E-dition No. 1,026 • Friday, October 19, 2018
Editor: Bob Johnson (bjibob@aol.com)
Netherlands Brings HyperBowling to Europe
Claus Bowling in the Netherlands city of Hoofddorp has become the first center in Europe to install QubicaAMF’s new HyperBowling experience.
QubicaAMF and Bowltech organized a special unveiling on Sept. 25 that was attended by 250 people representing 52 bowling centers in 14 countries.
HyperBowling is a new bowling-based attraction that blends software, mechanical design, futuristic user interfaces, electronics, lights and sensors to deliver an experience that plays like a physical video game on a bowling lane. LED lighting on the bumpers creates moving targets that players aim to hit (or avoid) before they knock down the pins. High scores are achieved through hitting the right target, and by unlocking a next level players are constantly confronted with new challenges.
QubicaAMF introduced the product to the bowling industry during International Bowl Expo in Las Vegas in June. Following three installations in America, the 20 lanes at Claus Bowling were equipped with the system.
During the Euro Attractions Show at the Amsterdam Convention Center, bowling entrepreneurs from all over Europe got the chance to take a look at the showcase center. After a seminar given by Emanuele Govoni, Chief Executive Officer of QubicaAMF, the guests experienced HyperBowling in two different groups, playing the different games.
Hoofddorp is the principle town in the Haarlemmermeer municipality of North Holland.
4 PBA Telecasts to Offer $1 Million Bonus
At the PBA members’ gathering in Owasso, Okla., PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark announced that PBA players will have four opportunities to bowl for a $1 million bonus if any of them can roll a 300 game in the title match of four PBA tournaments in 2019.
The 300 game bonus will be at stake during FOX Sports’ live telecasts of the PBA Tournament of Champions on FOX on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 5 p.m. Eastern from AMF Riviera Lanes in Akron, Ohio; the PBA Players Championship on FS1 on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. from Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl in Columbus, Ohio; the Go Bowling! Indianapolis Open on FS1 on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m. from Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, and the PBA World Championship on FS1 on Thursday, March 21, at 8 p.m. from Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.
There have been 26 perfect games bowled on national television throughout the PBA’s history, but only two in title matches: the first by Bob Benoit in defeating PBA legend Mark Roth, 300-255, in the title match of the Quaker State Open in Grand Prairie, Texas, in 1988, and the second by PBA Hall of Famer Mike Aulby in the highest-scoring title match in PBA history, topping David Ozio, 300-279, in the finals of the 1993 Wichita (Kan.) Open.
Wall Collapse Forces Closure of New York Center
One of the nation’s oldest bowling centers, Steuben Bowling Academy in Bath, N.Y., has closed its doors, ending an 84-year run.
In late September, during the middle of a league session, the center was forced to close when a wall on the rear side of the building collapsed. The cause of the collapse was still being investigated a few weeks later when the center’s owners decided that it would not be possible to reopen.
“After much consideration and many conversations, we have come to the conclusion that there is no other option than to close the doors permanently and go out of business,” the owners said in a Facebook post. “As much as it saddens us to shut down a business that has been serving this community for 84 years — 22 of those years with us — we are in a catch-22 situation. Without being open, we are not generating the capital needed to pay the bills and effect repairs, and yet safely and legally we cannot be open.”
Bath is located in southwestern New York, and is home to the longest continuously running county fair in the United States, the Steuben County Fair.
Chuck’s Dyckesville Bowl Has Best Cheese Curds
Cheese curds are practically synonymous with Wisconsin, and in anticipation of National Cheese Curd Day on Oct. 15, Green Bay’s Local 5 reporter Justin Razavi, meterologist Anthony Domol, and photojournalist Ryan Kilgren embarked on a road trip to find the best fried cheese curds in northeast Wisconsin.
The trio created an online poll asking Local 5 viewers to name their favorite restaurant for fried cheese curds in the area, and visited three places that garnered the most votes: Chuck’s Dyckesville Bowl, Late’s, and the Milwaukee Burger Company.
The winner: Chuck’s Dyckesville Bowl, a six-lane bowling center, bar and restaurant that’s located about 15 miles north of Green Bay.
What makes the cheese curds there so good? Proprietor Chuck Lackey said it’s the use of fresh cheese and a secret-recipe batter. How does one gain access to that recipe?
“Buy the bowling alley,” Lackey said.
PBA West Region Host Center Working to Stay Open
Another Northern California bowling center is in danger of going out of business, joining Cloverleaf Family Bowl in Fremont in a fight for survival.
Yokayo Bowling Center, a regular stop on the PBA West Region Tour, may have to close its doors at the end of the year if proprietor Mike Scbulz can’t work out a deal to purchase the building that houses it.
“I made an offer to buy the building that was not accepted,” Schutz told the Ukiah Daily Journal.
Erickson Brothers Properties has been fielding offers to lease or sell the building through Coldwell Banker. A representative of Coldwell Banker said that the owners of the building have been accommodating Schutz for years, noting that the rent on an adjacent building is four times higher.
Working against the center is its prime location, with easy access to the 101 Freeway and neighboring a high-volume In-N-Out fast-food restaurant.
Ukiah is located in Mendocino County, north of Sonoma County wine country. The closest center to Yokayo Bowling Center is Windsor Bowling Center, more than 50 miles away.
USBC Releases Open Championships Survey Results
Survey findings from a third-party research firm show that participants at the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships support recent changes to the tournament, including the addition of a third average-based division and withholding publication of lane conditions to improve fairness.
The USBC Open Championships survey was reviewed and analyzed by Victus Advisors. Victus concluded the survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.6 percent.
In 2017, USBC introduced significant changes to the Open Championships designed to improve the experience and competitive environment of the event, including a new division intended to increase peer-to-peer competition. Now that bowlers have experienced the changes for two years, USBC conducted a survey to determine the acceptance and approval of the changes.
Victus found bowlers responded with an overwhelming acceptance and approval of the change in division structure for competitiveness (85 percent) and a strong positive majority (76 percent) about overall changes to the division structure and average requirements.
Sixty-five percent of respondents indicated they agreed with or had no opinion about keeping lane patterns secret until after the conclusion of the event.
The survey also asked bowlers to identify their levels of satisfaction relating to 19 aspects of the 2018 tournament. Victus observed that overall satisfaction with tournament operations was among the best-performing categories in terms of bowler satisfaction, which further indicates there has not been a significant backlash to the operational changes made in 2017 and 2018, USBC said.
Squad-time schedules was among the lowest performing categories, according to the survey.
Registration trends for the 2019 Open Championships in Las Vegas also support these findings. To date, 8,230 teams have registered for the event. If current registration trends continue, 2019 projects to be the largest tournament since 2012.
Full report: http://www.bowlersjournal.com/usbc-publishes-open-championships-survey-findings/.
Business Briefs…
* Grand Station Entertainment in College Station, Texas, will be hosting a fundraiser on Nov. 16 to benefit Habitat for Humanity. It’s called “Bowl to Build,” and the cost is $50 per person or $200 for teams of four. Proceeds will help build homes for families in need in the Brazos Valley.
* Hurricane Michael forced the postponement of the PBA-PBA50 Station 300 Baker Doubles, planned for the Oct. 13-14 weekend in Bluffton, S.C. PBA South Region tournament manager Sam Zurich said he and the tournament host center will explore the possibility of re-scheduling the event for a later date.
* Bob Langley of Bowling Center Insurance has announced the addition of two new team members. Matthew Hernandez resides in Baton Rouge, La., and will be servicing the Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi regions. Laken McClelland resides in San Antonio, Texas, and will be servicing the Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico regions
* Backyard Bowl and Abides Bar & Grill in Milan, Ill., will celebrate its grand re-opening on Saturday. The former Milan Lanes has been transformed from a traditional 32-lane center into a 14-lane boutique with a VIP atmosphere, a gastro pub, a banquet room, an arcade with more than 50 games, a spacious patio, and more. The center is decorated with items based on “The Big Lebowski” movie. The grand re-opening will feature four bounce houses, reduced-cost bowling, live music, glow bowling, chef’s choice food samples and more.
Other News You Can Use…
* Anthony Simonsen won the FloBowling PBA Wolf Open Tuesday to become the fifth two-time winner this season and add his name as a candidate for PBA Player of the Year honors with only three Go Bowling! PBA Tour tournaments left in the season. In the first tournament of the FloBowling PBA Fall Swing, Simonsen, the top qualifier for the finals, beat another two-time winner, Andrew Anderson, 239-226, in the title match at The Lanes at Coffee Creek in Owasso, Okla., to also win his fifth career title.
* The guest this week on Phantom Radio is Sam Villareale, the illustrator of Len Nicholson’s upcoming book on the PBA’s 60 most memorable moments. To listen to the interview, click here: https://www.kegel.net/phantomblog/2018/10/17/sam-villareale-phantom-radio.
* CONTACT: Please send business news, event information, etc. to Bob Johnson at bjibob@aol.com. For breaking business news, visit bcmmag.com or bowlersjournal.com, and “Like” Bowling Center Management and Bowlers Journal International on Facebook. BJI Cyber Reports are now archived at bcmmag.com.
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