Some times at deadline for this column, I wonder what if there is not enough news to include. Other times, there is too much. This is one of those times. A quiz will follow.

     The loud noise heard at this year's Bowl Expo proprietor, pro shop, and coaches annual convention was made by the WIBC announcing it will purchase the in-limbo PWBA tour from John Sommer. The deal becomes official when "The Merger" takes place on January 1st, 2005. One immediate question will be which sponsors will come back and which new ones will be signing on. Oops, that's actually two questions, but nonetheless practical. With the PWBA missing from the sports world for a solid year now, one has to wonder which companies and groups can be sold on this product. ESPN2 television exposure is nice, but as crowded as the sports world is now, one has to wonder if there is enough money to not only start it up, but make it grow into a self-sustaining entity in the coming years. If they make it through the first two years, they will be here to stay. Good luck, ladies.

     As far as "The Merger" goes, it is really about time. The years and manpower of services duplication from Greendale will be at a minimum. Anyone who was an association officer, mixed league secretary or even a mixed league bowler as recent as the late 80's remembers the how full the record-keeping packet was of separate rule books, league sanction application bowler, and even individual bowler game by game logs from either organization. Those league packets I used to hand out in St. Cloud used to be a major league pain to transport from center to center. Of course, the plastic sack was only designed for half the material it was carrying. Yes, we were stuffing 10 pounds of material in a five pound bag. You used to have a separate representative to tour each wing of the Greendale Fortress. Like touring the different sectors of Berlin until the fall of the Berlin Wall, crossing from one to another was at best awkward. These stories have been surprisingly confirmed to me through too many folks to mention.

     So what's with the PBA oil patterns and why are lanes playing so differently this year verses last? I think this was covered earlier this season, but I'll offer another stab. This time last summer, the PBA tweaked Patterns A-E and result is more friction in the midlane. Don't worry if you look at those oil pattern graphs and can't tell which way is up. What they do show is less overall oil between 15 and 30 feet this year verses last. The shape of the pattern is about the same, but with less oil, a thrown ball can hook several feet earlier than before. Increasing speed will help deter this, but oil actually carries down within the pattern creating hang spots or slicker areas which make the ball skid where it is used to hooking. Too much speed can make a ball skid through a breakpoint, causing washouts and 2-10 type splits. Two years ago on the first version of these patterns, the power players had a disadvantage. With more oil in the midlane, they could not even slightly overpower those patterns, a natural effect of that style. With less oil in the midlane, the margin of error on speed is larger for the bigger hook player. These patterns are not designed to be overpowered, however, with the right amount of speed and revolution (touch and feel, too), one just never knows.

     PBA Regional stops years ago used to have a lot of media coverage and local fan support week in and week out. The local paper sent a writer, the local TV station sent a reporter with a camera to interview whichever touring players bowling that stop. Throw in a full house for a pro-am squad or two with most returning amateurs to root us on in qualifying and the Sunday finals and you get the picture of how things were when I started bowling Midwest PBA regionals some 20 years ago. Over the last ten years, those sights gradually disappeared to become a rarity rather than the rule. A couple of weeks ago at a regional in Jonesboro, Arkansas reminded me of those old days. On a muggy summer weekend, they had not one, but two full pro am squads in a 40 lane center. A story appeared in the local paper each tournament day either on the front page of the sports section or the front page of the main section. The TV station had video highlights from all three days, including the lead story on Saturday night. This stop has become so big, even bleachers were brought in for the ever growing legion of fans. And getting around the building during the Pro-Am Friday was very much a challenge. Very friendly, knowledgeable fans followed their favorites from pair to pair while maintaining the utmost in the legendary Southern hospitality. I just haven't seen a reminder of the old days like that in a long time.

     Speaking of the old days, the anniversary of one infamous event was marked recently. The first I heard of this event was at of all places, a PBC week long summer camp in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. This particular event I did not hear about until the morning after when a newspaper got tossed our way at the breakfast table. The accompanying picture was easily worth the thousand words as advertised. The White Sox had to forfeit the second game of a doubleheader because of what? Albums blown up in center field ? What was this event called, Disco what? The title of major league umpire Dave Phillips new book says it all: Fire in Center Field. He was the crew chief in one of the most talked about strange but true events in baseball and music history-Disco Demolition Night. Imagine if Channel 44 had sold VHS copies of the game tape even for charity (Remember, VCR's were just a luxury at this point)? All I remember from that summer was thinking about the upcoming senior year of high school while enjoying the entertaining play-by-play of Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall on Channel 44. Think I may have asked for a VCR for my birthday just in case something like that would happen again. We may not be alive long enough to see something that again.