huffyjumper

Is it true that Keynesian climb trees while Austrians hide under rocks?

SO many questions I want to ask, but I'll keep it to one. Where do you think professional bowling will be in 20 years? I mean, you're obviously going to win many titles and be in the PBA hall of fame some day, but I wonder if there will be a PBA in 20 years. So many fans of bowling and the PBA HATE how ESPN covers bowling (taped shows) and the campy things that the PBA has done to try and get people to watch bowling (like the outdoor show a few years ago--those lanes were HELLACIOUS). Your style and technique are helping to keep bowling relevant.

Oh, and the "mean things about Jason" thing you do every once in a while--funny stuff man.

I've always maintained that the only game in the casino that has a remote chance for consistent payout was craps. Any opinion about winning at craps more than other games?

To many fans, it sure does seem like the PBA is getting a lot less from their business relationship with ESPN than ESPN gets from the PBA. The PBA already has "Xtra Frame" and we're in the digital age, man. Hockey probably has a few more fans than bowling now and look at how the NHL got completely hosed by networks after their last strike. Granted, a lot of that was on the NHL and labor issues don't exist in the PBA, but I wonder why an organization like the PBA couldn't just give one big finger to ESPN and say, "We're going to go completely online." It's already taped, so maybe it could be done that way online too. I mean, you've got the top 10 bowlers doing reasonably well, but bowling will probably never get any where near the popularity it enjoyed from the mid-1950s to late 1970s. So it costs how many every dollars to produce live TV, then what would it cost to take all of the production in house or partner with someone who can produce streaming content? What about turning the business model completely on its ear and partnering with someone like YouTube? MLB does this really well and we all know that baseball isn't anywhere near the king of sports (like the NFL). The reason the PBA is doing some of these things people like me find campy is because they are trying to get eyeballs on their telecasts. I know you need to be a bit political here as you're earning a living from this, but I can tell you that I and lots of other people who absolutely love bowling and remember what it once was think that the way the PBA has acted in recent years seems desperate. It seems like the producers at ESPN thinks bowlers have the memories of houseflies or something. They play the same filler footage over and over again and in recent years have skipped ENTIRE SEGMENTS of games. Very frustrating.

The Xtra Frame option from the PBA does seem reasonably priced. The problem is most of the content would really only be for truly die hard bowling fans. I mean, I love bowling, but I'm not really interested in watching 3 hours of matchplay. It seems like the PBA is so concerned with surviving that they have only thought about how to cut costs to the bone instead of also figuring out how to increase revenues. We have dozens of sports now and hundreds of cable channels that compete for viewers. How is the PBA going to get or keep more of the pie with a partner like ESPN? In my opinion, they can't. They might be able to hang in there for a few years and get viewership up a little with some of the new options like league play, but do think that's an unsustainable plan in the long term. Who really knows though, right? I do believe it will take tremendous courage to keep the PBA viable in the next few years.

Ahh...internet ranting! heh! Thanks for the AMA, Jason!