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© St. Petersburg Times, published May 31, 2002
With all it has on its plate, bowling faces another urgent matter -- opening the door to the Olympic Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) met in April in Lausanne, Switzerland, where IOC president Dr. Jacques Rogge briefed a panel of international officials. Rogge outlined the procedures that will determine if any sports will be added to the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China.
At the meeting was Jerry Koenig, president of the Fidiration Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ), bowling's worldwide governing body.
Koenig recently visited Pinellas County as a guest of Jerry Krauss, owner of three local centers. Koenig said then that he had hopes the IOC "would look kindly" on bowling's longtime quest to gain Olympic recognition.
"President Rogge was candid and helpful," Koenig said after the meeting. "As a fair-minded leader, we would not expect him to show favoritism.
"We are encouraged because President Rogge complimented the FIQ leadership and because we merit favorable consideration based on bowling's significance on the international sport scene," Koenig said.
However, the industry faces the uphill battle it has fought for years. Rogge said no sport will be added to the Olympic schedule unless an existing sport is removed.
"There's a prevailing mood in the new IOC leadership that the Olympic schedule is as large as it should be right now," Koenig said.
"But there is no other impediment to adding new sports that meet basic criteria, such as popularity, worldwide audience interest, marketing potential, gender equality and objectivity, as is clearly the case for bowling."
The IOC program commission will meet in July to review an analysis of bowling and a list of 13 other contending sports.
The review will be based on internal information provided to the commission by the IOC sports department. The commission's findings will be presented to the IOC executive board during its August meeting.
The entire IOC membership will meet Nov. 28-29 in Mexico City to consider recommendations from the executive board and to vote on whether any sport should be removed.
If one is eliminated (based on a two-thirds majority vote), a newcomer from the contending list could be added to the Olympics. There is a slim possibility bowling could be included in the Winter Games, which has a less crowded schedule.
Bowling has visited the Olympics in the past, but only as an exhibition sport. Its latest appearance was the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, where 12 men and 12 women competed. U.S. Olympic Festival competition has been in this country since 1989.
Koenig and Krauss discussed the possibility of bringing several pre-Olympic tournaments to Krauss' 60-lane Seminole center. Krauss also owns Sunshine Bowl and Sunrise Lanes.
ABC CRACKS DOWN: San Francisco's Dennis Yee was disqualified from the ABC Championships Tournament in Billings, Mont., last week for misrepresenting his average.
Two weeks ago, Yee took over the Classified all-Events lead with a 2,032 pinfall. His score was noted with an asterisk for "average under review." Yee had teamed with Joe Hui of San Francisco for the Classified doubles top spot at 1,345. Plus, Yee's squad, Yee Invitational, was the Classified front-runner, 2,952.
ABC officials were suspicious of Yee's credentials since all his scores were listed with asterisks. The performances of Yee's teammates were not affected.
GHC Mechanical Inc., Elk Grove Village, Ill., moved into the Classified team lead with a 2,844 pinfall.
Tom Mangan and Ralph Spencer, Des Plaines, Ill., grabbed the doubles lead (1,266), and Bob Winston, Lexington, N.C., remained atop the singles with a 695 series.
Bruno's Pizza No. 1, Lafayette, Ind., heads the Regular standings with a 3,473. Mark Millsap, Portage, Ind., is the singles front-runner with a 823 series, and Chris Warren and Fred Mattson, Tacoma, Wash., are the doubles leaders (1,534).
Scott Kareis, Red Lion, Pa., turned in the tournament's 52nd 300 performance, breaking the perfect-game mark set in 1993.
HUGHES' 300: Brian Hughes and Brian Halstrom were a strong pair during their high school days, winning singles, doubles and team events in the YABA City Tournament four years ago.
Hughes recently graduated from basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. He found some spare time to return to bowling, but needed his equipment.
"I dragged that ball, his equipment and my luggage through two airports and teased him about when I saw him," said Hughes' mother, Pattie. "He was happy to get his equipment and get back to the game."
Several days later, Hughes rolled a 300 at one of the two centers on base.
"He had taken a full year away from the game to concentrate on his Air Force studies, but I guess he hasn't lost anything," Pattie said.
YOUTH TOUR: The Florida Youth Scratch Bowlers Tour Scholarship Tournament is scheduled for June 8-9 at AMF Lakeland Lanes.
The registration fees are $45 pre-entry and $50 for walk-ins. The event's opening day will consist of 10 games, with the top 12 in each division qualifying for Sunday's 12-game round-robin finals. For information, call Patti Held, (863) 646-5791.
REPORTING RESULTS: Summer league scores will be accepted for this column by e-mail, xerxes8@msn.com; or fax, (727) 392-3481.