Bowling: Up the Wrong Alley

I just read an article online that made me as mad as Bill Clinton after an Obamaite critiques one of Hil's pantsuits. OK, this is not on the order of the Pakastani elections, or even our elections, but I'm telling you, it just ain't right.

The article says the United States Bowling Congress, the preeminent ruling authority for the noble sport of bowling, is planning to move their headquarters out of Milwaukee. Now, I have never actually been to Milwaukee, but to my thinking, and from what I know, it is the perfect home for any U.S. Bowling Congress. The beer, the blue collar aura; it's just a perfect fit, just as you'd expect a U.S. Hacky-Sack Congress to be in, say, Venice, California.

That's not the worst of it. The U.S. Bowling Congress plans to move to Arlington, Texas. Yes, I said Texas. Home of longhorn cattle, Chevy Suburban driving weekend cowpokes, barbecues, line dancing... Not the rust belt, indoorsy, smoke filled pastiche that is keggling!

I would imagine some Lone Star legislative hotshot promised some tax incentives, maybe free or reduced office space, and probably a mandatory bowling curriculum in all Texas K-12 classrooms. Any way you slice it, though, it makes about as much cultural sense as putting a salt water fishing hall of fame in Kansas City. A Cowboy Hall of Fame in Boston. You get my point.

For years I've lamented the loss of the concept of the true sports team, as in a bunch of guys and/or women who play together, year in/year out, and gel as a synergistic unit. Hasn't been such a thing in pro sports for decades. It's all Jerry McGuired now, and the only loyalty left is to the almighty sawbuck.

Now it's a new era. Not just teams, but entire sports can be bought, coerced, and cajoled into moving from one region to another. Who knows; we may wake up one morning to find the NFL has moved to Singapore. Think about that.