Ludacris or Ludicrous?

PBA stars Pete Weber, Norm Duke, Wes Malott, and Jason Belmonte will be featured in the televised second annual "Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational." It took place last month at a military base in New Orleans and benefits Chris Paul's CP3 Foundation. It airs on ESPN this Sunday at 2 PM EST.

The event has four doubles teams consisting of Wes Malott and Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl wide receiver Hines Ward, Pete Weber and Grammy Award-winning artist and actor Ludacris, NBA star Chris Paul and Jason Belmonte, and Norm Duke is paired with the winner of a roll-off between Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl linebacker LaMarr Woodly and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio.

Chris Paul says bowling is his "second favorite sport" behind basketball, and most of you have probably seen the commercial he does with Chris Barnes. But you may not have seen this video of him going one-on-one in basketball with Barnes.

There was a brief discussion on the PBA website about Sunday's event. The consensus was that it's a good thing that will do nothing but benefit Chris Paul's charity and draw more fans to the PBA. But, contrarian that I can sometimes be, I posted the following comments:

I have mixed emotions about this event. On the one hand, I think it might draw younger fans to the sport and to PBA telecasts, and this would be a wonderful thing. But, on the other hand, I don't want to see the PBA demean itself and the great sport of bowling by staging a complete farce and turning its stars into clowns. I hope that Sunday's telecast is entertaining and fun and that it attracts new viewers to the PBA and the sport of bowling without painting the PBA and bowling in general in an unfavorable light. Bowling doesn't get enough respect as it is. Let's not do anything to make this problem worse...One additional point. I understand that Norm Duke injured his ankle during this event. Does anyone know how it happened? Did it happen while he was "clowning" around? However it happened, it caused him to withdraw from one of his beloved "majors"--the TOC--and it may adversely affect him for some time to come."

I'll probably watch the show Sunday, and I may have more to say about it afterward. If you watch it too, I'd be curious to know what you think of it and about the reservations I've expressed in advance. Do you think this kind of event demeans bowling and PBA bowlers in any way, or is it "all good"? Below is a brief preview of the program.