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Comment by nilkn | Hacker News Reader

I think part of the problem is that even if bowling is quite difficult it doesn't appear to be so. Even if the athletes are in great shape, you can't really tell at all. The great feat of a perfect 300 in bowling is accomplished regularly.

The only things that really seem to distinguish a great bowler are his/her speed and accuracy. That's basically it. There's no Michael Jordan running on thin air with his tongue out. There's no massive 7' Shaq shattering glass with the force of his dunks. There's no Peyton Manning watching over his team, radiating some austere strategic wisdom (barring this last Super Bowl...).

Frankly, I'd (very seriously) rather watch professional juggling than bowling.

Finally, the overall style of bowling as a sport is decidedly 1970s midwest America. The US is undergoing probably an unprecedented urban trend right now. As profoundly shallow as it might be, bowling is just not sexy at all.

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>Finally, the overall style of bowling as a sport is decidedly 1970s midwest America. The US is undergoing probably an unprecedented urban trend right now. As profoundly shallow as it might be, bowling is just not sexy at all.

I think that's the whole story right there.

It's the oil pattern that makes it difficult. Spectators can't see it, and thus can't appreciate the adjustments necessary to continue throwing good shots.

They used the blue dyed oil on a televised match a few months ago as an attempt to show it, but I feel that gives the bowlers an unfair advantage.

If there were a way to show the oil moving in real time to both the TV and live audience, I think you could start getting people interested in the game at a high level. Much the same way embedding little cameras in a poker table enabled the audience to see a live poker game unfold.

I'd also like to see the PBA fully embrace video streaming, and no, Xtra Frame doesn't count. I want to be able to watch follow an individual player throughout the 4 days of a typical PBA tournament. I have my favorite bowlers and I want to see their scores in realtime. I want to see how the lanes are changing and how the bowlers are adapting.

I love the sport; I've been bowling since I was very young. But, I too, would rather watch anything other than a PBA telecast.

Maybe they could inject a dye that was not visible to the eye, but that the cameras could pick up, and then overlay it digitally in some way to the tv audience.

I'm thinking along the same lines. I'd really like to find a chemist to work on the project with.

What about dye that is only visible to UV light?

That was my first thought as well.

Barium, like for medical tests. Radioactivity solves everything!

> Frankly, I'd (very seriously) rather watch professional juggling than bowling.

Isn't professional juggling specifically supposed to be entertaining to watch?

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