The worst sport to watch on TV is Bowling [View All]

And I bowl!

Why it sucks: the Ladder format that all TV bowling tournaments follow.

Let's pull a tournament out of the air: the Democratic Underground Open. 150 professional bowlers come in to play. (To get a PBA card you need, IIRC, a 200 average over 60 games.) These 150 bowlers play for a week and finally narrow themselves down to the top six bowlers. Now it's television time.

Let's also say I can bowl my ass off and have made it to the top six, but I'm number six. To win the trophy, I must beat everyone else above me on the ladder. The number-three guy only has to beat me and two other guys to take the trophy; the number-one guy has to beat only one other person. And that in one day.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to what's wrong with this system?

This is better: Adopt the NHRA's bracket format. PBA tournaments are always held in huge centers. Pair numbers 1 and 8, 2 and 7, 3 and 6, and 4 and 5. You could space them ten lanes apart and forget about precedence, or put them on side-by-side pairs and simulate the kind of league bowling the home audience plays and the bowlers all came up in. This does two things: it makes sure the two bwolers who make the final round are equally tired, and it makes for better television because the home audience can see more bowling.