So was Duval ever a prick to anybody but the media?  And weren't most of those incidents when he didn't feel like telling them about his personal life or his personal goals?  

We seem to have this screwed up mentality that great player = role model = great advertiser = great interview.  I can buy the first two, but the last two are just media hype and the guy shouldn't be criticized for it.  

I never heard of Duval not attending clinics he was supposed to attend; not going to tournaments because he wasn't comp'd a personal jet; being considered a bad-guy by fellow players; making a scene about not signing autographs for kids.  

BG and KH, you guys are both right about all of this.  I am certainly not saying Duval deserves the image he has.  In a perfect world, things like being a stand-up guy, honoring one's commitments, etc. would be more praised, and the media would have less power.

But the world is far from perfect, as you know.

Hey, I personally have nothing against Duval, as I say.

It just surprises me not at all that the masses didn't take to him before, and don't root too hard for him now.

Jeez, if being a stand-up decent guy was the standard for fan devotion, the world golf favorite would be Corey Pavin.  As it is, he had a brief time in the sun, but is forgotten now.

TH

The difference with Phil so far this week is that he hasn't made any bogeys.  Usually he makes tons of birdies and some bogies.  27 holes and no bogies is probably pretty unusual for him.

Technology is ruining the sport of bowling much more than the game of golf. The newer technology in bowling is improving the weaker player’s game much more so than the professional. The professional does not need the newest technology to hook the ball. They have spent many years learning to control the hook of the ball by the amount of revolutions and the roll they put on the ball. Most touring pro’s average about 20 revolutions while many amateurs are producing only 5-7 revolutions. The ball manufactures have been able to create the extra hook with the use of eccentric weight blocks within the bowling ball. With these new weight blocks the amateur is able to produce incredible hook right out of the box. When the profession throws the newer style bowling ball they have to cut back their rev rates to keep the ball under control. If you look at the average scores of the professionals you will see that they have remained very constant, but the average amateur has gained almost 20 pins per game over the last 10 years.
   On the other hand Golf professionals are getting the most benefit out of the newer technology. I am sure that if you looked at average distance the professional has gained more yards than the amateur has.

Quote from: Brian_Gracely on February 11, 2005, 01:17:22 PM

I really fear for bowling.  All of the major American sports, I feel like it's changed the most and the professional game is taking it way away from its roots.  The minimalist in me really longs for the days of Mark Roth's plaid pants and that smooth arm swing of Earl Anthony.  Now lane owners are bringing in disco balls, strobe lights, gutter guards and electronic scoring.  

What is an old Polish, beer-drinking purist supposed to do?  

If we may digress to the serious side of bowling and its connections to golf, you will see that bowling and golf are similar in that there are not enough regulations on the construction and materials that can be used in the ball.  Furthermore, in bowling, you can use more than one type of ball in a match.

Would bowling be better if there was only one-type of ball, a competition ball?

Would golf be better if players were allowed to switch balls throughout the round?

I'll be back in a minute as I jump to www.bowlingballatlas.com to search for this topic

Here is a snippet from the Bowlers Journal forum.

The equipment has ruined bowling.

"The general consensus is that bowling SKILL has 4 main components: 1-Repetition, 2-Accuracy, 3-Power & 4-Versatility (the WTBA adds "Knowledge" which is suspect in my mind because "knowledge of equipment" seems to be a concession to ball manufacturers whereas "knowledge of proper hand positions according to lane condition" would be redundant since this is part of the Versatility component of skill) . . .

I certainly see that simply buying an assortment of these latest high tech balls undermines the Versatility component of skill (i.e., less need to experiment with hand positions & speed if you can simply change balls) . . . and the availability of these new balls undermines the Power component of skill also (i.e., just buy a ball that hooks a lot rather than develop this finely honed skill which many bowlers spend years perfecting with regards to finding the right release combination of "lift, turn, and extension") . . .

nevertheless, it still seems that the Accuracy & Repetition are still rewarded on most shots under most conditions . . . except that if the pattern is altered so much and so quickly that it becomes a "crap shoot" then "hitting the same mark" with "exact speed" etc. isn't really rewarded because the shot's gone so "doing the same thing" now will lead to a different result . . . at this point it boils down to the genius of knowing how the lanes are changing (which can be so whimsical that I don't believe anyone can really do all that well, given all the variables such as static electricity, humidity, heat, type of oil used, what the features of the surface are with regards to crowns, tilts, and depressions, what type of surface, wood or synthetic, age of surface, where other bowlers' balls have been rolling on the lane and types of balls they used, etc, etc, etc., etc.) . . . taken to extremes this would be like determining golf champions based on their knowledge of turf management & greenskeeping . . . and frankly I don't believe technical expertise of this type is what most bowlers & golfers want to be challenged by . . . they want to either "hit the links" OR "hit the lanes" and go (leaving playing conditions and technical nuances to the caretakers of the game & the maintenance personnel) . . ..

Well, in asking for a clarification I may have answered my own question . . . these new high tech bowling balls do seem to undermine the 4 primary bowling skills (directly with regards to Versatility & Power by simply buying a new ball to give you power or versatility by way of a different reaction. . . but also though perhaps a lesser degree with regards to Accuracy & Repeatibility since these skills will not be rewarded as much due to the unfairly quick changing conditions the new balls create, esp. the particle balls with their diamond dust, volcanic ash, crushed glass and other highly abrasive coverstocks) . . . .

Seems to me that a Standard Ball would be the perfect way to create a level playing field for competitive bowlers. With a standard ball then a fair & equal competition of bowling skill would take place which was clearly measurable and observable to all (participants, spectators & potential sponsors would be less confused and this would raise the integrity and credibility of the sport). Scoring levels would not necessarily drop that much since the lanes would have a shorter length & lower volume of oil to accomodate the lower friction coverstocks.

If this Standard Ball was much less aggressive than today's high tech balls (for instance - a plastic ball), then the lane pattern would require much less oil with regards to length and volume (according to Len Nicholson & Brian Voss, and lane maintenace experts at Kegel) . . . this would allow the bowling skills of Power & Versatility to be rewarded commensurate with the mastery level of each bowler . . . and since this would allow the oiling pattern to hold up much better / break down more slowly, then the other two bowling skills, i.e., Repeatability & Accuracy would once again be adequately rewarded . . . .

Also, with adoption of less aggressive balls the lane surfaces would be damaged less (the better the lane surface the less problems there are with regards to inequities & unfairness with regards to left & right handed bowlers) . . . .

I really hope that the leaders of the PBA adopt some sort of Standard Ball (I feel the PBA has the most influence on bowling) . . . even if the PBA or USBC simply adopted a "recommended" competition ball then this would be a start."

Remember...

Phil Mickelson is playing a fade in 2004 and 2005, compare to 2003 and before, where he was playing a longer harder draw (more power + more roll)...

If you pay attention, Mickelson will use a 3-wood when he needs to draw the ball, like he did on the 72nd hole at Augusta last year...

The thing is, the power draw with the 3-wood goes around 285 yards in the air.

This thread wasn't about Mickelson... not that there's anything wrong with that. The reality is that Tour players gain far more distance and advantage with advances in technology -- it's an exponential advantage. If I gain 15 yards with a new ball the Tour players may gain 35 yards.

The real danger - and it seems like we're pretty close to it -
 is that the gap between the game Tour players play and the game average golfers and fans play is getting too big and we will not be able to relate to the game they play. Thus we will lose touch with them and not be as interested, so tv ratings will fall and it will hurt the entire game in the long (or maybe short) run.

Mark, I prefer a different outlook. One that any golfer can relate to, if he or she, is a tournament golfer.

Look at the leaderboard for this weeks at&t. Look who's gonna miss the cut, and who are the surprise names on the leaderboard. i.e. VJ, Greg Owen, respectively.

Every golfer with experience can relate to the cycles these guys go through. It isn't about how far, it's about how many.

And those golfers who are not serious, are they actually watching the telecast? And would they care or know the difference?

What will Wally Uhlein at Titleist do when this happens and the endorsement of balls and clubs by Tour pros won't mean much of anything to most amateurs?

I bet he will still be cashing a huge bonus check.

It's pure speculation these cause and effect events you're proclaiming. If he doesn't need to pay the boys all that endorsement money, whose to say his profits won't increase becasue we are all going to buy the same number of titleists each year.

Mickelson's hitting a wedge into most of the par fours at one of the shrine's of golf, Pebble Beach. Won't this grow old and boring. Or will they start building 9,000 yard TPC courses that will be vacant 51 weeks of the year.

Haven't we learned from our lack of concern during what's happened with technololgy during the past 15 years. Or will we just continue to do nothing and let it continue out of control.

Mickelson's hitting a wedge into most of the par fours at one of the shrine's of golf, Pebble Beach. Won't this grow old and boring. Or will they start building 9,000 yard TPC courses that will be vacant 51 weeks of the year.

Haven't we learned from our lack of concern during what's happened with technololgy during the past 15 years. Or will we just continue to do nothing and let it continue out of control.

P.B. is less than 6800 yds. from the tips, and the wind isn't blowing.  With all due respect, pros 20 yrs. ago would have been hitting wedges into the greens under those conditions.  BTW, Mickelson made birdie on 18 by hitting a wedge in and draining the putt, rather than by going for it.  

Again, his driving distance for the 62 at Spyglass was 284.0.  Today it was 281, and his average for the week is 279. (272 on Friday) Whatever the reasons he is 7 shots clear of the field, it ain't distance alone.

As to Merion, I don't know why a match play event would cause problems for the chances of a course to hold the Open, but it's moot because Merion does not have the space to host the Open, regardless of yardage.  They don't have the parking or space for corporate tents, etc.  Merion is the poster child for classic courses that can no longer host majors on this site, but it isn't that simple.

Phil's low scores might have more to do with him draining numerous puts longer than 10 feet. His driving distance and golf ball have little to do with his recent success.

David Duval has never been particularly likable, and it's naive to think his recent failures on the golf course solely derive from his loving his family more. Scores of elite pro golfers (like Phil Mickelson) love their wife and kids a lot. Clearly, Duval has had other problems that have decimated his game.

I attended the AT&T on Friday and Saturday and watched probably around 16-18 of Phil's shots (not counting putts) on those two days.  He has definitely not abandoned the 2004 strategy of controlling ball flight and playing more strategically.  While he may have been giving it an extra rip with the driver more often (and perhaps lost a bit of driving accuracy), all of the approach shots that I saw him hit featured some type of controlled trajectory (a LOT of punch irons) where the spin was carefully controlled, using the green contours and played to the preferred portion of the green for a realistic putt.  His approaches to 13 and 15 at Pebble on Saturday and Sunday were good case examples where he kept the trajectory and the spin down and used the slope of the green to his advantage.  Certainly we would all agree there is more to smart golf than whether to hit driver or 3-wood off the tee?

It sounds as though he felt that he needed to make more birdies to beat the guys ahead of him on the world rankings list.  He certainly has not "checked his brain at the door" as he used to pre-2004 (the 13th on Sunday in Phoenix notwithstanding), at least not by the shots that I witnessed this weekend.

By the way, I saw Phil make one of the most amazing birdies I have ever seen on 13 at Poppy Hills (his 4th hole of the day).  We were sitting on the right side of the green where the pin was tucked behind the front right bunker (where it usually seems to be for the tournament), and Phil had driven through the dogleg of the fairway on the left behind a tree.  He needed to hit a 30-40 yard cut around the tree just to have a look at the green - we figured he would try to run the ball up the entrance of the green on the left side or leave it short left.  Instead, he hit a huge cut directly over the deep bunker to the front right edge about 10-15 feet from the hole, then proceeded to drain the putt for birdie.  Just an unbelievably controlled shot with a lot of imagination.  Maybe THE most amazing birdie I have ever seen live and in person.

To keep my post on topic, I would say that by Phil's comments he no longer feels he needs to compromise control for distance with the equipment he now has.  Perhaps he is blowing a bit of smoke, but I would say this is the troubling aspect to the "distance" explosion.  The pros no longer have to sacrifice driving distance for iron or short-game control.