Letters To The Editor

BOWLING

Give youth bowlers a break

We want to take strong exception to the article by Chris Derrick in the Jan. 13 sports page (“Bowling up GSL’s alley?”) concerning the proposal to add girls bowling as a varsity sport in our high schools.

To characterize the girls (and boys) who want to participate in bowling as a varsity sport as geeks, with no athletic talent, and only interested in stuffing food in their faces is an insult to them and everyone who tries to help them learn and enjoy this sport. It is a disgrace to the newspaper to allow someone to write this kind of article and put down the girls who are serious about our sport of bowling.

Chris needs to find out about the competition in bowling before he tries to decide if it is a sport. These girls can, and do, compete in the YABA leagues and several also compete in the varsity bowling league at the city and state level. In the past, teams from Spokane have won at the state level only to be told by their schools that they cannot even display their trophies at their school. It is long past the time when the efforts and abilities of youth bowlers should be recognized by our school districts.

Other school districts around the state, and around the nation, recognize bowling as a sport. So do many colleges, which have bowling programs and conduct a national tournament. Do we want to deny our girls the chance to compete at the state and collegiate level and deny them the opportunity to earn scholarships while doing so? We have over 7,000 members in our local bowling associations, we support varsity bowling as a school sport, and we are willing to work with the school districts and anyone else to make this program a success. Walter Utt Executive Director, Spokane Bowling Association

Sports has a lot to offer

I am sending this information in as a rebuttal to an article that was written about bowling by Chris Derrick.

In his article, he was saying that bowling should not be a school-sponsored sport. He stated that it is just about as athletic as darts and billiards, this sport is not athletic, bowlers are geeks, bowlers are out of shape, it doesn’t give you a workout, bowlers walk four big steps up to the foul line, walk back to their seat for another bite of their hot dog or potato chips, do we think bowling would be popular if bowling centers outlawed eating, drinking, and smoking during games, doesn’t want to see bowlers with letter jackets, newspaper coverage, records or awards.

This man is leading the public to believe he knows everything about writing, about all sports, he’s very athletic, and that he is not a geek anymore (although I think that is questionable).

I have been bowling since I was 12. I am now 48. When I started bowling, I bowled league on Saturdays and I practiced 3-6 days a week, several games a day. I believe I practiced as much or more at my “sport” than any football, basketball, swimmer, tennis player etc. did in theirs. If you are serious about your sport, whatever it may be, you practice and work hard to be the best you can be.

In Juniors, I competed against the best junior bowlers in the western part of the United States. In fact, when I was 16, I had a 207 average which was high in the United States in the American Junior Bowling Alliance. I didn’t do that by stuffing my face with hot dogs, drinking beer, and smoking.

It’s people like you who give bowling a bad name. How many other sports besides the “sport” of bowling can you do way past your 70s and 80s? Not many. How many sports can you do if you are handicapped in some way? This is why there are so many sports. Not everyone has the same talents or interests. You can’t help it if you fall in love with a bowling ball. Maybe you don’t think of bowling as a sport because you’re not coordinated enough to walk to the foul line, swing a ball, roll it down a 60-foot lane and hit a target and be consistent. Or maybe you don’t like socializing because bowling is not just an individual “sport,” it is also a team sport. Maybe you couldn’t handle the pressure, I don’t know. Matt Surina Spokane

Girls deserve a chance

Regarding Chris Derrick’s anti-bowling column, I believe he is off base with his assessment of bowling not being a sport nor worthy of a high school letter.

As in other sports, if you want to compete and take it seriously (as the pros and top amateurs do), you have to be in good shape. Some pro and top amateur women are stronger and in better physical shape than a lot of “athletes” I’ve seen (John Daly?).

Golfers “may” walk the 18 holes to play golf, or they “may” rent a golf cart, buy a beer, eat some chips and get out of the cart every so often just to swing their club. Bowling can work the same way. If you want to go out and have fun with your friends, you can drink, eat potato chips and have fun bowling recreationally. But unlike other sports, you can bowl from age 3 to 103. Bowling at higher levels takes dedication, hard work, a tough mental attitude, and lots of practice to do this very competitive activity.

Within the last couple of years a national top amateur bowler, Jennifer Daugherty, received a full-ride bowling scholarship to the University of Nebraska. If a college can support bowling as a sport, what’s wrong with our high schools?

The Moses Lake High School and many West Side schools are already considering it a letter sport.

Chris Derrick may also like to know that bowling already gets newspaper coverage (in your newspaper), as well as having many records and giving out many awards. Everything is already in place - let’s support our girls and give them an additional chance at succeeding! Julie Heath Spokane

Skipping breakfast to bowl

I am a bowler and I think that the article that you wrote was the most discriminating thing I have ever read in the newspaper.

I wouldn’t mind so much if you would have just said that it shouldn’t be a GSL sport because it wasn’t athletic. But when you said that the best bowler at your school was “overweight” it was the meanest statement you could have made.

If you want to see the “overweight” kids stuff their faces, come down to Valley Bowl and see that we don’t eat after every frame. Sure there might be a couple kids eating some eggs and toast but that is because we have to be up at 7 a.m. to bowl and some of us don’t get breakfast.

It is not fair to judge bowlers on your friend from high school. James Ecker Spokane

Criticism was unfair, inappropriate

Let’s see if I have this right.

Bowlers are overweight underachievers with an appetite disproportionate to their activity levels, while golfers are svelte, contribute beyond expectations to society as a whole and are on a par with other true athletes.

No wonder the author boldly states “… I don’t want to see bowlers with letter jackets, newspaper coverage, records and awards.”

Yellow journalism may be a protected right under the law, but I would think that a newspaper that professes to adhere to a modicum of truth and professionalism would fail to publish an obviously slanderous attack on any person, group or sport.

Where is responsible journalism demonstrated in the article you published? You published a picture of a young lady (Erin Boughter) intended to represent, or lend a “live” view of, a segment of our society which is litigating for recognition.

That you saw fit to place her picture over the diatribe by your staff writer Chris Derrick, paints her with his brush. She’s obviously a fat overeater without redeeming social qualities other than the desire to be viewed in the same light as her peers. Isn’t she the presumptuous one.

I have been coaching YABA bowlers for four years now. Erin has been bowling for years before I met her and she is a highly skilled individual in her chosen sport. She is a pleasant person and works often with young children; coaching them. That your writer could be allowed to impugn her reputation, and that of the other high school bowlers in such a disparaging manner and not be rebuked by his editors is beyond comprehension.

I would encourage The Spokesman-Review to assuage the damage done by this overt attack by a sophomoric journalist by recanting the article, or at the least, publishing a disclaimer of agreement with what he has written. We have enough hatred in the Inland Northwest in groups which feel free to espouse their jaundiced views to the delight of the narrow-minded.

I would sincerely hope that your newspaper is not so starved for fill that you are reduced to publishing such trash. Jon P. Lanam Spokane

Boughter’s the best

Chris Derrick’s article on high school bowling was nothing more than a personal attack, instead of reporting on a sport and the people who play it.

This rotten job of reporting was only outdone by the editor who put it beside a story about a young, aspiring female bowler.

How dare you put such riffraff anywhere near that picture of Erin. She is a wonderful person and in no way related to any points made by Derrick.

Nice work demoralizing our youth who are trying hard and doing a good job.

Erin is a credit to her sport, a sport that belongs in the GSL. Chris Becker Spokane

Writer’s views out of date

I enjoyed your recent article of bowling becoming a high school lettered sport for girls. The positive, upbeat mood of those with input was very gratifying for all of us involved in working with the program.

Then came staff writer Chris Derrick, with his negative moronic attitude. Chris projected himself as very knowledgeable about the sport and a good bowler, based on his high school experience.

Let’s examine his credibility. High school was over 20 years ago, and I don’t think he uses a computer of 1975 vintage, or his car is a late 1970s model. Things do change. He bowled for three years in an adult mixed league with a high average of 169 in 1985, which was his last year. I would rate him as an average bowler, at best. Does he think being an average bowler and out of the sport for 15 years qualifies him as an expert? I don’t think so.

Let’s visit his charges:

All bowlers are blimps. Bowlers are a cut across the spectrum, just as all sports. Are Charles Barkley, Cortez Kennedy and Babe Ruth all Greek idols? Most consistent money-winners on the professional bowlers tour stay in great physical condition with the same regimen as other good athletes.

Bowlers do not participate in other sports. Wrong. Most bowlers, male and female, play high school sports, from baseball to wrestling.

They all smoke and drink. Junior bowlers cannot use alcohol or tobacco when they are in competition. Centers have different configurations, but to the extent possible, there is neither alcohol nor tobacco consumed within their sight. All spectators adjourn to either the lounge or dining area if they choose to partake.

Having been involved in youth bowling for several years, I am quite proud of the youngsters and adults who spend a lot of volunteer time to enhance the sport. I invite anyone to attend the monthly competition of either the high school league or JBT. You will be quite pleased with the level of competition, sportmanship and demeanor of the spectators.

A couple of other things to consider: What other non-letter sport has the majority of its coaches nationally certified and offers academic scholarships?

I hope that in the future your writers will either be more knowledgeable or do some research on the subject. John S. Pennington Spokane

Bowling’s a healthful activity

District 81’s decision to have bowling in their curriculum will keep our youth off of the street, with a goal, and a personal achievement as well as a team involvement.

Instead of using a team of 11 on a football field and 11 on the bench, a bowling alley usually has a minimum of 24 lanes with five bowlers on each lane for a 2-1/2-hour period of time which is exercising their brain power as to the condition of the lanes and adjusting to them as well as socializing in a competitive atmosphere. A bowling ball can weigh anywhere from 8 to 16 pounds and thus exercises the muscles of the body also.

Derrick’s observation and knowledge of the game was not a broad spectrum of the atmosphere which surrounds a bowling establishment at a league competition. Yes there are parties and open bowling at which time more food and noise is prevalent and not-so-serious bowlers do appear on those occasions.

Our present athletic curriculum caters to the athlete without medical disabilities which prevents an asthmatic, or a skeletally deformed person from competing. Those types of people cannot participate in a contact sport or a running or jumping competition. Bowling is a sport that our youth can have a personal best which also can add to a accumulative score for a team effort. No one sits on the bench without being played.

In our troubled times of attempting to keep our youth busy and keeping them interested in endeavors, which keep them good citizens and doing things that are worth while and off the street and out of trouble, I would think that bowling would involve more students in a clean environment with some fun and competition and a feeling of accomplishment and belonging to an organization. Even Jocks can bowl and feel great about themselves, let alone our not-so-fit youth, whatever reason. Raellen Giffin Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Remarks seem off target

I was most angry at an Associated Press article in Thursday’s sports section about the death of NBA Hornets guard Bobby Phills.

Mr. Phills managed to kill himself instantly as a result of losing control of his Porsche at very high speed.

What made me angry is the response from team management. Team owner George Shinn said, “This is the ultimate tragedy, and our thoughts are with his wife Kendall, children and family.”

Tragedy for the family, true. But what about a thought or two about the innocent people this moron thoughtlessly tried to slaughter?

And we wonder why professional athletes act like they do. Fritz Howard LaCrosse, Wash.

What a grand rivalry

Fight for the Fish - rival basketball teams from Lake City and Coeur d’ Alene High Schools - was a masterpiece of sporting event and human rights blend.

I appreciated each school’s efforts, on the part of the administration and students, to bring together a wonderful combination of sporting competition and tribute to Martin Luther King and the human rights movement.

In our community and world of continued division on many levels, it is a pleasure to witness our children, parents, grandparents and friends unite through activities like these. Isn’t this where change should take place, through our children, linking their paper chains, their minds and their hearts toward the common good of all?

Thank you Lake City and Coeur d’ Alene High Schools for your grand efforts and inspiration. Pamela Schilling Coeur d’Alene