JANUARY 2014 -
9
Bowl O Pinion (From page 6)
Helliker‘s interpretation seems to be ‗In spite of bowl-
ing‘s problems, the BJ somehow miraculously man-
aged to survive 100 years.‘
BJ President Keith Hamilton had mixed feelings about
the article. In Jim Dressel‘s Cyber Report, Hamilton
said ―I‘m very appreciative of the praise given by the
author about the magazine. But I can‘t help but be dis-
appointed by the negative tone that the author set in
order to describe the industry. It was not fair to bowling
in the sense that it didn‘t explain why Bowlers Journal
made it to 100 years in spite the reasons the author
cited.‖
Helliker is not some rookie writer. He is a 54-year-old
senior writer and editor for one of the most respected
newspapers in the world. In 2004, he jointly won a Pul-
itzer Prize in explanatory reporting with writing partner
Thomas Burton for a groundbreaking examination of
aneurysms.
To answer Keith Hamilton‘s charge that he did not
explain how the BJ lasted 100 years, I would say he did
offer a few reasons why the BJ survived in a flailing
industry. In addition to Hamilton, he interviewed former
BJ owner Mort Luby. Mort told him that two of the rea-
sons the BJ held on were the facts that most of the
competition lacked journalism credentials, and that
Brunswick never wavered in its advertising support,
buying the back page of every BJ issue ever published.
He also cited that the BJ was ―Unafraid of controversy,‖
using Jim Dressel‘s Bowlitically Incorrect column as an
example. He did not mention Dressel by name, but he
did confirm the philosophy with PBA commissioner
Tom Clark, who told him ―If the PBA is doing something
that the Bowlers Journal doesn‘t like, I‘ll read about it.‖
Helliker also interviewed professional bowlers Norm
Duke and Diandra Asbaty. Asbaty studied journalism at
the University of Nebraska and is now a BJ writer.
The truth that may sting for some is Helliker‘s factual
description of where all bowling publications stand to-
day, including the BJ. ―As a magazine that covers bowl-
ing, Bowlers Journal operates at the intersection of bad
and worse‖ he wrote. ―The magazine industry is trou-
bled, losing advertisers to the Internet. And since 1980,
the number of competitive bowlers in America plum-
meted from almost nine million to about two million,
leaving most bowling publications with no place to go
except broke. The latest to tumble: 20-year-old Bowling
This Month, a magazine that published its final issue
this autumn, citing economic difficulties.‖
Helliker even went so far as to interview Dr. Samir A.
Husni, director of the University of Mississippi‘s Maga-
zine Innovation Center. Husni shared that the BJ was
one of only about 100 U. S. magazines that lasted 100
years out of about 10,000 magazines on the U.S. mar-
ket. Dr. Samir expressed surprise that the BJ made it to
the century mark, saying ―You hear people say that
magazines are dead, and you hear people say that
bowling is dead. Yet here you have a 300-page bowling
magazine.‖
What Now?
We hope that this eye opening article will
be a wake up call for bowling leaders from all corners
of the industry, and that at least some of them will fi-
nally realize that all of us together can make bowling
better. It is no longer just people like me and Jim Dres-
sel and a few others pointing out that changes are in
order; it is a completely objective journalist with no skin
in the game saying that bowling is in trouble. Yes, this
is only one article of this type, but it is not the first and
won‘t be the last.
Why do people like Helliker and Husni and millions
more have a negative impression of bowling? Because
we don‘t do a good job of selling bowling the way it
should be sold – as a sport first and foremost; like ten-
nis, or golf, or name any other sport that doubles as a
recreation.
How can we turn this image problem around? By
starting and continuing a massive Public Relations
campaign to promote the sport side of bowling; By add-
ing the PBA to the management structure within the
International Bowling Campus; by getting serious about
bringing back the women‘s pro tour; by getting behind
the new World Bowling Tour with our ideas and our
money; by truly getting behind the International Bowling
Museum and Hall of Fame; by supporting other organi-
zations like the BNN, IBMA, and IBPSIA.
We often hear the words marketing and public rela-
tions in the same sentence. In our view, bowling does a
pretty decent job with marketing, except it collectively
does not spend enough money, but falls way short on
public relations. A good PR campaign can cure an im-
age problem in a few years.
Do bowling‘s leaders from every corner in the industry
have the courage to stop preaching to the choir, take a
very hard look in the mirror, and make major changes?
Or will they say ‗We have done enough – we just need
to continue on the same path until some fairy dust inad-
vertently lands on us and everything will be alright and
we will all be happy.‘
A few strong leaders got the ball rolling a few years ago
when the IBC was created – now is the time to finish
what they started.
We all owe that much to bowling.
