Well bowlers here we are completing the first week for some leagues while others are into week 2 or 3 of league competition.  Looking around the centers at the various leagues you will notice that not all the teams are full and that the leagues do not have as many teams as last year. 

There are many factors that are contributing to leagues and teams not being full - the cost of gas, the cost of league fees (due to the increase, again), the increase in the cost of food at the snack bar and lack of interest in the sport of bowling. 

So if you did not make the organizational meeting or even the first week of bowling it is not to late.  Stop by any of the centers and check out what is available and get on a team.  There is still fun in bowling, even though in the near future there may not be as much bowling as they will price themselves out of the market.  There will be die hards who will bowl no matter what the cost but overall there will be a decrease in the numbers of bowling.

Another contributing factor is USBC and their continuation of decreasing the type of recognition they offer to the "certified" bowler for their fee.  Not sure where USBC is going but I will be watching and making inquires so that I can stay informed in order to answer questions at the local level.  Next year's national convention will be interesting as they also keep moving this event around - first year in April, last year in March and next year in May.  Are they trying to discourage the delegates from attending so that the fewer there are that do attend the easier it will be to get what they want?  Please feel free to contact USBC with your questions, comments or suggestions.  Not sure what type of response you may get but if more individual bowlers question their decisions maybe they will begin to listen to the average bowler.

On the local level our high scores for the week are:

Womens High Game	Womens High Series
Freida Gates 261	Crystal Blanton 690
Bette Holloway 246	Freida Gates 683
Crystal Blanton 242	Debbie Whitten 653
Sabrina McFarland 230	Sabrina McFarland 604
Debbie Whitten 227	Bette Holloway 601
Lora Howard 225	Lora Howard 600
Jessica Rugg 221	Melissa Bonnell 599
Marlayne King 221	Dianne Westberry 594
Angela Jacobs 200	Jessica Rugg 572
Melissa Bonnell 216	Kutrenia Brown 571

Mens High Game	Mens High Series
Tyson Kurth 279	Tyson Kurth 801
Ed Robinson 277	Mark Schoppe 725
Billy Prewitt 270	Jim Leeson 719
Ron Schraven 269	Mike Thompson 716
Stephen Rhodes 268	Gary Kautz 707
Vic D'Ambrosio 266	Gerry Cairns 704
Mark Schoppe 266	Ron Schraven 697
Eugene Bond 259	Willie Tyler 688
Justin Blanton 258	Eugene Bond 688
John Elwell 257	Stephen Rhodes 681

Secretaries please do not forget to turn in your high scores for your leagues.  Make sure your bowlers get the recognition they desire for achieving the goals they have reached.

Also don't forget to turn in results from all tournaments where you "cash" so that we can share the information with all of Ocala.

Till next week.