Aches and pains and the PBA Seniors Tour go hand-in-hand, so Tour standout Bob Glass must be in peak form.
“I’ve had a sinus infection since February, my knees hurt and my back hurts,” Glass said. “I’m doing well.”
Glass, a 54-year-old Lawrence resident, will begin the nine-tournament PBA Seniors Tour grind on Saturday at the Chillicothe, Ohio, Open. Glass has been king of the mountain the Senior Tour Player of the Year for the last two years so the pressure is on to roll a Tour turkey.
“Actually, the pressure is to pay the bills,” Glass said. “They’ve cut the tournaments back. There were 14 last year. And none of them will be on television this year. That means there are no incentives for ball manufacturers. It’ll be a curious situation.”
Glass cited Track, the company that supplies him with bowling balls.
“They don’t give me near as many balls as they used to,” he said. “They almost went belly-up. Some others did go belly-up. Now there are only five ball manufacturers left.”
Bowling, Glass says, is in a slump. He should know. He owns graduate degrees in economics and still does contract work as an economist.
“Bowling centers are closing around the country,” he said. “There just isn’t a lot of money in the industry right now.”
Not too long ago, Glass crunched numbers on youth bowling in Kansas.
“I found it has declined less than the national average,” he said, “but youth bowling in Kansas has still declined 50 percent in the last 10 years. That’s mainly because kids have so many other things to do now.”
At the same time, the 18-to-34 age group targeted by television advertisers customarily avoids watching the regular PBA Tour and especially the Senior Tour.
“It’s frustrating because bowling has always had good ratings on television,” Glass pointed out. “Demographics killed it. Bowling was watched by the same people who watch baseball. That’s the older people. TV tries to attract the 18-34 group, and bowling is a tough sell.”
Glass earned $78,900 on the Senior Tour last year, yet a large chunk of that money went for expenses motels, gasoline and meals, not to mention wear and tear on his automobile.
After the Chillicothe Open, Glass will make a relatively short drive to the Pennsylvania Open the following week. Then it will be on to Detroit the week after that. Following a two-week break, the Senior Tour will resume in Tucson, Ariz. Then in successive weeks, Glass will be bowling in Las Vegas; Brentwood, Calif.; Klamath Falls, Ore.; and Beaverton, Ore. The Tour will conclude in late August at the Senior Jackson Open in Michigan.
Glass can slap liniment on his aching back, strap braces on his sore knees and pop antibiotics for his sinus infection. What he can’t do, he discovered, is change his mechanics and maintain the same level of skill.
“My knuckles were swollen and I had to alter my game,” he said. “I’ve changed my grip to take the pressure off my fingers. I think it’s going to be good, but I haven’t seen any evidence yet. I haven’t been bowling that well. I’ve been in a slump.”
So it remains to be seen if Glass will be able to maintain his domination of the Senior Tour.
In 2001, Glass led the seniors in nearly every statistical category, including wins, earnings, championship round appearances, match play appearances, points and average.
Glass received 94 percent of the first-place votes for player of the year. Balloting was open to the entire PBA membership. Glass is only the third man to win multiple PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year honors since the award’s inception in 1989.
In addition, Glass has had the highest senior average for the last three years. In 2001, his average was 223.19 over 13 tournaments and 561 games most on the senior circuit.
Aches and pains and the PBA Seniors Tour go hand-in-hand, so Tour standout Bob Glass must be in peak form.
“I’ve had a sinus infection since February, my knees hurt and my back hurts,” Glass said. “I’m doing well.”
Glass, a 54-year-old Lawrence resident, will begin the nine-tournament PBA Seniors Tour grind on Saturday at the Chillicothe, Ohio, Open. Glass has been king of the mountain the Senior Tour Player of the Year for the last two years so the pressure is on to roll a Tour turkey.
“Actually, the pressure is to pay the bills,” Glass said. “They’ve cut the tournaments back. There were 14 last year. And none of them will be on television this year. That means there are no incentives for ball manufacturers. It’ll be a curious situation.”
Glass cited Track, the company that supplies him with bowling balls.
“They don’t give me near as many balls as they used to,” he said. “They almost went belly-up. Some others did go belly-up. Now there are only five ball manufacturers left.”
Bowling, Glass says, is in a slump. He should know. He owns graduate degrees in economics and still does contract work as an economist.
“Bowling centers are closing around the country,” he said. “There just isn’t a lot of money in the industry right now.”
Not too long ago, Glass crunched numbers on youth bowling in Kansas.
“I found it has declined less than the national average,” he said, “but youth bowling in Kansas has still declined 50 percent in the last 10 years. That’s mainly because kids have so many other things to do now.”
At the same time, the 18-to-34 age group targeted by television advertisers customarily avoids watching the regular PBA Tour and especially the Senior Tour.
“It’s frustrating because bowling has always had good ratings on television,” Glass pointed out. “Demographics killed it. Bowling was watched by the same people who watch baseball. That’s the older people. TV tries to attract the 18-34 group, and bowling is a tough sell.”
Glass earned $78,900 on the Senior Tour last year, yet a large chunk of that money went for expenses motels, gasoline and meals, not to mention wear and tear on his automobile.
After the Chillicothe Open, Glass will make a relatively short drive to the Pennsylvania Open the following week. Then it will be on to Detroit the week after that. Following a two-week break, the Senior Tour will resume in Tucson, Ariz. Then in successive weeks, Glass will be bowling in Las Vegas; Brentwood, Calif.; Klamath Falls, Ore.; and Beaverton, Ore. The Tour will conclude in late August at the Senior Jackson Open in Michigan.
Glass can slap liniment on his aching back, strap braces on his sore knees and pop antibiotics for his sinus infection. What he can’t do, he discovered, is change his mechanics and maintain the same level of skill.
“My knuckles were swollen and I had to alter my game,” he said. “I’ve changed my grip to take the pressure off my fingers. I think it’s going to be good, but I haven’t seen any evidence yet. I haven’t been bowling that well. I’ve been in a slump.”
So it remains to be seen if Glass will be able to maintain his domination of the Senior Tour.
In 2001, Glass led the seniors in nearly every statistical category, including wins, earnings, championship round appearances, match play appearances, points and average.
Glass received 94 percent of the first-place votes for player of the year. Balloting was open to the entire PBA membership. Glass is only the third man to win multiple PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year honors since the award’s inception in 1989.
In addition, Glass has had the highest senior average for the last three years. In 2001, his average was 223.19 over 13 tournaments and 561 games most on the senior circuit.
Aches and pains and the PBA Seniors Tour go hand-in-hand, so Tour standout Bob Glass must be in peak form.
“I’ve had a sinus infection since February, my knees hurt and my back hurts,” Glass said. “I’m doing well.”
Glass, a 54-year-old Lawrence resident, will begin the nine-tournament PBA Seniors Tour grind on Saturday at the Chillicothe, Ohio, Open. Glass has been king of the mountain the Senior Tour Player of the Year for the last two years so the pressure is on to roll a Tour turkey.
“Actually, the pressure is to pay the bills,” Glass said. “They’ve cut the tournaments back. There were 14 last year. And none of them will be on television this year. That means there are no incentives for ball manufacturers. It’ll be a curious situation.”
Glass cited Track, the company that supplies him with bowling balls.
“They don’t give me near as many balls as they used to,” he said. “They almost went belly-up. Some others did go belly-up. Now there are only five ball manufacturers left.”
Bowling, Glass says, is in a slump. He should know. He owns graduate degrees in economics and still does contract work as an economist.
“Bowling centers are closing around the country,” he said. “There just isn’t a lot of money in the industry right now.”
Not too long ago, Glass crunched numbers on youth bowling in Kansas.
“I found it has declined less than the national average,” he said, “but youth bowling in Kansas has still declined 50 percent in the last 10 years. That’s mainly because kids have so many other things to do now.”
At the same time, the 18-to-34 age group targeted by television advertisers customarily avoids watching the regular PBA Tour and especially the Senior Tour.
“It’s frustrating because bowling has always had good ratings on television,” Glass pointed out. “Demographics killed it. Bowling was watched by the same people who watch baseball. That’s the older people. TV tries to attract the 18-34 group, and bowling is a tough sell.”
Glass earned $78,900 on the Senior Tour last year, yet a large chunk of that money went for expenses motels, gasoline and meals, not to mention wear and tear on his automobile.
After the Chillicothe Open, Glass will make a relatively short drive to the Pennsylvania Open the following week. Then it will be on to Detroit the week after that. Following a two-week break, the Senior Tour will resume in Tucson, Ariz. Then in successive weeks, Glass will be bowling in Las Vegas; Brentwood, Calif.; Klamath Falls, Ore.; and Beaverton, Ore. The Tour will conclude in late August at the Senior Jackson Open in Michigan.
Glass can slap liniment on his aching back, strap braces on his sore knees and pop antibiotics for his sinus infection. What he can’t do, he discovered, is change his mechanics and maintain the same level of skill.
“My knuckles were swollen and I had to alter my game,” he said. “I’ve changed my grip to take the pressure off my fingers. I think it’s going to be good, but I haven’t seen any evidence yet. I haven’t been bowling that well. I’ve been in a slump.”
So it remains to be seen if Glass will be able to maintain his domination of the Senior Tour.
In 2001, Glass led the seniors in nearly every statistical category, including wins, earnings, championship round appearances, match play appearances, points and average.
Glass received 94 percent of the first-place votes for player of the year. Balloting was open to the entire PBA membership. Glass is only the third man to win multiple PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year honors since the award’s inception in 1989.
In addition, Glass has had the highest senior average for the last three years. In 2001, his average was 223.19 over 13 tournaments and 561 games most on the senior circuit.
Aches and pains and the PBA Seniors Tour go hand-in-hand, so Tour standout Bob Glass must be in peak form.
“I’ve had a sinus infection since February, my knees hurt and my back hurts,” Glass said. “I’m doing well.”
Glass, a 54-year-old Lawrence resident, will begin the nine-tournament PBA Seniors Tour grind on Saturday at the Chillicothe, Ohio, Open. Glass has been king of the mountain the Senior Tour Player of the Year for the last two years so the pressure is on to roll a Tour turkey.
“Actually, the pressure is to pay the bills,” Glass said. “They’ve cut the tournaments back. There were 14 last year. And none of them will be on television this year. That means there are no incentives for ball manufacturers. It’ll be a curious situation.”
Glass cited Track, the company that supplies him with bowling balls.
“They don’t give me near as many balls as they used to,” he said. “They almost went belly-up. Some others did go belly-up. Now there are only five ball manufacturers left.”
Bowling, Glass says, is in a slump. He should know. He owns graduate degrees in economics and still does contract work as an economist.
“Bowling centers are closing around the country,” he said. “There just isn’t a lot of money in the industry right now.”
Not too long ago, Glass crunched numbers on youth bowling in Kansas.
“I found it has declined less than the national average,” he said, “but youth bowling in Kansas has still declined 50 percent in the last 10 years. That’s mainly because kids have so many other things to do now.”
At the same time, the 18-to-34 age group targeted by television advertisers customarily avoids watching the regular PBA Tour and especially the Senior Tour.
“It’s frustrating because bowling has always had good ratings on television,” Glass pointed out. “Demographics killed it. Bowling was watched by the same people who watch baseball. That’s the older people. TV tries to attract the 18-34 group, and bowling is a tough sell.”
Glass earned $78,900 on the Senior Tour last year, yet a large chunk of that money went for expenses motels, gasoline and meals, not to mention wear and tear on his automobile.
After the Chillicothe Open, Glass will make a relatively short drive to the Pennsylvania Open the following week. Then it will be on to Detroit the week after that. Following a two-week break, the Senior Tour will resume in Tucson, Ariz. Then in successive weeks, Glass will be bowling in Las Vegas; Brentwood, Calif.; Klamath Falls, Ore.; and Beaverton, Ore. The Tour will conclude in late August at the Senior Jackson Open in Michigan.
Glass can slap liniment on his aching back, strap braces on his sore knees and pop antibiotics for his sinus infection. What he can’t do, he discovered, is change his mechanics and maintain the same level of skill.
“My knuckles were swollen and I had to alter my game,” he said. “I’ve changed my grip to take the pressure off my fingers. I think it’s going to be good, but I haven’t seen any evidence yet. I haven’t been bowling that well. I’ve been in a slump.”
So it remains to be seen if Glass will be able to maintain his domination of the Senior Tour.
In 2001, Glass led the seniors in nearly every statistical category, including wins, earnings, championship round appearances, match play appearances, points and average.
Glass received 94 percent of the first-place votes for player of the year. Balloting was open to the entire PBA membership. Glass is only the third man to win multiple PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year honors since the award’s inception in 1989.
In addition, Glass has had the highest senior average for the last three years. In 2001, his average was 223.19 over 13 tournaments and 561 games most on the senior circuit.
