OLYMPIC STATUS IN THE SLOW LANE

CHUCK PEZZANO
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
02-28-1999
OLYMPIC STATUS IN THE SLOW LANE
By CHUCK PEZZANO
Date: 02-28-1999, Sunday
Section: SPORTS
Edition: All Editions -- Sunday
Column: BOWLING

Bowling long has been seeking recognition as an Olympic medal
sport.

The late Joe Thum -- a New York City bowler, bowling center owner,
and promoter -- regularly took teams to Europe in the Twenties and
Thirties to stage well-publicized matches. Bowling gained a presence
with a major international bowling event in conjunction with the 1936
Berlin Olympics, was granted exhibition sport status in Seoul, South
Korea, and hosted Olympic competitors and officials with a bowling
center and bowling events in Atlanta.

Jerry Koenig, who heads up Team USA bowling and is the current
president of the Federation Internationale Des Quilleurs, bowling's
international organization with 106 member countries at last count, was
getting optimistic.

"We made a personal presentation to the Hellenic Olympic Committee
members, and were well-received, and came away with high hopes that
bowling had a chance as a viable addition to the 2004 Olympics [in
Athens]," Koenig said.

But then came the problems concerning actions of the International
Olympic Committee members in granting the bid for the 2002 Winter Games
to Salt Lake City. The inside feeling is that there will be few major
changes. Whether bowling or any other sport will be added in Greece is
beyond bowling's control.

Koenig has indicated that his strategy will not change and efforts
to gain Olympic medal status will not be relaxed. He continues to attend
all Olympic meetings and other events to solidify bowling's image as a
sport. And he just announced a $1 million dollar prize fund tournament
in a new center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in spring 2000.

"The FIQ made significant progress in 1998," said Koenig. "We have
our best financial stability, gained more international media
recognition, became part of more international all-sports competitions,
and streamlined our technical capability including an Internet
presence."

Bowling is well-positioned to become an Olympic sport, and has all
that is needed for acceptance: numbers, wide interest, solid
organization in every member country, and financial backing. That's no
guarantee of success. Bowling has had all that for half a century.

PIN PATTER -- Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Parker Bohn III were tied
as the leading vote-getters in Bowling Magazine's 43rd annual poll to
select an All-America team. Joining the pair on the first team were Norm
Duke, Tim Criss, and Steve Hoskins.

Second-team honors went to Mike Aulby, Pete Weber, Amleto
Monacelli, Brian Voss, and John Gaines.

Williams became the first player to lead the voting three years in
a row since Earl Anthony starred in 1981-83. He has totally dominated
the pro tour in the Nineties. "In 1986, everything just clicked. In
1993, I hit another plateau and since then I've just been bowling
great," said Williams. He feels that the new bowling balls have helped,
but he also is a student of the game and constantly analyzes lane
conditions. That's not surprising. Williams has a physics degree from
Cal Poly and admits, "I may be a little more analytical than some of the
other guys on the tour."

A senior team also was selected with Gary Dickinson and Pete
Couture leading the way, tied with the most votes. Rounding out the team
were Gene Stus, Mike Durbin, and Dale Eagle.

Eagle, who used to be Dale Glenn, explained how the name change
came:

"We were bowling in a Miami, Florida, center called Bird Bowl.
During the introductions, we decided to add some color to the
proceedings so as names were announced, one bowler did an imitation of
an ostrich, another made believe he was a parrot, and I was an eagle. I
flapped my arms, jumped out of my seat like I was flying, and gave a
screech. I loved it, so that became my identification, and back in 1982
I changed my name to Dale Eagle. I love it and so do the fans."

They're not so-called name schools, but Saginaw Valley State
University in Saginaw, Mich., and Morehead State University in Morehead,
Ky., have been voted the top male and female collegiate bowling teams,
respectively, in the second poll of the season conducted by the Bowling
Writers Association of America.

Central Missouri State and St. John's University were tied for
second in the men's division, followed by Nebraska, Wichita State,
Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology, Michigan State, Arizona State,
Indiana State, and California State-Fullerton. William Paterson was
ranked 17th.

In the women's grouping, Morehead State was followed by California
State-Fullerton, Wichita State, Nebraska, Central Missouri State, West
Texas A&M, Purdue, Arizona State, Indiana State, and Sacred Heart of
Fairfield, Conn.

Keywords: BOWLING

Copyright 1999 Bergen Record Corp. All rights reserved.