A memorial service to honor the life of Dick Evans will be conducted Friday, July 30
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dick Evans, an award winning writer for both The Miami Herald and Daytona Beach News-Journal, died Sunday, July 4th, at the age of 78. Evans was the first daily newspaper reporter inducted into the Professional Bowlers Association's Hall of Fame in 1986 and also the American Bowling Congress' Hall of Fame in 1992. Evans, despite serving as a judge for 10 years when he was not eligible to enter stories, won a record 60 plus Bowling Magazine writing awards.
Since covering the first of more than 200 PBA tournaments starting in 1964, I firmly have believed the Professional Bowlers Association is the best thing ever to happen to the Bowling Proprietors Association of America. As the Saturday afternoon ratings for the ninety-minute live Saturday afternoon PBA tour stop on the ABC-TV network grew to an amazing 8.5 million viewers, so did membership in the ABC and WIBC plus the BPAA. The PBA helped fill bowling centers, especially on Sundays and at no cost to the BPAA.
BPAA rates A double bogey score for including a golf tournament on a busy Tuesday seminar schedule at International Bowl Expo
Way back in 1979, I got a letter from then BPAA President Dick Richards critical of a column I wrote in The Miami Herald that was critical of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America for running golf and tennis tournaments at the Mid-Winter Board of Directors meeting in Miami. Golf is a direct rival of bowling when it comes to the recreational dollar and for national publicity, so I see no reason for a bowling convention to hold an ORGANIZED golf event.
Max Booke, whose career took off when he joined Piper Aircraft in 1936 and soared after he entered the bowling business in 1961, died Sunday at the age of 93 in Jacksonville. Booke was a unique individual because he started out dealing with boring financial books and wound up dealing with complex human beings. To know Max Booke was to like him and appreciate his ability as a businessman who got involved in his communities' endeavors.
Say hello to alcoholic drinks (if so desired) while bowling
I am sure that all the members of the USBC Board of Directors agonized over the tough decision to change 100 years of history and allow alcoholic beverages to be purchased by bowlers during the prestigious United States Bowling Congress' Open National Championships at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. To me, this a decision that has both a right and wrong aspect, depending on how you view the USBC Open Championships, which for years was promoted as the Showcase Event of the ABC.
Sometimes it hurts to be right. Through the mail Thursday, I got three issues of the Colorado Bowler News publication and I glanced at my stories -- because I often forget what I have written. My story in the December issue carried this headline: "USBC Faces Difficult Financial Times That Could Result in Drastic Measures to Save Money". Sadly, the day after I read my story again I got a call from John Jowdy. The first thing he asked me was if I had heard about who
had been laid off by the USBC.
Reno leaders gambled on National Bowling Stadium and it has paid off
Looking down at the lights of downtown Reno from my 18th floor room at the Eldorado Hotel/Casino made me realize what a great role that bowling and the Eldorado have played in the revitalization of this once cowboy gambling Mecca. The first time I drove through Reno in the 1960s the rave in the casino I visited was about the upcoming rodeo. It was not surprising because there were a lot of cowboys in the casino and I liked the sign hanging over Virginia Street: "The biggest little city in the world."
Dick Evans on the opening of the new International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame
It is the glorious holiday time of the year when you hear songs about three wise men who lived 33 years before the current calendar was founded. And that brought to mind three wise men -- Pat Ciniello, Keith Hamilton and Bill Supper -- who are about to give the bowling world a wonderful gift that will be remembered for generations. It will be called the International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame and will be located at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas.
I may be a minority of one but, when I go to any sports convention I expect the keynote speaker to be the Billy Graham of his/her sport and extol the virtues of that sport and charge up everyone in the audience. So imagine my surprise when I read that Sarah Palin, the GOP's vice-presidential nominee last year, was going to be the keynote speaker during the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America's Bowl Expo next June in Las Vegas.
I have met many great bowlers in my life but none have impressed me more than Mary Jane Ciraco because of her love for the game and determination not to lose a bowling step as she moved around the country. To know Mary Jane is to know a 24/7 upbeat person who enjoys life to its fullest no matter whether it is on the golf course, the tennis courts, riding her horses, cooking, clogging at state fairs or bowling...especially bowling.
It is amazing to consider how technology has changed the world since the early 1960s when only highly skilled bowlers could average 200. It baffles me why some people in bowling are opposed to higher scoring
when virtually every thing in life and the world has changed so
drastically in the past 50 years. Every sport I know
understands that if athletes are not improving then the sport is going
backwards and could be headed for oblivion.
The old Showboat Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas came to mind when I was exchanging emails with Keith Hamilton, publisher of Bowlers Journal International. Keith, along with Pat Ciniello, are the movers and shakers who will be responsible for the new International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame that is being put together at the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas.
While reading the resumes of 78 great bowling leaders, it dawned on me that there was one name missing and maybe for a reason: He was not a bowler, he was not a man who made a living through bowling, he never invented anything associated with bowling. All Lee Evans did was open the Western Hemisphere to international amateur bowling and he did it virtually all on his own. In the beginning, the bowling organizations in the United States laughed at Lee Evans' dream of "Uniting the Americas through bowling."
Eddie Elias, the man who founded the PBA in 1958, has been voted the most influential man in bowling
history in a survey of 17 veterans writers. Elias, who also negotiated the deal that brought the PBA instant fame
as a Saturday afternoon staple on the ABC Television Network, garnered
five first-place votes and finished with 262 points. The run-away winner in the decade survey was John Berglund,
executive director of the BPAA
for the past eight years and the man who has convinced all segments of
the bowling industry to join in the International Bowl Expo celebration
each year.
Australia's Jason Belmonte talks About becoming a father, difference between bowling fans and media on different continents, promoting the sport, tremendous pressure to win quickly and cheesecake
The jury may be out about Jason Belmonte's ability to dominate the PBA Tour, but there is no question that he could be the next Don Carter and Dick Weber when it comes to creating interest in the tour and attracting world wide media attention for the bowling industry. What Belmonte's brings to the tour is a combination of the appeal of both Carter and Weber. In my estimation, there only have been two bowlers who have become
favorites with bowlers, non-bowlers, media and advertisers on and off
the lanes.
My mind is still hanging out at the fabulous Eldorado Hotel in downtown Reno and soaking in all the exciting events, but my body is slowly recovering back in Daytona Beach. I learned so many things during the United States Bowling Congress Convention April 28-May 1 that my cup runneth over with facts and opinions and even memories. Let's start from the beginning and the first facts I learned during the breakfast that the Eldorado threw for the Bowling Writers Association of America on April 29 were...
Famous historical writer Stephen Ambrose made famous the E Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne in his "Band of Brothers" book about its many battles from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest during World War II. I won't make them famous, but I want to write about a "Band of Bowling Sisters" who competed in the 19th National Golden Ladies Classic at the Orleans Hotel/Casino's bowling center March 9-12. This particular "Band of Bowling Sisters" consisted of 71 bowlers, ranging in age from 50 into their 70s.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Dick Evans, an award winning writer for both The Miami Herald and Daytona Beach News-Journal, died Sunday, July 4th, at the age of 78. Evans was the first daily newspaper reporter inducted into the Professional Bowlers Association's Hall of Fame in 1986 and also the American Bowling Congress' Hall of Fame in 1992. Evans, despite serving as a judge for 10 years when he was not eligible to enter stories, won a record 60 plus Bowling Magazine writing awards.
Since covering the first of more than 200 PBA tournaments starting in 1964, I firmly have believed the Professional Bowlers Association is the best thing ever to happen to the Bowling Proprietors Association of America. As the Saturday afternoon ratings for the ninety-minute live Saturday afternoon PBA tour stop on the ABC-TV network grew to an amazing 8.5 million viewers, so did membership in the ABC and WIBC plus the BPAA. The PBA helped fill bowling centers, especially on Sundays and at no cost to the BPAA.
Jeff Bojé (r.) delivered the most inspirational speech I have ever heard at Bowl Expo when he was elected president of the BPAA during the 2004 convention in Las Vegas. Since Bojé's term as BPAA president was over and he had idle seconds in his life, he ran for USBC president and the board elected him to the position. His term ends Aug. 1 and he will preside over his final USBC convention April 27-May 1 in Reno, Nev.