Who am I and Why do I do Bowling Hood??

Ok, I promised you a story on the St. Louis County no smoking bill vote last night but the end result was so uneventful, I went home and to bed. I go to work at 4 a.m.

Yeah, I'll get to what happened last night later today and there will be video. Bonus video of Hall of Famer Ray Bluth included, you'll want to hear what he had to say.

So why do I do this blog Bowling Hood? Because I love to write. I love to communicate. And I did it all professionally. Newspaper, radio, television, public relations and marketing. There are very few people who've worked full time jobs in all those fields. Some people you see on the tube, hear on the radio or read in the newspaper can only specialize in one thing. I specialize in all of them.

And I was pretty good at it. Won a sportscaster of the year award when I was 23. Won a statewide newscaster, sportscaster and news reporter of the year three years later. All in the same year. No one's ever done that in Illinois history. My proudest award was a 1999 Edward R. Murrow for reporting. I loved reporting. I didn't love being an anchor. I loved being away from the desk. My former boss Dale Forbis in KC told me my work was always better when I didn't set foot in the office. Me, I just think they didn't want my acerbic smart ass attitude to poison the view of life for my collegues.

I didn't always work as a reporter. I took some time off and was a marketing guy for a track in Paducah. Yeah, they have one, small but fun. As soon as I got there, that's when I found out they were broke. Bankrupt. That was the good challenge. Eventually I worked out a deal with the casino across the river for transportation. They'd send us their players, we'd send them ours. We did a few other things. It worked. We got out of bankruptcy. As soon as we did that, it caught the eye of a very famous TV guy who liked it so much he bought us. You may have heard of Merv Griffin. If you're too young and don't know anything about, just remember his name when you watch Wheel of Fortune. He invented it.

I always tried to fly under the radar when I worked, letting my job do my talking. And that's why I don't work in the biz anymore. I was taught by the journalism gods you are NOT the story. Unfortunately, this is the 21st century, and it's now it's all me me me me me me me. And that's why for the most part, what you see, hear and read just plain sucks.

That's why this Internet blogger thingy is great. I can transform myself to what most people want today. Information that's accurate, credible, with an edge and personality. I don't have a boss, I'm my own boss. There are too many rules, regs and agendas in everyday life - PERIOD. And in TV news and the newspaper, those things are killing their business.

If you like what I do, great, if you don't, I don't really care. I got a letter yesterday basically saying if that was my opinion then what I wrote was of non-interest to him. Well boo-friggin-hoo. This person thinks they're one of the most important people in bowling when the truth is that you can count on your fingers and toes the number of average Joe Bowlers who know he has anything to do with bowling. I've seen his work. I'm not impressed.

On the other side, I got a letter from someone I have very high regard. I haven't seen for a while, he's on the road and said he's looking forward to my next article. It works both ways. There was a time I wanted to please everybody. Now I don't care. Hell, there are days I can't even please myself. That makes me human. At least for today. Check with me tomorrow, my answer might be different.

OK, so now your saying God, when does this article end? Hey, I type fast; as soon as it's out of my head its in my fingers. I can still do 60 words a minute.

I decided a earlier this year to write more and bowl less. I write better than I bowl. I've hit the glass ceiling in terms of talent. I won't get any better than I am now unless God or John Jowdy decide to give me lessons. Some people said I should write more. They said I'm a smart guy. That's nice, but I know quite a few people who are Really Smart Guys and Gals. They're my inspiration - what they can't communicate, I'll do for them.

The one reason I'm doing this is to get people off their asses and make a difference. The no smoking meeting at the St. Louis County Council had no average bowlers speaking their mind. All the non-smokers do is bitch about the smoke and the smokers all cry foul after the law is passed. Neither side wants to get involved in the process. That's why I side with proprietors. The guys and gals caught in the middle. The proprietors ought to carry a bat because there are quite a few moonbats out there. When someone bitches about something now, I usually tell 'em go away because they didn't say anything to someone who can do something about it, or they do nothing when there's a process for them to participate.

Hey lazy butts - look at the health care protests. Don't think people make a difference anymore? Crawl out from under the rock, there's life out there. You may have seen it on TV.

Actually, this thing started two years ago. I heard the Bowling Hall of Fame might be moving. Randy Lightfoot and I had the idea to erect a Dick Weber statue at the HOF. I really thought we could get this done and make a big difference. We contacted everyone and everybody who should be interested in the project.

The response we got was deafening.....silence. Letters and calls to city leaders went unanswered. Letters to the sports commission were returned...but never followed up after first contact. State representatives and senators, no reply. Anheuser Busch turned us down for seed money - Dick was an Anheuser Busch employee when making his fame in bowling for Christ's sake! Even AMF, where Dick was on staff for 48 friggin' years turned us down for money.

So when the Hall of Fame moved, I didn't care. It's a good excuse for me to travel to Dallas/Fort Worth where I was born and visit. I'm taking Jeff Boje's offer for a tour.

Hey, my bowling activism has worked in the past. Was on the Kansas City sports commission team that landed the PBA tour stop there in 2002-03. My old friend Roger Twibell from ESPN was on the commission, contacted me to intercede to get two sides together because they wanted a national stop in town, I put 2+2 together and in one week, we had a tournament for two years. Patrick Healey won the first event we put on. Shows that anyone can shine when they put their mind and talent to work.

So you proprietors, when I write something about the marketing of bowling, read carefully. I've been there and done that. In a big way.And some think I'm a way better marketer than a writer. Hey, you've got to be able to communicate to market so they work hand-in-hand. I've got an event in my back pocket that will gross you $6,000 in a day and get you $10,000 in free advertising you never could do on your own. Don't believe me? Try me.

You naysayers who think bowling is dead, it's you who are dead. Dead to thought, dead to ideas, dead to participation, dead to progress. I'm nowhere near death so I participate. You should too.

Enough already! That's it. That's one reason I like this blog thingy. I don't have an editor saying TOO LONG. Besides my writing and thoughts are better than most reality TV because there's a purpose what I put down in words.

Forward this to your friends. Tell 'em reading BOWLING HOOD is better than Internet porn. Because we'll save electrons by not using up a lot of bandwidth.

And in the meantime, we'll have fun with what's important in bowling. I dedicate this column to John Archibald, my Post Dispatch teammate in the Press Radio TV League at Olivette Lanes, and the former longtime bowling writer at the paper. He is cranky and irascible. My kind of guy.

Scott Simon
Bowling Hood