A Bowling Visionary With Ideas To Spare

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Richie Sposato is an ambassador, inventor, doctor and image consultant all rolled into one, and his offices are in bowling centers around the world.

Sposato, a Syracuse-based professional bowler, has jetted off to France, Holland and Korea to spread his bowling knowledge and market the ball he created.

Bowlers seek him out when their ball isn't rolling right. Like a doctor, he'll diagnose the problem - usually it's that the finger holes weren't drilled to the right size or put in the right place. He has mastered this science. Canada's national team once drove down to Syracuse just for Sposato's handiwork.

Sposato looks more like a rock singer than a bowler, and he believes he's just the man to bring bowling's look out of the dark ages.

"I look in the future, I look ahead and watch on television, on MTV and other sports and how they advertise," he says. "I want to bring bowling to that level."

"He is a highly thought of young man in our industry," says Larry Cook, president of the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association. "He is probably one of the more knowledgeable ball drillers in the country, and maybe internationally."

Almost everything Sposato does is innovative. A part-time professional bowler, he bowls with two fingers instead of the traditional two plus the thumb. As a ball designer, he created the Buzzsaw with a core never used before, one that he says packs more punch to the pins. The core, or weight block, in a bowling ball is what makes it spin.

He spent seven months in France, where interest in recreational bowling is high but knowledge and skills still lag. Sposato says U.S. companies have been too shy about marketing through seminars and clinics in foreign countries. Sposato learned French from a few tapes and a pocket dictionary. He went to France to teach proper ball drilling, throwing technique and the importance of correct bowling shoes.

He recently returned from a one-week tour of Korea, where he says the bowling frenzy resembles that of America in the 1950s and '60s. The Buzzsaw sells like crazy in Korea, where Sposato has a contract for 1,000 balls per month.

Sposato, who runs a pro shop called Lane No. 1 in Syracuse, is spending the next three months in Holland where he will open Euro Lane No. 1.

Sposato is 31. His long hair is spiked on top, a gold loop hangs from his ear, and a light beard covers his baby face. He has been called the Andre Agassi of bowling. To Sposato, like Agassi, image is everything.

He has skipped professional events because the Professional Bowlers Association had a rule: no beards and no long hair. He wrote letters of protest to the PBA's image committee. In June, the PBA lifted the ban.

"He's been a leader in the image guideline area," says Mark Gerberich, director of operations for the PBA. "Our dress code has been ... I'm pretty sure he's used the word `archaic.' He's one of the players that has pushed for a long time to get that changed."

Sposato wants the sport to shed its beer-bellied, cigarette-smoking image. He wants to get bowling out of "alleys" and into more attractive "centers" that feature good food and other games.

Bowling has been his life since he was 6, but - in part because of his own image - the game he loves has been slow to accept his contributions.

"A lot of times it hurts me," Sposato says. "People don't respect a young kid or a kid with long hair. Sometimes its hard to get people to listen."

That's where the Buzzsaw came in. With his own ball, he could challenge those competitors who wouldn't give him a chance.

His math and physics acumen enabled him to come up with the diamond-shaped core which he says enables the ball to rotate faster and longer, providing more "action" when the ball hits the pins.

He came up with the Buzzsaw idea in 1988, and now Brunswick Corp., which manufactures the ball for him, is producing 1,500-2,500 Buzzsaws per month.

The balls sell for $139.