Happy New Year to all area bowlers and their families who read this column faithfully.

The great 16th century philosopher and prognosticator Nostradamus and I have been in psychic contact with each other again. Nostradamus using me as a medium, makes the following 10 predictions for bowling.

1. Less than 10 percent of the local and state bowling associations throughout the country will join the United States Bowling Congress as merged associations in its first year of existence. The other 90 percent will join the USBC as non-merged associations.

2. The U.S.B.C. convention in Orlando, Fla. will be nothing more than a vacation junket and a thank-you for former ABC and WIBC local association delegates because this convention is only informational as there is no legislation nor elections taking place.

3. Even though the U.S.B.C. will be accepted as the national governing body for the sport of bowling by the United States Olympic Committee, it will not have any significance to the average bowler and won't get bowling into the Olympics any quicker.

4. The Contemporary Bowling Association will still have no significant impact on bowling even with the acquiring of Strike Ten Entertainment under its banner.

5. The Professional Women's Bowling Association tour will not be resurrected by the USBC in 2006 nor will it be resurrected in the foreseeable future.

6. The USBC will show a membership decline again this year (after adding all the former ABC, WIBC, and YABA total members together) taking into account what the individual membership organizations totals were before and after USBC has been in existence just like the trend was before the national organizations merged under the USBC banner.

7. The Bowling Proprietors Association of America will have no more influence over the USBC than the BPAA had over the ABC, WIBC, and YABA in the past.

8. The USBC will come up with a new 1800 and 2700 award for the bowler who shoots back-to-back 900 series in a doubles and singles (six-game combine) tournament and for the bowler who shoots three 900 series in a row for (team, doubles, and singles) for a nine-game all-events total in a single tournament with the stipulation that “No-Tap” tournaments do not qualify nor are eligible for these new awards.

9. The USBC will not initiate a viable “tiered membership” program to stem the tide of decline (which is the No. 1 problem facing bowling today and in the future) until somebody on the new National USBC board paraphrases founding father Patrick Henry by proclaiming, “Give me tiered membership or give me death”.

10. If the previous nine predictions listed above come true in 2006, then I will ask the great Nostradamus to tell me what numbers to play so that I can win the lottery and become a millionaire in 2006 too.

There are still openings on all three qualifying squads at Starlite Lanes in the 44th Annual Men's Citizen Masters Tournament on Sat. Jan. 7 and Sun. Jan. 8.

As of this writing there are 158 bowlers entered in the tournament with 18 openings available on Sat. Jan. 7 at 1 p.m., 33 openings still to fill on Sun. Jan. 8 at 10 a.m., and 79 openings left on Sun. Jan. 8 at 1 p.m.

Reservations can still be made this week by filling out a completed entry blank and leaving it at any area bowling center with your $5 reservation fee. The remainder of the entry fee ($30) must be paid on the day of qualifying at Starlite Lanes.