THE WORLD'S ONLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE BUSINESS OF BOWLING
CONTENTS
VOL 18.8
PUBLISHER & EDITOR Scott Frager frager@bowlingindustry.com Skype: scottfrager
6 THE ISSUE AT HAND
24 COVER STORY
Glass ceiling, you’re shattered
She will have some more, please For Diandra Asbaty, there’s no such thing as living too fully.
By Scott Frager
By Lydia Rypcinski
8 SHORTS
New day for Women’s Open...Palin’s keynote speech...hello and goodbye.
14 CENTER STAGE 33 BOWLING ARTS A heart of wood Bowling lanes are reborn by a Brooklyn artisan.
16 MY FRAME
24
A tourniquet for USBC
46 REMEMBER WHEN
Would this six-step plan stop the membership hemorrhage?
1960s It was everything to be young...and bowling.
By Jim Salisbury
18 OFF THE CLOCK
36 Showcase 37 Datebook 38 Classifieds
Fin fan For Cesare Lancellotti, high times are down below. 31
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OFFICE MANAGER Patty Heath heath@bowlingindustry.com
CONTRIBUTOR Lydia Rypcinski Jim Salisbury
tahmizian@bowlingindustry.com
31 EXPO SHORTS
The most expensive commercial bowling in the world?
groh@bowlingindustry.com
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Victoria Tahmizian
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Strike Ten-PBA join forces...Dick Evans dies...peoplewatching.
MANAGING EDITOR Fred Groh
ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION Designworks www.dzynwrx.com (818) 735-9424
FOUNDER Allen Crown (1933-2002)
13245 Riverside Dr., Suite 501 Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 (818) 789-2695(BOWL) Fax (818) 789-2812 info@bowlingindustry.com
www.BowlingIndustry.com
HOTLINE: 888-424-2695 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: One copy of International Bowling Industry is sent free to every bowling center, independently owned pro shop and collegiate bowling center in the U.S., and every military bowling center and pro shop worldwide. Publisher reserves the right to provide free subscriptions to those individuals who meet publication qualifications. Additional subscriptions may be purchased for delivery in the U.S. for $50 per year. Subscriptions for Canada and Mexico are $65 per year, all other foreign subscriptions are $80 per year. All foreign subscriptions should be paid in U.S. funds using International Money Orders. POSTMASTER: Please send new as well as old address to International Bowling Industry, 13245 Riverside Drive, Suite 501, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 USA. If possible, please furnish address mailing label. Printed in U.S.A. Copyright 2010, B2B Media, Inc. No part of this magazine may be reprinted without the publisher’s permission.
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THE ISSUE AT HAND
Glass ceiling, you’re shattered This Bowl Expo, an announcement was made to attendees that trumped the keynote appearance of Sarah Palin. Unless you’ve been living under rocks, you’ve heard it, too. The resurrection of the U.S. Women’s Open in 2011, sponsored by Ebonite International. Ebonite has always been a huge supporter of women’s bowling and I believe they deserve a lot of credit. I recall way back when I first met face-toface with Bob Reid in Hopkinsville, KY. He was brand-new to the industry and felt that the women’s tour (there was a women’s tour back then) had an important place in this industry even though it didn’t offer what a lot of sports marketers traditionally jaw about: exposure, exposure, and exposure. Now it seems long ago when bowling marketing professionals used their instinct, knack and sense of doing the right thing to make sponsorship decisions, instead of cold, impersonal matrices and spreadsheets and ROI charts. There are some business decisions that just have to be made from the heart and soul. Kudos to Ebonite! Back to Expo. This year’s General Session was dominated by very prominent women. Yes, we had Palin as a keynoter but the substantive presence came from industry leaders like: • Darlene Baker, who took over as USBC president this month. • Nancy Schenk, who became BPAA secretary. • Cathy DeSocio, who became president-elect of BPAA. And eight top women bowlers who
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were called up to the stage as the big announcement was made about the 2011 Women’s Open. Eight smart, athletic, ambitious achievers. Just maybe, that on-stage group of women represents the next big thing in bowling. In my early years in the industry, very few women were given the opportunity to shine and become leaders. Don’t get me wrong. There were powerful and remarkable women. But few broke into the “club.” Today, happily, our industry’s glass ceiling can be considered shattered. No one can say all the ways that women will improve this industry as a result. It’s a conservative guess, though, they will work some wonders that men can only have dreamed of. I would not say that 2011 will be the Year of Woman, however. That’s because I think that every year should be. And I am quite proud that IBI has featured more women on our covers and profiled more women on our pages than any other trade magazine – most recently, Wanda Arthur (December 2009) and Lisa Ciniello (February 2010). This month, you’ll walk away proud of what’s possible in our business after you read our cover story on Diandra Asbaty. For this terrific young lady, being one of the best bowlers in the world isn’t enough. Being an entrepreneur isn’t enough, ether. She strives to be the best human she can be. Now that’s something we can all learn from. – SCOTT FRAGER, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR frager@bowlingindustry.com
THIS MONTH AT www.BowlingIndustry.com Now Classifieds...online. Always browse ads for free. For a limited time, post your ad free...no word limit...add pictures...send readers directly to your website. Get started by going to www.BowlingIndustry.com and click on ‘Classifieds’ at the top of the page.
SHORTS
Strike Ten, PBA Join Forces; Ink ‘Official Beer’ A two-year pact with Anheuser-Busch, under which Budweiser becomes bowling’s official beer, is the first sponsorship secured by a joint venture for sales between Strike Ten and PBA. The arrangement will be for a year with the expectation that it will continue indefinitely after that, according to PBA president and CEO Fred Schreyer. The understanding was finalized at Bowl Expo after talks that began in April, and at press time was expected on paper within 10 days. Strike Ten and PBA also jointly recruited a new agency, Van Wagner Sports in New York. Dollar amounts being advanced by PBA and Strike Ten were not disclosed, but do not involve either side subsidizing the other, Schreyer said. Also not revealed was the tag on the Budweiser deal, although Bud’s new status was announced at Expo. Noting that exposure of PBA sponsors is limited to PBA
telecasts and the sites of PBA events, Schreyer commented, “We don’t have the penetration through the bowling centers that you get through Strike Ten and/or the BPAA. Many marketers find the ability to interact with consumers in bowling centers to be an attractive opportunity. So to the extent we can collaborate with [Strike Ten], it gives us the opportunity to put more compelling offers together.” BPAA E.D. Steve Johnson said “the entire industry wins” under the agreement. “Having bowling on television is good for the industry and PBA’s got a very good product. BPAA, the PBA and Strike Ten, we’re all striving for the same thing, and that’s to elevate the sport of bowling and to build topof-mind awareness and to get more people coming into our bowling centers at the end of the day.” Johnson joined Schreyer and Frank DeSocio, vice president for activation at Strike Ten, in the discussions that led to the Strike Ten-PBA agreement. Schreyer said that about five years ago, the two organizations “tried something like this and it worked for a while. Then it got sidetracked for various reasons, so we’re kind of trying it again.”
Dick Evans, Widely Honored Bowling Writer, Dies Renowned bowling writer Dick Evans, a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame, died July 4 in Daytona Beach, FL, of cancer. He was 78. In a career of more than 60 years, most of them based at The Miami Herald, Evans wrote about high school sports of all kinds, college football, pro boxing, golf, water skiing, wrestling, horseracing, dog racing, jaijai, and, for 14 months, was an interim editor for religion news. But stronger than any of those beats in his résumé were tennis – which he played avidly to the end of his life – and bowling – where he was the most decorated writer at the time of his passing. The first daily newspaper reporter to be inducted into the PBA and USBC Halls, he was also honored with BPAA’s V.A. Wapensky Award for contributions to the industry (2007) and BBIA’s Industry Service Award (1986). He covered bowling for The Miami Herald 8
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from 1957 until last year, despite officially retiring from the paper in 1989. He moved to Daytona Beach and from 1994 until his death, wrote bowling for The Daytona Beach NewsJournal as well. In the 1970s and early ’80s, his stories for the Knight-Ridder News Wire were sent to 144 daily papers with a combined circulation of more than 10 million. Evans wrote mostly about the bowling game and the players, but a turn of his interests toward bowling business brought him into IBI’s territory late in life. After a profile on Evans ran in the June 2007 issue, he became an IBI contributor with a Don Carter interview about the business side of the legendary bowler’s career. Ironically as well as sadly, his final piece for IBI was his personal look back on bowling in Miami. It was published last month. A born newspaperman, Evans wasted no time getting started. He was delivering the Miami News at age 12, and taking greyhound racing results and writing headlines for small stories in The Miami Herald at 14. Three years later, he joined the fulltime staff of The Herald as a copy boy. At age 20, he moved into The Herald’s sports department. Evans is survived by his wife, Joan Gano Evans; son Richard Evans, a Louisville, KY attorney; and three grandchildren, Peyton, Carter and Walker.
SHORTS
SCHEMM OUTING NETS $5,000+ FOR CHARITY Three charities shared $5,146 raised by the 28th SBI (Schemm Bowling) Charity Golf Outing in June. Held at Kettle Hills Golf Course, Richfield, WI, the event drew 113 golfers from 39 bowling centers and the state BPA. The Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin Scholarship Fund received $1,130 (including a match of $565 from SBI); Bowlers to Veterans Link, $1,708; and McCardle Labs for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, $2,308. Since 1994, the golf outing has raised more than $71,000 for charity.
New Venue for World Cup The 46th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup will not be held in Croatia. Organizers said the Cup will be played Oct. 15-24 in Toulon, on the French Riviera. QubicaAMF president and CEO John Walker said the venue change was prompted by ownership transfer at the center that was to host the tournament and by the economic climate in Croatia. This year’s event will mark the third World Cup to be played in France.
Eye on the Ball Practicing for the annual fundraiser golf outing of the BPA of Western New York, Mary Jo Martin gets a few tips and some exasperation from Manor Lanes and Manor Lanes II owner Jim Russo. The event was Aug. 2 at Lancaster Country Club, Lancaster, NY, to raise scholarship money for young bowlers. Proceeds of this year’s tournament had not been counted at press time, but the annual events have raised more than $120,000 in scholarships for more than 240 youngsters.
PEOPLEWATCHING Nottke’s Family Fun Center owner Dan Labrecque, who combined bowling and a job fair for residents of his Battle Creek, MI area, was featured by Fox News host John Stossel. Labrecque’s program was profiled in our December 2009 issue. Brian Graham is new director of marketing for Brunswick consumer products. Graham was most recently USBC’s director of youth development. Prior to that, he was brand manager at Ebonite International. Stephen Shanabrook vowed he would break the 122-hour record for continuous bowling. He started before press time for this issue, but was scheduled to finish too late for us to report on how he did. Tune in next month. Jack McCarthy, Kentucky BPA president (at press time) and former manager of Fern Valley Strike and Spare, is managing the center again. A unit of Larry Schmittou’s Strike and Spare chain of 15 bowls, Fern Valley was remodeled by McCarthy nine years ago before he went out on his own as owner and operator of Lyndon Lanes. Both properties are in Louisville. McCarthy has owned several centers and served as president of the state association several times in his 33 years in the industry.
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SHORTS
Smart B-Balls! Ever want to know really what makes the difference between top bowlers and everybody else? Franz Fuss did. A professor at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University, for short) in Melbourne, Australia, he decided to find out the scientific way. Fuss loaded bowling ball holes with tubes connected to transducers, which in turn were connected to the shell of the ball. The transducers measured the force applied by thumb and forefinger to the tubes, and therefore to the ball. Bowlers who scored higher applied more force to the ball during the forward swing, thus moving and accelerating faster in the delivery.
Fuss also discovered they had larger ratios of pinch force, period and impulse of forward swing to backswing. If you want more Fuss on the research, the place to go is Sports Technology journal, published by Wiley Interscience. You could also write the professor at franz. fuss@rmit.edu.au.
LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR QubicaAMF will kiln-dry a mammoth black walnut tree when it is cut down in a few weeks. The tree is about the same height as the three-story building of Lowville Academy and Central School in Lowville, NY, near whose entrance it has stood since the school was built in 1924. The tree is about 100 years old, a school official estimates, and has a circumference of about 11 feet. The tree is dying of natural causes. The wood will be used to make furniture, plaques and other items for the school. There are no plans to sell any of the wood.
FEC PODCASTS Redemption Plus, a leading distributor of redemption prizes, incentive merchandise and management consulting, has launched a podcast series as part of its free Redemption University website. The series will feature industry leaders discussing trends and best practices in the family entertainment industry. The podcasts compliment a library of educational content that includes videos, webinars, articles, case studies, and white papers. Redemption University is at http://www.redemptionplus.co m/redemptionu/.
BOWLING CAMP Roger Camp, 66, looks back on a career in commodities trading, then the computer world. Next, he got into real estate and about two years ago found himself with an empty supermarket and an idea that bowling might go pretty well in Mebrane, NC. Camp wound up going whole hog, he admits, starting with the name. ‘ZBowl’ is a stylized version of The Bowl, as in “the place you don’t want to miss.” The restaurant is Za’s Bar + Grill; the executive suite is not ‘VIP’ but ‘Z.I.P.’ You get the idea. The carpet, naturally, has a custom design using the letter Z and a bowling ball. The same design, with the colors reversed, was used for the masking. Panels that look like stylized clouds hang over the approaches. Camp has 6,000 feet of arcade and 60 games there. The house is set up on three levels – lanebed, lanes, bar – each a foot and a half or so above the one below it. “The idea is that parents can from that bar look down on all the bowling lanes and into the arcade [and] restaurant, [and] keep a really 12
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good eye on their kids.” Speaking of the bar, it has 24 taps with room for another 12, plus 60 or 70 brands of bottled beer. The beer cooler has clear sides so patrons can look inside and enjoy a light show playing over the kegs. ZBowl has a wine bar, but Camp says he doesn’t expect to sell very much. “This is a beer-drinking crowd.” The house is excessive by design, says Camp. Located halfway between the Greensboro and Raleigh metro areas, “we had to create something that was a destination.” He did. ZBowl opened on May 1, and on Memorial Day weekend, customers waited 90 minutes for a lane and the restaurant and bar were both full. “Wonderful to see, and a big surprise,” says Camp. Now he is looking for the best manager he can find so he can get on with his next project. It will be in Surf City about 100 miles away at the seaside and would include a small motel, drug store, and other retailers. Bowling, too? “Hell yeah. That’s what I do now!”
CENTER STAGE
centerSTAGE Is this the most expensive commercial bowling in the world? That’s what we hear about All Star Lanes, whose three locations are in London. The company is mum about the prices as far as publication goes, it turns out, except to say that bowling on its public lanes is £8.75 (about U.S. $13) per person per game. Whatever the money side, bowling at All Star Lanes is bound to be on anybody’s short list of most exclusive tenpin experiences. That’s owing to the sleekness and the size of the venues: four or six public lanes plus 14
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two or three in a private suite, depending on location. It’s the suites that occasion the rumors about price. Perhaps it suffices to say that at the Brick Lane location (this page and bottom right), the private lanes have their own cocktail bar, catering facilities, restrooms, 42inch plasma screens that can be used for karaoke or presentations, and an iPod docking station so customers can bring their own music if they wish. A special canapé menu for the suites is based on American fare, and for more competitive guests, the house will arrange private tournaments in the suite with prizes that include champagne, personalized bowling shirts, and trophy pins in gold or silver engraved to order. Demand is holding quite well, thank you. An events manager at each All Star Lanes location is employed specifically for the private suite. ❖
Belying the contemporary sophistication of the decor, the All Star Lanes spirit is firmly in the 1950s, with an American accent. Chili, mac, and blueberry pancakes are among the specialties of the house. Customers can snack on Milk Duds and Lifesavers and shop in a small boutique for vintage fashion.
At the bar, the UK’s largest selection of bourbons, All Star says. Karaoke rooms are speckled gold and brown leather.
MY FRAME volunteers and the proprietor, and lead to the harming of center revenues through rumor and innuendo. The cost of training and equipping all of the individual local teams is inefficient and wasteful of resources. Costs may be controlled more directly through a nationally administered inspection process. Consistency of judgment on center compliance is crucial. The system will attain the highest degree of fairness through a centrally-managed inspection process. Require that all lanes be mapped and graphs provided for all certified tournaments. Set the goal that all certified lanes in the United States be mapped as part of the lane certification process.
Would this 6-step plan stop the membership hemorrhage? BY JIM SALISBURY
T
he USBC finds itself at a crossroads. Coupled with the staggering loss of membership over the past three decades, more and more leagues are choosing not to sanction. More centers are choosing not to certify. How do we relieve the financial bleeding? How do we encourage proprietors to certify? Those who host unsanctioned leagues are going to regret it when (and not if) someone strolls south with the prize money. There is great risk and expense, especially with houses that host leagues with large prize funds, in selfinsuring league deposits. How do we satisfy the casual-competitive customer who does not wish to leave the comfort of the current bowling environment, who has no desire to play under the tougher conditions that restoring the integrity of the spot requires, and at the same time retain their membership dollars? It is imperative that USBC and BPAA take the following six steps to ensure our future.
1. Restructure the lane certification process. Rewrite the lane topography specifications to restore some relevance to the modern sport of tenpin bowling. What we measure, how we measure it, and the technology used in the tools of measurement have not changed in the 100+ years of the Congress. Establish a nationally administered inspection process, for these reasons: The current system sets up the distinct possibility that a direct competitor may be inspecting your house. It promulgates a “good ol’ boys” network. It may also intensify a bad relationship between local 16
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2. Adopt the following lane condition and equipment specifications: Require that lanes be dressed with no more than the minimum amount of dressing needed to protect the lane surface and a low ratio of side-to-side application of conditioner. Disallow bowling balls that ablate or use particle technology. Disallow any devise installed for the enhancement of the action of flat gutters, kickbacks, side boards, edgeboards or pin decks. Require minimum pin weight of 3 pounds and 8 ounces. Void pins singly for failing to comply with this requirement.
3. Establish a national average book. The book should have three parts. Part I compares and ranks all certified bowling centers on their place in the scoring environment. We have come up with the methodology to do this; the required data already exists. Part II includes the bowler’s individual averages, much like the average books locals distribute now. It would contain much more information on each bowler, however, and be different for each association to which the book is distributed. Part III lists all USBC-certified tournament results for each bowler. This would greatly help tournament directors weed out sandbaggers and others trying to gain an unfair advantage in tournament play. A national average book would move the industry toward enacting a slope-rated handicap system, an
MY FRAME ultimate aim. Funding: Local and national advertising sales.
4. Allow unsanctioned leagues to enroll with the USBC as associate members. That is, create two tiers of USBC membership. This is the key recommendation in the plan, for two reasons. First, we must give bowlers the choice between purely competitive play and casual-competitive play if we want to both retain the bowlers we have and develop new bowlers. Second, this step in the plan would be administered by proprietors, those in the industry who are in the best position to facilitate the recruiting, retention and development of bowlers. Specifically, the elements of this fourth step of the plan: Bowler members of unsanctioned leagues who are not members of any other USBC league pay only national USBC dues. Bowlers who are members of another USBC league pay a nominal amount to cover the cost of bonding and administration. 100% player participation is required for an unsanctioned league to be enrolled as an associate USBC member. Associate members are extended all the financial and legal benefits of full USBC membership. As long as all the rules are followed, the associate league is bonded; as long as the proper procedures are followed, individuals are allowed the same grievance process for financial and discriminatory issues (civil rights). Unsanctioned leagues must bowl on USBC-certified lanes. As long as all of the eligibility requirements are met, associate members are allowed to participate in any and all USBC national, state and local tournaments. Bowler associate members are issued identification cards. Bylaws for unsanctioned leagues dictate the playing rules, lane conditions and equipment specifications the league members will play under. Any grievance that pertains solely to these matters will be referred to the league officers for adjudication. No averages will be submitted to the USBC. Associate members are not eligible for any awards program. Any unsanctioned league that wishes to continue its affiliation as such with the USBC must enroll by the start of each season. Any league that wishes to sanction will be allowed to upgrade its_ membership at any time by following the normal sanctioning procedures and paying the appropriate fees. Projected income: Run-up, 2-3 years; $5m-$10m thereafter.
would be absolute. It would be staffed by outstanding members of the bowling community who would have no interest in any for-profit group or group that advises for-profit bowling entities.
6. Establish a USBC department that deals exclusively with municipal governments and community relations. Review zoning and taxation laws and possible ownership and operation of bowling centers by local government. Projected income: From revenue-sharing with local government. â?–
Jim Salisbury is the proprietor of Park Lanes, Shippensburg, PA. He was a lane technician for more than 30 years and a mechanic for more than 20. He can be reached via info@bowlingindustry.com.
What do you think of the plan? Weigh in with your comments on www.BowlingIndustry.com.
5. Establish a regulatory and equipment specification body within USBC totally independent from any special-interest group. The body’s power to enact changes in rules and regulations IBI
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OFF THE CLOCK
I
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think people see too many movies,” says Cesare Lancellotti, pointing out one more area of human endeavor where accuracy takes second place to drama. Sharks, he says, do attack, but it’s accidental. “The sharks cannot talk, they have no hands. The only way they have to find out who you are, assuming that they want to do that, is by biting.” Even to see them is unusual because divers create so much commotion. “We make bubbles, a lot of noise and usually the sharks go away. In Florida they feed the sharks in order to call them so they’re close enough to be seen by the divers. If you don’t feed them, they disappear. They’re not interested in people like us.” Lancellotti, now in his 21st year of
FOR CESARE LANCELLOTTI, HIGH TIMES ARE DOWN BELOW.
PALMS, SOFT SAND AND SOME OF THE BEST DIVING IN THE WORLD. RESORT AT MABUL ISLAND, OFF BORNEO.
FIN FAN ONE OF THE MALDIVES, 400 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SRI LANKA. ABOUT 1,190 CORAL ISLANDS, OF WHICH 200 ARE INHABITED, FORM THE REPUBLIC OF MALDIVES. 18
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OFF THE CLOCK
scuba diving in oceans around the world, should know. For the past 12 he’s been a diving instructor, too. For his day job, he coordinates the design and manufacturing of Switch bowling equipment at the company’s Modena, Italy plant. Modena is home for Ferrari, which is fitting since the Switch line was designed by the carmaker’s principal stylist, Pininfarina. Lancellotti grew up not far from there, in Guiglia, a small town in the mountains that almost surround Modena. “For me, there were mountains, snow, walking, and that’s all.” When his wife, Cinzia, took up diving and couldn’t stop talking to their friends about it when they all got together, Lancellotti figured he’d better catch up. “I immediately loved it.” Part of that may have been Elba, an island midway between Corsica and the mainland. See Elba and think adventure,
DIVING PARTY FROM THE NAUTILUS SCHOOL AND TWO DISCOVERIES. THE GROUP WAS DIVING OFF ARI ATOLL IN THE MALDIVES ISLANDS, SOUTH OF INDIA.
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perhaps because Napoleon spent his exile there. Lancellotti made his first ocean dive off the island. That was preceded by five classroom lessons and five sessions in a swimming pool. After five ocean dives, he got his first-level certification for CESARE LANCELLOTTI dives as deep as – you AT EASE (ABOVE) AND guessed it – 55 feet. DRESSED FOR AN EXCURSION. He took his second level, certifying him to 120 feet, at Portofino on the Italian Riviera. It has a coastline as spectacular as the name sounds. “Then I started to go everywhere, especially the Orient. I like Orient, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand. The Philippines are beautiful.” His favorite diving place in the world? The water around Borneo. And yes, he’s experienced with sharks. “We’ve spent a lot of money to go and dive with the shark. A crazy lot of money. Really. Cruising in the Sudan for a full week, only diving with sharks.” He looks with eyes and camera, but never a spear gun. In Europe, it is absolutely forbidden, he says. “We don’t think that is fair. You should give a gun to the fishes, then it’s even.” Spear fishing is also dangerous. As the speared fish fights to free itself, it generates waves that can be felt by sharks. This does create close shark encounters of the undesirable kind.
OFF THE CLOCK “In the last 15 years they made a lot of natural reserves, underwater natural reserves, so the fish are safe. They are not scared and you can see everything. It is beautiful, plus we are lucky. Because of the Suez [Canal, opened 1869] we have a lot of fishes that came from the Red Sea, tropical fishes that moved and adapted to the Mediterranean.” The scuba kit, proceeding from the feet up, begins with fins, then shoes “because the water is cold.” The diver wears a dry suit, which insulates the body with air, or a wet suit, where insulation is provided by water. Next, a belt weight that can be lighter for more experienced divers; the less experienced tend to keep more air in their lungs, hence to be more buoyant, hence to require more weight to stay down. The air tank holds 12-15 liters at about 3,000 psi. All told, standing on dry land, the kit weighs 40 to 50 pounds. The price for a good one begins around 500 euros if it includes a wet suit (800 with a dry suit) and can rise to the high side of 2,000 euros. Lancellotti speaks with authority about the technical side of diving not only because he knows enough not to take chances
underwater but also because he is a founder of the Nautilus scuba school (“like the Jules Verne boat”) on the outskirts of Modena and one of the school’s instructors. Currently Nautilus offers classes in first-level open-water certification, marine biology, and underwater photography. They averaged around a dozen people until the recession set in. Now they are half that size. First-level classes run about two months, with students meeting two days a week for basically the same regimen Lancellotti followed years ago. Second-level certification requires four or five weeks, and the specialty courses, 2-4 weeks. “It is a really safe sport,” Lancellotti says. “There is an American firm that published accidents in various sports. Bowling and scuba diving have the same number of accidents. “There are rules that have to be respected. We teach the rules. Basic to respect the depth and never dive alone.” He refers to ascending to the surface at a safe rate of speed, one that allows compression to pass off without creating gas bubbles in the body. If you follow the rules, “Scuba diving is absolutely safe. Safer than driving because you don’t have to be scared of other people.” Or sharks. Usually. ❖ SIPADAN ISLAND NEAR BORNEO. MANY DIVERS RATE IT ONE OF THE 10 BEST LOCATIONS IN THE WORLD.
AT MALE NORTH (ABOVE) AND MALE SOUTH (BELOW), TWO ATOLLS IN THE MALDIVES.
“I SEE YOU.” MABUL ISLAND OFF BORNEO. 22
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COVER STORY
SHE WILL HAVE SOME
, MORE PLEASE For Diandra Asbaty, there’s no such thing as living too fully. BY LYDIA RYPCINSKI
O
ne word captures the essence of Diandra Asbaty: more. As in more to learn. More to do. More to take in. More to give. More squeezed into and from every day. More reaching for the sky and, more often than not, touching it. Though she only turned 30 on Aug. 2, Asbaty has already won two PBA titles, more than 50 international bowling championships and enshrinement in the IBC Hall of Fame. She’s also become a positive role model for youth bowlers and the sport in general through her work as a coach and a spokesperson for USBC and assorted bowling manufacturers. That would be enough to satisfy a lot of people. But not the Pride of Dyer, IN. “I want to show people what’s possible, how a girl from a small town in Indiana could have big dreams and make them come true,” Asbaty says. She thought that bowlers needed a better fashion option, on a par with other sports, so she started a designer sportswear company called Kaizen by Diandra. She recently began augmenting that with a line of handcrafted necklaces, earrings and rings that she sells online. But Asbaty’s dreams aren’t limited to the playing field or business arena. From childhood, Asbaty says, her biggest goal has always been to have children. “But I thought when you have children, you have to stop living [your life],” she says. “I wanted to do everything [else] before.” Then she saw how pro bowlers Carolyn Dorin-Ballard and Lynda Barnes combined careers with motherhood. “I realized I can still train while being a mom, and continue to have a bowling career and be one of the best at what I do,” Asbaty says. So this month, Diandra and her chef-husband, John, welcome their much-wanted 24
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Husband John and granola at 7 a.m.
firstborn, a son. Next on her horizon: the Diandra Asbaty Foundation, which will raise scholarship money for youth bowlers. “When I was a youth bowler, that [availability of scholarships] was really important to me,” Asbaty says. “Winning scholarship money gave me a lot of opportunities and made it easier for me to go to college. So I’m really excited about giving back this way.” The idea of her own foundation follows in the wake of the charitable events she’s participated in, and a bowl-a-thon she organized two years ago to help defray the medical expenses for a friend’s baby. “I thought, ‘I’ve been involved with enough bowling charities that I could do one,’” Asbaty says. “So what would normally take a year or more to plan, I planned in two months with my friend’s sister. ‘Bowl for Mason’ raised $28,000 in one night. “It was one of the most important things I’d ever done in my life, and bowling brought me that.” Sometimes it seems the only reason Asbaty isn’t
COVER STORY
involved with something is because she hasn’t imagined it yet. “Why do I want to do everything? It’s just the way my brain works,” she says. “My parents [Dennis and Kandi Hyman] allowed my sister [Kassy] and me to do whatever we wanted to do as young kids, and I feel like I can do everything. “There are a lot of talkers in this world,” Asbaty adds. “I’m not a talker. I’m a doer.” The day she shared with IBI was full of “doing.” It began in the 10th-floor condo on Chicago’s Near South Side that she shares with her husband, John. 7a.m. Both Asbatys are up by the time daylight floods their living room. Their eastern and southern walls consist of a series of large plate windows, unimpeded by curtains or blinds. They enjoy an expansive view of Lake Michigan, Solider Field, and sailboats bobbing in nearby Burnham Harbor while they have breakfast. Asbaty laughs off a question about needing sunglasses indoors on days like today. “We like the natural light coming in,” she says. In a stretchy
COVER AND COVER STORY PHOTOS BY SHEILA K BLACK PHOTOGRAPHY
gray t-shirt and black leggings, Asbaty looks more like she’s cradling a bowling ball than a third-trimester baby. Her eyes shine and her skin glows. Pregnancy becomes her. At-home mornings are quiet. There is no TV- or radio-induced “white noise,” and little is happening on the streets below at this hour. The Asbatys’ condo is a corner unit, far from the swish-swish of elevator doors opening and closing down the hallway as their neighbors leave for work. This is usually when Asbaty catches up on email, blogging, and the
A row of souvenirs. Asbaty has won more than 50 international championships, two PBA titles. IBI
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COVER STORY Working out with trainer Linda Gisburne, followed by a pause that refreshes. The baby was expected this month.
myriad details of her life. Sometimes that includes autographing picture cards to send to fans. Other times, she pens a column that appears every other month in Bowlers Journal International. It’s also a good time for Tweeting or loading photos onto or updating one of her online sites. “People are really surprised to find out I respond to all my emails and posts rather than have someone do that for me,” she says. “That’s the beauty of bowlers. We’re so accessible.” This morning, Asbaty is researching online charity auction websites. She plans to raise money for her nascent foundation by auctioning off “some pretty good items” at two clinics she has scheduled. “I’m sure I will have to put a little of my money into [the foundation], but it will be funded mostly by auction items I put up for bidding,” Asbaty says. “I may go through the USBC’s SMART program to get it off the ground rather than incorporate and start a brand new 503c [non-profit organization],” she says. “Things are still in the planning stages. But whenever I get to the point that I have enough money to set aside for two scholarships, then I will offer them.” Asbaty finds a site that helps non-profits set up a web page for free and bookmarks it for inspection later. 9:25 a.m. The Asbatys leave for an hour-long workout at Phenomenal Fitness, a no-nonsense fitness studio located a block away on South Michigan Avenue. For the next hour, trainer Linda Gisburne puts the couple through a non-stop series of weight-training and cardio drills. Soon Diandra is doing back ridges on a stability ball, step-ups (“I can hear my left [sliding] knee grinding this morning,” she says), overhead presses dragging a weighted sled, while John works on a bench press. “My primary job is being an athlete, so I have to be [physically] strong and healthy to make sure I’m emotionally strong and healthy,” Asbaty says. “And I want to be strong for my kids. I will have more than one, and I want to be around for a long time.” About 20 minutes of the session are devoted to cardio-boxing, something Asbaty loves. “It makes me feel tough, empowered,” she says as she jabs and 26
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uppercuts at Gisburne with her hot pink boxing gloves. “But I’m still a lover, not a fighter,” Asbaty says with a laugh. 10:35 a.m. Back at the apartment, Asbaty gets ready for her next appointment, two one-hour bowling clinics at Hines Veterans Hospital in Maywood, IL. In the meantime, John, who will later walk a block north to get to the Italian deli where he is chef/part-owner, shows off their building’s recreation facilities on the 33rd-floor. They include a heated indoor pool and two glassed-in lounges with views that stretch north, east and south of the building. “We came up here on Election Night [in 2008] and could hear Barack Obama giving his speech at Grant Park,” John says. 12:25 p.m. Jill Kalkofen Jacobsen and Jess Sporte meet Asbaty at Hines Hospital’s Spinal Cord Building. They escort Asbaty to a two-lane facility deep within the maze of buildings on the campus. Asbaty will be working with two groups of disabled veterans who want bowling tips. Jacobsen, a recreational therapist, says they are practicing for the National Veterans Golden Age Games and the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. “I just bowl for fun and don’t have the sport expertise to help them improve,” Jacobsen says. “So I emailed a couple people asking where I could find
COVER STORY “Do what you love.” Tips, coaching and inspiration for disabled veterans at Hines Hospital.
a coach here in Chicago, and they forwarded those emails to Diandra.” 1 p.m. Jacobsen introduces Asbaty, who greets each veteran by name and thanks him or her for serving the country. Then Asbaty opens up the floor for questions and requests for specific help. “If I know I’ll have 40 young bowlers, I will have a lesson plan and handouts,” Diandra says. “But for this, I’ll just go with what I know and spend as much one-on-one time as I can with each person.” Her first student, Rich Olson, is blind. He shows her how he lines up on the approach by standing next to the ball return and then taking a lateral stride to the center of the lane. Asbaty says that’s a great adjustment and mentally files the technique away for future clinics. She stresses to all the attendees the importance of having a loose armswing and following through straight ahead. “You hit the second arrow on the left,” Asbaty teases one right-handed bowler who is using a crutch. “Now we need to get you hitting the one on the right.” The bowler laughs along with her. 2:30 p.m. The second group of veterans arrives. Almost all are wheelchair bowlers. Darryl Urchel, a paraplegic athlete who’s rampbowled for 10 years, impresses Asbaty right away. He can tell her exactly how to position his ball on the ramp so that its weight block produces the most flip in the backend. “You can teach others,” Asbaty urges him. “You’re telling someone else what you want them to do and they can carry out your vision.” Later, Asbaty helps Judy Ruiz get positioned for a more effective shot. She urges Ruiz to visualize 10 pins falling before pushing the ball down the ramp. Ruiz says Asbaty’s advice “opened my mind” and changed her game not only physically but mentally. “For someone like [Asbaty] to give us her time is awesome,” Ruiz says. “It proves we matter as bowlers.” 3:30 p.m. There’s a rush for the publicity photos Asbaty brought with her as the clinic ends. Everyone wants to take an autographed picture home. “Do what you love - Diandra Asbaty,” she writes on each. On the way back to the car, Asbaty denies that she was starting to flag 28
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towards the end of the second clinic before admitting she wore the wrong shoes today - simple black flats. “Not much support in these; my feet hurt a little,” she says. “I should have brought my bowling shoes.” She also agrees that it’s taxing to be “on” for nearly three hours of instruction. “You have to be ‘up’ the whole time for them, to give them your best, and that takes a lot of energy,” she says. 4 p.m. Asbaty is hoping to meet with Jeff Augustyn, sales/production representative at Midwest Swiss Embroideries, and discuss getting her Kaizen “K” logo embroidered on some off-the-rack items. But when she arrives at the shop on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side, she learns Jeff had to leave early because of a family emergency. Waste not, want not, is Asbaty’s motto when it comes to time management, so she checks out the floss in stock for the next time she stops by. “I’m a planner,” she says. “I like planning and knowing what I will be doing. I wanted to know what my baby was going to be before it was born, so I could decorate and buy the right things. “I make a lot of lists. I like the feeling of getting to cross something off my list. It just comes naturally to me.” That penchant for planning and organization helps Asbaty keep so many plates spinning in the air at
COVER STORY once. Midwest Swiss Embroideries, for example, is part of the consortium she has assembled for her Kaizen by Diandra enterprise. “I don’t have any employees,” Asbaty says. “Everyone is an independent contractor – my designer [Chicagoan Kristen Hassan, who was a contestant on Bravo TV’s The Fashion Show], my photographer, my web designer, everyone. “Pretty much, though, everything is run by me,” she says. “For instance, I send Kristen’s designs to a pattern maker. In the meantime, I order the fabric, buttons and everything else from some suppliers in California.” The pattern maker sends a digital file to a factory Asbaty has hired in Chicago to print out the patterns, cut the fabric, and sew her clothing. A graphic artist in Egypt designs her posters, catalogs and other promotional items. Asbaty’s father keeps the inventory for each collection at his store on Chicago’s Far South Side and ships orders from there. “It’s all about being resourceful and lucky,” Asbaty says. That includes organizing the photo shoots for her catalogs and marketing materials. Asbaty does everything from booking the models to making sure there are working electrical outlets on location for curling irons. “I’ve come to know Craigslist pretty well,” Asbaty says. “I’ve gotten some great models through there that I don’t have to pay, because they want the photos for their portfolios. Same with make-up artists and hairstylists.” The Kaizen clothing was originally designed and manufactured in Colombia. However, Asbaty moved the operation to Chicago after the first collection came out. “I had no control over the process when everything was being done in Colombia,” she says. “I didn’t speak Spanish, so I wasn’t a factor. “Here, I can see what is going on and ask questions. I am way more hands-on here,” she says. “Plus, a lot of people here need jobs, and I would rather support our own economy. I want to take advantage of what [this country has] to offer.” 6:30 p.m. Following a light dinner of French toast with rhubarb sauce, Asbaty goes to her prenatal yoga class at Bend Yoga and Movement Studio. Owner Marti Clemons puts Asbaty and the other students through an hour of poses designed to help them enjoy their pregnancies with less stress and strengthen their muscles for labor. In addition to yoga, Asbaty plans to take a nine-week course on natural childbirth. She’s determined to have her baby born in the most natural way possible. “If I have a choice between bringing my baby into this world completely alert, with no medicine inside him, versus numbing the pain for my own sake, I choose the former,” Asbaty says. Still, she admits, “I know unforeseen things could happen. 30
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Not a moment to waste. Checking the stock at a contractor for Kaizen by Diandra.
I have no idea how much pain my body can take. But if I can’t do it, I won’t feel defeated. I’ll know that I tried.” 7:30 p.m. The yoga must work. Asbaty emerges from the studio looking refreshed and heads for the car with a light, bouncy step. 8:00 p.m. Back home at last, Asbaty kicks off her shoes and sets up her jewelry materials on the kitchen table. She starts toying with some ideas she has for pieces, but nothing clicks tonight. That is fine with her. “This is how I get away from everything,” Asbaty says. “When I’m making jewelry, I focus on what I’m doing. I don’t have my phone around me, and I’m not checking email. It gives me peace.” 8:30 p.m. John is home from the deli, and he’s brought dinner with him - some of the lasagna he made earlier that day. “That’s the one thing I don’t do – cook,” Asbaty says. “John taught me how to make eggs, hummus, and sweet potato fries. But it’s just so easy not to have to do it [cook], because I know he’s going to do it much better than I would.” Husband and wife bring each other up on how their days went, then snuggle on an overstuffed velvety-soft sectional to watch American Idol and their favorite show, Modern Family, on TV. The lights of Chicago’s South Side filter into their living room as the night deepens. 10:00 p.m. Asbaty is back on the computer to see if any Kaizen orders have come in while she was out. Nothing tonight, however, so she posts a quick Tweet about her day, does some blogging, and shuts the Mac down for the night. 12:30 a.m. “I always go to sleep late,” Asbaty says. Tonight is no exception. She climbs into bed, feels the baby kick, and drifts off to sleep, thinking about how lucky she is to have the life she does – and what she wants to achieve tomorrow. ❖ A frequent contributor to IBI, Lydia Rypcinski has been writing for and about bowling for more than 30 years. She has won writing and photography awards in and outside the sport for her coverage, which has taken her to six continents and more than 20 countries. She co-authored Revolutions:The Changing Game with Chip Zielke in 1998 and Sports Traveler Chicago with Anbritt Stengele in 2009.
EXPO SHORTS
Suspenseful moment. Top women in bowling assembled on stage at Expo preceding the Women’s Open announcement. From left, they are Cathy DeSocio (BPAA vice president), Nancy Schenk (BPAA secretary), Darlene Baker (USBC president), bowlers Kim Terrell-Kearney, Tennelle Milligan, Shannon O’Keefe, Stephanie Nation, Clara Guerrero, Liz Johnson, Lynda Barnes and Kelly Kulick. John Sommer, who founded PWBA with John Falzone, was also called to the stage.
NEW DAY FOR WOMEN’S OPEN Eleven top women from BPAA, USBC and the player ranks were called to the stage at Bowl Expo’s General Session without preliminaries. They were joined by John Sommer, who with John Falzone, founded the PWBA. Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who had just concluded her keynote address, remained on the stage. BPAA executive director Steve Johnson paused a moment, for suspense, then made the announcement. The U.S. Women’s Open next year moves to Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX, under a new name, Bowling’s U.S. Women’s Open, and a new title sponsor, The Brands of Ebonite International. The announcement was greeted by an explosion of confetti and a standing ovation from the crowd. At press time, last details were being settled for the nationally televised event, which will be held June 30 in conjunction with Bowl Expo in Arlington,but the tournament lanes will be laid out on each side of the stadium’s 50-yard line, and play will be broadcast live on the stadium’s 60-yard high-definition video board. “This is a landmark announcement for bowling and for women’s athletics,” Johnson told the crowd. “There is no more prestigious name in sports than the U.S. Open and no bigger venue than Cowboys Stadium. This event exemplifies both the surging popularity of bowling among women and the heightened consumer demand to watch and
No better connection. Randy Schickert, CEO of Ebonite International, comments on the company’s sponsorship. Behind him are Sarah Palin and outgoing BPAA president Jim Sturm. attend bowling events. “Anyone who has seen Bowling’s U.S. Women’s Open can attest that you will not find tougher, fiercer and more tenacious competitors. Also, through national television exposure, we are excited to now make Bowling’s U.S. Women’s Open more accessible to the public than ever before.” Randy Schickert, CEO of Ebonite International, joined the group on stage to say, “As a company that both prides itself on its long-standing support of women in bowling and on achieving the highest standards of excellence, we could not ask for a better brand association than the great female players of Bowling’s U.S. Women’s Open and this truly prestigious and historic sporting event. “At Ebonite International, our goal is to design and produce the world’s best bowling balls and equipment for passionate bowlers. In furthering this mission, we’re tremendously pleased to present our brands alongside the finest female competitors in the world. Additionally, we’re proud to be an integral part of this stellar event, before the fans and bowling enthusiasts who will be in attendance and the millions more watching from home.” IBI
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EXPO SHORTS
Earlybirds. Attendees were lining up early to get good seats for the General Session and Sarah Palin.
PALIN TOUTS BOWLING, SMALL BUSINESS IN KEYNOTE SPEECH
school days, bowl in his Thursday night league. Raising her own kids, she took them to bowling centers for birthday parties. Palin said proprietors’ adaptation to changes in American lifestyle, as with glow bowling, are “proof of free-market resilience.” This industry, and small business generally, “embodies the principles of America.” She added, “Thanks, bowling proprietors, for being part of the solution.” After the talk, Palin was joined on stage by Steve Johnson, BPAA executive director, to answer questions selected in advance. She answered eight in the time available, ranging from her biography to advice for first-timers in a political race. She called cap and trade “a gutterball,” which brought a laugh from the audience, and said that if she were president, she’d keep the White House bowling lane. “Sarah Palin’s comments about the impact of bowling ring true, no matter where you stand on the political spectrum,” Johnson said to the audience. “Bowling is a sport that knows no political or social boundaries. It is the embodiment of the American spirit and a healthy, fun and inclusive activity that brings together people from all walks of life. Today Sarah Palin said that bowling helps make our country a better place and we couldn’t agree with her more.”
“Sharing shoes is my idea of a community sport,” Sarah Palin said, drawing one of a number of hearty laughs from the audience at Bowl Expo’s General Session, June 30, listening to her keynote address. Palin’s 45-minute speech touched on a conception of bowling as a hub of social life but emphasized bowling centers as examples of how American small business keeps up and thrives in changing circumstances. She recalled watching her father, a pinboy in his high
HELLO AND GOODBYE ‘Consensus,’ ‘common sense’ and ‘relevance’ will be the watchwords of new BPAA president John Snyder, if his short speech introducing himself at the Annual Meeting was an indication. Snyder took over from Jim Sturm on July 1. The new president said he will expect fiscal and operational excellence from BPAA and wants to see more buy-in from small centers. On his wish list for the long run – Snyder called it his “pie in the sky” – he wants to “bring the sport of bowling back” and not for elite players only. He promised transparency of the organization under his tenure. In his goodbye remarks, Sturm said he wanted his legacy to be “the same as every other BPAA president: leave the association a little better than it was handed to us.” 32
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Incoming BPAA president John Snyder
Outgoing BPAA prexy Jim Sturm
BOWLING ARTS
A
heart of
wood P
eople would come over to the Jim Malones’ for dinner and comment on a counter he had made for their New York apartment. After that, he took a few pieces he had made to a local flea market. “I’ll tell you the real thing that made me know that the company was going to take off,” he says now about the genesis of CounterEvolution, his three-year-old Brooklyn business that makes furniture. “People would come by and look at the stuff and they liked the way it looked. When they found out it was made from bowling alley wood, it always put a smile on people’s faces.” Malone had gone to a dealer in reclaimed wood in upstate New York. He had wanted to buy a slab of tree to make his counter, until he found out what it would cost. But he could swing a slice of lane that had been installed in 1947. Nice, hard pine. It had come from a center near Albany that closed in the ’80s. The dealer, trying to interest would-be buyers, had lifted the polyurethane off a couple of pieces. “If you had a little imagination, you could tell that if you cleaned it up, it would look pretty nice,” says Malone. IBI
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BOWLING ARTS
He found the wood tough to work with. A couple of months after he bought a seven-foot piece of the old lane for the counter, he reappeared at the dealer’s, got some scraps, and went back to work on the material. “It was a real learning curve to figure out the best way to clean it up and try and do something unique,” he offers. By this time he had been online and discovered others who were selling furniture made of old lanes, “but most of the time it was mostly cleaning up the slab and sticking it on something. I wanted to try and do something a little more artistic.” Malone eventually developed techniques for manufacturing what he calls his modern rustic line, which features finger splicing of the corners and exposed end grain. All the items in the line are made of old lanes. Most of the time, it’s hardwood pine, which is denser and tighter grained than the common Southern yellow pine. The old wood finds Malone these days. He gets about one person a month contacting him about lanes they want to dispose of. If the proprietor is involved in the transaction, Malone tries to honor the emotional connection to the lanes and make something from the wood for him, such as a bench or clock. “I think there is a resonance,” Malone says about old lane wood. “Just about everybody has some association with bowling. It added such a dimension to the work I was doing, just to know that there was some, you know, some depth to it.” ❖
Have you crafted anything from old bowling gear? Share your artistry on www.BowlingIndustry.com. 34
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SHOWCASE BOWLING FURNITURE
PARTY GOODS
RETROFIT KIT
LANE CONDITIONER
PORTABLE PA SYSTEM
A2 MODIFICATION KIT
DATA SECURITY
COUNTER-DISPLAY PROMOTION
The entertainment environment plays a big part in where people choose to spend their entertainment dollars. QubicaAMF’s Quest Lifestyle series of furniture can help you create a “lifestyle” within your center that your customers are sure to enjoy. The Quest Lifestyle furniture line offers comfort, durability, quality and style. Visit our website at www.QubicaAMF.com and click on the LifeStyle banner to see examples of environments you can create in your center with QubicaAMF furniture.
For AMF 82-70 and 82-90XL Pinspotters, a three-phase conversion kit from Switch Bowling gives you simplicity, savings, and innovation. Kit includes four three-phase motors (208/220/380/415V – 50/60Hz), latest digital technology with inverter control for table and sweep motors, full control of Pinspotter function from both front and rear, and installation hardware and all cables. For more information, call James Borin, 972-679-4824 or email james@switchbowling.com.
Great for meetings, events, wherever great sound and range are needed. This portable PA from The Lighting Store features CD player; hand-held, headset and lapel wireless mics; radio tuner; retractable handle; wheels; and rechargeable battery. For more information, call (888) 7465483 or go to www.SoundAndLightKaraoke.com.
New option from New Center Consulting, Inc.: back up your Xenix legacy systems onto any Windows computer for automatic security or back it up offsite on a web-based service. If your system crashes, NCC can rush you a brand-new back-up Pentium III Xenix computer, built with all your own data already intact. Contact Glenn Hartshorn directly at 248-375-2751 or go to www.upgrademyscoring.com.
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3 hot new colors and 1 popular pattern join the Redemption Plus partyware selection. Choose lime green, purple or orange in addition to our 5 established colors. Pick our new Happy Birthday Star pattern or our Happy Birthday Balloon pattern. Available in pre-packaged kits to keep your party managers organized and efficient, or purchase à la carte–all at some of the lowest prices in the industry. Visit www.PartyPackPlus.com to view our entire selection of party supplies, add-ons and novelties.
DURAMAX MagnaGlide, manufactured by Tech-Line Products, is a conditioner for wood and synthetic approaches that is formulated to reduce friction and provide appropriate shoe slide. Packaged in readyto-use 32-oz. spray bottles so no mixing or re-filling is required. Each bottle treats approximately 200 approaches; six bottles to the case. For more information, call 800-235-8324 or email jireland@techlineproducts.com.
ZOT is pleased to introduce its new Accelerator Relay Box Modification Kit for Brunswick A2 Pinsetters — a kit that replaces all the hard soldered relays in the original box while retaining the original sheet metal enclosure and connectors. The new P.C. Board-based system from ZOT includes a 10-AMP re-settable breaker designed to limit motor overload damage caused by ball-jams. For more information, call 800-525-8116 or e-mail sales@zotpinsetter.com.
What’s more fun than a bowling league? That’s one of the messages to your customers in 3D moving images with this promotional exclusive from IBI. Promote kids’ and adult parties, bar sales, F&B and glow events, too. Kit includes 10x12-inch frame, 3 easily interchangeable photos, 1 bowling-themed masking surround for frame, and 1 AA battery (runs the display for about four months). For more information, call 818-789-2695.
SHOWCASE LABOR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
TimePro for Brunswick is easy-to-use, available for all Brunswick management systems with special features available to centers with Vector® Plus. Planning and more accurately forecasting employee hours, controlling unauthorized hours (labor cost), and reducing manual processes has never been simpler, more–cost effective or more immediately achievable. For more information, contact your Brunswick representative, call 800-YES-BOWL or 231-725-4966.
RENTAL SHOES
Tired of your premium shoes walking out the door? Want a shoe that’s easily cleaned and affordable to replace? Want a shoe that can look good even after months of play, unlike suede and cloth shoes? Put your customers in an attractive comfortable shoe that’ll look good this month and next. QubicaAMF’s new SuperValue Rental Shoes…as low as $11.95 every day. For more information visit www.QubicaAMF.com, or call us today at 866-460-7263.
3D MONITOR – NO GLASSES!
Full dimensionality even in background images–and no glasses required! Only from New Center Consulting, you can have 10-, 20- or 30-second motion graphics that seem to fly out of the screen; your logo, seeming to float above the settee area; and 3D customized for your content. The ultimate in cool! Call Glenn Hartshorn at 888-452-3748 (888-4LCDs-4U) or visit our website at www.UpgradeMyScoring.com.
DATEBOOK
SEPTEMBER 17-19 Wyoming Bowling Family Jamboree Sponsored by Wyoming Bowling Council Sheridan Holiday Inn, Sheridan. Charlene Abbott, 307-324-3161 or kcabbott@bresnan.net. 23 Bowling Centers Association of Ohio executive board meeting Embassy Suites, Columbus. Pat Marazzi, 937-433-8363 or pat@bowlohio.com.
OCTOBER 3-5 West Coast Bowling Convention Harrah’s Harveys, South Lake Tahoe, NV. Sandi Thompson, 925-485-1855. IBI is the official magazine of the convention. 11-13 East Coast Bowling Centers Convention Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ. BPAA, 888-6495586. IBI is the official magazine of the convention. 19-20 Texas-Oklahoma Idea Share Hilton, Arlington, TX. Karen Miller, 512-467-9331, texasbowlingcenters.org.
DECEMBER 6 Bowling Centers Association of Wisconsin midwinter retreat location TBA. Gary Hartel, bcaw@bowlwi.com.
CLASSIFIEDS
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE AMERICAN-MADE PINSETTER PARTS – HIGHEST QUALITY. Visit us on the web at www.ebnservices.com or call toll free (888) 435-6289. USED BRUNSWICK PARTS, A2 parts and assemblies. Large Inventory. www.usedpinsetterparts.com. 24-lane Brunswick A-2 package. Automatic overhead scoring. Brunswick 2000 returns; wood approaches. In operation through 2003 season. Available immediately. Make offer. (906) 786-1600. Ask for Denis.
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CLASSIFIEDS EQUIPMENT FOR SALE NEW & USED Pro Shop Equipment. Jayhawk Bowling Supply. 800-2556436 or jayhawkbowling.com. Pinsetter Parts New from ALL major manufacturers. HUGE IN STOCK inventory. USED Brunswick Scoring parts, AS90 cameras, processors, lane cables, monitors, and PC boards. Order online @ 888SBIBOWL.com or (888) 724-2695. The Mechanics Choice! Buy or Sell @ www.bowlingyardsale.com; one-stop shopping for bowling equipment — from lane packages to dust mops! 16 Brunswick Factory A-2s, 103-000 serial numbers. Lots of extras. Removed & ready for shipment. Also, 16 lanes Horizon/Omega masking units w/ 2 foot upper graphics. Ron @ (605) 237-0288. REPAIR & EXCHANGE. Call for details (248) 375-2751. FOR SALE: Used Smart pindecks with hoods & racks; Master units & AMF auto scoring packages. Ken’s Bowling Equipment (641) 414-1542.
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CLASSIFIEDS EQUIPMENT FOR SALE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY: 22 AMF lanes, 82-70s, spare parts and Qubica Conqueror scoring including back office and 3 cash points. (410) 535-3560.
EQUIPMENT WANTED LANE MACHINES WANTED. We will purchase your KEGEL-built machine, any age or condition. Phone (608) 764-1464.
CENTERS FOR SALE
UPSTATE NEW YORK: 8-lane center/ commercial building built in 1992. Synthetic lanes, new automatic scoring, kitchen and room to expand! Reduced to sell @ $375,000. Call (315) 376-3611. 16-lane center in Southern Colorado mountains. Great condition. 18,000 s/f building w/ restaurant & lounge. Paved parking 100 + vehicles. Established leagues & tournaments. $950,000 or make offer. Kipp (719) 852-0155. CENTRAL WISCONSIN: 12 lanes, auto scoring, Anvilane synthetics, 82-70s. Great food sales. Yearly tournament. Attached, large 3 bedroom apartment w/ fireplace. $550K. (715) 223-8230. EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA: 6-lane Brunswick center, bar & grill, drive-thru liquor store in small college town. Also, 3 apartment buildings with 40 units, good rental history. Call (701) 330-7757 or (701) 430-1490. SOUTHWEST KANSAS: well-maintained 8-lane center, A-2s, full-service restaurant. Includes business and real estate. Nice, smaller community. Owner retiring. $212,000. Leave message (620) 397-5828.
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CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE SOUTHERN INDIANA (close to Indianapolis): 18-lane Brunswick center with lounge, liquor license & movie theater on 4+ acres. Turnkey business. Owner retiring. Great investment! (765) 349-1312. CENTRAL IDAHO: 8-lane center and restaurant in central Idaho mountains. Small town. Only center within 60-mile radius. Brunswick A-2 machines; Anvilane lane beds; automatic scoring. (208) 879-4448. SE WISCONSIN: 12-lane Brunswick center including building, real estate & 7 acres. Raised dance floor, grill, pro shop, arcade, tanning room and more. Reasonably priced. Owner retiring. (920) 398-8023. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: 16-lane center w/ synthetic lanes, 82-70s, 19,000 s/f building w/ lots of parking. Newly remodeled bar & large kitchen. Owner retiring. (530) 598-2133.
WWW.FACEBOOKBOWLING.COM
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CLASSIFIEDS
We could not have gotten our loan without him. Jean and Kent Brund Freedom Lanes Duncan, OK
CENTERS FOR SALE NEW YORK STATE: Thousand Island region. 8-lane Brunswick center w/ cosmic bowling, auto scoring. Established leagues + many improvements. $309,000. Call Jill @ Lori Gervera Real Estate (315) 771-9302. NW KANSAS: 12-lane center, AS-80s, Lane Shield, snack bar, pro shop, game & pool rooms. See pics and info @ www.visitcolby.com or contact Charles (785) 443-3477.
The leading source for real estate loans with low down payments
Ken Paton (503) 645-5630 www.kenpaton.com kpaton@kenpaton.com
LOCKER KEYS FAST! •Keys & Combo Locks for all Types of Lockers. •One week turnaround on most orders. •New locks All types •Used locks 1/2 price of new
All keys done by code #. No keys necessary.
FAX YOUR ORDER TO US AT:
530-432-2933
CALL TOLL FREE 1-800-700-4KEY INTʼL 530-432-1027 Orange County Security Consultants 10285 Ironclad Road, Rough & Ready, CA 95975
For FLORIDA CENTERS Call DAVID DRISCOLL & ASSOCIATES 1-800-444-BOWL P.O. Box 189 Howey-in-the-Hills, FL 34737 AN AFFILIATE OF SANDY HANSELL & ASSOCIATES 42
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SOUTHERN NEVADA: 8-lane center. Only center in town of 15,000. 30 minutes from Las Vegas. AMF 82-70s, newer Twelve Strike scoring. R/E leased. Will consider lease/option with qualified person. REDUCED TO $175,000. Call Steve @ (702) 293-2368; email ljjaa1414@yahoo.com. MICHIGAN: Brunswick 20 synthetic lanes, Qubica scoring, liquor lounge, full kitchen & outside deck. Needs experienced operator. Email: kaynorcorp@comcast.net. CENTRAL ILLINOIS: 8-lane center with AMF 82-70s, full service restaurant, pro shop. Plus pool tables, Karaoke machine, DJ system. PRICED TO SELL. Includes RE. (217) 351-5152 or toms-uvl@sbcglobal.net. SOUTHWESTERN WYOMING: 12 lanes + café & lounge, 2 acres w/ 5 bedroom home. Full liquor & fireworks licenses. Outside Salt Lake City area. Dennis @ Uinta Realty, Inc. (888) 804-4805 or uintarlt@allwest.net. NE MINNESOTA: Food, Liquor & Bowling. Established 8 lanes between Mpls & Duluth w/ large bar, dining room, banquet area. Two large State employment facilities nearby. High six figure gross. 3-bdrm home included. $1.2m. Call Bryan (218) 380-8089. www.majesticpine.com.
CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE SW WISCONSIN: 10 lanes, new automatic scoring/sound. Bar/grill. Great leagues, local tournaments, excellent pinsetters. Supportive community. 2 acres off main highway. $299,995. (608) 341-9056. GEORGIA: busy 32-lane center, real estate included. Great location in one of fastest growing counties in metro Atlanta. 5 years new with all the amenities. Excellent numbers. Call (770) 356-8751. NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: 16-lane center REDUCED to $799,000 for quick sale. Synthetics, 82-70s, 19,000 s/f + parking. Newly remodeled bar, large kitchen. Owner retiring. Will consider selling only equipment or building. www.siskiyoulanes.com. (530) 598-2133.
NE NEVADA: New 2001. 16 lanes, 19,200 square feet, 1.68 acres paved, sound & lighting, lounge w/ gaming, arcade, full service snack bar & pro shop. Call (775) 934-1539. NORTHWEST LOUISIANA: 12-LANE Brunswick center. REDUCED TO SELL NOW! Includes auto scoring, glow bowling, pizza, large dining area & video poker. Good income. Long Lease. Great opportunity. Call Mike (318) 578-0772.
NW INDIANA (Lake Michigan/National Lake Shore area): Well-maintained 32lane center, family owned & operated since 1997 with spacious nightclub lounge on 6.6 acres. Also billiards, arcade, pro shop, full-service restaurant, established leagues, birthday party activity & MORE! Owner retiring. Reasonably priced. (219) 921-4999. WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: One of the top five places to move! Remodeled 32-lane center. Good numbers. $3.1m gets it all. Fax qualified inquiries to (828) 253-0362. IBI
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CLASSIFIEDS CENTERS FOR SALE SW IDAHO: 8-LANE CENTER w/full service, award winning restaurant, new lanes & scoring. $500,000 includes equipment & real estate. Nicely profitable. Call Ron @ Arthur Berry & Co., (208) 639-6171.
WASHINGTON: 24-lane, high revenue center. Strong league program & open play. Exceptional food/bar operation. Rental income from adjacent space. GSX pinsetters, Pro synthetic lanes, Touchworks scoring, Frameworx seating. Real estate included. Ken Paton (503) 645-5630.
SERVICE CALLS WORLDWIDE • PRE-SHIPS • WE SELL
AS80/90 • BOARD REPAIR • Frameworx NEW KEYPADS • FRONT DESK LCD MONITORS
Michael P. Davies (321) 254-7849
291 Sandy Run, Melbourne, FL 32940
on the web: bowlingscorer.com email: mike@bowlingscorer.com
SELL YOUR CENTER OR EQUIPMENT (570) 346-5559
FAST!
(818) 789-2695
CENTRAL ALABAMA: Recently remodeled, split house w/24 synthetic lanes (16 & 8) in 28,000 s/f building in shopping center; Brunswick A2s & 2000 seating; AccuScore Plus; VIA returns & storage tables; systems for Cosmic; established leagues; snack bar, pro shop & game/pool table area. Nearest competition 28 miles w/ colleges & Honda factory within minutes. Need to sell due to health. Reasonably priced. (435) 705-0420. NORTHERN WISCONSIN: Turnkey business. 12-lane center, Brunswick A-2s, Frameworx scoring, full bar and restaurant. Good league base with large tournament. Contact Bruce @ (715) 614-7779.
SERVICES AVAILABLE Drill Bit Sharpening and Measuring Ball Repair. Jayhawk Bowling Supply. 800255-6436 or Jayhawkbowling.com. BUILD YOUR PARTY BUSINESS – Affordably reach people celebrating birthdays within the neighborhood of your bowling center. (818) 241-3042 or larrysiegel@charter.net. SELLING, BUYING or FINANCING a Center? RC Partners can help–we are not brokers. (616) 374-5651; www.sell104.com.
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CLASSIFIEDS
BUY
AMF • BRUNSWICK EQUIPMENT COMPLETE PACKAGES WORLDʼS LARGEST NEW – USED SPARE PARTS INVENTORY
INSURANCE SERVICES
SEL L
Danny & Daryl Tucker Tucker Bowling Equipment Co. 609 N.E. 3rd St. Tulia, Texas 79088 Call (806) 995-4018 Fax (806) 995-4767
Bowling Parts, Inc. P.O. Box 801 Tulia, Texas 79088 Call (806) 995-3635 Email - bpitx@texasonline.net
www.bowlingpartsandequipment.com AMF and some BRUNSWICK PC board repair/exchange. 6-month warranty, fast turnaround. Call or write: WB8YJF Service 5586 Babbitt Road, New Albany, Ohio 43054 Toll Free: 888-902-BOWL (2695) Ph./Fax: (614) 855-3022 (Jon) E-mail: wb8yjf@earthlink.net Visit us on the WEB! http://home.earthlink.net/~wb8yjf/
MINIATURE GOLF COURSES Indoor/Outdoor. Immediate Installation. $5,900.00 & up.
2021 Bridge Street Jessup, PA 18434 570-489-8623 www.minigolfinc.com
PROPRIETORS WITH AMF 82-70 S.S. & M.P. MACHINES Save $$ on Chassis & P.C. Board Exchange & Repair! A reasonable alternative for Chassis and P.C. Board Exchanges
30+ YEARS INSURING BOWLING CENTERS – Ohio, Illinois & Michigan. Property & Liability; Liquor Liability, Workers Comp, Health & Personal. Call Scott Bennett (248) 408-0200, Scott@Bowl-mail.com; Mark Dantzer, CIC (888) 343-2667, Mark@DieboldInsurance.com; or Kevin Elliott.
TRAINING BRUNSWICK PINSETTER TRAINING COURSE – Colorado Springs, Colorado. 12-day sessions including hotel accommodations. Call for schedule. RMGPinsetter@gmail.com; myspace – rmgpinsetter.com; (719) 432-5052 or (719) 671-7167. Fax (866) 353-5010. 82-30 TRAINING CLASSES. For more info call (513) 594-7791 or email: Mathis_8@msn.com.
MECHANIC WANTED HEAD MECHANIC – AMF 82-70s—in Lexington, Kentucky. Call Dennis (502) 722-9314.
MIKE BARRETT Call for Price List
Tel: (714) 871-7843 • Fax: (714) 522-0576
WWW.FACEBOOKBOWLING.COM
POSITION WANTED Check this out! 30 new leagues, scores of new parties & fundraisers. Yes, I can do all that plus more. Looking for a Brunswick center in Midwest area. Manage to own. Call Matt (507) 696-1151 or Andy (507A) 527-1551. Brunswick “A” mechanic, 12+ years experience, AS-80/AS-90 scoring system expertise. Former owner/GM. Willing to relocate. Contact me at (308) 380-8594.
SELL YOUR CENTER OR EQPT.
FAST! (818) 789-2695 IBI
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REMEMBER WHEN
1960s S
omebody once said of the earlyBoomers – those born in the first few years after WW2 – that they will be young on the day they die. This Pepsi ad from an undisclosed year early in the ’60s shows why. People coming of age then were the biggest slice of the U.S. population. From civil rights marches and couples living together without benefit of clergy, to fighting and protesting the Vietnam war, they were 46
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changing America. Growing up more affluent than any U.S. generation before them, they also had money to spend. Their dances, clothes, music and changing tastes fascinated everybody – marketers included. People talked of a “youth culture.” It was everything to be young. Bowling was peaking, too. 1962-63 was the very top of the curve for the industry, with ABC/WIBC certifying 163,323 lanes in 11,476 bowling emporiums. BPAA claimed 5,643 centers with 105,662 lane beds. The slow, steady decline began the following year – even as the Boomers were turning into the spring of their adulthood. ❖