After First Round of Match Play at TOC

Tony Reyes is leading the pack after the first 8 game block of match play, and Kelly Kulick is doing a beautiful job of hanging in there with the guys. She's in fifth place and a mere 55 pins off the lead. But can she keep bowling like this? She's qualified for match play in men's national tournaments before but couldn't sustain the pace in match play. Yet she was throwing the ball very well last night, went 4-3-1 in her matches, and seems very confident. It would be sensational if she made the televised finals of this hallowed tournament or even won it. I think the PBA's powers-that-be are praying for this to happen so they can reap the rewards of the ensuing publicity.

Speaking of publicity, Tom Smallwood continues to receive his share after his victory a few weeks ago. Almost everyone knows the story of how this laid off GM worker qualified for match play in a tournament at the WSOB, proceeded to bowl his way into the televised finals, turned down a job offer at GM just before he bowled in the finals, and went on to win the championship. His story has been featured in all kinds of media ever since, and, as reported last night on Xtra Frame, there's a writer from Sports Illustrated following him around this week to do a story on him for the king of American sports magazines. And if Kelly Kulick makes it to the televised finals, it looks like he's going to have more work to do.