’s strategy includes (1) swaying public opinion with weak research and (2) expanding the use of ADDs state-by-state. Since 2005, more than a dozen states have expanded their laws involving ADDs.

Those of us in the hospitality industry have worked with law enforcement to protect against dangerous drunk drivers. We’ve supported designated driver and safe ride programs and encouraged laws targeted at high BAC and repeat offenders. But these efforts are different. They target our regular customers and the 176 million Americans who drink responsibly before driving.

Super Bowl is working with our national association and other bowling center owners to push back against universal ADDs and zero tolerance efforts. But it is important to us that our friends and customers also know about the campaign that is underway to criminalize all social drinking. We encourage you to find out more about this debate by going to www.InterlockFacts.com.

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