AlwaysWrite
Addicted Member
[EDITOR'S NOTE: There are many reasons for bowling's decline, but one reason seldom considered may be a real factor in the eventual demise of bowling's status as we've known it.]
Today's youth generally don't have attention spans that extend as long as 15 minutes, and that may seriously impact sports such as bowling and baseball -- perhaps to the eventual point of virtual extinction.
Children in America play video games and concentrate on their cellphones now, and they're not nearly as inclined to go bowling or to a baseball game as youth in days gone by.
They have no attention spans. Bowling is simply no longer in the vernacular of kids, whose voices dictate where parents take them for entertainment, and therefore in part, where a family will tend to spend its disposable income.
In the modern era, anything that the bowling industry may try to appeal to kids is likely destined for failure. The time it takes for a league bowling session or a baseball game lasts two or more hours, and such time spans don't cater to holding the attention of youngsters.
A half-century ago, both bowling and baseball were among the primary sources of entertainment for American youth, but such times are long past. Both sports may eventually need to consider their respective mortalities, when the current generation of bowling and baseball fans -- those of senior citizen age and up, primarily -- dies off, and when that happens, sports such as bowling and baseball will have trouble surviving.
There simply won't be enough kids who grow up with passion for those sports to take the place of the old-timers. Those sports, and others, have done little to take kids away from their cellphones and video games.
Think about it. Not long ago, one of the most-historic events in sports history -- Game 7 of the World Series, won by the Chicago Cubs -- took place, and the game lasted well past midnight on a school night. How many kids actually saw the finish of that game, or any part of it, for that matter?
What will baseball and bowling look like in a few decades? Will there even be baseball or bowling at a future point in time? Sadly, the time will come when both will be gone, for all intents and purposes. And if you don't believe it, how do such things as youth bowling leagues and sandlot baseball participation compare to just a few decades ago?
Today's youth generally don't have attention spans that extend as long as 15 minutes, and that may seriously impact sports such as bowling and baseball -- perhaps to the eventual point of virtual extinction.
Children in America play video games and concentrate on their cellphones now, and they're not nearly as inclined to go bowling or to a baseball game as youth in days gone by.
They have no attention spans. Bowling is simply no longer in the vernacular of kids, whose voices dictate where parents take them for entertainment, and therefore in part, where a family will tend to spend its disposable income.
In the modern era, anything that the bowling industry may try to appeal to kids is likely destined for failure. The time it takes for a league bowling session or a baseball game lasts two or more hours, and such time spans don't cater to holding the attention of youngsters.
A half-century ago, both bowling and baseball were among the primary sources of entertainment for American youth, but such times are long past. Both sports may eventually need to consider their respective mortalities, when the current generation of bowling and baseball fans -- those of senior citizen age and up, primarily -- dies off, and when that happens, sports such as bowling and baseball will have trouble surviving.
There simply won't be enough kids who grow up with passion for those sports to take the place of the old-timers. Those sports, and others, have done little to take kids away from their cellphones and video games.
Think about it. Not long ago, one of the most-historic events in sports history -- Game 7 of the World Series, won by the Chicago Cubs -- took place, and the game lasted well past midnight on a school night. How many kids actually saw the finish of that game, or any part of it, for that matter?
What will baseball and bowling look like in a few decades? Will there even be baseball or bowling at a future point in time? Sadly, the time will come when both will be gone, for all intents and purposes. And if you don't believe it, how do such things as youth bowling leagues and sandlot baseball participation compare to just a few decades ago?