Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 - (Page 55)

THE USBC MOVE argue with that. The ultimate goal of the entire effort was to get the staff members of the two organizations under one roof. But did Milwaukee truly have a realistic chance of retaining USBC once the "international bowling campus" in Arlington came into play? Or, to put it another way, was there ever the chance that BPAA would move north? "I think the BPAA Board would have considered it," Bojé says, "but I seriously doubt they would have agreed to fund half of the project, as they're doing in Arlington. They probably would have agreed to fund just their portion, which would have been more like one-fifth. And at that point, the deal doesn't make sense for either side." BPAA President Joe Schumacker says the BPAA Board had looked at a possible move to Greendale, "a couple of years ago, but rejected the concept. When you really map out Arlington versus Greendale — with Arlington being 15 minutes to DFW, and other factors — Arlington just stacks up better. > ACCORDING TO DEFORD < When USBC's move to Arlington was still just a proposal, it prompted no less than legendary sportswriter Frank Deford to chime in. Wrote Deford on Sports Illustrated magazine's website: "They might move bowling central from Milwaukee to Texas? Hey, you might as well make Oshkosh the rodeo capital of America and transport the Alamo to Sheboygan. Bowlers of the world, unite. Have another brewski and keep bowling where God meant it to be." Oshkosh, you'd better get your corrals ready "Now, if it had boiled down to Milwaukee or nothing," he adds, "I'm sure the Board would have taken another look. We would have had to measure not moving against the value of the project, and it might have been a tough call to make, given the critical importance of the project. But I think the right decision was made. And I think the fact that BPAA is willing to pay for half of the project and yet use only about a fifth of the space involved illustrates how serious we are about working hand-in-hand with USBC." BPAA considered forming its own membership groups in the past — the most recent had the working title of "Contemporary Bowling Association" — but Schumacker insists there were no threats made or even hints floated about "going down that path" again. "I can categorically say that we never considered anything like that as the campus issue was being discussed," he says. "One of the things we learned from the CBA exercise was that BPAA doesn't want to be in the membership business. And, frankly, it would have made protecting competitive bowling much more difficult [if USBC and BPAA were competing for members]. There isn't a hammer speaking here; the issues are speaking." Adds Schumacker: "If we want to protect competitive bowling for the next 25 years, we need USBC to be healthy. And we'd both be challenged without APRIL 2008 bowlers journal international 55 http://www.bowlingball.com http://www.bowlingball.com http://www.bowlingball.com http://www.bowlingball.com/affiliate.html http://www.bowlingball.com http://www.bowlingball.com/proshop.php

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Bowlers Journal International - April 2008

Bowlers Journal International - April 2008 Contents Leading Off Letters Bowlitically Incorrect Calendar Par Bowling The Coach Frame of Mind Inside Line The Truth Be Bowled Tournaments Pro Bowling PBA Bayer Classic PBA Pepsi Championship PBA Don Johnson Classic Regional Roundup Cover Story Up Close Senior Tour The USBC Move USBC Convention Pattern Play Anniversary Flashback Time Capsule Media Beat No Holes Barred Shop Talk Spotlight Marketplace Hall Marks Profit Prophet Advertisers' Index Classified Advertising Intelligencer Business Calendar Business People Strikes Me

Bowlers Journal International - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.