In The Pocket: Karl Bieber a top-notch administrator

Karl Bieber does his best work behind the scenes as one of the Capital Region’s most respected bowling administrators.

Reliable, efficient, trustworthy and extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of the sport, he also might be a little too honest for his own good. He likes to tell it like it is.

“I’m not a fussy administrator, but I’m detailed,” said the 53-year-old Western Diner Northern Bowlers Association tournament director and Albany USBC Association president. “I think the whole process needs to be trimmed. It needs to be simple. What I do is get the bowlers on the lanes. They don’t want to hang around. I try to get them through with the least amount of problems. Then, I get them off the lanes, and I get them paid, whether it’s a scratch tournament like the NBA or an association handicap tournament.

“I treat all the bowlers the same. For me, I think the game is more about the camaraderie. I still have a great time bowling myself, but it’s more about getting people involved. You can get the whole family involved in this game. But I believe that some of the proprietors and some of the centers have lost sight that the kids who are coming up through the ranks are the mainstay of this sport. We need to nurture them if this sport is to continue.”

One of Bieber’s pet peeves is the outrageous high scoring conditions in today’s game.

“I wish they had changed it 15 years ago, and not let the scores get out of hand,” he said. “Now, these young kids get to be 25 years old, and they’ve already got all the honors they will ever need. Most of us who bowl from my generation treat it like a night out. We like to be a little competitive, maybe have a drink, and then go home. I don’t know what the kids’ expectations are these days. You don’t hear many of them talking about trying out for the PBA Tour anymore, and you used to hear that from all the really good young bowlers years ago.

“The bottom line is that we’ve got to get the kids involved in our game, and keep them involved. That’s the future of the game.”

The Colonie High School and University at Albany graduate didn’t take his own advice when he was a youngster, even though his father, Hal, was already one of the top bowling administrators in the Albany area. Instead of bowling, the 6-foot-4 Bieber excelled in baseball and basketball.

“Bowling wasn’t a priority of mine when I was in high school. I wanted to do the other stuff,” he said. “I was a pitcher in baseball, and a forward in basketball.”

But when he was 20 years old, he finally joined a men’s league with his father.

“I was just filling in, but I kind of caught the bug. I got interested in the game, and I enjoyed all aspects of it,” he said. “I started working at the old SUNY campus lanes in the pit and at the desk. When my dad became the Albany Association president in 1986, he asked me to join the association and help him out.”

Since then, Bieber has served four terms as Albany Association president. He also served on the New York State Bowling Association board of directors for nine years. That organization has been in the news quite a bit this season.

“I finally got out because of a conflict with the big guy [president] and me. I was being pushed aside, so I didn’t put in to be a director again. It turned out to be a good thing. I questioned some things that I didn’t think were right about the state association, even back then.”

The New York State Bowling Association had its charter revoked by the USBC reecently after state association president Steve Donohue was charged with absconding with more than $200,000 from that group’s treasury.

A delegate at the ABC Tournament for 15 years, Bieber has also been the director of the Adirondack Region team for the Empire State Games since 1988.

“My father asked me to try out for the Empire State Games in 1986, and after I made the team in both 1986 and 1988, they asked me to take over the administrative duties. That was really the catalyst for me getting involved with a lot of other bowling administration,” he said.

Bieber is also an on-site administrator at the Empire State Games.

Although he doesn’t like to talk about his own game, Bieber’s personal bowling resume is solid.

“I’m OK, but I only average about 210 right now. I don’t practice, and I only bowl once a week. But my highest average was about 228 in the Westlawn Doubles Classic on Monday nights.”

Bieber finished third in the New York State Masters tournament when it was held locally at Playdium, but he is even more proud of coming back the next year and finishing second.

“The tournament was at Binghamton, and I led the qualifying. I ended up losing in the finals to a brash young kid named Jim Thomas, and he’s a pretty steady bowler in the NBAs these days. He laughs whenever he sees me.”

Bieber was a regular competitor in the ABC Tournament, but his most cherished memory on the lanes was cashing in a PBA Regional at The Bowlers Club.

“That was my goal. Back then, we had two seven-game squads. I was just a kid back then, and I ended up getting yelled at by [former PBA Tour standout] Pete Couture. It was something about lane courtesy, and he was having a bad game. He got a little upset, but it was a lot of fun for me.”

Bieber has rolled 12 perfect games and four 800 triples with a high of 849.

“I still love to bowl, and I have fun when I’m out there, but I enjoy doing things behind the scenes now,” he said.

“From an administrative standpoint, I’ve been doing this for 25 years. You know if you’re doing a pretty good job if bowlers aren’t constantly [complaining] to you. Bowlers usually have plenty to complain about, anyway, whether it’s about the lane conditions or how many guys are on each pair. If you don’t hear anything more than the usual complaints, you’re doing OK.”

MY TOP FIVE

Here are my choices for the top five local bowling stories in 2008.

5 — As previously mentioned, the New York State Bowling Association had its charter revoked after Donohue was charged with stealing more than $200,000 from the association treasury. The state association is currently trying to get its charter back, and a decision won’t be made until later this year.

4 — Two local association scoring records fell. Hometown Lanes proprietor Steve Smith rolled games of 299, 298 and 289 for an 886 triple to break the Troy Bowling Association record during the TBA’s City Tournament at Green Island Lanes in May. Tom Kelly of Colonie then shattered the Albany Bowling Association record with games of 280, 299 and 300 for an 879 at Del Lanes in October.

Amsterdam native Dan Kryzak nearly toppled Smith’s mark when he shot back-to-back 300s en route to an 879 last month at Hilltop Bowl.

3 — Darrell Coonrad of Waterford won the Joe Donato Scratch Singles Tournament in March by beating Ray Cyr of New Hartford in a two-frame rolloff at Sportsman’s Bowl. The $4,000 top prize tied for the top local purse this year.

2 — After replacing Bill Neumann, who qualified for the TV finals but was injured, lefty Mark James won the Huck Finn/Northeast Bowling Proprietors of New York’s Jack Scaccia Memorial at Boulevard Bowl. James and Neumann split the $4,000 purse.

1 — Bob “Goose” Faragon nearly became the first local bowler to appear in a PBA Senior Tour televised final when he came up one win short. But he cashed three times on the PBA Senior Tour, and proved he could compete with the nation’s best 50-and-over bowlers.

STRIKES & SPARES

- The next qualifiers for the Huck Finn “Capital Region Bowling Show” will be Saturday at Green Island Lanes at 1 and 3 p.m., and Sunday at Sportsman’s Bowl, at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Call Jeff Segel at 439-7628 for reservations.

- Towne Bowling Academy will host the next stop on the Western Diner Northern Bowlers Association tour Jan. 18.

- The Karl Wolf and Warren Guernsey Pro Shop U.S. Qualifying Open will be held Jan. 10-11. Co-sponsored by the Northeast Bowling Proprietors of New York, the tournament will have an $85 entry fee. First place will be $1,000 guaranteed, plus an entry into the U.S. Open. If the winner doesn’t accept the U.S. Open entry, it will go to the next finisher in line. The format will be eight games across eight pairs in the first round, beginning 11 a.m. at Uncle Sam Lanes in Troy. The top eight advance to round-robin match play the next day at 5 p.m. at Ballston Spa Lanes. In match play, bowlers earn 30 bonus pins for a victory and 15 for a tie. All pins from qualifying in the first round will carry over into the second round.

- Sportsman’s Bowl’s Pee Wee Bumper league begins Saturday at 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. The cost of two games is only $5, including shoes. Call 355-4330 to sign up.