Saturday Simon Sez

One feature of BOWLING HOOD will be notes on Saturday on items that didn't make the week's news, plus commentary from yours truly.

Well, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley threw a great curve ball Friday by approving the no smoking proposal for voters despite his claim this summer it's unfair to the county if surrounding jurisdictions will continue to allow smoking.

So here's the political skinny why he changed his tune. It's a win-win for him. If voters approve no smoking, he can say, I let the voters have their say. If it's defeated, he can say, see, I told you so!
For those keeping score, yes, Mr. Dooley is up for re-election next year. Now are you surprised at his about-face?

Bill Hannegan makes a very interesting point that some businesses that already have banned smoking will lose business. In his blog, Keep St. Louis Free, he writes that if smoking is banned for restaurant and bar competitors, their customers have another choice to spend their money. 

Bill is a very sharp person. He's the grandson of Postmaster General Robert Hannegan, who served in that role during President Truman's administration. Astute minds will remember Robert Hannegan was actually referenced in the Miracle on 34th Street.

BOWLING HOOD has a critic. That’s fine. I was a media critic for the Suburban Journals from 1987-89. I know who he is but won't disclose his name. He wonders why Pete Weber is germane to the Summer Madness prize fund story. Well, he bowled in the league. He and his teammates are affected. He's one of the five biggest names today in the game. When he shows up, where he's at is under the microscope. You'd think league officers would realize that. Duh! Yep, all league bowlers were affected. And I'm on their side to get their money. But Pete's a name. Why do you think is E!, TMZ, etc. are watched? Yes Don Griffin, you are right. Big names sell. Late KMOX VP/GM Bob Hyland preached that everyday. No wonder the station had the highest audience share of any major/large market station during his tenure. 

On the subject of prize funds, checks for the USBC tournament have been mailed. 

BOWLING HOOD promises to publish more USBC news that affects you. The latest is the new ball specifications that go into affect next summer. What you have in your bag on the day the new rule goes into effect will be ok. But no ball lasts forever. So study the new specs and if you don't know what an RG (radius of gyration) is or dynamics of ball surface and how they affect your ball motion, ask your pro shop or a certified USBC instructor.

I'm curious - is anyone following the PBA tournaments in Detroit that won't be televised for a couple of months? I have not. I guess I like the suspense. You can follow what’s going on at www.pba.com and their video streaming Xtra Frame. 

Does anyone have any information how Hall of Fame bowling writer John Archibald is doing? The retired St. Louis Post Dispatch bowling writer was felled by a stroke in February. He was my team captain in the Press Radio TV league at Olivette Lanes. I enjoyed bowling with him and hearing bowling and journalism stories. His work was always featured monthly in The Bowling News and was a must-read.

Congratulations to Randy Rau who finished 13th at the PBA Senior Dick Weber Open in Lansing, Mi. He’s 43rd on the points list bowling 8 tournaments this year, which is a pretty good accomplishment. He’s ahead of Hall of Famer Dave Soutar who bowled in two more events than Randy. His average during the tour season 209.49,. 47th on the list. 

Wayne Webb leads the Sr. Tour in points and earnings. The great ones always endure. The final Senior event begins tomorrow in Detroit, the Senior World Championship.

Heard that Hazelwood Bowl will be hosting the D’Marco Farr Rams Show on ESPN 101 on Thursday nights at 7 p.m. Let’s see if he promotes bowling on his weekday afternoon show. We know Jerome Bettis would. 

Good news for the Hoinke Tournament. Western Bowl in Cincinnati was purchased by Larry Schmittou of Nashville. Astute minds will remember his name for his ownership of the Triple-A baseball Nashville Sounds. But he also owns 15 bowling centers. 

Remember the days of RedBird Lanes in south St. Louis, owned by Musial and Garagiola? Those two don’t speak anymore after Joe sued Stan in the late 1980’s regarding the operation of the center. There’s some drama that just isn’t right.

Today starts National Bowling Week. Next Saturday is National Bowling Day. BPAA centers that day will let you bowl your first game for free. The goal is to set a world record for most games bowled in one day. That number is 548,721. Now you know why ESPN has dozens of stat keepers. Trivia is everything.

Got some bowling news for the HOOD? Send it in. We’ve reached 2,000 hits our first month. My thanks to you for reading.