Good morning, it’s Wednesday.
A few years back, our company holiday party took place at one of those recreational centers that offer a variety of indoor entertainment – arcade games, laser tag, Skee-ball, and, of course, bowling.
This might’ve been the last time I bowled, which is a little sad because every time I do it I am reminded of how fun it is. I feel the same way about mini golf, which I just played a few days ago. I am not good at either of these pastimes, mind you. Anything that requires hand-eye coordination is not high on my skills list.
While I do think that bowling requires a degree of capability, I do not consider it a sport in the traditional sense. And apparently, I am not alone in this, because participation in both league bowling and professional bowling has been steadily declining over the years, while recreational players are more or less keeping bowling alive.
Once upon a time, professional bowling was bigger than golf. This, according to a site called BowlingBall.com, which I’m going to assume is a pretty reliable expert source, was back in the 1950s and 1960s, when bowling was one of the nation’s most-watched sports and a professional bowler named Don Carter was the first athlete to sign million-dollar endorsement deal.
The deal, inked in 1964, was with Ebonite International, which makes bowling balls.
Carter was also, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the the first bowler to win every major tournament in his era (the All-Star, World’s Invitational, PBA national championship, and American Bowling Congress Masters tournaments), the first president of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), and the first professional bowler to have a PBA tournament named after him.
Interestingly, bowling is one of the world’s oldest sports, with evidence of some primitive form of the game found in an Egyptian tomb dating back to around 5200 BC. It evolved across various cultures and was brought to the U.S. in the 19th century by immigrants from Germany, the Netherlands, and England.
Early versions of the game used nine pins and were very popular with gamblers – so popular, in fact, that the state of Connecticut banned the game in 1841. Players seeking to get around the ban added an additional pin to their respective alleys, and thus 10-pin bowling was born.
Today, there are different types of bowling, including 10, nine, and five pin, as well as candlepin and duck bowling. (These variations all encompass the indoor type of bowling that involves a wooden lane, but there’s also lawn bowling, which has also been around for centuries, originated in England, I think, and is a different thing altogether).
There are also different kinds of techniques and styles of play, which are delivered into three main categories: Crankers, Strokers, and Tweeners.
So what happened to bowling? According to one site that purports to track trends in the leisure and entertainment sectors, there was a time when league bowling generated about 70 percent of business for bowling centers across the nation, which once numbered about 12,000, but had dropped to under 40 percent by 2007 and was continuing to decline.
There are, as a result of reduced participation, understandably fewer locations where a person can bowl these days. The preponderance of those who DO bowl are kids, and the demographic has shifted from working-class/blue collar to upper-middle and higher-income white collar participants.
Even though league play has declined – perhaps because the 33-to-35-week schedule is more than the average person feels able to commit to in these over-programmed times – some 1.2 million people compete regularly in league play that is certified by the United States Bowling Congress (established in 1895). What’s more, about 67 million people bowl at least once a year for fun/recreational purposes.
Today, inexplicably (at least to me), is U.S. Bowling League Day. It’s pretty clear that the only way to celebrate is, well, to bowl.
More lovely weather – get outside while you still can! – awaits us today, with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the high-70s, low-80s (if we are lucky).
In the headlines…
A federal appeals court blocked President Donald Trump from using an 18th-century wartime law to quickly deport a group of Venezuelans, rejecting the administration’s argument that the migrants were part of an “invasion” of the United States.
The Trump administration said the migrants are members of Tren de Aragua, a violent gang with roots in Venezuela. But a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said in a 2-1 ruling that the Alien Enemies Act did not apply in this case.
The case appears set to return to the Supreme Court, shaping up to be a decisive battle over Trump’s ability to use wartime powers to combat illegal immigration, one of his key domestic policies.
A federal judge’s ruling that Trump has been using troops illegally to perform law enforcement functions in Los Angeles will — if it stands — pose impediments to any plans he may have for sending the military into the streets of other cities, like Chicago.
In the world of presidential health, distrust and speculation run so rampant that even Trump’s online assurance that he was fine after a multiple day absence of public events was immediately explained away as part of a cover-up.
Trump announced yesterday that he would move the U.S. Space Command to Alabama from Colorado, a decision that he said was motivated in part by his grudge against Colorado, a Democratic state he lost in all three of his runs for president.
A federal appeals court yesterday reinstated a Democrat who was fired by Trump from the FTC earlier this year, dealing a blow to his monthslong attempt to permanently remove her from the consumer protection and antitrust enforcement agency.
The House committee investigating Jeffrey Epstein released a batch of files yesterday related to the late convicted sex offender amid pressure for the Trump administration to release more information about his case.
The committee released 33,295 pages of records, which it has referred to as a first batch of documents from the Justice Department. The content was not immediately clear, but many files were already public through court filings and other releases.
“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information. To the American people – don’t let this fool you,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, said.
Vice President Vance and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, will visit Minneapolis today following the shooting last week at Annunciation Catholic School. The couple will pay their respects to victims and “hold a series of private meetings.”
Senate Republicans are zeroing in on a rule change, which would be enacted through the “nuclear option,” that would allow them to expeditiously confirm scores of Trump’s executive branch and judicial nominees.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press.
A federal judge ordered a shake-up of Google’s search engine in a crackdown aimed at curbing the corrosive power of an illegal monopoly while rebuffing the U.S. government’s attempt to break up the company and impose other restraints.
The 226-page decision made by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., will likely ripple across the technological landscape at a time when the industry is being reshaped by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
Mehta said the company must hand over some of its search data to rivals, but did not force other big changes the U.S. wanted.
Alphabet shares rose nearly 6% in premarket trading as investors viewed the result of Google’s antitrust case as broadly favorable to the tech giant.
The race to represent one of New York City’s most coveted congressional districts represented by retiring Manhattan Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler has already begun, though neither Andrew Cuomo nor Scott Stringer is interested in the job.
Nadler is likely to back 43-year-old Assemblymember Micah Lasher — a former aide to the congressman – should he run.
Gustavo Gordillo, a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York chapter, said the 12th District had not been a “high priority” for the organization before Nadler’s announcement. That could change if a candidate with DSA’s “values” emerges.
Over five months after the state prison strike’s conclusion, New York’s prison system is trying to prevent its ongoing crisis from trickling down to the local level.
A fight is brewing over an alleged “No Call” list involving fired correctional officers in New York State, as Rep. Elise Stefanik demanded answers from Gov. Kathy Hochul and DOCCS Commissioner Martuscello.
In a letter sent to Hochul and the US Department of Labor Stefanik alleged that DOCSS violated federal law when it canned striking corrections officers en masse, ensnaring some employees who were on legitimate leave at the time.
Stefanik wants Hochul investigated for a potential violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) in connection with the correction officer strike earlier this year.
Hochul’s smartphone ban in K-12 schools throughout the state goes into effect this week as students return to classrooms.
Hochul announced the allocation of $7.5 million to establish Youth Safe Spaces across New York, aiming to address the growing behavioral health challenges faced by teens and young adults.
Hochul is demanding that the Trump administration uphold permits already granted for off-shore wind projects in New York amid the president’s decision to pull funding for such projects.
A new state law is now in effect requiring schools to be prepared for sudden cardiac arrest in students. School districts across the state must now be in compliance with portions of “Desha’s Law.”
Democratic Socialist of America members — including New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — should leave the Democratic Party and create their own, Rep. Tom Suozzi said.
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, once called for defunding the police and decriminalizing prostitution. He says he has changed.
Jim Walden, independent candidate for New York City mayor, dropped out of the race while calling on other hopefuls to get behind Cuomo, the second-most popular choice in an effort to defeat Mamdani.
“For months I have been steadfast in my view that, unless there is a one-on-one race in November, a Trojan Horse will take control of City Hall. I cannot spend more public money in the futile hope I am the one called to battle,” Walden said.
A spokesperson for Cuomo, Richard Azzopardi, praised Walden for “putting aside ego and ambition,” adding that the decision “underscores the existential threat our city faces in Zohran Mamdani.”
“The math is the math,” Walden told the New York Times. “And it doesn’t make sense for me to continue to push to surge, only to take votes away from another candidate or other candidates who are going to need it.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign, Todd Shapiro, said the mayor had no plans of dropping out and was “focused on the future — delivering results and leading this city forward.”
Mamdani was stood up by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson yesterday, after his campaign jumped the gun in announcing her endorsement.
Mamdani is talking up his relationship with Gov. Hochul, making it clear he has “full confidence” in the NYPD and courting endorsements from the Democratic party’s mainstream leaders.
A multiple shooting in the Bronx and six shootings at the West Indian American Day Parade in Brooklyn put gun violence back at center stage in the race for New York City mayor.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed Mamdani in the race for City Hall — contending his fellow progressive’s “bold, sweeping” agenda will save the Big Apple.
Curtis Sliwa, the colorful creator of New York City’s Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol group, ran for mayor four years ago and lost to Adams by almost 40 percentage points. This time around, the Republican believes the math may be more in his favor.
Elected officials and other Brooklyn leaders are condemning the violence that erupted as the West Indian Day Parade came to a close Monday — and are calling for more gun restrictions to avoid similar incidents at big New York City events.
Major crimes continued to dip in the Big Apple last month, with all-time lows in shootings and gunshot victims — despite a troubling bump in murder and rape.
New York City Council leaders are urging the Board of Elections to reject three housing-related ballot proposals submitted by Adams’ Charter Revision Commission, arguing they’re misleading to voters and undermine one of the Council’s key powers.
More than halfway through the year, the wobbly state of the New York City economy is coming into focus. Only one industry — health care — has been a bright spot in an otherwise sluggish job market, but even it is facing trouble.
Grand Central Madison is getting its first restaurant. Tracks Raw Bar and Grill opened its doors to Long Island Railroad commuters on Monday, marking the first major retail operator in the 150-feet-deep subterranean station.
A federal bill that would ban swimming pools at residential day cares is set to be introduced this week, after a 20-month-old child drowned at a Bronx day care early last month.
A former Rikers Island detainee who briefly escaped from custody on a bus last summer was killed after being run down by a New York City taxi driver, the authorities said.
An off-duty NYPD detective has been charged with menacing and endangering minors after he allegedly pointed a loaded gun at a group of teenagers during a road rage incident in Westchester County last week, authorities said.
Dozens who allege they were sexually abused as children by priests and other employees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany are scheduled to share their stories at a multi-day conference scheduled to begin Sept. 10 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Mayor Kathy Sheehan, elected leaders and members of the Jewish and LGBTQ communities held a news conference yesterday, urging residents to report any antisemitic incidents to city police.
Saratoga Springs storyteller Bryan Browne was ticketed on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and yesterday for violating a new city camping ordinance, which bans sitting and lying down on city sidewalks, parking lots, garages, gazebos and easements.
A woman from Queens was arrested and charged with operating a spa in Hyde Park where illegal massages were allegedly being offered.
In addition to this year’s new clothes and shoes, some students are shopping for a device they can use at school that doesn’t violate the new bell-to-bell cellphone ban.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
