I guess I'll say congratulations to Dick Allen for winning the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs title today. I say "I guess," because I'm not Mr. Allen's biggest fan, and after today, I'm even less of one. However, he bowled well to make it into the finals, and he bowled well enough to win today.
But something else happened on the telecast today that I hope never happens again. In fact, if it does, I'll turn off the TV and do something else. People in the stands were blowing vuvuzelas. It sounded like a soccer match instead of a PBA telecast. One reason I don't like soccer is the fans blowing those horns from hell. I detest those horns and could not believe that some lamebrain from the PBA would say, "Hey, I've got a bright idea that will bring more fans to the telecast! We'll hand out vuvuzelas to the fans and let them go hog wild blowing them."
That guy should be fired. Well, maybe not fired, but his or her future 'bright ideas' should be regarded with extreme skepticism unless they're a whole lot brighter than the one that cursed the telecast today and almost sent me reaching for the medicine cabinet for a Bayer aspirin (one of the show's sponsors).
Here are what some commenters on Facebook had to say about those wretched horns on the PBA Facebook page:
"And people wonder why bowling isn't taken seriously..."
"you have got to be kidding me."
"It's gonna be a circus....bad idea...won't even watch it."
"Okay, I'll turn on closed captioning and turn the sound off."
"Terrible idea. But hey, we are just fans, what do we matter, right?"
"Yet another example of how the Industry has been slowly destroying itself for three decades now."
"whoever thought this was a good idea should be canned...immediately"
"Be nice everyone, the pba doesn't take criticism well. And this bad idea is just par for the course for these guys."
"What next? Pro Cosmic Bowling?"
"They were an irritant at the recent World Cup...and now this is in the PBA? What's next...turn down the lights,crank up the music,and make it 9-pin no tap?"
I'll have more to say about today's tournament and maybe a little more to say about the vuvuzelas in my next post, but I had to vent my spleen here and now about this aural outrage.
After reading the results of the Dick Weber finals here and learning that Weiss was eliminated in the first round, I fired up my DVR and watched the show.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Those horns are another dumb idea and at times, very annoying because I couldn't clearly hear the announcers. I don't know what to think. Seems like the PBA is doing anything that hits the suggestion box. The only problem is that the suggestion box is closed to outsiders, meaning the fans, the folks that actually like to watch the tournaments.....
I wasn't really unhappy with Allen's win. He's usually an entertaining guy and good sport. He also can be aggressive, which is what you said you thought might be a good thing. In this case, I don't think it helped or hindered either player.
Regardless, I hated to see Barnes run into problems after he posted that great first match. I, like most everyone I suspect, had expected him to post 2 more scores of 240 or 250 or higher. I was saddened to see him bitten again by bad pin carry.
Kerry
Kerry, I find those horns unbelievably obnoxious, and I think they have absolutely no place in the finals of a televised PBA Tour tournament. Even worse was that they marred the final such tournament of the season. And how right you are that to the degree that the PBA adopts suggestions, it doesn't appear to do it from the fans who ultimately pay its way.
ReplyDeleteAs for Allen, I'll be writing about him in my next blog entry. In short, I don't like the guy's personality or style, but I respect the fact that he can get the job done.
As for being aggressive, I've never said it's a "good thing." I've merely wondered aloud whether it may help some bowlers either by improving their focus and augmenting their power or by distracting their opponents. I agree that it didn't appear to bother Barnes yesterday, and I don't know if it helped Allen perform better or not.
The horns are really strange and annoying.
ReplyDeleteI had some other comments, but you've restricted the comment size field, apparently because I'm too windy. Well, that's okay, but without a counter, it's a pain trying to figure out how many words are left, so I won't bother.
Kerry
Kerry, there was no intentional restriction on my part. I welcome any and all of your comments, as short or long as you wish to make them.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't know what else to tell you. I only know that apparently now there is an undefined restriction on comment length, that wasn't there a week or so ago.
ReplyDeleteWithout the restriction definition, it's very frustrating to try to post multiple, complex ideas and responses, because you have no way of knowing how much you've exceeded the length restrictions.
did you notice those ditzy girls that were standing right behind where the players sat? were they cheerleaders? because there is no way on earth they were fans with good seats. and dick allen.. is this the biggest douchebag on earth? he is the living stereotype that was bill murray's character in kingpin.
ReplyDeleteI certainly noticed the young women. Like you, I'm not sure what their function was, although I presume it was to entice and, if you'll pardon the pun, "titillate" male fans so they'd keep watching.
ReplyDeleteI don't like to call anyone names like "douchebag," but I'll just say I don't care much for the way Allen conducts himself when he bowls and leave it at that.
I've never seen "Kingpin." I hear it's a good, funny movie, but I've always preferred solid dramas and action films to comedies, especially if the latter make fun of a sport or other activity I respect and want to see gain rather than lose the respect of others. But I probably should still watch "Kingpin" one of these days and review it here. Thanks for mentioning it.
Kerry, I don't know why Google would suddenly start restricting comment lengths. I can't imagine that Blogger comments have been so lengthy that they're imposing a real problem for Google's storage capacity. I'm sorry that it's making it difficult for you to comment here. I value your thoughtful comments of all lengths and hope you'll continue gracing this blog with them.
ReplyDeleteIs there a "nasty word" filter on blogger comments? I can recall a British based site that filtered posts for bad words and it would not allow a post to be published, if one of the bad words was in the comment and, like here, it wouldn't tell you the problem. It took me a while to figure out that the word "crap" was very offensive to sensitive Brits.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, I don't have a clue. I appreciate your kind words and enjoy sharing ideas with you and the others. It's just really frustrating to have the comments refused without explanation.
The 3 "cheerleaders" caught me by surprise. It took me a while to figure out that they were part of the show. Jackie Bowling, another PBA "hottie" has often been in the background with another girl or 2, prior to this match. But, they were sitting down and weren't the object of the camera nearly as often. They were just strategically placed in the front row, to be seen right behind one of the bowlers. I'm surprised that Jackie Bowling hasn't replaced Jeff Mark for the Xtra Frame interviews.
Kerry