Hey folks, Trey’s on to something here!

Hey, folks, a wonderful colleague of mine here at Harnesslink just threw his “two cents worth” about improving our grand sport with some cross promoting to solidify the participation of our current fans and attract new ones, as well.

Trey Colbeck’s recent column says we all can take a lesson from the great sport of curling…and he’s absolutely right!

Furthermore, his column is only the tip of a Canadian iceberg of why every track publicist in North America should hop in the sulky behind the idea, take a spin around the oval and drag everyone to hop along for the ride.

For those unfamiliar with curling, it’s similar to lawn bowling or shuffleboard or, even, bowling with the participants of curling, lawn bowling and shuffleboard needing that special, delicate touch to be successful while, in bowling, a more powerful approach seems to be a key for ultimate success.

This grand event is sponsored by Tim Hortons and if you think that they are exclusively a Canadian operation, think again.

Yes, they have over 3,500 locations in Canada covering 627 cities, but their USA participation is nothing to sneeze at with 626 locations in the United States covering 10 States and Territories in 280 cities.

The State of New York has the most stores with 239, followed by Michigan and Ohio—all three States alive and kicking with harness racing.

Anyhow, curling, lawn bowling, shuffleboard and bowling are just four of the sports of hundreds of activities where cross promotions would be beneficial for future success.

So, why am I hopping on Trey’s bandwagon?

Well, for one thing, I take pride that I was a fairly good kegler back in the days of, say, Su Mac Lad, Bret Hanover and Albatross and was Illinois State bowling singles champion back a bit more than a half century ago by averaging 246 in the prestigious State tournament…when that kind of performance was really something!

Having bowled in tournaments back as far as the early 1960’s with greats like Buzz Fazio, Steve Nagy, Ed Lubanski, Eddie Kowalics and Don McCune, to name a few, I have never lost my affection for the game.

(Today, the equipment and lanes have changed dramatically and even a “300” game is now just a “ho-hum” experience, kinda like the disappearance of the sacred 2:00 mile along with greats like Curly Smart, Stanley Dancer, Billy Haughton, Keith Waples and Gene Riegle in the bike, again, just to name a few!))

Anyhow, I still marvel at the power of today’s athletes on the lanes and watch as many Professional Bowling Association broadcasts as I can.

As I was reading Trey’s “Two Cents Worth,” assuming that’s two cents CANADIAN), I tuned into my bowling broadcast noting that the sponsor of this event was none other than NASCAR!

Not only was the sponsor the powerful NASCAR, supported by a fan base estimated at 75,000,000, but the participants on this broadcast were also split between professional bowlers and NASCAR drivers!

It turned out to be entertainment at its finest with the greatness of pros shining through…along with the gaffes and gutter balls by the NASCAR drivers.

How powerful is NASCAR? $2.2 BILLION in merchandise sold just last year powerful.

By the way, the most popular sports are American Football, Basketball, Baseball, Boxing, Ice Hockey, Soccer, Golf, Wrestling (WWE), Tennis and Motorsports…and because of its forward-thinking innovations, even bowling is showing strong gains.

It is estimated that 74.5% of the population follows American Football, 56.6% keeps an eye on the basketball, about half the population follows baseball, with the others listed above also drawing significant interest.

Make no mistake, they are all huge draws and any cross promotions with these (and other) sports and activities could play a significant role in the future and re-growth of our sport.

In the past, we’ve had many celebrities participate in harness races including Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, Lou Boudreau and Harry Caray, Oleg Cassini and Ed Sullivan to name just a few…and they drew significant interest for our sport both live at the track and in the media. And don’t forget Jay Silverheels—the Lone Ranger’s sidekick, Tonto.

And, of course, George Steinbrenner was a frequent visitor at harness tracks.

Going even further back in time, our grand sport was no stranger to stars including Mickey Rooney, Charles Coburn, Burt Reynolds, Jayne Mansfield, Jack Klugman, Cab Callaway, Jerry Lewis, Michael Landon, Jayne Russell, Connie Sellecca and Jimmy Durante.

It’s time for harness racing, much of the time racing under the stars, to come out of its cocoon and reach out to the stars of sport and entertainment to put harness racing back in the limelight of entertainment.

If the sport of curling can get a sponsor of such magnitude, harness racing should be able to secure multiple sponsorships and participation with named yearly events with company participation in celebrity events.

So, I guess thee only bone I have to pick with Trey is the fact that he describes the players as “hurling” the stones used down the ice.

I’ve tried to do that and, since they weigh between 38 and 44 pounds, the stones actually THROW ME DOWN THE ICE! I can’t even lift it up!

To read Trey Colbeck’s column, click here.

by John Berry, for Harnesslink