I've always referred to doubles and singles in association championships as "minor events" or "minors."

And I never thought twice about it — I thought everybody knew and used those terms.

Then famed coach and retired PBA Tour star Mark Baker posted this on my Facebook wall: "Jeff, why are singles/doubles the minors? Maybe if I knew the lingo I might bowl better at nationals! Thanks, Bakes"

And PBA superstar Chris Barnes added: "Never heard dbls & singles referred to as 'minors'.... By 'always' — does that mean what Andy Varipapa used to call them??? LOL."

So two of the greatest bowlers in history have never heard of "minors"?

Needless to say, this made me curious as to the origin of the term, so I started emailing the movers and shakers I've been fortunate enough to know from being a journalist.

USBC PR whizzes Lucas Wiseman and Matt Cannizzaro both said they had never heard of "minor events" until they moved to the Milwaukee area, the home of bowling headquarters for decades.

"I don't think there's a definitive answer here," Cannizzaro said. "It might also be an old days things that carried on in the traditional Midwest."

But their boss, USBC tournaments head honcho Brian Lewis, said that growing up in western Pennsylvania "we referred to them as minor events as well."

And Bob Johnson, editor of Bowlers Journal International, said he "definitely heard that term growing up in California. It even extended to junior county and state tournaments, circa the mid-1970s."

Doug Schmidt, a long-time Wisconsin bowling journalist, said the Wisconsin State Bowling Association has used the term for as long as he has published the Milwaukee-based Ten Pin Journal, which I think is more than two decades now.

"And," he added, "the Greater Milwaukee Association average books make reference to 'minor' events going back to the 1970s."

So where does "minor events" come from?

I always understood it to be from bowling's historical origins, when it was mainly a team sport: team was the "major" event and doubles and singles were the "minor events."

I could not find anything definitive searching the Internet, but received backing from several sources.

"I don't know the origin of the term 'minor events' for doubles and singles but it goes back decades and Riggs' explanation is correct in that tournaments like the Open (Championships), women's national, state and local tournaments with the same format, were considered mainly a 'team' tournament and doubles and singles events were add ons (e.g. the prestige and bread and butter of the tournament was based on the team concept)," said Jerry Schneider, long-time bowling PR person. "When I started with ABC in '81 doubles and singles were referred to as minor events but team event was just that, team event (not major)."

Johnson agreed that it came from team being the major event, adding that "it wasn't meant as a put-down" of singles and doubes.

Jim Dressel, Johnson's predecessor and the long-time editor of Bowlers Journal International, agreed: "If I'm not mistaken, it is my understanding that the team competition always has been defined as the 'major' event dating back to the days when team play was king, and that doubles and singles were not regarded as the premier events in comparison."

Dressel forwarded my message on to J.R. Schmidt, BJI's expert on bowling history.

Here's what he wrote me:
"The first real tournaments — around the turn of the 20th Century — were basically team tournaments. You bowled to show which 5-man team was the best. That's because bowling was considered a competitive TEAM sport. A singles event was more of a sideshow — sort of like a home-run hitting contest before the baseball All-Star game.
As far as I can tell, the ABC in 1901 was the first tournament that had the three-event format. For many years after that, a lot of bowlers didn't even bother with the Doubles or Singles — either they didn't think the events were important, or they didn't think they personally were good enough to compete. But the 'minor event' term was used back then, and it has stuck.
Based on all that, I would say, yes, Andy Varipapa probably used the term 'minor events.' "

But if someone who knew Andy wants to clarify that, please do!