Friday, Sept. 1, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.
There was an old "Gilligan's Island" episode where in their umpteenth attempt to be rescued from the island, the castaways spelled "SOS" with burning logs, hoping that orbiting astronauts would see it and radio for help.
But because a contract had been signed for a third season, Gilligan wound up kicking one of the logs to where it spelled S-O-L instead of S-O-S. Sol, the astronaut, thought it was neat, but it didn't help the Professor and Mary Ann get off the rock.
As the Skipper might have said, it was a good idea, little buddy. Just the wrong message.
Sort of like the U.S. Bowling Congress Women's Challenge, the made-for-ESPN2 event that wrapped up Thursday on a bowling lane set up in the Fashion Show mall.
At first blush (which, as you will read, is a totally appropriate way to refer to it), the Women's Challenge seemed like a good idea. Maybe it still is, in that it will put women's pro bowling back in the spotlight, or whatever light ESPN2 coverage generates at a later date.
The tournament will be shown on five consecutive Monday nights beginning in mid-September. So at least there will be something to watch if Tony Kornheiser's ego shorts out the "Monday Night Football" booth.
Still, minuscule ratings are better than no ratings at all, which is what women's bowling has been getting since its tour folded in 2003. So if you belong to the Tuesday night mixed doubles league at Bedrock Bowl, you've probably got to like the idea of the women bowling for dollars just down the hall from Orange Julius.
What you don't have to like is the way the field was chosen.
The invitation-only field was limited to 16 bowlers: Diandra Asbaty, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Kim Terrell, Lynda Barnes, Stefanie Nation, Shannon O'Keefe, Shannon Pluhowsky, Kassy Golden, Leanne Barrette, Kendra Gaines, Cara Honeychurch, Liz Johnson, Cathy Dorin-Lizzi, Clara Guerrero, Robin Orlikowski and Sara Vargas.
Judging from their pictures on the Web site, these women have more in common than the blisters on their thumbs. They are all attractive. Some, I am told, are even pretty good bowlers.
Is it just coincidence that the criterion for selecting the players seems to have missed the pocket? I've got one Martina Navratilova to your four Anna Kournikovas that says it isn't. As well as the official press release from the Women's Challenge.
"BOWLING BEAUTIES STRIKE BIG AT FASHION SHOW," it reads.
Gary Beck, whose company, Killer B Promotions, put on the event, said he had nothing to do with that headline. But Beck candidly admits that considerations other than bowling skill, such as "marketability" and compelling stories, weighed heavily when it came to mailing out invitations.
Wendy Macpherson of Henderson is a compelling story. Her father died in June. A week later, she rolled an 812 series to become the first woman in 103 years to win the U.S. Bowling Congress Open. In 17 years on the women's tour, Macpherson was its all-time earnings winner with $1.2 million. She won 20 pro titles and eight more sanctioned by the USBC, more than all but one of the Challenge bowlers.
She wasn't invited.
The field already was set, Beck said, before Macpherson won the Open. He also said he wasn't aware of Macpherson's ties to Southern Nevada. But, as an insider told me, unless you are a size 4, you were well, S-O-L.
"I don't have a complaint with Gary Beck or any of his ideas," Macpherson said. "I only have a problem with our sanctioning body using our membership money to support a beauty contest."
Phone calls to the USBC office in Wisconsin were not returned. But Beck said there also were complaints from the other camp.
"Some people thought Kim Adler was better looking" than some of those who got in, he said of the former touring pro from Florida who won 15 pro titles.
Beck said while he has nothing against Fred Flintstone and Ralph Kramden and whatever stereotype you may have of the average bowler, he doesn't think the sport should always play to the beer-and-pretzels image.
"Am I trying to change the image of bowling? Absolutely," Beck added. "Am I apologizing for it? Absolutely not."
Asbaty, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bowling Congress and one of the players treated to makeovers at the Jose Eber Salon before the TV cameras started rolling, said the Women's Challenge is bigger, at least in a manner of speaking, than the women who were selected to roll strikes and spares.
"It's for every little girl out there who wants to be a professional bowler and does not have that opportunity," she said. "If this event is successful, everyone wins."
But if it isn't successful?
Well, there's a Hooters just down the road.
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