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| Tom Clark is golf and tennis editor at USA TODAY.
His weekly bowling column for USATODAY.com appears Tuesdays. He can be reached at tclark@usatoday.com Finding therapeutic diversions in a day at the lanes I went bowling Friday. After days of staring at CNN, searching for answers, battling frustration, grief and horror, finally I just went bowling. And it was good. There was just a few of us at the lanes. Down on one end of the bowling center a mom was amid a group of ponytailed 8-year old girls, hosting a birthday bowling party. A few lanes down from me, a group of senior citizens took turns trying to knock down 10 pins and trading life stories. A pair of twentysomethings on a date giggled as they first found alleyballs that fit their hands just right, then rolled a couple games. They didn't care about their score, they were just flirting and having fun. In the restaurant/bar, a guy in a big cowboy hat sipped his drink. During these times of unrest in our country, when things just don't seem as they used to, where better than a bowling alley to capture a snapshot of America? Where better to unwind, take part in a game challenging enough to be sport, and remember simpler times. It's inexpensive, a great place to meet people from all walks of life and there's probably a decent center not too far from your house. Plus, I've never been to a bowling center that didn't have good french fries. Unlike most sports, bowling excludes no one. Any size, shape, age, race, religion, or economic status can enjoy it. I'm not trying to be overly romantic or corny. It's bowling. It is what it is. And what it is just feels right right now. The sport is two-pronged: A recreational side, and a competitive sport side. Friday, I enjoyed the sport as a recreation. Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET the highest level of competition in the sport returns to ESPN with the Professional Bowlers Association Tour at the Peoria Open. It will be the unveiling of the "new" PBA. That new beginning was to begin last week in Wichita, but like most sports, was postponed due to the terrorist attacks. After a long layoff of retooling and reformation under the guide of its new and storied ownership and management, the return of this new Tour has been long awaited. And all signs are positive. The transformation the PBA has made under the ex-Microsoft and Nike guys who took the sport under their wings in a short period of time is truly remarkable. They took a look at what they could do to minimize the negatives and accentuate the positives, and simply made it happen. > They substantially increased prize money. The winner this week makes $40,000, more than twice what they made last year. > They created a true season, to run from September to March, culminating in the Tournament of Champions. > They nailed down a consistent broadcast schedule and long-term contract with ESPN. New commercials promoting the sport and the show are airing in heavy rotation now on the sports network. > They will be instituting new strategies for presenting the sport on television, with neat graphics and information on ball rotation, speed and target hitting. > They've developed a new format for the competition, which incorporates the best of the sport and increases chances for excitement. The new format, which is heavy on sudden-death match play and freshly oiled lanes, cuts down on the some of the nuanced problems of the sport, including lane conditions unfairly favoring right- or left-handed bowlers. In short, the new Tour is doing all it can to lift pro bowling from years of irrelevance. There are areas of concern, and areas we'll criticize in this space in the weeks to come, but for now we'll sit and watch. We'll hope for a new face of bowling, a player who embraces this new format and goes after the new dollars with unmatched intensity and skill. Still the bowler's name most of America knows is the great Earl Anthony, who hadn't dominated the Tour since the early 80s and sadly died prematurely this summer. A new Earl Anthony will emerge under this new Tour. So I will watch Tuesday. I'll try to pick up a few tips from the pros. I'll analyze the lane conditions, decide which guy is playing the lanes right, who seems clueless and who has captured lightning in a bottle for at least one week. I'll watch as a diversion from CNN. Today, are you looking for a diversion, looking for some fun? Go bowling. Talk to some of the people there. Try to roll a strike. Get some french fries. |
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