It's not taken seriously by people who don't do it, like most sports. For example, I can't take cricket seriously!
We still have a national bowling team, and county teams (Sussex are actually partaking in a regional qualifier today - the ladies team will get through but the men won't.) but in...
Avoid the Bowlplex like the plague. I went there once when it first opened to check it out (with me being a bowler and all) and it's just a money-making nightclub with a poorly run bowling alley whacked inside.
The King Alfred was britain's oldest bowling centre.. I think that title now goes to...